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erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This story is meta as füc# .. the main character is an Editor who is reading the last work of a murder mystery writer. The author of the work she wishes to publish, dies with unfinished business but appears to have ended his own life.. or has he? Or is a murder mystery fan just taking off on flights of fancy and imagining herself a sleuth.
As a book reviewer.. this book is really strange to read. Every point that I recognise in story construction is explained by the main character as she tries to assess the work she is reading; it feels really weird to look at a story and think "ah it could be this person, but that wouldn't be a satisfying conclusion, and this person is an OBvious choice and so therefore will HAVE to be a red herring.. " only to then have those ideas explicitly expounded upon by the narrator of the story. How can your review a book that it reviewing itself?!
Events in the unpublished fiction, tend to echo events that are unfolding in the story of the Editor, and it starts to get blurry in places and you wonder how much of what is going on is conspiracy, how much is causal, and how much is coincidental.
Amongst this stuff, conversations in the "real world" (of the book) feel like self-criticisms of the genre as a whole, and of the book itself. I can't help but feel THIS book is just trying to be clever, but it leaves me holding a handful of messy hints that the author of THIS book, feels like writing murder mysteries is a practice of making a product that sells well, rather than being good literature.
I did like the Disability narratives in the book. There is a person who is considered despicable for thinking of Down Syndrome as a disease, a person who has to deal with vision loss (and Audiobooks), and several characters with terminal illnesses.
It was kind of fun, but I was listening at 125% speed, which probably says a lot about the drawn out pace of the book and my desire to get it finished rather than actually enjoying the content. For that, I did have a couple of YUSS! moments where I had predicted things accurately or big reveals that felt fairly rewarding. Maybe if you like these sorts of books more you would get more out of it. It does feel quite like a Midsomer Murders story, with word puzzles in it.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cursing and Pedophilia
sea_tea_books's review against another edition
4.0
[Book club pick for November 2023]
4 ⭐
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Homophobia and Pedophilia
navayiota's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia, Dementia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury