Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Moordgids voor lieve meisjes

I am not a typical thriller book reader, but the hype for this book was enough to draw me in.

This book was so fast paced, and I found myself wanting to read this every night after work. The focus of the book - the solving of a long lost murder/suicide - was interesting, specifically the details known to the public. It was a unique crime with lots of possibilities for the story to evolve.

There are short chapters, and the plot is kept succinct to focus on revealing all of the clues to get to the grand finale. To bring it all together, there is a lot of humor thrown in to lighten up an otherwise dark story. I found it very interesting that the author is clearly British or English (the language used is often not the American version) but still chose to write with a setting in Connecticut.

It is written very much for the younger reader - the writing is certainly not life changing. I appreciate the book for what it was - a fast, quick murder mystery. The story was good, and the ending came together beautifully. I am not blown away, but I definitely wanted to see how it all ended and was not disappointed with the ending.

The only part of the story I really did not like was the killing of Barney. Any sort of animal harm makes me super emotional. I understand why it was added, but wished it could have been kept out/Barney had been returned.

Content Warnings

sabrinahlkr's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

goldenjoy's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

♡ Cold Case

♡ Small Clues

♡ Murder Board

The plot was a bit cliché but entertaining enough. It is unfortunate that the US edition had so much edited out, there are just moments that feel skipped over or some parts that seem missing general. But in the end it was a good story.

I loved the formatting of this book, all the extra details like the schedules, text messages, were all formatted nicely. It was an entertaining to read, it had twists and turns, an unlikely friendship, a killer hiding in plain sight, and a school project that turned into solving a murder.

Spice Level: n/a

POV: Third Person

Release Date: 05, January 2021

Rep: BIPOC (Main Character and Side Characters), Lesbian (Side Character)

Content Warnings