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lilacs_book_bower's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Addiction, Body shaming, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Death, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
CW: fatphobia, elderly dementia, dated disability language, and speculation of possible suicide, the child death is mentioned briefly as occurring in the past. I had read this years ago and remember enjoying it because of all the Bronte references and writing "shop talk." I definitely did not enjoy it nearly as much this time around. The Bronte references were a lot fewer than I remembered, which was disappointing. Jacqueline can be an annoying and smug character. The mystery is interesting (I remembered being surprised the first time around), but this is not one of Peters' better works. The way that Peters has Jacqueline think about the disabled character feels dated, and the fatphobia is glaringly bad. There are also smarmy men who would use sexually harass women if they could, and at least two cheating men (and one woman), so the characters aren't super likable, with a few minor exceptions. Not entirely surprising in a mystery, but Peters's books are often more amusing than this one was. Lowered the rating because of the fatphobia and the disability rep, which another reviewer described as weird, and I agree with that.
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