Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

10 reviews

things100's review

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another great book from the tita Rosie’s kitchen mysteries series where finally our fmc chooses a love interest and we find out what’s going on with the shady palms winery 

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jenny_bean_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious 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

3.5

The third in a charming series I really enjoy! This book, while a fun read, was not as enjoyable as the previous two books in the series to me. I would still absolutely recommend you read it. The Macapagals are back in Shady Palms, IL and we meet more of the loving Filipino-American family in this book. The mysterious cousin Ronnie comes back to town and hijinks ensue.

I feel like this particular book felt more like a vehicle to introduce more characters that will become a part of the main cast in future books than about the usual crime hunting and family ties. I think perhaps that may have been on purpose, because the crime that occurs in this book feels more senseless to the FMC at the end as well.

I did myself a disservice in not re-reading the first two books in the series before reading this one, a mistake I won't make when I read the fourth book. The world building is so good in the first two, and the character development of the FMC, if I recall correctly, was much more visible in the first two books as well. In this book she's more straight to business of crime investigation. Detective Park is much more protective of letting her get involved, and she actually listens(!!) which I think is the most growth we see out of Lila in this series.

This story did keep me guessing until the reveal. As characters started being eliminated as suspects either by Lila or by circumstance, I still did not have the twist at the end. I figured it had to be one of the newer people on the scene with such focus on the new people in this book, but I did NOT have that pegged down. It added to the cruelty and senselessness of the crimes in this book.

I may update this after re-reading the series for the fourth book, and I would definitely still recommend this awesome series. 

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skye_era_books's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Oh my GULAY (in Lila’s words) I loved this book so much - even more so than the first two in the series!!! I always love the chaos of this crazy family. 

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cheypreston's review

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25


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auudrey's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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anntharai's review

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Still on my insta-buy author list, I love everything about this series and always finish the book hungrier than I started. 

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ukponge's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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kdailyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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kshertz's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

All of these authors books are really good. I think the first one is still my favorite but you really can’t go wrong. It’s super interesting as a mystery book. I never really can guess the twist. I love these characters and love following them on their journey. I specifically love the dogs in this one. I love their café as well. I always wish there was wrote more romance or really any romance at all but can’t have everything. If you love food and you love drinks and you love mystery books this is the book for you.

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uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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