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legs_n_chins's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I went through several ups and downs as I was reading this book, but by about the 70% mark I just found myself becoming increasingly frustrated. The main character based every decision on this fictional mystery series that sounded like a trope-filled entertainment first series with a somewhat unbelievable protagonist and medium to low stakes action. I mean, it would be like me trying to solve a mystery and basing all my decisions off this book. Which is to say, the book failed to feel totally grounded and realistic to me because it relied heavily on plot contrivances. At some point I realized I had reached the limit to my suspension of disbelief. When Claudia started making certain leaps in logic in accordance with this fictional mystery series, I was skeptical but willing to follow along. It was a quirk of the character and it added layers to her personality. But when those leaps in logic paid off, kept coming, and then kept paying off, I really started to feel cheated. I don’t mind a mystery story structured like that! I love a good low stakes, campy mystery! But constantly trying to refer back to this fictional campy series made it seem like the author wanted this mystery to be taken more seriously and considered real real life. I also didn’t particularly love the reveal at the end. I might endeavor to read this again at a later date just to see, but thinking back, I just don’t think the author left the readers with enough genuine clues as to who the culprit was. It felt like one of those twists just for the sake of a twist and I’m not really crazy about those.
Not only that, but I couldn’t help feeling that Claudia didn’t really grow throughout the story. She’s selfish and self centered from the start and I never ended up getting the sense that she truly recognized that in a way that would make her want to change. So many of her selfish decisions or actions ended up somehow being rewarded; even if she did have a temporary period of experiencing consequences, it didn’t last in the end. The part of this book that truly felt authentic and grounded were the family dynamics, and in those cases I could see glimmers of genuine development in Claudia’s character as she began to understand her brother and sister and how they all as siblings related to each other. The scene at the end between Claudia and her mother, too, was really lovely. But somehow that felt disconnected from what Claudia did in the mystery plot and how she saw herself and the people around her beyond her own family. The two storylines were woven together pretty well, but I just couldn’t reconcile the Claudia who came out on the other side in her family life with the Claudia who came out on the other side of the mystery.
Some of the ways the author spoke also left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. There was something vaguely judgmental in all the descriptions of other people in the book. I think it can be down to Claudia’s view of the world, but it wasn’t an overly pleasant viewpoint to be in for 350 pages. Claudia never presented us with a reason to see Beck, for example, as anything but pretty and ruthless. Or Squirrel as anything but weird and hermit-like (in a supremely stereotypical portrayal of techies). It was to a point that I wondered if it was character voice or actually authorial bias starting to slip through. I didn’t much enjoy how Claudia viewed the world and the people around her by the end.
I realize I’ve just gone on for quite a bit about what I didn’t find really successful in the book, but despite that I did enjoy getting to the next part of the book. While the pacing was wonky in places, it did keep me engaged. Regardless of if I though the end reveal was effective, it still was very clever hoe the author tied all the strings together at the end. I appreciated that even Claudia’s siblings were somehow connected to it without even realizing. And I do think that emotional core of the family dynamics definitely upped my overall rating. It just felt so genuine and it had some real depth that it was easy to forget how frustrating I found the mystery plot when Claudia interacted with her siblings. I’m definitely in it for the complicated sibling relationships. If Claudia Lin is to become a regular detective across a mystery series, I think I would read the subsequent books. Maybe with different expectations going in so I’m not so frustrated by the biases I had about what I was getting into.
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity
laurenw's review against another edition
3.5
The book has a vibe that makes me feel I'd have enjoyed it more in my 20s.
The plot did keep me intrigued enough to finish at least
Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, and Car accident
Minor: Homophobia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
iseefirede's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Suicide, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder and Alcohol
redur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Claudia is *not* a good person but seems to justify her use of total surveillance technology by using it for "good". She also goes on to
We certainly have real world examples of this, so it's certainly something to keep on your radar.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-pentagon-learned-targeted-ads-to-find-targets-and-vladimir-putin/
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Lesbophobia
hmetwade's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
emmehooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, and Murder
Minor: Racism
aweekinthelife's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity and Abandonment
arireadsitall's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Suicide
ivorymusic82's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity