Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
35 reviews
melarie's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
nelesnotes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
5.0
I loved this! The description of the cover "This book is comfort food for the soul" hits it pretty much for me. I loved the characters, the story and the character development. The way, each character has its flaws and struggles, and the way how this old asian lady and a murder brings them all together... I just loved it. I especially enjoyed the description of Vera making her teas and food - it sounded so good I could almost taste it!
If you like light, entertaining murder mysteries with a lovely old women (you wished you knew in real life) solving the case, this book is for you!
Spoiler
If there is one thing with the character development which I did not find super realistic, it was Julia's development. She has been in a very toxic and harmful relationship for over 10 years and after her husband's dead she just kind of wipes all of that away, like it was nothing. Which is of course what I wished for her and what I had hoped would happen, but in reality I think it would probably take years of therapy to get over her experience. But if it would have been like that, the story would've not been as enjoyable I guess, so I'm not mad at it at all. If someone's been through something like that and is sensitive to topics like toxic relationship etc I guess it's more critical to see.If you like light, entertaining murder mysteries with a lovely old women (you wished you knew in real life) solving the case, this book is for you!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Domestic abuse
dev921's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Vomit, and Murder
kdailyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Drug use
sparklefarm's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
This book was very fun and charming. Not exactly my usual style but a fun read nonetheless. Most of all I loved the character of Vera. She made me laugh out loud and I wanted to eat the feasts she prepared!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless of the lack of stars. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
Omg I need to be best friends with Jesse Q. Sutanto 😭 She is so goddamn funny and I was cracking up reading this, but what’s new?! Vera is such a clever, endearing, and fun character! Reading this was such a treat because she reminded me so much of my paternal Chinese grandma. I couldn’t help but wear the goofiest & cheesiest smile on my face as I read Vera’s curious inner thoughts & heard it in my grandma’s voice. Vera, like my grandma, is a pistol, and catches on more than others think! On the other hand, I was tearing up and in my feels towards the end of the book. JQS is so incredibly talented, and I will read whatever she writes!
We meet Vera’s four potential murder suspects: Sana, Riki, Julia & Oliver, as they stop by Vera’s Tea Shop where the murder victim was found. I absolutely adored every single one of these characters (except for the murder victim, Marshall Chen, who everyone agrees was an abusive, narcissistic, overall garbage human being), and each of their POVs (third-person limited) kept my interest piqued & more importantly, kept me guessing until the very end!
Ageism is something I don’t see talked about a lot on here, and that’s on me — my feed is *mostly* full of gen x-ers and millennials. This is a great call in for me to read more books with older main characters, and this book was a perfect example of how fascinating and hilarious they could be (rather than the master narrative telling us that being old is boring)! I recognize Jesse herself is not in her 60s but if you read Dial A For Aunties, you just *know* that she wrote those aunties and Vera with real-life aunties and moms in mind. She’s pulling this from her lived experience of being loved and cared for by these Chinese-Indonesian aunties and moms, and that dynamic seeps into the page so beautifully!
I loved this book from start to finish, and I was not expecting the ending reveal of who the killer was! I also was not expecting to read a book about finding found family later in life, and how quickly these special connections can form. This book both hurt my abs because I laughed so hard, and hurt my heart because it had me in my feelings by the end as I grew to care for all of these character!
Omg I need to be best friends with Jesse Q. Sutanto 😭 She is so goddamn funny and I was cracking up reading this, but what’s new?! Vera is such a clever, endearing, and fun character! Reading this was such a treat because she reminded me so much of my paternal Chinese grandma. I couldn’t help but wear the goofiest & cheesiest smile on my face as I read Vera’s curious inner thoughts & heard it in my grandma’s voice. Vera, like my grandma, is a pistol, and catches on more than others think! On the other hand, I was tearing up and in my feels towards the end of the book. JQS is so incredibly talented, and I will read whatever she writes!
We meet Vera’s four potential murder suspects: Sana, Riki, Julia & Oliver, as they stop by Vera’s Tea Shop where the murder victim was found. I absolutely adored every single one of these characters (except for the murder victim, Marshall Chen, who everyone agrees was an abusive, narcissistic, overall garbage human being), and each of their POVs (third-person limited) kept my interest piqued & more importantly, kept me guessing until the very end!
Ageism is something I don’t see talked about a lot on here, and that’s on me — my feed is *mostly* full of gen x-ers and millennials. This is a great call in for me to read more books with older main characters, and this book was a perfect example of how fascinating and hilarious they could be (rather than the master narrative telling us that being old is boring)! I recognize Jesse herself is not in her 60s but if you read Dial A For Aunties, you just *know* that she wrote those aunties and Vera with real-life aunties and moms in mind. She’s pulling this from her lived experience of being loved and cared for by these Chinese-Indonesian aunties and moms, and that dynamic seeps into the page so beautifully!
I loved this book from start to finish, and I was not expecting the ending reveal of who the killer was! I also was not expecting to read a book about finding found family later in life, and how quickly these special connections can form. This book both hurt my abs because I laughed so hard, and hurt my heart because it had me in my feelings by the end as I grew to care for all of these character!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Sexism, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
siobhanward's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
4.0
Jesse Q. Sutano is back - I'm glad that this book was much more in line with Dial A for Aunties in terms of fun and quality. It was completely off the wall and crazy, but in the best way possible. Sutano has a gift for creating characters and writing relationships, and this was a great example of her talent. I had so much fun with all of the characters, I didn't want the book to end. I loved Vera, and especially her relationship with Emma. The heart of this book and the love between characters reminded me a lot of Roselle Lim's books, which is something that I'm always happy to be reminded of.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Dementia
rachelizx's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
bloodmaarked's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
4.25
oh i definitely have a soft spot for vera! and i feel this is definitely going to get me into the cosy mystery subgenre
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Bullying, and Death
Minor: Grief, Vomit, Alcohol, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, and Drug use
mattyb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Injury/Injury detail