A review by pastelwriter
Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala
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
2.5
This book made me wish I liked cozy mysteries...but I just don't. For some reason, trying to make murder lighthearted just doesn't do it for me. I know it "softens" mysteries for some readers in a way that makes the story consumable...but it makes it absolutely cringe-y and fake for me.
Part of why I wish this book had worked for me is because I loved the Filipino family at the heart of it. If this book had removed the cozy element and just been a mystery or just been a romance or just a contemporary novel, I probably would have loved it. The characters had the workings of a large cast I would grow fond of. As it is, though, the characters simply were not enough for me to love this story and be willing to continue on with the series.
Something else I wish had been enough to make me love this book were the descriptions of food. The descriptions of food made me so hungry as I read! I wanted to eat everything the author described. Wish I had access to all these vegetarian friendly dishes. Sad sigh.
Part of why this book didn't work for me was because it was very formulaic. Most of it was following the protagonist moving from interview to interview as she tried to piece together who was responsible for the murder(s) that happened in the book. It made the story incredibly bland.
In addition, the culprits of the murders were painfully obvious. It was ridiculous how obvious most of them were. It's probably considered a spoiler to say there's more than one, but that becomes so obvious early on that it doesn't really feel like a spoiler to bring it up.
FURTHERMORE, Detective Park was absolutely ridiculous. He had no real evidence to support all his suspicions on Lila, but somehow he kept going after her. It made him seem like the most absurd character in this book. If there had been more realistic evidence pointing to Lila consistently, this would have made more sense. But at some point it was just completely ridiculous.
All in all, I would recommend this only to fans of cozy mysteries. Otherwise, I can see readers struggling to thoroughly enjoy this one. I found things to like, but it was simply not enough.
Part of why I wish this book had worked for me is because I loved the Filipino family at the heart of it. If this book had removed the cozy element and just been a mystery or just been a romance or just a contemporary novel, I probably would have loved it. The characters had the workings of a large cast I would grow fond of. As it is, though, the characters simply were not enough for me to love this story and be willing to continue on with the series.
Something else I wish had been enough to make me love this book were the descriptions of food. The descriptions of food made me so hungry as I read! I wanted to eat everything the author described. Wish I had access to all these vegetarian friendly dishes. Sad sigh.
Part of why this book didn't work for me was because it was very formulaic. Most of it was following the protagonist moving from interview to interview as she tried to piece together who was responsible for the murder(s) that happened in the book. It made the story incredibly bland.
In addition, the culprits of the murders were painfully obvious. It was ridiculous how obvious most of them were. It's probably considered a spoiler to say there's more than one, but that becomes so obvious early on that it doesn't really feel like a spoiler to bring it up.
FURTHERMORE, Detective Park was absolutely ridiculous. He had no real evidence to support all his suspicions on Lila, but somehow he kept going after her. It made him seem like the most absurd character in this book. If there had been more realistic evidence pointing to Lila consistently, this would have made more sense. But at some point it was just completely ridiculous.
All in all, I would recommend this only to fans of cozy mysteries. Otherwise, I can see readers struggling to thoroughly enjoy this one. I found things to like, but it was simply not enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence