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A review by hidekisohma
Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle
2.0
So it had been about 3 years since i read the first Coffeehouse mystery and i thought to myself "now why did it take me this long to read the next one?" after reading the next book i realized the reason. it's because the main character is awful.
Clare is one of the most pretentious, elitist, self righteous main characters of a cozy mystery i've ever come across and i can't stand her.
Every time she has a thought or opens her mouth it's about "i was raised a good christian girl" or "ugh, i can't STAND anyone who drinks decaf". Every time she speaks or has an internal monologue i want to slap the self righteousness off her face. Also her oddly obsessive way she deals with her daughter is quite worrying and should probably see a shrink about that.
There are several problems with this story, but one of the biggest ones is that, a giant chunk of it has nothing to do with the murder mystery. literally the first 3/4 is about clare's love life and her trying out dating this guy and telling us ways of making coffee steak, which honestly sounds disgusting IMO.
the murder mystery definitely takes a backseat to this as they try to hit you with some red herrings before the final reveal and
*slight spoiler start*
The worst part is, she doesn't even figure out who the killer is. In most cozy mysteries either the person figures out who the murderer is or at LEAST stumbles into the answer. Clare doesn't even do THAT. She literally picks the wrong guy and the detective pops up and goes "oh nah, we already figured it out. you got the wrong person" Yep....that's her contribution to the plot. to get stuck behind a red herring. good job protagonist
*slight spoiler end*
So like literally if you removed Clare from the story, NOTHING would have changed. and that's just poor writing. All she ended up doing was complicating things. she didn't save the day, figure anything out, or catch the bad guy. she was just kind of.....there. Odd choice for the author to make honestly. and one i'm not a fan of. Also, you can stop telling us that Clare's hot coyle. we get it. you want to be like "oh she's a mom of a 20 year old but she's still super hot and 3 guys want her." yes. thank you for your unrealistic viewpoints on the world cleo.
The only thing i can say that i liked about this was that it reads fast. it's not bogged down with a crazy amount of details, and in the few spots they are, cleo doesn't bother to weave them into the story, she kind of just...STOPS the plot and gives us a page of description, so it's easy enough to know where i could skim over.
The only characters that were SOMEWHAT enjoyable were the people who work at her shop like Tucker. He's funny. other than that, this book was lame with a capital CLARE.
Oh, and yeah i agree with other reviewers on here. That anti-bisexual putdown she made at the speed dating event was REALLY nasty, uncalled for, and rude.
I totally forgot why it took me 3 years to read the 2nd book in this series, but like i said, oh yeah, now i remember. i'm sure it'll take me another 3 years to read the third one. I'm hoping it gets better, i really do, but i'm not holding my breath.
1.5 out of 5 rounded up to a 2.
Clare is one of the most pretentious, elitist, self righteous main characters of a cozy mystery i've ever come across and i can't stand her.
Every time she has a thought or opens her mouth it's about "i was raised a good christian girl" or "ugh, i can't STAND anyone who drinks decaf". Every time she speaks or has an internal monologue i want to slap the self righteousness off her face. Also her oddly obsessive way she deals with her daughter is quite worrying and should probably see a shrink about that.
There are several problems with this story, but one of the biggest ones is that, a giant chunk of it has nothing to do with the murder mystery. literally the first 3/4 is about clare's love life and her trying out dating this guy and telling us ways of making coffee steak, which honestly sounds disgusting IMO.
the murder mystery definitely takes a backseat to this as they try to hit you with some red herrings before the final reveal and
*slight spoiler start*
The worst part is, she doesn't even figure out who the killer is. In most cozy mysteries either the person figures out who the murderer is or at LEAST stumbles into the answer. Clare doesn't even do THAT. She literally picks the wrong guy and the detective pops up and goes "oh nah, we already figured it out. you got the wrong person" Yep....that's her contribution to the plot. to get stuck behind a red herring. good job protagonist
*slight spoiler end*
So like literally if you removed Clare from the story, NOTHING would have changed. and that's just poor writing. All she ended up doing was complicating things. she didn't save the day, figure anything out, or catch the bad guy. she was just kind of.....there. Odd choice for the author to make honestly. and one i'm not a fan of. Also, you can stop telling us that Clare's hot coyle. we get it. you want to be like "oh she's a mom of a 20 year old but she's still super hot and 3 guys want her." yes. thank you for your unrealistic viewpoints on the world cleo.
The only thing i can say that i liked about this was that it reads fast. it's not bogged down with a crazy amount of details, and in the few spots they are, cleo doesn't bother to weave them into the story, she kind of just...STOPS the plot and gives us a page of description, so it's easy enough to know where i could skim over.
The only characters that were SOMEWHAT enjoyable were the people who work at her shop like Tucker. He's funny. other than that, this book was lame with a capital CLARE.
Oh, and yeah i agree with other reviewers on here. That anti-bisexual putdown she made at the speed dating event was REALLY nasty, uncalled for, and rude.
I totally forgot why it took me 3 years to read the 2nd book in this series, but like i said, oh yeah, now i remember. i'm sure it'll take me another 3 years to read the third one. I'm hoping it gets better, i really do, but i'm not holding my breath.
1.5 out of 5 rounded up to a 2.