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klm2620's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Really enjoyed this fast-paced action mystery-thriller. If you liked the movie RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous) with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren, you’ll probably enjoy this one about a quad of 60-something old school gals who are ready to close their career chapter of their secret assassin lives and get one helluva “final assignment”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual harassment
porkkutletbowl's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment
the_goose_caboose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault
ggcd1981's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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
4.5
Killers of a Certain Age de Deanna Raybourn me entreteve, pois, a história foi interessante. O livro é sobre quatro assassinas idosas, a protagonista Billie e suas companheiras Helen, Natalie e Mary Alice, se aposentando quando de repente a própria instituição, O “Museu”, que as mantinha envia um agente para mata-las no cruzeiro que marcaria o início de sua aposentadoria. A autora intercalou capítulos que mostravam as assassinas como jovem mulheres em 1979, iniciando seu treinamento e serviço com o museu e o projeto Sphinx, e capítulos no presente quando as quatro mulheres estão sendo perseguidas após sua aposentadoria. O museu é uma agência de assassinos que iniciou caçando nazistas e passou a caçar outros malfeitores que a justiça comum não alcança como, por exemplo, criminosos de guerra. Billie, Helen, Natalie e Mary Alice são Sphinxes, o primeiro grupo de assassinas mulheres do Museu. A narrativa segue Billie e suas companheiras tentando se manter vivas enquanto investigam as razões que levaram os diretores do museu a quererem suas mortes. Elas descobrem ao contatar Martin, um agente da inteligência do museu, que alguém submeteu um dossiê as acusando de corrupção, e que na verdade os diretores do museu estavam protegendo um membro verdadeiramente corrupto que estava encaminhando assassinatos por dinheiro para ser aprovados pela diretoria. As sphinxes então passam a assassinar os diretores do museu. O livro culmina com Billie sendo capturada intencionalmente, fazia parte do plano que as sphinxes arquitetaram, e é revelado ao leitor, que Vance, o último diretor descobriu o plano de Martin. Martin, segundo em comando do setor responsável por montar dossiês de vítimas a serem aprovadas para assassinato, estava montando dossiês por dinheiro e ao revelar as sphinxes informações sobre a diretoria ele planejava que as assassinas matassem a diretoria e ele, assim, assumisse a diretoria do Museu sozinho. Vance então decidiu levar Martin e Billie ao esconderijo das sphinxes e matar as assassinas e o traidor lá. Contudo as assassinas tinham um plano, após uma sequência de ação, Billie mata Vance e Helen, que até então no livro estava passando por uma crise em que congelava e não conseguia matar ninguém, atira na cabeça de Martin o matando enquanto este tentava usar Billie como refém para fugir. O livro termina com a reputação de Billie, Helen, Natalie e Mary Alice sendo restauradas no museu e os membros corruptos, pelo menos ao que se sabe, mortos. O livro fez um bom trabalho de diferenciar as quatro mulheres, elas realmente tinham personalidades e características únicas a cada uma: Billie que não sabia o que fazer da vida sem ser assassina e seu relacionamento amor e ódio com o sua antiga chama e único aliado real das sphinxes,Christopher Taverner; Helen, uma viúva depressiva com comportamentos beirando TOCs que perdeu a confiança como assassina; Natalie, uma mulher ainda com forte libido não adepta a monogamia; Mary Alice, casada e feliz, ansiosa por deixar a vida de assassina para traz e parar de mentir a sua esposa Akiko. A obra teve um passo rápido e boas cenas de ação. As revelações não foram realmente surpreendentes, mas isso não impediu o entretenimento. Acredito que ponto baixo foi que os personagens secundários foram um pouco superficiais, por exemplo Minka, amiga de Billie, Akiko, esposa de Mary Alice. Essas duas são aliadas das Sphinxes e as ajudam no plano final, mas pouco realmente sabemos sobre elas. O único personagem secundário mais aprofundado é Taverner a quem vemos nos flashbacks e descobrimos mais sobre sua vida pós-relacionamento com Billie. O livro é relevante por ter protagonistas idosas inteligentes e capazes que muitas vezes superam os preconceitos que seus antagonistas têm contra elas pela sua idade. Killers of a Certain Age não foi exatamente excelente, mas foi um bom entretenimento, interessante e relevante. Descobri que vai ser uma série e não sei se vou continuar, gostei do primeiro livro mas acho que ele funciona bem como standalone. Dou 4.5 estrelas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury
spineofthesaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Trafficking
alllis's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
it was ok - just interesting enough to keep reading - story idea was good but i wasn’t fond of the writing style or the characterization
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cancer, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
3readingcircus's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Police brutality, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I was torn between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one; it was a fun read despite its flaws. My book club enjoyed it as a whole, and we particularly enjoyed the New Orleans setting and the candid discussions of menopause. Honestly, it was refreshing to read a book where the main characters weren't in their 20s or 30s, especially when the main characters were assassins who had some very creative ways of killing people.
The characterization left something to be desired, as Billie was the only one of the women with a distinctive voice. I did like Mary Alice and Naomi's relationship dynamic and how that ended up playing into the story. While I enjoyed the training flashbacks at the beginning, they were pretty drawn out towards the end, and Billie's love interest felt highly superfluous. But again, if you can stop yourself from overthinking it, this ends up being an entertaining and action-packed read (with a clear warning not to underestimate the retirees in your life).
The characterization left something to be desired, as Billie was the only one of the women with a distinctive voice. I did like Mary Alice and Naomi's relationship dynamic and how that ended up playing into the story. While I enjoyed the training flashbacks at the beginning, they were pretty drawn out towards the end, and Billie's love interest felt highly superfluous. But again, if you can stop yourself from overthinking it, this ends up being an entertaining and action-packed read (with a clear warning not to underestimate the retirees in your life).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Grief and Sexual harassment
midnightrubies's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual harassment
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
I thought this was just perfection. I absolutely flew through it, and it was one of those reads where I got mad at other tasks in my life that took me away from it lol. The writing is tight and descriptive, the story flowed forward effortlessly, and I LOVED older women getting to be the heroes. What a treat. I can't wait to read this author again. And that she dedicated it to anyone who identifies as female and feels rage - that got me right in the ol' ticker.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment