A review by yvo_about_books
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

3.0

Finished reading: August 28th 2021

"Put on your sleuthing cap, girl. We're on a case!"

Spoiler

I've been curious about this title ever since I first heard about it, so when my TBR jar thought I should just read it I jumped at the chance to do so. The combination of a cozy mystery and a food angle sounded like a perfect match, and I fully expected to love Arsenic And Adobo. Sadly, I guess it simply wasn't ment to be. I still like the idea behind this story and the focus on Filipino culture and food, but as a whole this was mainly a dud for me. Why? I'm keeping this short, but next some of my issues. First is probably the overdose of food related descriptions. I personally LOVE a food element in my story and there were many things mentioned that I now want to try, but it is a question of balance and there was no such thing in Arsenic And Adobo. There were so many references to food, its ingredients and how it was prepared that the actual cozy mystery part of the plot was buried under it. The constant references started to annoy me considerably, and I really wish there would have been more focus on developing the rest of the plot instead. As it is, the cozy mystery is rather weak, and I basically guessed who was behind it very early on. Not only that, I wasn't really a fan of the main characters either, and I can't say I appreciated the cheating angle and the whole love triangle vibe. As a whole, I still think the story has a lot of potential, but sadly the execution wasn't a right fit for me at all. I do know most people do seem to enjoy it better, so don't give up on my account.

P.S. Find more of my reviews here.