A review by blewballoon
The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Really struggling to rate this one, there are a lot of things I liked about it conceptually, but something also felt off the whole time. I think the dialogue sometimes didn't flow right and bent unnaturally to accommodate humor or to obfuscate a plot point. I figured out most of the pieces of the mystery really early on, and it was frustrating how much the book put those reveals off, even though I usually don't mind when that happens for me in a mystery book. It made The Undetectables seem incompetent. I appreciated the fibromyalgia representation, and I sympathize with Mallory, but I did find her hard to like from the beginning when she
lashes out at Theodore
. I loved Theodore, and Diana was pretty great as well. If there are more books in this universe I'll probably check them out. It's kind of like Halloween town for adults, which is fun, and maybe the off vibes I felt won't be as much of an issue. 
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