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roksyreads's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. As someone who hasn't read many mysteries, let alone 'cozy' ones, this was a great story to read as a proper introduction to the genre. All the characters were well-rounded, the story and mystery were intriguing, and just enough clues were dropped that, whilst I had inklings as to the resolution, I still got to enjoy the 'Ah ha!' moment at the big reveal.
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I do want to add advise a minor CW for this book for diet talk and weight fixation.
Whilst Maddie certainly doesn't seem to restrict herself and appears to eat intuitively, she repeatedly talks about weight gain, needing to lose weight, and the need to start a diet. Obviously, being a first person narrative, this is part of developing her as a character, but I have to ask why it was deemed so necessary to focus on this aspect when it does nothing to advance the story or the character, especially when her anxiety and insecurities are well established through other thoughts and interactions. As someone who has had an eating disorder and is still on the road to recovery, this kind of talk is very, very difficult to read. I have worked for many years to view my body in a neutral way and to appreciate it as is. It's hard enough not to engage in negative self-talk in my head - reading first person narration that features this sort of negative self-talk in most chapters was challenging. I tried not to let it have an impact on my enjoyment of the story, because I genuinely adore Maddie as a character; unfortunately, it did, which is why my rating was 4☆ (I really liked it) instead of 5☆ (I loved it).
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I do want to add advise a minor CW for this book for diet talk and weight fixation.
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia