Reviews with content warning for Murder - Lavender House

Beautiful writing, queer history, and a mystery? What a treat. This was an amazing story that really grabbed me and kept pulling me in. Untangling this family’s messy threads, the struggles of being queer in the 1950’s, all with a intriguing mystery underneath (on on top, depending on how you look at it) this is definitely a must read!

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gurpreetlally's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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katanai's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

i mean. wow. a page turner. a heart tugger. loved it.

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cyndi1966's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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psitstorrie's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was excellent. The characters were all well developed and distinct, and the way events unfolded were clever. I love a good murder mystery, but what really stood out to me was the commentary on what being queer is like in that time period and what that means to each character, namely Andy. Even though I know what happens, I know I’m going to keep coming back to this book

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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

A predictable mystery with bland characters and a lot of homophobia that felt excessive by a point. Whenever the characters were outside of the Lavender House they were hate crimed and whenever they were in the Lavender House they were resentful of how awful it is that they're essentially trapped. And like I get it, it was especially hard to be queer in the 1950s and I could see writing this book possibly being cathartic for the author to be blunt about homophobia, just for me it was too much and I wish there was more catharsis or light.

Also the Knives Out comparison is extremely far off. The only thing this has in common with Knives Out is the fact they're murder mysteries set in mansions. It has none of the humor of Knives Out nor is it as complicated, which is fine it just should be recommended more accurately.

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1undercover's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved this book. Excellent mystery. Competent but human detective. Interesting characters and a message about family and found family. The homophobia is tough though - watch out.

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chilivanilli28's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.0

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