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Reviews tagging 'Stalking'
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
11 reviews
kailiyahknight's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Stalking
abicaro17's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So cute! I enjoyed this fun little murder mystery. It was funny and an interesting story about found family. I think the dynamic between Vera and the murder suspects was so funny and interesting. My issue with this book is how slow it is. The whole first quarter was so unbelievably boring. Like the murder wasn't even interesting enough to keep me engaged. Also the whole murder wasn't even that good. Like could have gone without that part. It was ok but not great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
heini's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent and Stalking
Minor: Dementia
axel_p's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I find it so gross that these people eat food that a filthy little toddler touched with her sticky hands.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
blubonby's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I seen someone talking about loving it so I gave it a go and I'm so glad I did.
I didn't know what to expect going in and I honestly wasn't sure I would like it as I don't typically read murder mysteries, but it was pitched as a feel good murder mystery with found family between a elderly woman who decides to become a DIY investigator and her suspects, which sounded like a fun time to me.
Although it's supposed to be a murder mystery, it doesnt really feel like a serious one. The characters, their growth and the bonds they form with eachother is really the main focus of the story and the mystery, while definitely present, takes more of a back seat, which I didn’t mind.
Vera, the DIY investigator, is a very stubborn, old Chinese lady who is a bit overbearing and I wasn't sure I'd be into her character, but there's something so endearing about her and I found I couldn't help but love her more and more as I read. She frequently did or said things that just had me shaking my head, or verbally saying "Oh, Vera, no." but I found it added to her charm.
The other characters, her suspects, all seem to be hiding something and are a bit suspicious in the beginning, but the more we see of them the more fleshed out they get and the more I found myself loving, caring and rooting for each of them.
I absolutely adored the found family aspect that went on, especially because the group is such a random selection of people, but it just worked. Vera become a mother like figure and slowly but surely is helping each of the characters heal, whilst unknowingl being healed herself by the bonds she's forming with the characters.
Ultimately the more I read the more I wanted to read, I found the characters captivating and loved to see each of their growths and the friendships form from such a strange situation.
TLDR Loved it. A very character focused, lighthearded, murder mystery (that's sort of light on the murder mystery part), with well done characters.
I didn't know what to expect going in and I honestly wasn't sure I would like it as I don't typically read murder mysteries, but it was pitched as a feel good murder mystery with found family between a elderly woman who decides to become a DIY investigator and her suspects, which sounded like a fun time to me.
Although it's supposed to be a murder mystery, it doesnt really feel like a serious one. The characters, their growth and the bonds they form with eachother is really the main focus of the story and the mystery, while definitely present, takes more of a back seat, which I didn’t mind.
Vera, the DIY investigator, is a very stubborn, old Chinese lady who is a bit overbearing and I wasn't sure I'd be into her character, but there's something so endearing about her and I found I couldn't help but love her more and more as I read. She frequently did or said things that just had me shaking my head, or verbally saying "Oh, Vera, no." but I found it added to her charm.
The other characters, her suspects, all seem to be hiding something and are a bit suspicious in the beginning, but the more we see of them the more fleshed out they get and the more I found myself loving, caring and rooting for each of them.
I absolutely adored the found family aspect that went on, especially because the group is such a random selection of people, but it just worked. Vera become a mother like figure and slowly but surely is helping each of the characters heal, whilst unknowingl being healed herself by the bonds she's forming with the characters.
Ultimately the more I read the more I wanted to read, I found the characters captivating and loved to see each of their growths and the friendships form from such a strange situation.
TLDR Loved it. A very character focused, lighthearded, murder mystery (that's sort of light on the murder mystery part), with well done characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Gaslighting
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Stalking
k_readingmorenow's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A lighthearted, self-aware cozy mystery centred on the strong-willed, impulsive, and lonely empty-nester Vera Wong. After a man turns up dead in her tea shop and the police rudely refuse to drink her tea or behave like the police on her favourite crime shows, treating the death as as accident, she sets out to solve the 'murder' herself. Along the way she gathers a group of young 'suspects' who she grows to love and care for - even if she thinks the killer must be one of them. The novel is very descriptive about the Chinese food and teas Vera makes. In addition to a compassionate and humorous look at Vera, it delves into the internal struggles of each character coping with their own complex family relationships.
I found it loses steam around the 3/4 mark and sort of treads water, still trying to focus on atmosphere while not knowing what to do with the plot. The child character who is supposed to be two becomes more of a focus, which I dislike. She is inconsistently precocious, being whatever the plot needs her to be, behaving anywhere from one to ten years old. But the ending is surprising and does tie it all neatly together, which I appreciate in a mystery. All in all, it was an enjoyable light read.
I found it loses steam around the 3/4 mark and sort of treads water, still trying to focus on atmosphere while not knowing what to do with the plot. The child character who is supposed to be two becomes more of a focus, which I dislike. She is inconsistently precocious, being whatever the plot needs her to be, behaving anywhere from one to ten years old. But the ending is surprising and does tie it all neatly together, which I appreciate in a mystery. All in all, it was an enjoyable light read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Child abuse
guessgreenleaf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, and Stalking
erebus53's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is a title I heard about through bookclub. It's a 2023 published work and I haven't read any of Jesse Sutanto's previous work so I really didn't know what to expect; it is quite a particular flavour of cozy mystery. Set in China Town in San Francisco, Vera runs a teashop that is seldom frequented and mostly ignored, until one day she comes downstairs to find a dead man in her shop.. and for some reason there are suddenly several suspec... er.. visitors who show up (are they returning to the scene of their crime?). Vera is bored and lonely and her mind conflates all the circumstantial evidence she can find into a narrative that clearly shows the man was murdered.. ok, not clearly.. but he HAS to have been murdered; he was a bad man and nobody liked him. Vera is very put out when the police tell her that the man died of natural causes, but she isn't going to let that stop her.
This book is ridiculously hilarious. I think I probably found it more so because of the people I know who are elderly Chinese migrants. I had mixed feelings as to whether I was playing into Racial stereotypes or just laughing at things that I recognise fondly from people I know. (These are the things that White Progressively minded people have to wonder at in the hope that we aren't perpetuating stupid biases against other people.. even expressing that feels awkward as all get out, but it's worth the effort.) As someone whose job used to be making advertising for Asian small-business owners, I was belly laughing at the discussion between Vera and her son, about how she "can't" to make baseless claims about her business such as it being "World Famous", when nobody had heard of it. This was a culture clash that I had personally encountered in my work, and the book had me nodding along with these various cultural quirks; Vera continually commenting on the condition of people's skin, criticises young people for being lazy, and refers to any self-trained expert as a "doctor" - I have been called Computer Doctor by Chinese workmates... it's a thing).
Vera is a character. She operates with very little filter, and a lot of energy. Her commanding presence has her drawing together all her suspe... new friends, to unravel their involvement in the life of the man who was killed. Vera's English is not quite right, and her command of modern technology is .. approximate. She bumbles her way overconfidently through a modern age of Googles and Podcasts, fairly well, and is up before dawn to make bribe.. er breakfast for the local police and the various people she hopes to befriend on her search for Justice!
Under Vera's insuppressible bluster is a story about people surviving encounters with an entitled Narcissist. Interspersed throughout the story in ways that make the emotionally fraught content a little more palatable, we have the bitterness of a son who is demonised by his manipulative twin, a wife who is gaslit and socially isolated by her derisive husband, an artist who is continually pressured and controlled by her family to the point where her self-esteem is worn down, and a guy who is making bad decisions because of financial hardship and his duty to his family. Family is a deep theme through the whole book, and we are slowly brought to the modern idea of building new families around us that are nurturing, regardless of the damage done to us by the families we are born or married into.
I didn't know whether or not to cringe at how these people were manipulated and pushed around by a strange old lady - how badly had they been treated that they were so full of self-blame and lack of assertiveness? At the same time I was also upset that I might have been in a similar position especially when I was younger. I have at times been such a bombastic force of nature that others have gone along with whatever I said because it was easier than trying to swim against the rip-tide. In some ways Vera uses the same techniques as the horrid dead man, in that she focuses intently on people, love bombs them (sometimes with tea and food) and then inserts herself into their lives, but the main thing that separates her from the nasty guy is that she tries to get people together, to help them communicate, to help people excel at what they love and value themselves for it, and to build them up rather than tearing them down. (I can relate - but it's a little embarrassing to admit).
At times it eels like this story runs quite slowly. The fear of the main characters makes them hide their true motives and so it takes some time before the backstory comes out, but it is worth the wait. Fun story.
This book is ridiculously hilarious. I think I probably found it more so because of the people I know who are elderly Chinese migrants. I had mixed feelings as to whether I was playing into Racial stereotypes or just laughing at things that I recognise fondly from people I know. (These are the things that White Progressively minded people have to wonder at in the hope that we aren't perpetuating stupid biases against other people.. even expressing that feels awkward as all get out, but it's worth the effort.) As someone whose job used to be making advertising for Asian small-business owners, I was belly laughing at the discussion between Vera and her son, about how she "can't" to make baseless claims about her business such as it being "World Famous", when nobody had heard of it. This was a culture clash that I had personally encountered in my work, and the book had me nodding along with these various cultural quirks; Vera continually commenting on the condition of people's skin, criticises young people for being lazy, and refers to any self-trained expert as a "doctor" - I have been called Computer Doctor by Chinese workmates... it's a thing).
Vera is a character. She operates with very little filter, and a lot of energy. Her commanding presence has her drawing together all her suspe... new friends, to unravel their involvement in the life of the man who was killed. Vera's English is not quite right, and her command of modern technology is .. approximate. She bumbles her way overconfidently through a modern age of Googles and Podcasts, fairly well, and is up before dawn to make bribe.. er breakfast for the local police and the various people she hopes to befriend on her search for Justice!
Under Vera's insuppressible bluster is a story about people surviving encounters with an entitled Narcissist. Interspersed throughout the story in ways that make the emotionally fraught content a little more palatable, we have the bitterness of a son who is demonised by his manipulative twin, a wife who is gaslit and socially isolated by her derisive husband, an artist who is continually pressured and controlled by her family to the point where her self-esteem is worn down, and a guy who is making bad decisions because of financial hardship and his duty to his family. Family is a deep theme through the whole book, and we are slowly brought to the modern idea of building new families around us that are nurturing, regardless of the damage done to us by the families we are born or married into.
I didn't know whether or not to cringe at how these people were manipulated and pushed around by a strange old lady - how badly had they been treated that they were so full of self-blame and lack of assertiveness? At the same time I was also upset that I might have been in a similar position especially when I was younger. I have at times been such a bombastic force of nature that others have gone along with whatever I said because it was easier than trying to swim against the rip-tide. In some ways Vera uses the same techniques as the horrid dead man, in that she focuses intently on people, love bombs them (sometimes with tea and food) and then inserts herself into their lives, but the main thing that separates her from the nasty guy is that she tries to get people together, to help them communicate, to help people excel at what they love and value themselves for it, and to build them up rather than tearing them down. (I can relate - but it's a little embarrassing to admit).
At times it eels like this story runs quite slowly. The fear of the main characters makes them hide their true motives and so it takes some time before the backstory comes out, but it is worth the wait. Fun story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Murder, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Terminal illness, Stalking, Sexism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Chronic illness and Terminal illness
gillianengelbrecht's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Stalking, and Death of parent
thoranareads's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Minor: Stalking and Death of parent