Reviews with content warning for Death - Homicide and Halo-Halo

Lila was quite annoying for a good part of this book. I know she has trauma, but that doesn't excuse her being overdramatic and selfish...it's a good thing that the other characters call her out, because it'd be unbearable if the narration made her out to be correct all the time. Manansala also tends to over-explain things, like...Lila gave Jae a "Yoda Best Dentist" mug, and the author just HAD to clarify that this was a play on words because Jae was a dentist and a Star Wars fan. We get it. Absolutely no chemistry between Lila and Amir, by the way. I forgot there was supposed to be a love triangle.

The good thing is that the mystery here was much better than the one in the first book! Enough crumbs were sprinkled throughout the story for the reveal to make sense without being too predictable. Despite my criticisms, I genuinely had a fun time and I'm still continuing with the series, if only to support the idea of Filipino-centered mysteries.

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christinesreads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

3.75

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lindsloveslit's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.5

Homicide and Halo-Halo was a cute and cozy, food-filled mystery. Reading it made me SO HUNGRY! (Fortunately, since I was borrowing it from the library via the Libby app, I was able to snack the entire time. 😋)

If you read & enjoyed the first book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen series (I've got a more personal review of that one up), you'll like this one, too. It had heavier content, but the author included those warnings in the author note at the beginning of the book. 🫶🏽 You can tell through her writing that she has put in work towards her mental health, and I always like seeing that reflected on the pages.

One of my qualms with the first book was the sheer amount of characters. We learn more about the main character in this second book, but it is DEFINITELY story driven, not character driven.

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saurahsaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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chelseylb1988's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

5.0

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elliehoney's review

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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? No

4.5

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kimveach's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this even more than the first book, which is often the case with cozy mysteries.

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amandalorianxo's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing fast-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

3.75

I appreciated the tiny recaps the author sprinkled here and there because it has been a while since I read the first book in this series. I also liked the content warning that Mia wrote as well because this definitely took on a different tone and vibe compared to the first book. It’s still a cozy mystery but the characters seem to be more comfortable calling out Lila when she is on her bs as well as Lila acknowledging that she isn’t the same person she was during the spring time. It’s summer now and someone is no longer around Shady Palms. Lila & her family find herself in the midst of things again as well as some old and new faces. It was a little bit predictable (to me) at which type of person that committed the crime but as to the actual person, I guessed wrong so that was cool for me. The recipes are still at the back of the book which I loved. I am also glad the characters sort of call out Lila when it came to her love life because even though she owes no one an explanation, it was getting annoying when Amir or Jae were around & she tried to play at then being friends. I also had a feeling that Lila was going to pick a certain someone because the other person seemed to have a weird personality change and conveniently like someone else. Looking forward to book three in October.

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