Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

8 reviews

mariahmmm's review

3.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Synopsis: Working as a research assistant in the male dominated Botany Department at University College in London, Saffron Everleigh feels indebted to her mentor Dr Maxwell and his fatherly kindness. So when a fellow dinner guest is poisoned, and all clues point towards Dr Maxwell and his famous deadly Xolotl vine, Saffron turns investigator to prove his innocence. With the help of the handsome but war-wounded Dr. Alexander Ashton, Saffron stumbles upon dark secrets, suspicious plants, and danger as they race to solve the mystery.

Review: A light meandering read that was less investigating and more stumbling upon clues. Saffron felt too naive, constantly putting herself in danger for no reason. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood

tessamcevan's review against another edition

4.0

lighthearted mysterious 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, War

itok's review

3.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Vomit, Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol

makmammalattack's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Very well-paced mystery that does an excellent job laying out the clues without giving everything away. The final reveal felt well-earned, piecing together both the obvious and the seemingly red-herring clues. 

The audiobook narrator was incredible. Jodie Harris navigated the differently character voices with consistency and even did an amazing job of modifying the character voices to match the tone; being able to immediately detect a character’s tone shift before the dialog tag was read was a high-quality touch I didn’t expect. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, War

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, Alcohol

Takes place in academia in the 1920s; expect light era-appropriate sexism, substance use, diversity, and threatened/attempted/minor sexual assault

(kiss only)

. Sexism is overarching in the plot while diversity is not defined but also not as relevant (but I didn’t expect it to be).

willbefunorelse's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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I answered a number of the questions above with "N/A" because the book did not grab my attention the way others have; I'd listen to a couple of sentences but then would find that my mind had completely wandered. The ratings are more geared towards my experience with the book and not of the book itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Vomit, War

Minor: Infidelity, Grief, Alcohol

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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At a dinner party for University College of London staff, someone is poisoned. Newly hired research assistant, Saffron, puts on her detective cap to prove her mentor’s innocence. Alexander Ashton, another one of the scientists, gets pulled into her investigation and flirting starts up between the two of them. Can they figure out who actually poisoned the guest before a large group of the suspects get on a boat for their research trip to the Amazon? Or will Alexander have to set sail with a would-be murderer? I love a smart and flirty whodunit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War

kiala's review against another edition

3.5

dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol

bookshelfoverload's review

4.25

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

Minor: War