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daffodilcherry's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
NEGATIVE REVIEW: Had heard rave things about this book, but was disappointed! As a whodunit lover I wouldn't recommend it. With 115 chapters in 380 pages, the POV shifts and repetitive telling (not showing) of scenes was very annoying. Top of the annoying choice list was the random journal excerpts from Joyce, told in first person. Overall, the various plots, characters and murders were overly complicated and Osman failed to provide enough information to pretend that he'd given you enough to figure out who'd done it as you went along. This book had pacing issues that I fell are due to bad editing, if you find the first 20 pages choppy it doesn't get any better. All the characters are written to be likeable but I disliked them all at the end. The only character I miss is Ian, who was an asshole, because everyone else just annoyed me by the end.
Wheelhouses: older main characters, whodunit, cosy murders,unreliable narrators .
Doghouses: choppy chapters!!!!! Please for the love of all that's good stop killing the momentum by randomly ending the chapter in the middle of a scene, the weird diet talk/fat shaming/writing about Chris overeating crap food which seems to be Osman's leading theory about people being fat being overly slovenly and lazy, Osman's pedantry about biscotto singular in the POV of the cockney boxer, Joyce's overly cutesy first person POV chapters that absolutely killed any momentum or immersionn and made me froth with rage.
Wheelhouses: older main characters, whodunit, cosy murders,
Doghouses: choppy chapters!!!!! Please for the love of all that's good stop killing the momentum by randomly ending the chapter in the middle of a scene, the weird diet talk/fat shaming/writing about Chris overeating crap food which seems to be Osman's leading theory about people being fat being overly slovenly and lazy, Osman's pedantry about biscotto singular in the POV of the cockney boxer, Joyce's overly cutesy first person POV chapters that absolutely killed any momentum or immersionn and made me froth with rage.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming
bronzel's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Murder, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Dementia, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Blood
lilacfoxes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Xenophobia
douglasreaddimg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia
Minor: Suicide
bwritesreviews's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Alcohol, and Suicide
bdorf's review against another edition
4.0
Very good mystery. Manages to be both very funny and also emotional and touching. It’s a shame about all the fat phobic stuff that constantly comes up around the one detective or I might have given it 5 stars. If you can look past that I would give it a big recommendation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
themichellegray's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-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? No
2.0
The premise of this story grabbed my attention more than anything in the actual book did.
There were far too many characters. Actually, each time you grasped who everyone was at least 2 more characters would be introduced. The writing style seemed to jump all over the place and constantly switched between perspectives making it extremely difficult to follow, especially via audiobook. I frankly didn't even care about the mystery or even bother guessing 'whodunit' because I was trying to constantly comprehend everything previously mentioned. Once all was revealed, it wasn't even impactful due to my constant confusions (and it of course featured multiple villainous monologues).
While I really didn't enjoy my overall experience reading this, I did manage to appreciate a few things which bumped my rating up to a 2. The humous tone helped to carry the story along and made a fairly dark book more light-hearted. I did enjoy the dynamic of the four main club members and specifically Elizabeth's shenanigans. And although the topics of death and grief could be heartbreaking I appreciated some of the conversations surrounding it.
I spent the majority of this audiobook wanting it to be over and if I hadn't been listening along with my husband it would've been an easy DNF. It's safe to say I won't be continuing on in the series.
There were far too many characters. Actually, each time you grasped who everyone was at least 2 more characters would be introduced. The writing style seemed to jump all over the place and constantly switched between perspectives making it extremely difficult to follow, especially via audiobook. I frankly didn't even care about the mystery or even bother guessing 'whodunit' because I was trying to constantly comprehend everything previously mentioned. Once all was revealed, it wasn't even impactful due to my constant confusions (and it of course featured multiple villainous monologues).
While I really didn't enjoy my overall experience reading this, I did manage to appreciate a few things which bumped my rating up to a 2. The humous tone helped to carry the story along and made a fairly dark book more light-hearted. I did enjoy the dynamic of the four main club members and specifically Elizabeth's shenanigans. And although the topics of death and grief could be heartbreaking I appreciated some of the conversations surrounding it.
I spent the majority of this audiobook wanting it to be over and if I hadn't been listening along with my husband it would've been an easy DNF. It's safe to say I won't be continuing on in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Grief
te_ss_i's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Dementia, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Suicide
lifewithjoce's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Fatphobia, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
revafisheye's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Charming cozy mystery set in an upscale retirement community. Aside from the murder-mystery aspects, it touches on grief and loss in ways I was not expecting. I have already recommended it to several friends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Fatphobia, and Ableism
Minor: Domestic abuse