Reviews

This is a fun new series for me. Each of the members of the Society are vibrant and distinct, and the women really love each other. That close friend group is always fun to read about. They even fight well, which can be the most important part of a good friendship. The series also centers around books, food, strong female-identified characters, and mysteries, a perfect combination in my opinion.

My favorite part of the series is Nora's bibliotherapy. She is the Queen of Reader Advisory and her assertion that books can change lives is something I intimately know to be true. Hester's scone skills are really special and clever, as well, but I'll let readers find out more about her Comfort Scones by reading the series.

I do have some gripes. I wish this author was more skilled at including non-white and other diverse characters. It feels a bit heavy-handed at times and, although most non-white characters receive descriptors about their skin color or hair or culture, no white characters are ever described this way... Also, the audiobook reader does an uncomfortable job when narrating folks who are described as non-white. A Japanese character, for example, is read in a strange formal and halting way. The same is true for Indigenous characters later in the series. Variety in character voices is necessary, but to make all non-white characters sound "different" in some way is not okay.

So, overall, I really like the series and I'm holding out hope that the author will get better at the above-mentioned gripes.

thegreatandwonderfulbookwitch's review

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mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bookwrm526's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

adventuresinpages's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

3.0

I had a good time with this one, but it didn’t leave a big impression. The main character is a burn victim living in a small town taking a second chance at life. I liked her well enough. I know this is a series and we’ll get to know the side characters as we go along, but everything felt so shallow. I wanted to know more. Instead I got a lot of stereotypes and a lot of convenient answers. I know it’s a cozy mystery and not meant to be high stakes, but a little depth would be nice. I think coming off of the Armand Gamache series and the Veronica Speedwell series, I’m just spoiled.

baileylemoine's review against another edition

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3.0

I love the way Adams talks about books, and the clear love of books and stories woven through the narrative and characters. The book did feel somewhat unpolished, but the reason I rated it 3 stars instead of 4 is really because I was super disappointed in the addition of romance subplots and how those felt like they take away from the central friendship of the 4 women. It feels like they're setting up for these women to all end up happily married with supportive husbands later in the series, and while that's fine for one or two characters, I was really hoping this would be a story more focused on women's friendship, on how women can age without a male partner, on building community outside of marriage and religious bonds over shared love of books. This book hinted at that but can't seem to follow through.

menkswald's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

3.5

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