Reviews with content warning for Rape - Shakespeare's Landlord

Shakespeare’s Landlord features Lily Bard, a complicated but resourceful woman, who tries to escape the aftermath of violent trauma by settling in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas. She cleans houses, takes karate lessons, and minds her own business, sometimes spending sleepless nights walking through the dark streets of Shakespeare. On one of her midnight walks, she witnesses the disposal of a body, who turns out to be the unpleasant and disliked landlord of the apartment complex where she does many of her cleaning jobs. Despite her best efforts to remain uninvolved, she finds herself at the center of the investigation and suspicion. Charlaine Harris’s books always have a bit of an edge to them. They feature challenged characters who evolve through the series of books, and she does not pull punches too often or shy away from a little darkness.

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eleanor_nicbhatair's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No

3.5

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joviyanna's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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kmpuzzled's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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astatuutikki's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I've read three different series from Harris, and based on the first part Lily Bard doesn't really stand out. She has the same ridiculous fixation of body hair and constant judgement of other women as Sookie does.

Describing poc by what shade of food/drink their skin was was pretty cringe, and I felt it striking that the first black person mentioned was a trash collector. Yikes. I'll give it some slack since the first publishing was in 1996, but it sure has not aged well.

Not sure if I'm interested to read more, the mystery wasn't that great, although I appreciate that the reader had all the same details as the character did! The chief of police really gave Lily way too much leeway to seem legit.

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lakea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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wils7501's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Trigger Warning: Detailed description of past brutal sexual assault and mutilation of a character. plus racism and slut shaming

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