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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
mysterious
This is a fun, entertaining read. This book made me laugh and cry and kept me glued to the pages until the very end. I enjoyed the romance and the mystery. Ravi and Jack are fun to spend time with. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. They also brough colour to the story with their quirkiness. The story is easy to read and get into.
I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I enjoyed the audio version of this book and the narrator.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
funny
lighthearted
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:
No
50% romance and 50% mystery. This was such a fun read. The romance between Rav and Jack is so sweet. Their flirting and banter is a fun relief throughout a murder mystery. I also really enjoyed all of the supporting characters. I think this could easily roll into a series. I got so caught up in the romance of it all I was really thrown off track in the who-dun-it. The twists and turns were unexpected. This was overall a really good read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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:
No
Brooklyn 99 meets The Charm Offensive - sold! It only took me a day to finish this fluffy murder-meet-cute. Rav and Jack's romance was super sweet. The mystery part was a bit convoluted, but I enjoyed it all the same.
slow-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
I read this book purely because of the blurb. I've never read the author before and requested it on NetGalley.
I highlighted A LOT of quotes from this book as well as a whole song. Here are a few:
"Because we're stronger than hate. Stronger than fear. We live. We love. We rise"
"A cynic is just a brokenhearted romantic."
"Every good story has a romance..."
This is a very good story WITH mystery AND romance AND hot guys.
Easy to read, the mystery aspect wasn't as obvious as to "who dunnit". I read this book over the course of a few days, but if time permitted, I would have read it straight through.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this solid 4 star read.
I highlighted A LOT of quotes from this book as well as a whole song. Here are a few:
"Because we're stronger than hate. Stronger than fear. We live. We love. We rise"
"A cynic is just a brokenhearted romantic."
"Every good story has a romance..."
This is a very good story WITH mystery AND romance AND hot guys.
Easy to read, the mystery aspect wasn't as obvious as to "who dunnit". I read this book over the course of a few days, but if time permitted, I would have read it straight through.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this solid 4 star read.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook as part of Libro.fm's ALC program. He's to Die For is billed as a cross between Brooklyn 99 and The Charm Offensive, and I'm not sure that Brooklyn 99 is a great comp. Based on that comp, I expected it to be laugh out loud funny, but the most I got was a few chuckles. The mystery was decent, I didn't figure it out before the reveal which is always a plus, and the romance between the main characters was pretty good. However, in an attempt to mix a mystery with a rom-com, I don't think it quite pulled off what it was trying for. For about the first 50% of the book, the romance felt very separate from the mystery element despite the two main characters being very involved in the mystery. As the mystery progressed this became less of an issue, but it was an issue in the early part of the book. The typical romance novel third act breakup comes in this book, though it is earlier, in the middle of Act 2, which felt quite early. I've seen at least one other review somewhere describe the spice in this book as closed door. It isn't, it's more fade to black, but the spicy scenes are not very explicit. This is fine for me, but those wanting a lot of on page spice may want to look elsewhere.
One of my biggest issues with this book is that the main character, Detective Rav Trivedi, is written as a British Indian man, but I wouldn't have known it if it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the book. It almost reads as if Rav was written as a white guy at first, and then the either the author decided to make a change, or someone suggested to her that perhaps one of her main characters should be a different ethnicity, so she made minimal changes to make it work. But if you took out the 2 or 3 minor references to his ethnicity, and changed the cover, no one would know he wasn't a white guy. Before writing this, I tried to determine if Erin Dunn identified as British Indian, as I did not want to criticise this if it was based on her lived experience, but so far as I can tell she is not.
The narration of the audiobook is good. Sid Sagar has a decent American accent, something that can make or break an audiobook set in the U.S. when narrated by someone with a British accent. He does have some issue with leaving behind British pronunciations when voicing a character in an American accent. Words like privacy and schedule stand out as having been pronounced in the British way, even when American characters were speaking. The editor of producer of the audiobook should have caught that and corrected it, as it happened several times, but it is otherwise a good narration, with good differentiation of character and his voice was engaging, which kept me listening.
Overall this was a fun read that is medium-paced. The story was engaging enough that I stayed interested throughout and I liked the characters. For a debut author, Erin Dunn has written a good first book, and I would certainly be willing to give future books a try.
One of my biggest issues with this book is that the main character, Detective Rav Trivedi, is written as a British Indian man, but I wouldn't have known it if it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the book. It almost reads as if Rav was written as a white guy at first, and then the either the author decided to make a change, or someone suggested to her that perhaps one of her main characters should be a different ethnicity, so she made minimal changes to make it work. But if you took out the 2 or 3 minor references to his ethnicity, and changed the cover, no one would know he wasn't a white guy. Before writing this, I tried to determine if Erin Dunn identified as British Indian, as I did not want to criticise this if it was based on her lived experience, but so far as I can tell she is not.
The narration of the audiobook is good. Sid Sagar has a decent American accent, something that can make or break an audiobook set in the U.S. when narrated by someone with a British accent. He does have some issue with leaving behind British pronunciations when voicing a character in an American accent. Words like privacy and schedule stand out as having been pronounced in the British way, even when American characters were speaking. The editor of producer of the audiobook should have caught that and corrected it, as it happened several times, but it is otherwise a good narration, with good differentiation of character and his voice was engaging, which kept me listening.
Overall this was a fun read that is medium-paced. The story was engaging enough that I stayed interested throughout and I liked the characters. For a debut author, Erin Dunn has written a good first book, and I would certainly be willing to give future books a try.
adventurous
funny
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:
Yes
I fell in love with Rav almost immediately. He's the type of main character that it's impossible not to root for as a reader, and I was rooting for him throughout the whole book. As soon as Jack was introduced, I couldn't wait to read the rest of the book and watch their relationship develop.
There were definitely moments where I wished this was a dual-POV novel so that I could see what Jack was thinking, and what his perspective was, but I think that due to the murder mystery aspect of the novel Rav's POV was really necessary. In a way it made me relate to Rav even more, because I didn't have any more information about how Jack was feeling than Rav did.
Overall, I loved this book. It was basically impossible to put down once I started, and it kept me invested start to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
There were definitely moments where I wished this was a dual-POV novel so that I could see what Jack was thinking, and what his perspective was, but I think that due to the murder mystery aspect of the novel Rav's POV was really necessary. In a way it made me relate to Rav even more, because I didn't have any more information about how Jack was feeling than Rav did.
Overall, I loved this book. It was basically impossible to put down once I started, and it kept me invested start to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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
I blew through this one! Thanks to libro.fm for the audiobook copy.
The narrator did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life and I was hooked from the beginning.
I look forward to seeing what else the author has done.
The narrator did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life and I was hooked from the beginning.
I look forward to seeing what else the author has done.