Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

6 reviews

heresyourletter's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was excited to read this book as an avid cozy mystery reader. It had a great cast of characters and funny, well-written dialogue, but I found the pacing slow and

hated the overuse of unnecessary suicides/“mercy killings” as a way for characters to get out of their problems. Their suicides didn’t really contribute to the overall plot and almost trivialized the horror of suicide and its impact on surviving loved ones. The suicide of a devout Catholic nun in front of a church altar is particularly horrifying and unrealistic given her faith background. I feel other methods could have been used to write characters out of the main story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Terminal illness, Dementia, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Pregnancy

One character mourns the death of her husband throughout the book. One character mentions cheating on his wife through online dating with younger women. Another character mentions leaving her partner finding texts on his phone. One character is non-responsive after a stroke for the majority of the book. One minor character has dementia. One character tells a fake story about killing a man who tried to sexually assault her. Occasional drinking of wine and beer. Brief disparaging comment about the Nigerian Prince scam.

One murder victim and several other characters are revealed to have been involved in drug dealing before the book’s events begin. A priest and a nun are revealed to have had a sexual relationship, resulting in a pregnancy. Three different characters die by suicide. One is a pregnant nun, who hangs herself in front of a church altar. One character injects another with fentanyl when it is revealed to the outside world that she murdered a criminal.

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

Three people I know recommended this book to me. If they'd led with how funny it is, I might've read it sooner. On the other hand, if they'd led with how corpse-strewn and emotional it is, I might've read it sooner, too. (Basically, what I'm saying is, if you're going to recommend a book to me, please tell me why you think I'd like it. No matter how much I like you, just telling me, "I liked it" won't convince me.) Anyway. This is a funny, emotional, corpse-strewn mystery, and I liked it a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Graphic: Ageism Moderate: Nonconsensual drug use, Euthanasia

cascatanerina's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.75

This is not my normal read so it's low, but at the same time I think it's well written and definitely should be plenty of people's cup of tea, but I'm not one for the "cozy mysteries" usually. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

abicaro17's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Its ok. The characters are underdeveloped and boring. The plot only makes sense like half the time. There are some funny/cute moments but they're generally overshadowed by shitty plot or bad character arcs. This book had potential but its kinda a flop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The characters were lovely.  I imagine I will pick up the next in the series at some point because I thought it was a charming read, even though it wasn't my usual cup of tea.

Also, I know it's a murder mystery but I wasn't expecting so much casual death.  Was a bit grim at times.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

cooliuscaesar451's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It starts off slowly but the characters suck you in ❤️ I found myself verklempt time and time again at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Pregnancy