abbyjennhm's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
staticdisplay's review
3.0
I don't consider this series a cozy mystery series. I do enjoy the characters, I just wish that they didn't spend so much of the book being insufferable. this series tends to have about the first 70% being everyone treating everyone else terribly, miscommunication, judgment, everything continuously goes wrong until the last 30% compassion, reconciliation, finally some nice things happen. I wish it were a bit more balanced, because a lot of the characters come across as just awful (William and Benjamin, Imogen, etc) and their good traits really never make up for their bad behavior and carelessness with others. the madcap adventures are fun and the chatty writing style is very readable (I ended up finishing this in about a day). I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the last entry in the series, but I would be kind of sad if it is. I like reading about Theresa, Sally, and Carol.
purlewe's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
A Nice Cup of Tea by Celia Imrie. Cozy mystery. Set in the South of France, 5 friends need to save their small restaurant and get it sold. Meanwhile, when Theresa's granddaughter disappears she doesn't notice a worrying person stalking her. Sally gets a call from her old career: Acting. She gets a plummy part that might give her enough money to help the business. Everyone is jumping thru hoops to keep things afloat. This is the 3rd book in this series? but my library only has this one. It was a nice easy read at the end of a long week
makennaknighton's review
2.0
It's probably my fault for just reading this without realizing it was the third in a series, but I had such a hard time caring about any of the characters, and I kept mixing up their stories. Some descriptions or moments were powerful, but not as much as I'd like.
izzie_peall's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
gelatolady's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
paperbirds's review
2.0
Picked this up in a bookshop because I love Celia Imrie and wasn't aware she'd written any books!
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this very much.
There were some amusing moments and I was occasionally endeared to the characters, but overall I found the writing, pacing and plotting very clunky. There is not much atmosphere or narrative voice to speak of, and it feels as though things just keep happening rather than being part of one cohesive story.
The two focal characters, Theresa and Sally, are essentially the same person but with different backstories and with different things happening to them throughout the story. What I mean by this is, there is nothing to distinguish them apart from their circumstances - after finishing the book I don't feel like I know anything about them beyond the fact that they were present. All of the other characters are frequently unpleasant and not in a way that contributes to the plot; just unpleasant.
There's also quite a lot of serious, potentially traumatic stuff happening in it that just isn't given the emotional weight that would make it seem realistic. This allows the book to maintain a light-hearted tone, but at the cost of feeling ingenuine and apathetic toward the subject matter and the characters experiencing it.
I really wanted to like this book because the premise sounded fun and rompy, but there's just so much missing! I'll have to rewatch Dinnerladies again to soothe myself.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this very much.
There were some amusing moments and I was occasionally endeared to the characters, but overall I found the writing, pacing and plotting very clunky. There is not much atmosphere or narrative voice to speak of, and it feels as though things just keep happening rather than being part of one cohesive story.
The two focal characters, Theresa and Sally, are essentially the same person but with different backstories and with different things happening to them throughout the story. What I mean by this is, there is nothing to distinguish them apart from their circumstances - after finishing the book I don't feel like I know anything about them beyond the fact that they were present. All of the other characters are frequently unpleasant and not in a way that contributes to the plot; just unpleasant.
There's also quite a lot of serious, potentially traumatic stuff happening in it that just isn't given the emotional weight that would make it seem realistic. This allows the book to maintain a light-hearted tone, but at the cost of feeling ingenuine and apathetic toward the subject matter and the characters experiencing it.
I really wanted to like this book because the premise sounded fun and rompy, but there's just so much missing! I'll have to rewatch Dinnerladies again to soothe myself.
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