amandaj6's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the Queen!
This 2nd book was just as great as the first one! This isn’t my usual type of book I read, but it’s so well written with a great story and great characters and even great side characters. I can’t wait for the next book!
This 2nd book was just as great as the first one! This isn’t my usual type of book I read, but it’s so well written with a great story and great characters and even great side characters. I can’t wait for the next book!
kikadona28's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
rachbreads's review
2.0
The Queen Con continues right where The Frame-Up lets off. Unfortunately it lacked some of the clear direction present in the first book. My two main issues with this sequel are the convoluted plot (that was almost unintelligible at points) and MG....our fun heroine from the first book is unfortunately very annoying for most of this book. I understand that her personal arc in this story is to work through insecurities about herself and her relationship, but her constant questioning and pulling away from friends and her really amazing boyfriend got on my nerves. It made her a lot less sympathetic to me.
MG continues working through her issues at work, and I feel like she does learn a lot in this book about how to stand up for herself and figure out what she wants professionally, so I did enjoy reading that.
MG continues working through her issues at work, and I feel like she does learn a lot in this book about how to stand up for herself and figure out what she wants professionally, so I did enjoy reading that.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a fun follow-up to the first one. We do find out who Golden Arrow is, so I don't know if there's more to come. I hope there is, and I hope we get more explanation about the Golden Arrow details. This series is a lot of fun and really nerdy.
villyidol's review against another edition
1.0
Well, that wasn’t good.
I called the first book a guilty pleasure. But this was certainly more guilty than pleasure. The geek factor is still there, what with the main character being a comic book writer and certifiable geek that finds herself in a world in which a real-life vigilante is busting drug rings and MG is once again called in to work on the case as a consultant. References to comic books, movies, TV shows and inside jokes aplenty. The case itself almost becomes background noise, though.
MG has a lot on her plate. Her writing job, moonlighting as a costume designer for drag shows, work on a Hooded Falcon movie, helping her boyfriend to solve abovementioned case. Then there are all the parties. The drag revues, after-parties, a party for her co-workers, costume parties. The thing is, Molin is giving almost equal weight to all of this. I mean, I don’t know, if there’s a real-life villain around trying to kill your friends, shouldn’t this be a little more important than all the other stuff? Okay, you will still have to earn some money, sure. But at least it should be more prominent in your thoughts than how this or that costume looks, or throwing a party for your co-workers, or if some guy you just met is more into movies and comic books than your boyfriend. I was definitely shipping MG and Matteo in the first book. But now that the falling for each other part is in the rearview mirror we have moved on to MG questioning if she’s actually ready for a grown-up relationship, setting her sights on a (more geeky) potential replacement for Matteo. I didn’t particularly care for that struggle.
Okay, I can sense this review going into rambling territory. In MG’s words:
I think that sums up quite nicely what was wrong with this book.
1.5 stars
I called the first book a guilty pleasure. But this was certainly more guilty than pleasure. The geek factor is still there, what with the main character being a comic book writer and certifiable geek that finds herself in a world in which a real-life vigilante is busting drug rings and MG is once again called in to work on the case as a consultant. References to comic books, movies, TV shows and inside jokes aplenty. The case itself almost becomes background noise, though.
MG has a lot on her plate. Her writing job, moonlighting as a costume designer for drag shows, work on a Hooded Falcon movie, helping her boyfriend to solve abovementioned case. Then there are all the parties. The drag revues, after-parties, a party for her co-workers, costume parties. The thing is, Molin is giving almost equal weight to all of this. I mean, I don’t know, if there’s a real-life villain around trying to kill your friends, shouldn’t this be a little more important than all the other stuff? Okay, you will still have to earn some money, sure. But at least it should be more prominent in your thoughts than how this or that costume looks, or throwing a party for your co-workers, or if some guy you just met is more into movies and comic books than your boyfriend. I was definitely shipping MG and Matteo in the first book. But now that the falling for each other part is in the rearview mirror we have moved on to MG questioning if she’s actually ready for a grown-up relationship, setting her sights on a (more geeky) potential replacement for Matteo. I didn’t particularly care for that struggle.
Okay, I can sense this review going into rambling territory. In MG’s words:
There is a killer MJ queen duel with the song “Thriller”, and once or twice I’m so captivated that I forget I’m supposed to be watching for a would-be killer.
I think that sums up quite nicely what was wrong with this book.
1.5 stars
csheehan72's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't care for this one as much as the first one. The story dragged a bit and I found myself skipping through a lot of the detail. The first one was much more entertaining.
verityw's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the first in the series, but still quite fun. I love the set up and the characters but I just didn’t like the plot as much this time and didn’t find it quite a funny as the first. But second books are hard so I’ll still be looking for the third because this has such potential as a series.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a fun follow-up to the first one. We do find out who Golden Arrow is, so I don't know if there's more to come. I hope there is, and I hope we get more explanation about the Golden Arrow details. This series is a lot of fun and really nerdy.
amylee218's review against another edition
2.0
i wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The nerdy, comic book/superhero world that MG lives in could have been so fun. Except it wasn't. This book was still too heavy on the gratuitous pop culture references, although there weren't quite as many thrown in for no reason as in the first book.
MG annoyed me in this one. She has a wonderful boyfriend who tries constantly to understand and support her and her world, and she is worried that he isn't "nerdy" enough? It's like high school-- don't date outside of your clique.
I continue to love Lawrence, although I believe his character is underutilized. I mean, a giant, ex-security guard, black drag queen? The backstory on him/her, done well, could be amazing.
We all guessed after the first book who the Golden Arrow was going to be (although I believe the GA is actually 2 people). So that was not a surprise. The mystery/villain/Mad Hatter storyline was a bit muddled. I don't understand the villain's reason for doing all this-- even when he explained it I didn't get it. It seemed like a lot of complicated effort for a very weak reason.
Not too sure I will be reading book 3.
MG annoyed me in this one. She has a wonderful boyfriend who tries constantly to understand and support her and her world, and she is worried that he isn't "nerdy" enough? It's like high school-- don't date outside of your clique.
I continue to love Lawrence, although I believe his character is underutilized. I mean, a giant, ex-security guard, black drag queen? The backstory on him/her, done well, could be amazing.
We all guessed after the first book who the Golden Arrow was going to be (although I believe the GA is actually 2 people). So that was not a surprise. The mystery/villain/Mad Hatter storyline was a bit muddled. I don't understand the villain's reason for doing all this-- even when he explained it I didn't get it. It seemed like a lot of complicated effort for a very weak reason.
Not too sure I will be reading book 3.
missymoo's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I felt the golden arrow reveal a tad flat as I'd guessed it was them in the first book. It was largely the same as the first but it's light-hearted and an easy read or listen. I think it's engaging enough you want to read on but not much more than that. There are still plenty of eye rolling pop culture references but I'd still say I enjoyed it enough to finish the series and read/listen to the last one