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madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse
The heroine has overt autistic traits (and possibly OCD traits? it’s unclear what the author’s intent was) but the manner in which her neurodivergence is handled was vaguely… flat. Like a caricature rather than a real person. I’m not sure if the author had a sensitivity reader/discussed what it’s like to be autistic with actual autistic people. Fantastic premise that would have made 5 stars if neurodivergence was handled with better care.misskitty14's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The reason I don't give this book 5 stars is because of the ending. Prose fell into the classic murder mystery trope of keeping valuable information from the reader.
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
mercy killingchondritesandchondrites's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
All this said, I nearly didn’t get to the mid point of this book. The first half I found slow and difficult to read. I felt, at times, that the author did not trust the reader as certain points were repeated with a heavy hand. Additionally, Molly’s social awkwardness plays a key role in this book, but it also feels over done to the point of caricature.
I’ve seen other readers speculating on whether Molly is autistic. There is no point in the book where Molly is identified as such, and that’s honestly a good thing. It would be a very poor representation of an autistic person.
As such— I give this book 3.5. While readers might have to weather the first half of the book, the second half is a great read and incredibly fun.
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Drug use, Infidelity, Abandonment, Deportation, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Additional Content Warning: Assisted Suicidechaotically_katie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Deportation, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Trafficking
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Classism, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
alba_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The book is a "murder mystery" in a hotel in which a maid becomes implicated. The entire time though the mystery felt like it took the backseat, and a detailed account of Molly the Maid's life was the main story.
I really struggled to connect with Molly the maid throughout the whole book. This made it hard to enjoy the novel, as it was a largely character-based story rather than a proper murder mystery. Though never explicitly said, Molly is on the spectrum somewhere – probably on the higher end of the spectrum. She’s obsessed with cleanliness. She has very limited social skills – to the point of exhibiting a child-like innocence at times – doesn't do well with change, and can't read social situations or facial expressions. Sarcasm is lost on her, and she struggles to grasp the gravity of certain situations. I'm sorry to say it but her life is very simple and very boring.
She was a tough character to connect with, and spending hours upon hours in her mind was exasperating for me. I was exhausted by the end (well before the end, actually) of the book, and delighted to be out of her life. Her world is very constricted and offers little in terms of stimulation or interest. I think it'd be hard to find anyone that cares that much about cleaning!
The story itself was simple and the murder wasn't hard to work out. There was no cat and mouse chase, no hunting down the clues, no working towards understanding the victim's or suspects' secret lives, no red herrings or secret agendas or exciting chases or nail-biting moments. The detectives were 2-D, flat characters. The baddies were so obviously baddies to everyone but Molly. The end took far too long to materialise, and then the murderer was caught and there was still 1 hour left and I was like, noooo!
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it. It was not well written, it was pretty boring, there was nothing unique or interesting or fun about it, and I just couldn't engage with Molly or her world. When I finished listening (on double speed just to get there....), it was with an enormous sigh of relief.
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Deportation, Emotional abuse, and Classism
rebeccamm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Classism, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse
cannesi's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Racism, Murder, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Deportation
jackieyvette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
The mystery itself was good a little twist that I didn’t figure out so that was fun as I usually feel in mystery novels I figure out the ending half way through.
Crying score: I got watery eyed for Molly, but right after she would make me smile.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this so much, I devoured all in a day, completely unintentionally. once I started I just couldn't stop. I love molly and I got so angry at all those around her treating her poorly and taking advantage of her. her character reads as possibly autistic, and even though it's not explicitly stated, I'm sure it's intentional.
I will absolutely be picking up more from Nita Prose in the future, I had a blast with this one!
Graphic: Ableism, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content, Drug use, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail