dorianablu83's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
AMAZING. I loved it from start to finiscmh, it was amazing to see more of such a beautiful culture and the mistery was quite fun.
I loved the characters, the protagonist is a tiny bit annoying sometimes (but I love her) and the rest of the characters are great.
I loved the characters, the protagonist is a tiny bit annoying sometimes (but I love her) and the rest of the characters are great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
maggies's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Perhaps cozy mysteries are not for me. I really wanted to like this book, but it was too slow, too long, with too much reminiscing and not enough action. Loved the yummy-sounding food, but that also took up so much real estate of the book, so a bit of a double edged sword. Never really warmed to Lila, either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Injury/injury detail, Racism, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, and Blood
pages_with_a_preoccupied_prin's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Body shaming, and Drug abuse
ka_ke's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A new comfort read! For lovers of rom-coms, easy thrillers & mysteries, Arsenic & Adobo is a wonderfully diverse debut to a cleverly developed world!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Classism, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Blood, and Death of parent
maevebm's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.0
Cute and cozy murder mystery
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Violence, Murder, and Blood
hannahkauf's review against another edition
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Murder
Minor: Blood and Death of parent
runsondoughnuts's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Murder and Death
gem114's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Arsenic and Adobo is definitely a cozy mystery and is bound to make readers super hungry with its many amazing food descriptions.
Lila works in her family's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen, after returning home from Chicago to recover from a bad breakup. Unfortunately, Tita Rosie's Kitchen is facing its own hard times, and things only get worse when a food critic who has left negative reviews about the restaurant drops dead in his plate while eating lunch there. Lila, who dated the food critic in high school, becomes the prime suspect after it is discovered that there was poison in his food. To clear her and her family's name, Lila does some well-intentioned but ultimately dangerous sleuthing around town.
This was definitely the most lighthearted murder mystery I've ever read, and it took me a bit to adjust to that style! I had to keep reminding myself that there wouldn't be a story if characters responded to the murder and mayhem going on by staying home, grieving, and trying to process everything. 😅
I'm definitely going to continue the series by reading Homicide and Halo-Halo. And I'm also definitely going to seek out a Filipino restaurant to try out some of the dishes mentioned in the book.
Lila works in her family's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen, after returning home from Chicago to recover from a bad breakup. Unfortunately, Tita Rosie's Kitchen is facing its own hard times, and things only get worse when a food critic who has left negative reviews about the restaurant drops dead in his plate while eating lunch there. Lila, who dated the food critic in high school, becomes the prime suspect after it is discovered that there was poison in his food. To clear her and her family's name, Lila does some well-intentioned but ultimately dangerous sleuthing around town.
This was definitely the most lighthearted murder mystery I've ever read, and it took me a bit to adjust to that style! I had to keep reminding myself that there wouldn't be a story if characters responded to the murder and mayhem going on by staying home, grieving, and trying to process everything. 😅
I'm definitely going to continue the series by reading Homicide and Halo-Halo. And I'm also definitely going to seek out a Filipino restaurant to try out some of the dishes mentioned in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Minor: Bullying, Addiction, and Infidelity
littlemaggiemae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I am not a murder mystery girl, but I loved this book. It was well written and gorgeous to read. I thought the way the mystery unfolded was nice and made sense, nothing felt too forced. My one complaint is they introduced two love interests and a love triangle type plot and then just immediately drop it and nothing about it gets resolved. Which while I get this isn’t a romance novel, it starts off talking about how the main characters life is like a rom-com, introduces love interests, and then doesn’t even leave anything that leads us to guess the interpretation. It ends with a nice friendship and family resolution, but something still feels unfinished.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood and Drug abuse
Minor: Death of parent
taibreakfast's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Well written cozy mystery and delicious! Lots of attention paid to food which I enjoyed. Also appreciated that part of the story was some personal mystery, like mysteries within the protagonist's relationship with her best friend. And there is some character development, just not a ton. Definitely recommend!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Addiction, Blood, and Drug abuse
Author's note at the beginning was helpful! Warned that her sensitivity reader in the Philippines found some of the scenes triggering because it reminded them of the War on Drugs in the Philippines.