Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Murder and Mamon

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala

12 reviews

flyinglark's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

As a new season arrives in Shady Palms, a new person is found dead. This time it hits too close to home to the “Calendar Crew” April, Mae and June.

The Calendar Crew breathes gossip, but unfortunately, it has caused many foes in exchange, even with the best of the Aunty intentions. The mystery of who killed Divina and vandalized the Calendar Crew’s new laundromat wasn’t that interesting for me. I’m not sure how to word it, but it felt disjointed, or it was a more check-in on the characters after the events of the previous books. The morally grey characters and their motivations didn’t hit for me. Overall, it felt too short for all the things trying to cram in.

What I liked was the community in the book. A lot of the cast from the previous books returned. This being the fourth book means there were a lot of names to remember, even with Lila’s introductions, and at times got messy.

They all helped Lila with the investigation, even calling her out when Lila went too far with the interrogations.

As usual, the food and drinks mentioned are mouthwatering. The romance between Jae and Lila was sweet,

with him joining her on her investigative outing to make sure she was safe.

Just because this book wasn’t the best for me, doesn’t stop me from anticipating the fifth book coming out in November.

POV: 1st Person

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froggycake's review

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adventurous lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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maebemerissa's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The murder took place a little later in the book, and so it was a character you got to get to know a little before their death. It kinda made the book a little darker for me than the others. While I think the niece was an... interesting character, I felt like Lila was heavily impacted by her death. It also makes more sense that she would get involved with this investigation than ones that she go involved with in past books. There was a lot more going on with this mystery, so I had several theories going until the end. I like how Manasala's books have a bit of telenovela vibes going on. Bad characters often get what's coming to them and it was nice to see a group of judgy older ladies get humbled. Worst part of this book is that I can't visit Brew-ha cafe for real. I'll just have to keep day dreaming about Lila's baking.

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emherrick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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

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onegalonelife27's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Lila is back to sleuthing in this next installment of Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries. This time the focus is on the Calendar Crew-Lila’s three godmother and it looks like their love of gossip may have gone too far. I love it in series when side characters get some attention! This time the Crew is starting a new laundromat in Shady Palms and they are having Apri’s niece, Divina, from the Phillipines to help out. Yet the reasons for Divina’s immigration are mysterious. Not long before the opening of the laundromat, there’s vandalism and then murder with Divina’s body found with a threatening message nearby. This is another great mystery to follow Lila as she tries help her godmothers and get justice for Divina!

With this one, I found myself reflecting on the themes of gossip and how it affects both those who gossip and those who are gossiped about. Fortunately, the Calendar Crew’s information is accurate so we don’t have to worry about them slandering anyone. One character brings up, “If they don’t want to be gossiped about, they shouldn’t do bad things,” but everyone makes mistakes, bad choices, and perhaps decisions in order to survive, and has to live with them. And it’s especially embarrassing for everyone to know and judge for those actions. We are told what happens to some characters that the Crew talks about, some are able to move on, some even find their lives better and some…well you’ll have to read to see what happens to them.

Lila says she doesn’t want to deal with any more dead bodies early on in the book, but I’m so glad to read more of her sleuthing! I’d be happy to read many more books in Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries, but maybe one day someone Lila loves will be involved in a much less lethal crime, and thus Lila will step in to save them from a frame up. We’ll have to see!

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bookishmillennial's review

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challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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? No

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

Gosh, I simply ADORE this series. I never, ever want it to end. This was yet another banger by MPM and I will follow Lila’s mysteries to the ends of the Earth! If you haven’t tried this series yet, PLEASE DO! They are the coziest, goofiest mysteries, and I love the FilAm representation 🤎🇵🇭

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joannchristine's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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elliehoney's review

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dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

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thewellreadlabrador's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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

Can I just start by saying, how cute is this cover?

I absolutely adore the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series and this addition did not disappoint. The beloved characters that we have meet through previous installments return and we get to meet a few new ones. And I love how we get to really build connections with each character. The character development in this series is fantastic.

As always, I look forward to the next installment in this cozy series!

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