Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Homicide and Halo-Halo

I’ll say it — I love cozy mysteries! This series is great for so many reasons; the characters, the dialogue, the pacing, but what I love about this - and what makes it so unique - is all of the vivid descriptions of food. And not just because my inner chubby girl likes to eat! Food is such an important staple in so many cultures and I love getting to see Filipino, Mexican, Korean, and Middle Eastern staples represented in this book!

The plot drives forward pretty quickly, and in true “whodoneit” fashion, everyone is a suspect at one time or another. I love how Manansala uses misdirection to keep you guessing. I’m usually pretty good at figuring these out early on, but I didn’t get it until the last 50 or so pages!

While this is a fun read for the sleuths out there, this book is a bit darker and explores some potentially triggering content, which I feel the author did a good job calling out in her author’s note. Please check these warnings before diving in!

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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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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

3.5

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bookswhitme's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I have a few mixed feelings about this one. The reveal didn’t make sense to me in some ways, partially because of the timeline of events. I could have missed something though and that’s why it’s a bit off to me. Also, the predatory behavior of one of the characters especially towards the underage girls was an important topic to touch on, but I feel like the discussion was a bit lackluster. The resolution was just that he died, but considering how widely known his behavior was and the role it played in the actual conflict, I expected a bit more. The most accountability that was discussed was by one of the girls who pointed out that something should’ve been done early on and then someone griped about how they now had to “write a press release” about it. I don’t know, it just left a bit to be desired there.

The discussion on PTSD and therapy, plus the difficulty of complicated family relationships was done pretty well, especially once it was tied into culture and the family.

I have to admit the MC did annoy me with how immature she acted at certain times. I understand being petty, but sometimes she just came off as childish and stubborn, which is fine, but it felt never ending. Also, for the love of goodness I hope this “love triangle” thing gets resolved soon because at this point it’s just dragging on.

Despite all this, I did enjoy listening to the audio and I’m glad we didn’t just gloss over what happened in book 1. Trauma has a lasting effect so being able to see that Lila was not okay and everything wasn’t just happy golucky I’m the aftermath was a definite plus.

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