Reviews

Tuesday Mooney Wore Black by Kate Racculia

Only show reviews with written explanations

njdarkish's review against another edition

5.0

Five stars, because this book feels like Kate Racculia spied on me to write this book. A Venn diagram of things and I love and the things the characters in this book love are basically a perfect circle. I love these characters, I love the mystery, the Poe-inspired game, and the voice of this book. It's uncanny how perfectly this book is for me.

bhnmt61's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Tuesday Mooney researches potential donors for a hospital in Boston. When a man dies at their biggest fundraiser of the year, she and the entire city find out that he has left a treasure hunt behind, open to anyone. Tuesday and her friends take up the challenge. If you’re looking for a suspenseful page turner about people racing against time and each other to find a treasure, this is not that book. If you’re looking for a horror book with creepy conversations with the evil dead/undead, this is not that book. If you are looking for a book about a bunch of misfits dealing with grief and the strangeness of life, with non-stop absurdist loopiness and dead pan humor, this IS the book you’re looking for.

I loved this book. It is completely loony tunes, but it doesn’t shy away from deeper issues. It has a couple of slow spots, and maybe one too many moments of soul-deep realization. And it goes on too long after the climax. But other than that, this is easily in the top five books I read this year, as I sit here typing this on New Year’s Eve. I try to do my goodreads ratings based on not much other than did-I-enjoy-it, and by that standard, this is a 12-star book. Especially recommended for word nerds.

catherine_hopper's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5 stars. Enjoyable story about a scavenger hunt created by an eccentric, wealthy man before he died. Good cast of characters with some unexpected plot twists, but I just didn't love it. I found it strange that the main character spent a lot of the book talking to her dead best friend from her teens through a Ouija board, and I also wanted to see a couple of remaining mysteries wrapped up.

mrsdori_p's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

natalie_is_reading's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Really enjoyed this book! Just like the back of the book says, very Westing Game core.

katiegilley's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I really enjoyed the other book I read by Racculia, Bellweather Rhapsody. She works 90s nostalgia into her books really well and writes quirky and fun characters. This book started out perfect – an adult version of The Westing Game (one of my very favorite books of all time) set in Boston. Gothic and dark characters. She clearly has intimate knowledge of Boston and Bostonians, which made it really fun. But I have to say – I completely lost interest about halfway through the book and barely made it through to the end, which makes me sad to admit.