marissasa's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was my first cozy mystery type book and although it was lighthearted and not as tightly focused on the murder as I thought it would be, I enjoyed it and found the characters well-written and likable. The *freeze frame* "yep that's me, you're probably wondering how I got here" style of narration and abundance of explanatory details in the writing were so cheesy, but that honestly made this book feel even more Filipino than it already was with its very realistic depiction of the aunties and lola, its notion of "family = relatives + every family friend in existence", and the mouth-watering traditional foods that seem to be in every chapter, because if Filipinos are anything, its cheesy! The book wasn't perfectly paced and I did predict who the true killer was at around the 2/3 mark so the reveal in the last couple chapters wasn't a shocking one, but it was a fun read and a treat to listen to on the audiobook complete with proper Tagalog pronunciation and Filipino accents. I'll definitely listen to the rest of the books in the series in the future.
Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
greattappertwo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I love how good based this book was, I love the diversity, the friendships, and the culture. But I didn’t like the fat phobia and the aunties …. at all. I didn’t like the romances and she didn’t have chemistry with anybody. Her reactions to everything were so dramatic for a 25 year old. The ice at the end was random and I really didn’t connect with this book at all. Not for me I guess. Probably won’t read book 2.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Hate crime, and Panic attacks/disorders
writtenbydnicole's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Cursing
More...