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styxx's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Car accident, and Death of parent
fkshg8465's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Really needed to DNF this book, but it was so easy to read that I decided to finish it for the sake if finishing it. It tried too hard to be like Agatha Christie, and I was bored from start to finish. The story was weak and so was the storytelling. The plot would’ve had more draw for me if there focus had been on Rose and Emily’s psychological makeups, but rather, the emphasis was on the parallel competition the characters all had of trying to solve the mystery while many of them also were trying to misdirect their own guilt/perception of guilt. Snooze.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"‘Don’t worry, Annie, I’m not going to murder you.’
‘I appreciate that, Saxon,’ I reply. ‘I’m not going to murder you either.’ And then we both smile, because this is such a strange thing to say ten minutes after meeting someone for the first time."
There is no way that this book actually had over 500 pages. I started it yesterday and already finished and no I wasn't addicted to it. But I was addicted to some quotes in this book.
+ Funny scenes and interesting plot (I mean, a woman getting more and more crazy about her fortune telling? Sign me up!)
+ Really nice and cool quotes (or maybe I'm biased since one is about chess)
+ Alice in Wonderland reference (one can never do anything wrong with this, I'm a huge fan)
+ Toxic relationships (I have a soft spot for drama and yes — I like to torture myself by reading sad stories)
+ The main character WAS NOT stupid! (Can you believe it?!!)
+ Relatable moments (‘I can’t face Mum’s basement again without backup. Last week when I was cleaning it out there were spiders. Huge ones.’
- Mostly flat characters (more murder mystery and plot than anything else)
- No explanation for things or stuff that was confusing. Example; We get told that Frances isn't the forgiving kind, but in her diary entries we see something different. And also the way another person confirmed it too by saying she is quite forgiving while others wouldn't in the same situation. What is she now??
- Boring ending (wasn't hard to find out who the murderer was and the ending was kinda meh)
- Too many repetitions (we get it who your prime suspect is and we don't need a re-telling of the diaries about one hundred times, just try to advance the plot!)
- Sometimes felt too slow (see above for reasoning)
- Even though the idea was good it felt like nothing special. Average the most. There just wasn't anything that made the book feel special. While reading I had the feeling (except the fortune stuff) that it wasn't anything new from most thriller and mystery books.
- Sometimes we get new info, just for it to be superficial and not go into depth than it could be. There were so many other things that were interesting too while our MC tried to find out who the murderer is but unfortunately they are left again as fast as they were discovered. Why didn't we get to see more of the alphabetical sorted files and the bad stuff each person did. And we never got an explanation for Sam Arlington. The MC just decided it's not important and that she doesn't need to see other files or in general explore deeper.
Only 2 stars as it didn't feel as exciting as I hoped for it to be and it's less than average for me as most things were superficial and we got flat characters which is quite dislike. The ending was predictable too which made me bored for the last 15% to 20% that were left.
If you don't have high expectations for thrillers or in general don't think much about who the murderer might be this might be fun to read. For me who seeks books that are standing out from the rest and really hates it when the murderer is some obvious person I couldn't quite enjoy it as much as I hoped to.
02. September 2024
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The book was enjoyable, however, I enjoyed the flashbacks/diary entries more than the present-day portions of the book. I felt like the things that happened in the 1960s were more interesting and easier to get into than what was otherwise happening.
Frances was much more interesting than Annie who was a bit boring, and whose story you didn't get into as much. I hope in future books we learn more about Annie and I start to care more about her & her character. Laura, Annie's mom just seemed awful for most of the book.
The characters were a mix of likable and unlikable. Not just the villains were unlikable, it was more like a 30/70 split of likable and unlikable for me.
I wasn't able to easily figure out the mystery. I do look forward to the next book.
Narrators' Rating: 4 stars
I'd give Annie's narrator about 2.75 stars and Frances' narrator a 4-star rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia
katy_heath's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was a fine story but parts of it dragged along. I found the main character a bit dense at times and the choice by authors to make their main characters struggling (or starting out) writers comes across to me as tacky.
On the other hand there were some compelling parts, and it was nice to see older characters as romantic interests rather than everybody being 19. It was also good to include anxiety not necessarily as a plot device, at least not as a negative one.
On the other hand there were some compelling parts, and it was nice to see older characters as romantic interests rather than everybody being 19. It was also good to include anxiety not necessarily as a plot device, at least not as a negative one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use and Panic attacks/disorders
vfigurka's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
hjb_128's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin is a unique take on a murder mystery that also employs a lot of classic tropes. It has the English estate and small town setting, secrets from the past, twisty family dynamics, greed, fear, passion, the amateur sleuth, the supportive best friend, and a dangerous gamble followed by a grand reveal.
I had a lot of fun with this book. Annie cannot resist a mystery, and she finds plenty to solve. I liked that she was curious and intelligent without being infalliable. Her medical fear also worked with the mystery and was consistent throughout the book. I also enjoyed her interactions with Detective Crane as they tried to solve her great-aunt Frances's murder.
This book really explores interpersonal dynamics through its present day investigation and the past timeline diary entries. It also looks at how much we can invest in something beyond ourselves, and how that can change your whole life.
I don't want to talk about the plot too much, but I love how Perrin basically weaves together two mysteries to explore friendship, family, obsession, and the ways people can or can't change. There's two closed circles of suspects (past and present) and they overlap in interesting ways.
I do wish we spent a bit more time getting to know some of the secondary characters and the village of Castle Knoll. Some of the diary entries were a bit long. On the other hand, I had suspicions but did not guess the murderer before the reveal.
I had a lot of fun with this book. Annie cannot resist a mystery, and she finds plenty to solve. I liked that she was curious and intelligent without being infalliable. Her medical fear also worked with the mystery and was consistent throughout the book. I also enjoyed her interactions with Detective Crane as they tried to solve her great-aunt Frances's murder.
This book really explores interpersonal dynamics through its present day investigation and the past timeline diary entries. It also looks at how much we can invest in something beyond ourselves, and how that can change your whole life.
I don't want to talk about the plot too much, but I love how Perrin basically weaves together two mysteries to explore friendship, family, obsession, and the ways people can or can't change. There's two closed circles of suspects (past and present) and they overlap in interesting ways.
I do wish we spent a bit more time getting to know some of the secondary characters and the village of Castle Knoll. Some of the diary entries were a bit long. On the other hand, I had suspicions but did not guess the murderer before the reveal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death and Infidelity
Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
puddleshoes's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse
emilywemily6's review
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
This was a solid whodunit with an interesting premise involving two timelines. I enjoyed seeing the journal entries being relevant in the present day timeline and found both timelines engaging. However, there were too many characters to keep track of, which made the ending/conclusion felt a bit rushed since the characters weren’t flushed out as well as I would have liked. And while I enjoyed the protagonist, some parts of their behavior and dialogue were stilted and obviously intended to just move the plot along- like how Annie called her best friend to talk about evidence and draw conclusions. I would really like to read another book by this author and with these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship