elizabethtrue's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

I gave 4.75 only because I listened to it right after the first book and liked that one a little more.

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k_arnold's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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lampbee's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love this author. I do think the beginnings are usually slower than I’d like but once the balls rolling it’s a blast :) Can’t wait for the next one! 

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mysterymom40's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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alkruger_readinglibrary96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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whoisnicole's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This author's voice is not for me. It felt weirdly, very subtly misogynistic as well. The humour didn't land for me. The mystery itself is fine. 

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monicaannlew22's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoy this author and what he’s produced so far. Stories are clever and the mysteries are brilliant. 

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed this, generally, but enjoyed the first one significantly more. In retrospect, I would rate the first one higher than 4 star. I like the voice of the narrator, and the writing style that breaks the fourth wall. I had a harder time getting into this book because there is a huge cast of characters and a slow start to the book. I also found Ernest kind of annoying in this book because of his midlife crisis. But I would definitely read more in the series! There were some unexpected twists and turns.

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dkamada's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i’ve officially read 100 books in 2024 🤯🤯🤯 i am insane.
anyways erm… i didn’t really like this as much as the original!
for one, the threads were a lot harder for me to follow. my ass kept confusing the psychologist with the crime writer with the forensic dude. too many strings that were just surface level.
the connection to an old mystery in this book felt weak, and it was only there for a meta-commentary of “hey look this is what all crime novels do! aren’t i witty breaking the fourth wall and pointing this out?” to include an old case and weave it into the current crime is one thing, but for it to have almost no effect on the story felt like a massive waste of my time.
every side character felt boring. did not give a flying fart about anyone other than the psychologist and lisa. and that’s only cuz i Love Women (/j im kidding its because they seemed innocent to me). there were so many red herrings to the point that it wasn’t fun anymore. i was just waiting for the reveal.
the explanation of the crime was fair. like i see the connections now it’s pointed out but holy fuck how many working pieces this had…. like props to stevenson for being able to pull off a book with this much shit going on, but it just made me feel fatigued reading it. 
the ending felt rushed, the plot felt as though it was meandering a lot more than the previous instalment, and it felt like a lot of the time people were just pissfarting around. 
ernest was actually insufferable in this book. yes i get his character. i liked it in the first book. here he comes off as pretentious, egotistical, and just downright unlikeable. yes yes insert meta commentary about how this shows just because he’s the narrator doesn’t mean he’s automatically the good guy blah blah blah. i will say this until the cows come home — if you’re metacommentary makes the book boring to read, i don’t give a shit if thematically you wrote the bible, i will not like it.
i really think this is a case where a sequel tries to recreate the joys of the first novel, and instead sets itself up with unrealistic expectations and falls flat. honestly whilst starting this i had plans to read the next instalment, which has just come out. now? i’m gonna be honest and say im almost turned off by this entire series. i might read it closer to december as its a christmas book and so i can say ive finished the ernest cunningham series… but this book was a stinker for me. 

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