Reviews with content warning for Violence - Shady Hollow

This was a cute enjoyable read, but there wasn’t much to it. I absolutely loved the premise but I feel like the authors made this story too cozy and simplistic; the murderer was kind of obvious and most of the book was people just running around clueless not getting any more facts about the case. It definitely had a whimsical tone, but in some ways it felt a little forced/scripted. I wish there was just a little bit more depth to this book to add more interest. I will read the other books in the series, but I am not sure if I will purchase them or if I will just borrow from the library.

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readingrampage's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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linneak's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.25

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coryyalva's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Super cute "Fantastic Mr. Fox"-esque murder mystery. I really enjoyed the writing style of this one.
However, despite not being able to guess who the murderer was by the end of the book, I was a little unimpressed with the ending. I can't wait to see how the next book picks up after this.

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kynajayne's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Very enjoyable cozy murder mystery. Wasn’t quite something (gripping?) enough for me, though the town and people were extremely cute.

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careinthelibrary's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.0

How did this author manage to make the book racist when it's about animals 😒

The author relies on some racist and sexist stereotypes and the characters that aren’t offensive are just boring. You’ve got the panda who runs a restaurant called “Bamboo Patch” and he used to be a doctor in his home country but now here he’s working a low-income job. He has special herbs from his homelands in a cabinet in his office (aka playing on eastern medicine). It all feels like low-hanging fruit, relying on surface level cultural information to recreate stereotypes.

Everything feels so predictable and neither the worldbuilding nor the writing made up for the lack of good characters. There's a bookshop and a coffee shop and I wanted these to be richly detailed, cosy, and memorable. They're so lack luster that they blend into the rest of the scenery which is also boring.

I only finished this to see how it ended (who was the murderer) and that was a disappointment reliant on stereotypes as well. It just flopped.

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toris_in_her_own_world's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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

5.0

This was such a cozy murder mystery! Some mystery books are very intense and have you biting your nails the whole time, but this one was very relaxing and comforting. I didn't know who the murderer was until the very end, and the plot was much more complex than I thought a book with animals as the main characters ever could be. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series!

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anselm's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

A good cosy mystery but except for the characters being animals, the story didn't necessarily stand out.

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