Scan barcode
snakeboba's review
2.0
At best 1 & 1/2 stars for this. I didn’t even finish the book. At the halfway point I realized it was really going nowhere.
saveyourtears's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Really liked the sleuthing and the mystery plot. Plus the setting of the university and the Chinese-American cultural elements that were included in the story. The romantic subplots were however not for me.
potemayo27's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cschmitz3's review
4.0
Cute story
I really enjoyed this cute murder mystery. I didn't realize who it was until the last chapter! I am looking forward to reading more of these mysteries with Raina.
I really enjoyed this cute murder mystery. I didn't realize who it was until the last chapter! I am looking forward to reading more of these mysteries with Raina.
elizmiller06's review
4.0
This was a great book, better then I thought it would be. It was funny at times to.
hollydoesstuff's review
3.0
I wanted to like it more, but I guess I didn't hate it. The characters are not very bright and if some sense was slapped into all of them, this would have been much better.
lolasreviews's review
I DNF'd this one at 45%
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried to get as far as I could, but every time I picked it up I just felt annoyed and bored. I just didn't feel like pushing through. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine that this book had, the main character keeps going on about how poor she is, but then makes bad money decisions. And instead of that being her thing it just is sort of there. In the course of half the book she went out to eat multiple times, bought a new dress and mentioned eating B&J ice cream a few times. It just bothered me every time one of those things happened. It's a minor thing, but if it happened often it adds up.
Besides that the main character isn't really likeable. She makes a lie at the start of the book, which I already didn't like, but then she keeps thinking about it and how the love interest can't find out about her lie and going through long lengths to make sure he doesn't. I think it's obvious her lie will get out eventually. I don't like characters who lie a lot and Raina and I got off on the wrong foot because of that. And as the book progressed that just didn't change, I just didn't care about her character or liked her.
It felt like these little details were missing to make it read better, but we're kept in the dark about a lot of small details. What happened between her and the love interest, what happened to he grandfather etc. It just felt like I started with book 2 and was missing parts of the story. There's a reason I dislike reading series out of order and this is that reason, I feel like I am missing little details or getting the backstory behind things.
The murder mystery was sort of interesting. I did predict the method of killing fairly early on. But when I stopped reading at 45% that was about the only piece of info we knew about the murder mystery. The mystery progressed really slowly, instead the book si filled with daily life occurrences, which in and of itself isn't bad, but here it didn't work for me. Maybe it's also because I just finished two very mystery driven cozy mysteries, so this was a big switch in the other direction.
What I did like was that the book felt very realistic. Raina was just a normal women that got caught up in a difficult situation. She doesn't get as easily involved as in most cozies and it felt pretty normal and natural. There just seemed a bit too much of that, daily life things and other social issues.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery with lots of focus on the side plots, a realistic main character and an interesting, but slow developing mystery, you might like this one.
I really wanted to enjoy this book and really tried to get as far as I could, but every time I picked it up I just felt annoyed and bored. I just didn't feel like pushing through. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine that this book had, the main character keeps going on about how poor she is, but then makes bad money decisions. And instead of that being her thing it just is sort of there. In the course of half the book she went out to eat multiple times, bought a new dress and mentioned eating B&J ice cream a few times. It just bothered me every time one of those things happened. It's a minor thing, but if it happened often it adds up.
Besides that the main character isn't really likeable. She makes a lie at the start of the book, which I already didn't like, but then she keeps thinking about it and how the love interest can't find out about her lie and going through long lengths to make sure he doesn't. I think it's obvious her lie will get out eventually. I don't like characters who lie a lot and Raina and I got off on the wrong foot because of that. And as the book progressed that just didn't change, I just didn't care about her character or liked her.
It felt like these little details were missing to make it read better, but we're kept in the dark about a lot of small details. What happened between her and the love interest, what happened to he grandfather etc. It just felt like I started with book 2 and was missing parts of the story. There's a reason I dislike reading series out of order and this is that reason, I feel like I am missing little details or getting the backstory behind things.
The murder mystery was sort of interesting. I did predict the method of killing fairly early on. But when I stopped reading at 45% that was about the only piece of info we knew about the murder mystery. The mystery progressed really slowly, instead the book si filled with daily life occurrences, which in and of itself isn't bad, but here it didn't work for me. Maybe it's also because I just finished two very mystery driven cozy mysteries, so this was a big switch in the other direction.
What I did like was that the book felt very realistic. Raina was just a normal women that got caught up in a difficult situation. She doesn't get as easily involved as in most cozies and it felt pretty normal and natural. There just seemed a bit too much of that, daily life things and other social issues.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery with lots of focus on the side plots, a realistic main character and an interesting, but slow developing mystery, you might like this one.
karty_v's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Solid cozy, excited to see how the rest of the series pans out!
sandibeach's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
iffer's review
3.0
This was solid, and I especially like the fact that Raina's sidekick is her energetic grandmother. As in many cozy mysteries, the love interest for the main character is a cop, but the twist here is that it's a second-chance romance.