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mari_books's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
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? N/A
4.0
On its face the book is a fast paced almost beach read style mystery with a lovely and curious team of elderly detectives. There are lots of elements of mystery and emotional life/ death/ love/ family sentimental moments. Solidly 4 stars. Dinging one star for how anticlimactic the ending was and I think in general the author introduced too many characters it was kind of unneeded and hard to keep track of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
jfield351's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a good book. I loved how easy to read it was and how short the chapters were. The big twist didn’t shock me too much, it didn’t really have too much of an effect on me. I did think some of the characters actions were unbelievable but I guess that happens in mystery novels
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
rieviolet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
3.0
The book is divided into very short chapters, so that the reading experience feels very fast and easy.
Each chapter switches between quite a lot of point of views (to be honest, maybe too many). This certainly helps to keep the narration interesting and varied but, at the same time, it does not allow to explore the characters in depth and it can become a bit confusing to keep track of everyone and every storyline.
I think that the book relies a bit too much on the characters' "quirky" traits and, even though this makes the narration funny enough, it can come across as somehow overdone.
I'm not really sure about the mystery part of the story, it did make sense
(sort of) but at the same time it felt a bit convoluted, maybe too much twists and turns towards the very end of the story?
All in all, a nice and quick read but I don't think I'll continue with the series.
Each chapter switches between quite a lot of point of views (to be honest, maybe too many). This certainly helps to keep the narration interesting and varied but, at the same time, it does not allow to explore the characters in depth and it can become a bit confusing to keep track of everyone and every storyline.
I think that the book relies a bit too much on the characters' "quirky" traits and, even though this makes the narration funny enough, it can come across as somehow overdone.
I'm not really sure about the mystery part of the story, it did make sense
(sort of) but at the same time it felt a bit convoluted, maybe too much twists and turns towards the very end of the story?
All in all, a nice and quick read but I don't think I'll continue with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
lkbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death and Miscarriage
novi's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This is more of a murder mystery than a thriller. It took a slow cozy approach, although at times can be a bit tense, but overall it's not action-packed or suspenseful.
I think I'll like it more if the whole book is narrated from Joyce's point of view because her chapters are always has funny bits and I looove old people's first person's narration. Joyce is the only first person pov here, though. The other chapters was narrated through third person point of view and I didn't really enjoy it.
I think the mystery is all over the place. There are twists here and there but it wasn't satisfying to me and it made me lose interest/care about the mystery.I like my mystery to be wrapped nicely in one. Like, clues or the occurrences might seem scattered or didn't have connection with one another but in the end they're all connected. But here, they're not connected at all. In fact there were really separated from one another. You could say they're red herrings, but usually we never knew what these red herrings were actually about. But here, the book gave us closures for these red herrings. And it quite upsets me. The author might think that it's clever, because those closures are the twists. But I was actually hoping for something more and ended up with something that came out of Chicken Soup for the Soul or something (i've never read those though so i don't know). And one of those red herrings (I'm talking about Bernard's plotlines here) we were not even let to be invested in it yet, and then suddenly the closure came and the resolution of it just made me like..... "Um... Okay??". All I'm saying is, it's all so convoluted for nothing.
And Chris gotta stop being relatable. Like seriously. Stop. Ittttt. I don't want to relate to an old police officer but this book keeps attacking me for no reason.
I think I'll like it more if the whole book is narrated from Joyce's point of view because her chapters are always has funny bits and I looove old people's first person's narration. Joyce is the only first person pov here, though. The other chapters was narrated through third person point of view and I didn't really enjoy it.
I think the mystery is all over the place. There are twists here and there but it wasn't satisfying to me and it made me lose interest/care about the mystery.
And Chris gotta stop being relatable. Like seriously. Stop. Ittttt. I don't want to relate to an old police officer but this book keeps attacking me for no reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
One side character often feels guilty about what he eats and thinks of the calories that the food containsncoletti's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder