Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

9 reviews

silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

2023 reread: I'm dropping the rating a tiny bit on this re-read, but that may just be because it was audio and narrator really overinflected a lot of Flavia's thoughts. Still an enjoyable story, and I'd like to both continue with a re-read of the series, and come back to this one in a non-audio format and see if it's the format or the repetition that dropped it out of the 'potential all time favorite' zone. 

Original review:
The only thing that could possibly make this book better (aside from maybe not activating my mild claustrophobia in a couple of scenes) is if I'd discovered it a couple of decades ago when I was eleven.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault

mint_julippe's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Racism

orchidlilly's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

An endearing and relatable character for young girls interested in science, plus she solves complex mysteries in a way that is scientifically accurate? Sign me up!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Grief, Sexism, Suicide, and Racism

anniup's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Suicide

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Confinement

Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Torture, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Death of parent, and War

About halfway through the book there's a long monologue that features an extended depiction of racist stereotypes, with a few others scattered throughout.

thereadingsparrow's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide

emileereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I did struggle to get through it but that was more about me and my reading life than this book. 

Pros: I like how spunky and confident Flavia is. She is smart and the mystery element was very interesting. I feel like there was a good setup for relationships between characters to grow in the following books (which I will be giving a shot).

Cons: Flavia is a bit too cocky at times for my liking and her contentious relationship with her sisters bothered me a bit. 

The biggest reason I think this book is a "really liked" rating vs. a "loved" rating for me is that last year I read and fell in love with Myrtle Hardcastle. Myrtle and Flavia are very alike but Myrtle is more humble and virtuous, and I read her first, so I like Myrtle more. I do think that it would be a great book club for a group to read both the first Flavia and first Myrtle books and contrast and compare them. That being said, Flavia, because of the content, I would label as more young YA while Myrtle is firmly middle grade. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Bullying, Suicide, and Death

rishel's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Suicide

alainaev's review against another edition

funny mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Bullying

Minor: Suicide and Death