Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen

2 reviews

flowerowl's review

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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crystalisreading's review against another edition

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I was granted an advance copy of Above the Bay of Angels via NetGalley, and took way too long to get around to trying to read it (Thanks pandemic reading slump!).  But now that I've finally picked it up, I'm sorry I did. While I understand it is historically accurate for many people of the era this book is set to be racist, there's no excuse for the author framing the story that way. I've heard from other reviews that in addition to the racist depiction and in-story treatment of Abdul Karim, the Munshi, there's also a completely unnecessary homophobic depiction of a fictional character later in the book. Even French characters can't seem to get away from stereotypical descriptions like over-emotional and too proud.  The author tries to defend her racist depiction of the Munshi (who was completely not relevant to this story anyway, and could have been left out), with an afterward citing historical "facts" that have been disproven.  Racists gotta find an excuse for racism, I guess.  Considering that Bella isn't my favorite character anyway, as she repeatedly makes impulsive choices and is then shocked by their outcomes, and that there's multiple turns of phrase in the book that sound too modern for the story's setting, it just doesn't seem worthwhile to finish this story for historical descriptions of food alone. What a disappointment. What I read of this book has left a bitter taste in my mouth about this author's worldview in general--this makes it seem like she'd be one of those Brits who'd hate Meghan Markle too--and I'll be removing any other of her books from my to-read list.

Thanks anyway to #NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me a free #advancecopy of #AbovetheBayofAngels.
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