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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Nancy drew with a splash of romance. This provided all the feels of your classic Nancy drew mystery but added in some adult aspects. The writing felt a bit formal for my typical taste and I didn’t feel very involved in solving the mystery. However I was invested in romance. Overall one I’d recommend to classic mystery lovers but not my personal cup of tea.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
(I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)
Expected publication: June 7th 2022
A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari is a historical fiction and mistery novel. It is set in London, 1923 and our protagonist, Saffron Everleigh, is a research assistant in the botany department in the University College of London. She attends a party, where one of the professors' wife is poisoned. The main suspect is Saffron's mentor and she is sure that he didn't have anything to do with it. Because of that, she works relentlessly as an amateur investigator trying to find out who could be responsible for the poisoning.
This was definitely an interesting read and I really wanted to know who comitted the crime and why. Nevertheless, the pacing of the novel was not as consistent as I would have liked. It took me a long time to finish this book and I'm not sure it was worth it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it and I guess the ending was satisfying, but I wished I could have maybe connected more to the characters. There was also a romantic plotline and I feel like I could a loved it, like IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO GREAT. But it was just... fine.
Although, like I said, I did not feel an exceptional connection to the characters, I do think that they were well constructed and had interesting traits. I also really liked the commentary on how hard it was (and still is) for women to succeed in academia and how people usually question how she got there, as well as trying to get advantage of their position of power. I also liked that one of the characters, Alexander, suffered some symthons of PTSD after the war. I think the protrayal was compelling and accurate.
One character I did absolutely love was Elizabeth: she was witty, caring, headstrong and an amazing best friend to the protagonist. I adored all the scenes with her and wished she had a more significant role.
If I'm not wrong, I think this is just the first book of a series and I can say that I am honestly excited to read more from the author. According to her, "Book Two is set to come out in Spring 2023".
Expected publication: June 7th 2022
A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari is a historical fiction and mistery novel. It is set in London, 1923 and our protagonist, Saffron Everleigh, is a research assistant in the botany department in the University College of London. She attends a party, where one of the professors' wife is poisoned. The main suspect is Saffron's mentor and she is sure that he didn't have anything to do with it. Because of that, she works relentlessly as an amateur investigator trying to find out who could be responsible for the poisoning.
This was definitely an interesting read and I really wanted to know who comitted the crime and why. Nevertheless, the pacing of the novel was not as consistent as I would have liked. It took me a long time to finish this book and I'm not sure it was worth it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it and I guess the ending was satisfying, but I wished I could have maybe connected more to the characters. There was also a romantic plotline and I feel like I could a loved it, like IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO GREAT. But it was just... fine.
Although, like I said, I did not feel an exceptional connection to the characters, I do think that they were well constructed and had interesting traits. I also really liked the commentary on how hard it was (and still is) for women to succeed in academia and how people usually question how she got there, as well as trying to get advantage of their position of power. I also liked that one of the characters, Alexander, suffered some symthons of PTSD after the war. I think the protrayal was compelling and accurate.
One character I did absolutely love was Elizabeth: she was witty, caring, headstrong and an amazing best friend to the protagonist. I adored all the scenes with her and wished she had a more significant role.
If I'm not wrong, I think this is just the first book of a series and I can say that I am honestly excited to read more from the author. According to her, "Book Two is set to come out in Spring 2023".
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Struggled too much to get into it. Will try again in a few months.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher (Crooked Lane) for providing me an advanced copy of this book.
Botanist's Guide is part mystery, part historical fiction, with a dash of romance. Saffron is the only female research assistant in the Botany department at an English University shortly after WWI. She hopes to one day follow in her father's plant studying footsteps and fulfill her dream of being accepted as a graduate student and continuing her research into poisonous plants. Before that happens, she must help solve a crime that occurred at a party she recently attended. A poisonous plant her mentor, Dr. Maxwell, brought back from an expedition is believed to have been involved in the poisoning of another professor's wife. In order to clear his name she must prove that the plant is not to blame, find out what is, and try to keep herself from being the next victim.
Full disclosure this is not my genre of choice. I'm not big into cozy mysteries, leaning more towards the dark and gruesome. Historical fiction is also not up my alley, and I can take romance as long as it's not the main point. With that in mind, I mostly enjoyed this book. I liked the academic setting and the way the author described places and events. I could picture the university well, as well as the party. Reading the author's note, I know that a lot of research went into the creation of this book to ensure the botany was correct, so that was cool! My favorite character by far is Elizabeth. I want to follow her around for a bit. The end scenes with her at the police station were fantastic, and I would have read a whole book around that. Alexander and Saffron were good protagonists, and the romance between them was believable and sweet. If you're into romances with angst and will they/won't they, you'll find it here.
Overall though, I found the plot muddy. Just as it seemed like the investigation was picking up steam, it was over. There were a lot of clues and details that I didn't follow until the solution was revealed. I wasn't sure how certain pieces fit together until the full explanation at the police station in the second to last chapter. There were parts of the crime that didn't make sense, and I'm still not sure exactly why it was committed in the first place. There's a lot of sub-plots happening as well, like preparation for an expedition that is connected to the crime, but also not. There's details about her fathers research that are barely touched on, but seem important. This may be covered in future volumes. Side characters do things that make no sense, but that's part of the mystery? I felt confused through a lot of this and not in a good way. I'm not entirely sure I understand what happened and why. I did enjoy the writing and the characters, so if there is a second volume, depending on the topic, I might give it another try.
Botanist's Guide is part mystery, part historical fiction, with a dash of romance. Saffron is the only female research assistant in the Botany department at an English University shortly after WWI. She hopes to one day follow in her father's plant studying footsteps and fulfill her dream of being accepted as a graduate student and continuing her research into poisonous plants. Before that happens, she must help solve a crime that occurred at a party she recently attended. A poisonous plant her mentor, Dr. Maxwell, brought back from an expedition is believed to have been involved in the poisoning of another professor's wife. In order to clear his name she must prove that the plant is not to blame, find out what is, and try to keep herself from being the next victim.
Full disclosure this is not my genre of choice. I'm not big into cozy mysteries, leaning more towards the dark and gruesome. Historical fiction is also not up my alley, and I can take romance as long as it's not the main point. With that in mind, I mostly enjoyed this book. I liked the academic setting and the way the author described places and events. I could picture the university well, as well as the party. Reading the author's note, I know that a lot of research went into the creation of this book to ensure the botany was correct, so that was cool! My favorite character by far is Elizabeth. I want to follow her around for a bit. The end scenes with her at the police station were fantastic, and I would have read a whole book around that. Alexander and Saffron were good protagonists, and the romance between them was believable and sweet. If you're into romances with angst and will they/won't they, you'll find it here.
Overall though, I found the plot muddy. Just as it seemed like the investigation was picking up steam, it was over. There were a lot of clues and details that I didn't follow until the solution was revealed. I wasn't sure how certain pieces fit together until the full explanation at the police station in the second to last chapter. There were parts of the crime that didn't make sense, and I'm still not sure exactly why it was committed in the first place. There's a lot of sub-plots happening as well, like preparation for an expedition that is connected to the crime, but also not. There's details about her fathers research that are barely touched on, but seem important. This may be covered in future volumes. Side characters do things that make no sense, but that's part of the mystery? I felt confused through a lot of this and not in a good way. I'm not entirely sure I understand what happened and why. I did enjoy the writing and the characters, so if there is a second volume, depending on the topic, I might give it another try.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No