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fa1th_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Me picked up murder mysteries hoping for a harmless good time and fun adventures: *get hit by gay yearning and heartbreaks and sad feels of mourning a lost loved one*
I picked this up because the series was getting re-published with a set of new covers and they looked really gorgeous. I had no previous knowledge about the series or the author, but was intrigued after reading the premise. Fadeout was about David Brandstetter, an insurance investigator solving murder mysteries in the 1960s, and it was supposed to be your usual run of the mill noir mystery setting, until I saw the word 'gay'. Yes, I'm now convince that you can add the word 'gay' in anything and it would automatically appear in my tbr list, it was like a magic spell, because I will eat that ish up in a heartbeat. An openly (as open as you could be without getting arrested I presume) gay PI story in the 60s? Sign me up, I will take ten please.
And the book really got me. The plot was intriguing, the mystery aspect did not miss, but the feels, oh boy all the feels. I'm pleasantly surprised by the way Hansen wrote the dialogue, it felt incredibly human and real, I really loved Dave's no-nonsense but also witty personality. Despite the heavy subjects, there were many funny and hilarious moments in the book where I could relate and laughed audibly. The humour was sharp and in a way hard hitting, especially the conversation between Dave and Midge, his older lesbian friend, she was also one of my fav in the book. Many of the characters in the novel were so queer (I know Hansen didn't like the word 'queer' but I'm using it as a queer Gen-Z), I loved it becuase the book was also Hansen's view and depiction of the American LGBT scene of the mid 60s, which was rare to read about. While Dave Brandstetter was out working and investigating, he was also mourning about the death of his long-term partner Rod, the glimpse of grief and pain was surrounding him all the time. The constant awareness of lost was raw and it made him an extremely relatable character to empathize with, plus the guilt and struggle he had when he did try to move on and get out of the depression pit he buried himself in.
I love it when mysteries gave me all the feels and the romance and the yearning and the angst along with the murders. This book was a great start of the series, I'm very excited to read on!
One small thing to note was some of the outdated language that did not age well, including some slurs and there was a short relationship between Dave and a seventeen y/o Anselmo happened at the end of the book, just to let you know, though I think he and Anselmo was just an one time thing.
Tho I did enjoy the part where he shared his hurt and sadness with Anselmo earlier, also Anselmo's whole confession and his crush on Dave was really cute, and the moment was very heartfelt and sincere I did cried so much lol. But it was weird that they slept together like once and then Dave went for Doug like immediately after that, and I feel iffy about how Doug was described to be so much like Rod (and the fact that Doug's lover literally JUST DIED like tf), I just don't think it will end well for Dave :'( oh the angst
I picked this up because the series was getting re-published with a set of new covers and they looked really gorgeous. I had no previous knowledge about the series or the author, but was intrigued after reading the premise. Fadeout was about David Brandstetter, an insurance investigator solving murder mysteries in the 1960s, and it was supposed to be your usual run of the mill noir mystery setting, until I saw the word 'gay'. Yes, I'm now convince that you can add the word 'gay' in anything and it would automatically appear in my tbr list, it was like a magic spell, because I will eat that ish up in a heartbeat. An openly (as open as you could be without getting arrested I presume) gay PI story in the 60s? Sign me up, I will take ten please.
And the book really got me. The plot was intriguing, the mystery aspect did not miss, but the feels, oh boy all the feels. I'm pleasantly surprised by the way Hansen wrote the dialogue, it felt incredibly human and real, I really loved Dave's no-nonsense but also witty personality. Despite the heavy subjects, there were many funny and hilarious moments in the book where I could relate and laughed audibly. The humour was sharp and in a way hard hitting, especially the conversation between Dave and Midge, his older lesbian friend, she was also one of my fav in the book. Many of the characters in the novel were so queer (I know Hansen didn't like the word 'queer' but I'm using it as a queer Gen-Z), I loved it becuase the book was also Hansen's view and depiction of the American LGBT scene of the mid 60s, which was rare to read about. While Dave Brandstetter was out working and investigating, he was also mourning about the death of his long-term partner Rod, the glimpse of grief and pain was surrounding him all the time. The constant awareness of lost was raw and it made him an extremely relatable character to empathize with, plus the guilt and struggle he had when he did try to move on and get out of the depression pit he buried himself in.
I love it when mysteries gave me all the feels and the romance and the yearning and the angst along with the murders. This book was a great start of the series, I'm very excited to read on!
Tho I did enjoy the part where he shared his hurt and sadness with Anselmo earlier, also Anselmo's whole confession and his crush on Dave was really cute, and the moment was very heartfelt and sincere I did cried so much lol. But it was weird that they slept together like once and then Dave went for Doug like immediately after that, and I feel iffy about how Doug was described to be so much like Rod (and the fact that Doug's lover literally JUST DIED like tf), I just don't think it will end well for Dave :'( oh the angst
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Murder