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itsabookthing2021's review against another edition
5.0
I love the Penny Nicols series! Crushed was no exception.
Crushed saw our Penny manage to get a job at the local gym on the smoothie bar.
As with Penny the raven is never too far away!
I loved this story, It was nice seeing Penny making friends with Sharon and her Grams. I have read all 7 books and I think this one pulled at my heart strings. I actually felt sorry for Penny towards the end. The story in Crushed showed the reality of the downside to Penny's "gift". The writing and mystery was just as fantastic as the previous book. There's more to Penny and I feel like we're just touching upon it.
I highly recommend this series, it's the best paranormal cozy mysteries I've read.
Crushed saw our Penny manage to get a job at the local gym on the smoothie bar.
As with Penny the raven is never too far away!
I loved this story, It was nice seeing Penny making friends with Sharon and her Grams. I have read all 7 books and I think this one pulled at my heart strings. I actually felt sorry for Penny towards the end. The story in Crushed showed the reality of the downside to Penny's "gift". The writing and mystery was just as fantastic as the previous book. There's more to Penny and I feel like we're just touching upon it.
I highly recommend this series, it's the best paranormal cozy mysteries I've read.
angieleigh's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
There is a running theme through this series that I really don't like which is why, even though I enjoyed everything else about the books, the fat-shaming and focus on Penny's weight by everyone she comes in contact with is too much to ignore.
1. None of the covers for the first three books (the only books I've seen and read so far) show a woman who is "chubby", "plus-sized", "pudgy", or any other verb in relation to how Penny describes herself. If you're going to have a plus-sized character, OWN IT. Make sure the cover matches your character(s). Even the cover with the human model on them does not reflect a plus-sized woman.
2. It's rather tedious that at least one or two characters in the book only paid attention to how much Penny weighed rather than Penny as a person. A person is worth more than what they look like/weigh. And so what that she's overweight? She OWNS it.
*Steps off of soapbox*
I adore Penny and just want to cuddle her. She carries around some mad guilt and insecurity, half because of the focus on her weight, and the other half because of the gift that she feels is a curse.
A gift/curse she's had since she was six years oldwhen she saw a raven and her father died, in her precious little arms, 24 hours later with her twin sister nearby .
Wherever she goes, Penny always makes a friend, and in this installment she becomes BFFS almost instantly with the lovely Shannon, hopeful supplement maker and fitness instructor at Crush Gym. Shannon saves Lucy from embarrassment when Lucy leans out of the shower (slightly stained blue as Penny has just dyed her red hair blue and it's turned a pretty shade of purple) to get her towel and it's gone. Shannon gets her a beach towel from the front desk and keeps people out of the shower room until Penny is safely ensconced behind the curtain of her changing stall.
Penny is offered a temporary part time job at the smoothie station of the gym when Paul, the owner and also Shannon's boyfriend/supplement partner, gets bogged down during a rush thanks to one of their workers being in the hospital. Being paid under the table works perfectly for her as her home is her VW van along with her spunky cat Ace of Spades - or Spade for short.
What I enjoyed:
1. TC and Penny's budding friendship/possibly a relationship. TC may not fully understand Penny's glimpses of impending death for those near her, but he is a staunch supporter of hers along with his snarky, and not always nice, assistant, Scrubbs.
2. Calling her former boss as proof that she is still alive. In a way, I think he is like a father figure to her.
3. That this is a fast-paced book that I easily listened to in just a handful of hours while doing digital cross stitch. The narrator's voice is perfect and I love her British accent for our semi-paranormal podcast host, TC.
4. While there's not exactly a happily ever after, things do progress in a good way for Penny as she is given directions and a name for her next employer, thanks to Granny Rosa, as she leaves town.
What I did not like (other than the above):
1. Penny mentions all these things that have happened to her in the past that would have made great series installments! Such a tease...I really would have liked to see how she was saved that one time...
2. That Penny somehow managed to forget to tell the police about who was at the hospital when she and Shannon got there to visit Blanca! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL THEM, GIRLFRIEND?!
I'm halfway through this lovely series and hope that as we go along, Penny learns forgiveness and to own her gift.
I actually listened to the audiobook, but Storygraph doesn't have that edition as it's an Audible audiobook.
1. None of the covers for the first three books (the only books I've seen and read so far) show a woman who is "chubby", "plus-sized", "pudgy", or any other verb in relation to how Penny describes herself. If you're going to have a plus-sized character, OWN IT. Make sure the cover matches your character(s). Even the cover with the human model on them does not reflect a plus-sized woman.
2. It's rather tedious that at least one or two characters in the book only paid attention to how much Penny weighed rather than Penny as a person. A person is worth more than what they look like/weigh. And so what that she's overweight? She OWNS it.
*Steps off of soapbox*
I adore Penny and just want to cuddle her. She carries around some mad guilt and insecurity, half because of the focus on her weight, and the other half because of the gift that she feels is a curse.
A gift/curse she's had since she was six years old
Wherever she goes, Penny always makes a friend, and in this installment she becomes BFFS almost instantly with the lovely Shannon, hopeful supplement maker and fitness instructor at Crush Gym. Shannon saves Lucy from embarrassment when Lucy leans out of the shower (slightly stained blue as Penny has just dyed her red hair blue and it's turned a pretty shade of purple) to get her towel and it's gone. Shannon gets her a beach towel from the front desk and keeps people out of the shower room until Penny is safely ensconced behind the curtain of her changing stall.
Penny is offered a temporary part time job at the smoothie station of the gym when Paul, the owner and also Shannon's boyfriend/supplement partner, gets bogged down during a rush thanks to one of their workers being in the hospital. Being paid under the table works perfectly for her as her home is her VW van along with her spunky cat Ace of Spades - or Spade for short.
What I enjoyed:
1. TC and Penny's budding friendship/possibly a relationship. TC may not fully understand Penny's glimpses of impending death for those near her, but he is a staunch supporter of hers along with his snarky, and not always nice, assistant, Scrubbs.
2. Calling her former boss as proof that she is still alive. In a way, I think he is like a father figure to her.
3. That this is a fast-paced book that I easily listened to in just a handful of hours while doing digital cross stitch. The narrator's voice is perfect and I love her British accent for our semi-paranormal podcast host, TC.
4. While there's not exactly a happily ever after, things do progress in a good way for Penny as she is given directions and a name for her next employer, thanks to Granny Rosa, as she leaves town.
What I did not like (other than the above):
1. Penny mentions all these things that have happened to her in the past that would have made great series installments! Such a tease...I really would have liked to see how she was saved that one time...
2. That Penny somehow managed to forget to tell the police about who was at the hospital when she and Shannon got there to visit Blanca! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL THEM, GIRLFRIEND?!
I'm halfway through this lovely series and hope that as we go along, Penny learns forgiveness and to own her gift.
I actually listened to the audiobook, but Storygraph doesn't have that edition as it's an Audible audiobook.
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