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abbeyroad1410's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.75
This book is giving Amelia Bedelia meets Agatha Christie novel, and I was living for it the entire time.
I do have to say, if you get secondhand embarrassment very easily, this book may not be for you. Molly, the main character of this fast-paced mystery, is clearly neurodivergent in some way. This makes her perspective very interesting; however, the first person point of view forces readers to experience her social ineptitude as if they were her. When I read the novel, I could feel when other characters were taking advantage of her and wanted to warn her; however, you can't jump through book pages.
This is a Rodney hate group. Rodney is literally the worst, and I have never read a more disturbing scene than him at the Olive Garden. Juan Manuel has my whole heart.
The twists were unpredictable, but they made a lot of sense after you had gone through the majority of the novel, so they stayed believable. That is such a difficult line to toe, so I applaud Nita Prose's ability to strike that balance.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book more. My stress level was at a ten because of the high stakes and other characters' mistreatment of Molly, but it was so worth it in the end. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I do have to say, if you get secondhand embarrassment very easily, this book may not be for you. Molly, the main character of this fast-paced mystery, is clearly neurodivergent in some way. This makes her perspective very interesting; however, the first person point of view forces readers to experience her social ineptitude as if they were her. When I read the novel, I could feel when other characters were taking advantage of her and wanted to warn her; however, you can't jump through book pages.
The twists were unpredictable, but they made a lot of sense after you had gone through the majority of the novel, so they stayed believable. That is such a difficult line to toe, so I applaud Nita Prose's ability to strike that balance.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book more. My stress level was at a ten because of the high stakes and other characters' mistreatment of Molly, but it was so worth it in the end. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, and Death
sarahbethhh's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Molly is such a charming narrator and I enjoyed her worldview throughout the story. The pacing was slow for a whodunit, but still enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Deportation, Drug use, and Physical abuse
ambarnes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
ak97x's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, and Ableism
Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, Trafficking, and Racism
samburkhouse's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Terminal illness, Infidelity, Bullying, Death of parent, Ableism, and Cancer
Minor: Deportation, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
annaofjesup's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Minor: Deportation
readingwithkt's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Death, and Grief
Minor: Drug use
misskitty14's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
Many murder mysteries are helmed by a neurodivergent detective (Holmes, Poirot, Monk), but most of them rarely get into how their mind works and even fewer acknowledge the challenges faced by these characters' disability (their attention to detail is simply a superpower). The main character of the novel, Molly Gray, is neurodivergent but this does not make her a superhuman detective. Instead, the reader comes to realize how much Molly doesn't see or understand because of the way her mind works. It can be frustrating at times to watch as she trusts the wrong people and misunderstands situations that are very obvious to the rest of us. I've heard many people with neurodiversity discuss how they hate that their disability is oftentimes represented as a superpower rather than an actual disability (comedian Fern Brady has a whole stand-up about it). Overall, I found this aspect of the novel to be incredibly educational and led to increased empathy on my part.
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.From the beginning our main character knows who killed Mr. Black (it isn't anyone ever put on our radar) but never tells anyone or discusses it in her own mind. Before I got to the end of the novel, I thought I figured out the answer, which seemed very obvious from the beginning, but I was impressed by how the pieces had come together. Instead, like all other murder mystery authors before her, Prose decides to justify a left-field answer by withholding information from the reader, information that should be known to us since we are inside Molly's head.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
mercy killingaveryprettyboy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
just wow wow wow
this book was probably one of my absolute favorite reads this year. even before learning of it online, i had suspected that molly could be on the spectrum and also might have ocd, but it was great to see this representation even if it might have made her an “unreliable narrator” to some. i was captivated from the very start and throughly enjoyed this book until the very end.
i nearly sobbed when learning the final fate of molly’s gran, but i also understand why it was done. it was just heartbreaking to learn. i kind of suspected that rodney was involved in some nefarious dealings and that juan manuel may have been as well but was utterly shocked at how deep the pool of deceit went. and the ending??? wtaf i had no idea that the first mrs black would be the true killer, although i am glad that molly left her to peacefully live out her live, even if shes rich, rodney deserved jail time more than she did. im really pissed that we never learned where wilbur went and for whatever reason, i suspected him to be mr black 😭 it seemed like something he would do and with molly being a unreliable narrator and also not always putting the pieces together right away, i wondered if she even knew. but i guess as far as we know wilbur is not mr black. and i was really thankful of giselle for helping molly out, they really both deserve happiness and peace now. also juan manuel and molly getting together is something i wanted since he was first introduced so im super happy about that.
all in all, great read and would recommend to anyone.
this book was probably one of my absolute favorite reads this year. even before learning of it online, i had suspected that molly could be on the spectrum and also might have ocd, but it was great to see this representation even if it might have made her an “unreliable narrator” to some. i was captivated from the very start and throughly enjoyed this book until the very end.
all in all, great read and would recommend to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Ableism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
mal_reads_books's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Murder, Death, and Bullying
Moderate: Drug use and Toxic friendship