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cody_crumley's reviews
160 reviews
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
3.75
A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
"It's easy to get railroaded when it comes to murder investigations." He looked at me. "Especially here in the village. Especially when you're black. Our police don't have a lot of experience investigating murders. They might jump on any little stray clue and try to make a case out of it"
I chose the quote at the top of this review as look at the missed potential in my opinion of this book. This is a cozy mystery story about a woman named Win reopening her family's ice cream shop in a small village/town that then gets rocked with a murder.
This is the third or fourth cozy mystery that I have read and I think that this genre is just not for me. The premise of the book is fine, but really none of the characters see any major growth at all and are all extremely two-dimensional. Like most of them felt quirky not as a defining character trait, but just to be quirky.
For such a short book (less than 400 pages) there are big sections where nothing really happens. The writing style comes across as simplistic and repetitive. To me the best part of the book were the ice cream recipes at the back of the book (really want to make those lol)
I really wanted to like this. The reason why our book club picked this was for a story by an African-American author that was not about trauma or sadness. I stand by that decision, but I think something that the quote at the top of this review shows is that you could tackle important social/civic right issues without having to dip into trauma.
I think what this cozy mystery was missing was something that gave it depth. Maybe using the murder to help Win realize that this small town is not exactly perfect or that it is still effected by bigger social issues and not the small town utopia that it portrayed as, but then that becomes not a cozy mystery anymore. I think this just kinda cements that this is just not a genre for me, and that is okay because not everything is meant for everyone
I chose the quote at the top of this review as look at the missed potential in my opinion of this book. This is a cozy mystery story about a woman named Win reopening her family's ice cream shop in a small village/town that then gets rocked with a murder.
This is the third or fourth cozy mystery that I have read and I think that this genre is just not for me. The premise of the book is fine, but really none of the characters see any major growth at all and are all extremely two-dimensional. Like most of them felt quirky not as a defining character trait, but just to be quirky.
For such a short book (less than 400 pages) there are big sections where nothing really happens. The writing style comes across as simplistic and repetitive. To me the best part of the book were the ice cream recipes at the back of the book (really want to make those lol)
I really wanted to like this. The reason why our book club picked this was for a story by an African-American author that was not about trauma or sadness. I stand by that decision, but I think something that the quote at the top of this review shows is that you could tackle important social/civic right issues without having to dip into trauma.
I think what this cozy mystery was missing was something that gave it depth. Maybe using the murder to help Win realize that this small town is not exactly perfect or that it is still effected by bigger social issues and not the small town utopia that it portrayed as, but then that becomes not a cozy mystery anymore. I think this just kinda cements that this is just not a genre for me, and that is okay because not everything is meant for everyone
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
“Ideas have to cause problems before they cause solutions.”
Dry British comedy, time traveling, romance, and a spy thriller all mixed together...might equal my most disappointing book this year already. Like the quote above from "The Ministry of Time" the idea of this book causes a lot of problems with me, but it does not cause any solutions.
My first major problem with this book is the shelving of the Main Character (who we are never given a name for, which did not really lead to anything). I know that she is really just a vehicle for the time travel narrative, but she really just gets shoved to the side for Gore and their "romance". Which that romance was not really a romance out all. It came across as a obsession with someone due to proximity more than actual feelings. From Gore's side, it seems that there might be a tinge of racism with his feelings, him admitting to the fact that she was resemblance to the Inuit woman that he killed before getting taken towards the future (for him). I did not expect for her to be treated like an actual bridge.
Next, I am someone who enjoys literary fiction, I don't always want it spelled out for me, nor do I want just basic phrases constantly used. Its okay to expand your vocabulary, but something that Kaliane Bradley did CONSTANTLY was turn everything into a soliloquy or analogy
(Ex: “Holding me in his arms, the way that poems hold clauses.” or “he looked oddly formal, as if he was the sole person in serif font.”) I don't mind a fun phrase and I understand trying to not use the same repeated words over and over again, but when everything is something, then it becomes nothing. It starts to stick out more and more, eventually just making me roll my eyes
Finally, it feels like she is trying to much but does not want to commit to just one thing, which sadly brings everything down. Sometimes it is a BBC comedy, other times it is a Bond spy-thriller, or it tries to be Kate & Leopold, a fish out of water/time travel romance. It is not good at any of them, and together it just comes across as a uneven hodgepodge. With all of that, nothing really "happens" which is fine if you are telling this "fish out of water" trope time travel story through the mundane actions of everyday life, but not when you add on "spy-thriller" and "romance" to the genre list. Top that off with a rushed last 20% of a ending, and you get (at least in my opinion) a let down of a book.
Also a kinda related sidebar, but this did come across as "Author surrogate" type of fan fiction, which there is nothing wrong at all with that, but it felt kinda apparent more than most published works. Though if Stephanie Meyer can do it then why shouldn't Kaliane Bradley be able to.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
“Ideas have to cause problems before they cause solutions.”
Dry British comedy, time traveling, romance, and a spy thriller all mixed together...might equal my most disappointing book this year already. Like the quote above from "The Ministry of Time" the idea of this book causes a lot of problems with me, but it does not cause any solutions.
My first major problem with this book is the shelving of the Main Character (who we are never given a name for, which did not really lead to anything). I know that she is really just a vehicle for the time travel narrative, but she really just gets shoved to the side for Gore and their "romance". Which that romance was not really a romance out all. It came across as a obsession with someone due to proximity more than actual feelings. From Gore's side, it seems that there might be a tinge of racism with his feelings, him admitting to the fact that she was resemblance to the Inuit woman that he killed before getting taken towards the future (for him). I did not expect for her to be treated like an actual bridge.
Next, I am someone who enjoys literary fiction, I don't always want it spelled out for me, nor do I want just basic phrases constantly used. Its okay to expand your vocabulary, but something that Kaliane Bradley did CONSTANTLY was turn everything into a soliloquy or analogy
(Ex: “Holding me in his arms, the way that poems hold clauses.” or “he looked oddly formal, as if he was the sole person in serif font.”) I don't mind a fun phrase and I understand trying to not use the same repeated words over and over again, but when everything is something, then it becomes nothing. It starts to stick out more and more, eventually just making me roll my eyes
Finally, it feels like she is trying to much but does not want to commit to just one thing, which sadly brings everything down. Sometimes it is a BBC comedy, other times it is a Bond spy-thriller, or it tries to be Kate & Leopold, a fish out of water/time travel romance. It is not good at any of them, and together it just comes across as a uneven hodgepodge. With all of that, nothing really "happens" which is fine if you are telling this "fish out of water" trope time travel story through the mundane actions of everyday life, but not when you add on "spy-thriller" and "romance" to the genre list. Top that off with a rushed last 20% of a ending, and you get (at least in my opinion) a let down of a book.
Also a kinda related sidebar, but this did come across as "Author surrogate" type of fan fiction, which there is nothing wrong at all with that, but it felt kinda apparent more than most published works. Though if Stephanie Meyer can do it then why shouldn't Kaliane Bradley be able to.