Reviews

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

Only show reviews with written explanations

dembury's review against another edition

5.0

“Grave Expectations” is funny, dark, and full of delightful characters (both living and dead) and the whole story feels like a queer, paranormal episode of “Midsommer Murders”. I know the tone, which is very dryly witty and slightly ridiculous, isn’t going to be for everyone but I really vibed with it. If you enjoyed “The Thursday Murder Club”, are a millennial who loves “Knives Out” or any sort of British mystery show, then I would recommend this one!

cha_gbb_'s review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-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

4.25

ivyg's review

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funny mysterious fast-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

4.0

freadomlibrary's review against another edition

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3.0

Actual rating 3.5 stars

Trigger warnings: murder, death, violence, lying, manipulation, divorce, cheating, strained parent-child relationship, grief

I don't remember how I found this book on Goodreads but I was super interested in the premise. A medium teams up with her ghost best friend and some amateur investigators to solve a year old crime. The story is both funny and absurd which actually kind of worked in its favor haha. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started reading as it was kind of slow progress. But toward the quarter mark, it started picking up a little steam. I think the most interesting thing and what I liked the most was the relationships of the characters, specially Claire and Sophie. Everything is just a little bit complicated because of all the dynamics and it helps to keep the reader on their toes. I will say this is the first time that I figured out the mystery pretty early on in the story, usually I am absolutely clueless which is part of the reason I couldn't rate this higher. With mysteries, I expect to be completely lost in the story and get the reveal at the same time as the characters but this one didn't turn out that way. However, it was still a fun read! I really liked the banter and the character dynamics. The ending was also well done in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing what the author releases next!

bieneina's review

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lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

anna_hepworth's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This had potential, and it didn't live up to it. It didn't seem to know if it was a rom com, a grim murder mystery, or something else entirely. The supernatural element was mostly fine, but the rest of it was a mess.

The further through the story, the less I cared. I didn't like the protagonist, I didn't like the way things were half arsed, and mostly the writing wasn't good enough to keep me going. What got me to the end of the book was spite -- was the author really shoving the clue as far under my nose as I thought they were? And yes, they really really were. I was right, the mystery details were really unsubtly foreshadowed, and I wished I'd never bothered.

According to the reading app, this took me two hours and twenty minutes, and while those were almost all on the train, I could have spent that time reading something that gave me pleasure, rather than constant frustration.

If you like farce as the dominant plot driver, you might like this. But you also might find it disappointingly contrived. Even for farce.

Content Warnings