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crosenfrisk's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Loads of fun, great to have Finley and Vero back. I'll continue with the series, I'm sure!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
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? No
3.0
The ending was laugh out loud funny. It was a little less fun than the first book but still a great time. I loved seeing Finlay's and Vero's relationship grow. I liked seeing their ingenuity. It was less sheer dumb luck and more investigative than the first book which made for a nice reading experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
brandie_abbie19's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Just like the first book in the series, the beginning dragged on for me. And I have a hard time relating to Finlay even though I am a mom with a toddler because I feel like she makes a ton of choices that get her into unnecessary trouble. I have a hard time suspending my disbelief reading this book, but when I can, I really enjoy it. The story is kooky with lots of unexpected turns, which keep me coming back to find out what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
pernillelsk's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Alcohol
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence
caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a fun sequel to the first book in this series, though I think the suspension of disbelief ratcheted up significantly in this volume. It gets harder to believe all the hitwoman, forum for having men in your community offed hijinks as Finlay gets deeper into actual organized crime. She can barely keep her life as a single mom and an author in order, so it takes a big stretch to imagine she could fool cops, let alone career criminals at their own game. On the other hand, I do like the discourse about women, and particularly moms, being pigeonholed into the role of Nurturer of Children Only by society at large, so there was a satisfaction to watching Finlay get underestimated by most of the men around her and just barely scraping by through that.
Finlay is easily my favorite part of this series; she's an easy character to root for, being as in over her head and yet ultimately good as she is. She definitely falls into the "relatable protagonist" bucket, but that sort of works because of the story's genre conventions. Competence at real-life crime would be too much to expect and make this comedy-thriller far less funny. I digress. Finlay is great. Her love for her children, her arc of self-assertion and self actualization despite her asshole manchild ex (even to the extent ofsaving his life because as bad a husband as he was, he's actually a good father and her kids deserve that ), and her loyalty to Vero make Finlay someone I want to see succeed.
With small exceptions, the cast around her is a little charicature-ish at times so she's allowed to be less fleshed out/more Flanderized because she's still a solid character comparatively, but that's okay because this story isn't really about character exploration so much as it is about the plot. (Though the moments of in-depth characterization we DO get play against this idea; Finlay has some Opinions about Theresa and Aimee, and ends up recognizing in the two of them a depth of relationship and a ride-or-die-ness akin to the sort she has with Vero. Aimee literally helps Theresa bury a dismembered body and escape her house arrest. I was happy to see that, because dismantling the idea that women can be typecast as just one thing is one of the best parts of this series for me.)
All that said, gripes about suspension of disbelief and characters aside, I think what really took this book down a notch from the previous for me was the romance angle. I'm not a fan of cop love interests, or pushy love interests who "won't take no for an answer," so the blend of the two in Nick the Shithead was Not It for me. He seemed like a greater threat to Finlay during their ostensibly romantic moments than Felix the Literal Mob Boss did... ever. And Felix killed people. I don't know that I preferred Julian the Law Student to Detective Shithead by any wide margin, but at least he knows when to back off when Finn tells him to. Frankly, I think this series as a whole would be best served by Finlay being happily single or taking it super slow with Julian instead of cuffed to either these guys (but especially Nick.) (Frankly, her relationship with Vero is more developed than either of the romantic relationships.)
I'll be reading the third to close of the trilogy for sure!
Finlay is easily my favorite part of this series; she's an easy character to root for, being as in over her head and yet ultimately good as she is. She definitely falls into the "relatable protagonist" bucket, but that sort of works because of the story's genre conventions. Competence at real-life crime would be too much to expect and make this comedy-thriller far less funny. I digress. Finlay is great. Her love for her children, her arc of self-assertion and self actualization despite her asshole manchild ex (even to the extent of
With small exceptions, the cast around her is a little charicature-ish at times so she's allowed to be less fleshed out/more Flanderized because she's still a solid character comparatively, but that's okay because this story isn't really about character exploration so much as it is about the plot. (Though the moments of in-depth characterization we DO get play against this idea; Finlay has some Opinions about
All that said, gripes about suspension of disbelief and characters aside, I think what really took this book down a notch from the previous for me was the romance angle. I'm not a fan of cop love interests, or pushy love interests who "won't take no for an answer," so the blend of the two in Nick the Shithead was Not It for me. He seemed like a greater threat to Finlay during their ostensibly romantic moments than Felix the Literal Mob Boss did... ever. And Felix killed people. I don't know that I preferred Julian the Law Student to Detective Shithead by any wide margin, but at least he knows when to back off when Finn tells him to. Frankly, I think this series as a whole would be best served by Finlay being happily single or taking it super slow with Julian instead of cuffed to either these guys (but especially Nick.) (Frankly, her relationship with Vero is more developed than either of the romantic relationships.)
I'll be reading the third to close of the trilogy for sure!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
ashleycmms's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
megs23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
aharper's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Injury/Injury detail