3.47 AVERAGE

emotional funny mysterious slow-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: Yes

jemau11's review

3.0
lighthearted mysterious 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: No

By far the best part of this book was the setting. The descriptions of Cattail Island were so specific and natural that I was surprised to read that the author made it up. I liked the writing style for the most part, but unfortunately the main character felt flat. Her motivations were a little muddled and some of the things she did were ridiculous. There were also a few too many red herrings that went nowhere. Not a bad beach read, but I don’t think I’ll continue with the sequels. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

A cute novel about murder and a treasure hunt and finding yourself after a career change. Wrapped up nicely without feeling too much like a detective novel. Heavily name drops famous author and books
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blush_bookworms's review

4.5
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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: Complicated
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stachalreads's review

3.5
adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
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jaren's review

4.0
hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing
mysterious slow-paced
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is probably one of the whitest books I’ve ever read, but I appreciate that it strayed away from some of the typical tropes in the cozy mystery genre that I don’t particularly enjoy (like cops being love interests). The mystery itself was fun to follow, and while I didn’t love every plot choice, I think it came together nicely at the end. And, of course, I’m a sucker for any book that has the main character working in a small town bookshop, even if Callie was a bit of a bummer main character until like halfway through the book, when she was allowed to have an actual personality.

bvannevel's review

3.0
emotional lighthearted mysterious 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: No
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kelseygbobo's review

3.75
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes