Reviews

Grave Expectations by Alice Bell

crystaldragonst's review

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Alex says “At what point” every time they have a piece of dialogue which was a bit annoying. Good mystery though. Do wish we could see what happened to Sophie though (perhaps another book???)

reader231's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

lizicle's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

elise_17's review

adventurous funny mysterious slow-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

3.5

forestthing's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Sherlock Holmes meets Scooby Doo? Mystery files meets ghost files? All I know is that I believe both Ryan and Shane would fit well into this group of people. A group I found incredibly lovable, including Nana. The dynamic is fun, with both Sophie and Alex being a bit silly and reckless, like many teenagers; and Claire and Bash with their not too great people skills and less optimistic outlooks build a fun little Quartett. Found family for sure.
The story and crime where interesting and catching but not over the top and realistic. 
I really liked the take on ghost it reminded me a lot of older English stories instead of the "evil", "dangerous" description ghosts often get in movies nowadays. 
The book was a lot more funny than I expected and made me laugh a lot. One of the reasons this will be on my re-read list, another is that the cast was really lovely and I want to hang out again. I actually would love to have a sequel where they might try and solve Sophie's story.

rach_8768's review

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

knitterknatter's review

funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

I would kill for Alex and I know they'd just pity me as the poor millennial I am 🥲 This book had me LOLing so much.
It is a cozy little murder mystery, filled with humour. The bathroom shall now, and forever, be known as the big tooth room.

today_catsandbooks's review

adventurous funny mysterious 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

3.0

Lighthearted mystery where a ghost reveals a murder.

beate251's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

Claire is a 30 year old medium who gets invited to a posh manor house as the entertainment. The interesting bit about her is that she can actually see and talk to ghosts, and one, her best friend Sophie who was murdered at 17, is always with her. So far, her ability hasn't exactly got the cash rolling but she expects a good fee from this engagement. Unfortunately, the old nanna dies the next day and tells her as a ghost that a year ago someone died in the house. It's very vague but Claire feels like she needs to investigate nonetheless.

The problem is that Claire is a terrible detective. She behaves and speaks like a teenager, gets drunk regularly and has horrible hangovers. She also forgets info, and that she has access to ghosts. If it wasn't for Sophie and two characters from the posho family, an uncle and his non-binary nephew, this medium-sized medium wouldn't get very far with her "investigatoring".

At the beginning I wasn't convinced at all. There were too many characters with the silliest toff names and the helpful family tree was so tiny that I had to take a screenshot and enlarge it. The writing also feels childish sometimes.

But this book grows on you, it really does, once you stop taking anything seriously. It is a cozy crime with supernatural overtones but it becomes more about the interaction between characters and the journey than the actual solving of a crime. It is also screamingly funny, and I'm afraid to say a big purple dildo played quite a role in proceedings. And next time she should maybe remember to ask the manor house ghosts what they saw - turns out they saw everything! 🤣

Quote of the book:
"She discovered that pheasant tasted luxurious and meaty. Like chicken, but if hens voted Tory."

As an aside, Topic bars were discontinued in 2021.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Alcohol, and Drug use

sopeachykeen's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0