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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a nice, stress free read before going to sleep. I like revisiting Georgie and learning more about that period in time.
I wanted to like it! Fulltime Darcy is always a treat. But the racism was just too much for me. Some of it may have been era-appropriate, but that doesn't mean I want it in my light reading.
The final straw is a full mystery spoiler:.
Honestly, you can skip this one and not lose anything in the further story. They went on their honeymoon, where they solved a murder. You're all caught up. Skip to #14.
The final straw is a full mystery spoiler:
Spoiler
The only Black character was the killer??? Are you fkn serious???? Not to mention the "tragic mulatto" nonsense. C'mon.Honestly, you can skip this one and not lose anything in the further story. They went on their honeymoon, where they solved a murder. You're all caught up. Skip to #14.
Honestly, this was my favorite book in the whole Royal Spyness series. I loved the exotic lcoation, loved the interplay between newly married Georgie and Darcy, and the colorful characters they meet in Africa. I'm a sucker for a mystery in a forgein land, and this book played it up awesomely.
I loved it.
I loved it.
https://jenninsf.wordpress.com/2019/09/01/love-and-death-among-the-cheetahs-by-rhys-bowen
mysterious
fast-paced
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I knew this was going to be bad when there was a disclaimer at the beginning about “sorry if you’re offended by the characters being racist but it’s historically accurate!!” This is a cozy mystery! It doesn’t have to be historically accurate in that way! And if Bowen honestly believes she must be historically accurate like that, why didn’t she you just...choose a different plot and setting so she then didn’t have to write a story about a bunch of rich white people being racist?? (Plus like... much about these stories is unrealistic. But realistic racism she’s going to be a stickler on??)
And it goes beyond just the characters being racist and snobby - the murderer ends up being the ONLY Kenyan with a developed persona (in this whole book that takes place in Kenya). And he basically commits the murder because... he’s half-Kenyan and half-British and has a British education and is “caught between two worlds”. Which is a gross and racist motive!
This book was also very slut-shame-y which is also not great.
And beyond all that it was just a boring book? The murder didn’t happen until super far into the story, there was no real build-up of suspense, none of the fun secondary characters were present in the story...
And it goes beyond just the characters being racist and snobby - the murderer ends up being the ONLY Kenyan with a developed persona (in this whole book that takes place in Kenya). And he basically commits the murder because... he’s half-Kenyan and half-British and has a British education and is “caught between two worlds”. Which is a gross and racist motive!
This book was also very slut-shame-y which is also not great.
And beyond all that it was just a boring book? The murder didn’t happen until super far into the story, there was no real build-up of suspense, none of the fun secondary characters were present in the story...