Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
20 reviews
c0d3nam3qt's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment
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
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
schnaucl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed it. I liked the characters, although they leaned heavily on stereotypes. I also enjoyed the description of the teas.
Spoiler
I would have loved to keep the teahorse though
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Murder, and Death
beckyremillard's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
As lighthearted as a murder mystery can be. Other than the murder part, it’s a story about growth and friendships and a tenacious woman named Vera.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, and Child abuse
shaipanda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
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
5.0
THIS WAS SO AMAZINGGG
I never read mystery’s or anything but I was absolutely obcesseddd with this - I really liked the first 20% but it definitely picked up once I got it back from the library once it had returned and got to the 40 or 50% mark. It’s currently almost 4am because even though I have work in the morning I’ve been literally unable to put this book down for hourss now
The characters in this are ridiculously lovable, the mystery is well paced and I didn’t find it to be too predictable (I half predicted one of the twists but not the other ones) - just overall I absolutely loved this and was suprised by how good a time I had and how much I enjoyed the reading experience :) I might need to go read more of this authors mysteries now :)
I never read mystery’s or anything but I was absolutely obcesseddd with this - I really liked the first 20% but it definitely picked up once I got it back from the library once it had returned and got to the 40 or 50% mark. It’s currently almost 4am because even though I have work in the morning I’ve been literally unable to put this book down for hourss now
The characters in this are ridiculously lovable, the mystery is well paced and I didn’t find it to be too predictable (I half predicted one of the twists but not the other ones) - just overall I absolutely loved this and was suprised by how good a time I had and how much I enjoyed the reading experience :) I might need to go read more of this authors mysteries now :)
Spoiler
the only plot line I felt should have been wrapped up that wasn’t was I wished it had been mentioned what happened with the presents and money that Oliver sent to Julia and Emma, and generally how their friendship ended generally because Oliver and Julia never really hash it out on a way that shows the full picture or tells Julia why exactly they’d stopped being friends or what happened to the things Oliver sent cause I really doubt they got to Emma. Other than that tho everything was tied up really neatly and I loved itttt
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Violence and Domestic abuse
guessgreenleaf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, and Stalking
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Bullying