Jane
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This book was doing too much. It’s a story within a story that also included an excerpt of another story.
The main reason I didn’t DNF this book was because I really wanted to finish my Book Club’s pick so that I can have a meaningful discussion when we do meet up. If I had picked this up on my own, I would have abandoned it within the first 100 pages.
Basically, there are 2 main stories.
1. A mystery novel that had the last few chapters missing.
2. The search for the missing chapters that bloomed into trying to figure out what really happened to its author.
This book started with the mystery novel. It progressed as stories usually do.
Frankly I could hardly get myself to be invested in solving who killed the so-called victims in the mystery novel. Both seemed like awful people. To me, they had it coming.
Then as things in that story finally got me invested, it abruptly halted because the succeeding chapters were missing. The story of this book suddenly shifted to the current day story about the missing chapters and the author of the mystery novel.
The current day story was even more boring than the story in the mystery novel. There were so many long-winded red herrings thrown in there that trying to scrutinize them for clues, as to who killed the author and why, was basically pointless. They all, in the end, didn’t matter other than to hammer home the point that the author was a <b>BIG HONKING DOUCHE</b>.
Were the missing chapters of the mystery novel found? Yes. Honestly, it was an interesting end to that story.
However, the rest of the book? Ugh. Self-indulgent. I should have just skipped all the chapters related to the current day plot about the author of the book. As for it’s ending, it was not really that interesting. It was similar to the movie Gattaca.
<b>Side Note: </b>
<spoiler>This is the 3rd book from my Book Club where a house/building burned down.</spoiler>
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This book was doing too much. It’s a story within a story that also included an excerpt of another story.
The main reason I didn’t DNF this book was because I really wanted to finish my Book Club’s pick so that I can have a meaningful discussion when we do meet up. If I had picked this up on my own, I would have abandoned it within the first 100 pages.
Basically, there are 2 main stories.
1. A mystery novel that had the last few chapters missing.
2. The search for the missing chapters that bloomed into trying to figure out what really happened to its author.
This book started with the mystery novel. It progressed as stories usually do.
Frankly I could hardly get myself to be invested in solving who killed the so-called victims in the mystery novel. Both seemed like awful people. To me, they had it coming.
Then as things in that story finally got me invested, it abruptly halted because the succeeding chapters were missing. The story of this book suddenly shifted to the current day story about the missing chapters and the author of the mystery novel.
The current day story was even more boring than the story in the mystery novel. There were so many long-winded red herrings thrown in there that trying to scrutinize them for clues, as to who killed the author and why, was basically pointless. They all, in the end, didn’t matter other than to hammer home the point that the author was a <b>BIG HONKING DOUCHE</b>.
Were the missing chapters of the mystery novel found? Yes. Honestly, it was an interesting end to that story.
However, the rest of the book? Ugh. Self-indulgent. I should have just skipped all the chapters related to the current day plot about the author of the book. As for it’s ending, it was not really that interesting. It was similar to the movie Gattaca.
<b>Side Note: </b>
<spoiler>This is the 3rd book from my Book Club where a house/building burned down.</spoiler>
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This book was doing too much. It’s a story within a story that also included an excerpt of another story. The main reason I didn’t DNF this book was because I really wanted to finish my Book Club’s pick so that I can have a meaningful discussion when we do meet up.
Basically there are 2 main stories.
1. Current day story dealing with a mystery book manuscript where the last few chapters were missing
2. The mystery book that had the last few chapters missing.
The book started with the mystery book with the missing chapters. Frankly I could hardly get myself to be invested in the solving who killed the so-called victims. Both seemed like awful people. They had it coming.
Then as things in that story finally got me invested, it switched to the current day story.
The current day story was even more boring that the mystery book. The author was also a douche. There were so many long-winded red herrings thrown in there that trying to scrutinize them for clues, as to who killed the author and why, was basically pointless. They all, in the end, didn’t matter other than to hammer in that the point that the author was a BIG HONKING DOUCHE.
Did the last few chapters of the mystery book get found? Yes. Honestly, it was an interesting end to that story.
However, the rest of the book? Ugh. Self-indulgent. I should have just skipped all the chapters related to the current day plot about the author of the book.
Side Note:
This is the 3rd book from my Book Club where a house/building burned down.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This book was doing too much. It’s a story within a story that also included an excerpt of another story. The main reason I didn’t DNF this book was because I really wanted to finish my Book Club’s pick so that I can have a meaningful discussion when we do meet up.
Basically there are 2 main stories.
1. Current day story dealing with a mystery book manuscript where the last few chapters were missing
2. The mystery book that had the last few chapters missing.
The book started with the mystery book with the missing chapters. Frankly I could hardly get myself to be invested in the solving who killed the so-called victims. Both seemed like awful people. They had it coming.
Then as things in that story finally got me invested, it switched to the current day story.
The current day story was even more boring that the mystery book. The author was also a douche. There were so many long-winded red herrings thrown in there that trying to scrutinize them for clues, as to who killed the author and why, was basically pointless. They all, in the end, didn’t matter other than to hammer in that the point that the author was a BIG HONKING DOUCHE.
Did the last few chapters of the mystery book get found? Yes. Honestly, it was an interesting end to that story.
However, the rest of the book? Ugh. Self-indulgent. I should have just skipped all the chapters related to the current day plot about the author of the book.
Side Note:
This is the 3rd book from my Book Club where a house/building burned down.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable. Unfortunately, there are families like that. The guilt trips, the demands to be in your private business, etc. are sadly very common in Filipino families.
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t grow a spine, stand up to him, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I did not doubt she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit
Ronnie’s comments to his mother were rude but he did have a point. He said she picked the wrong man and I agree. She essentially picked the wrong man everyday that she didn’t divorce his father. And since she was not divorced, Ronnie, again, was right. She was still a married woman.
What infuriated me the most was scene when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was, ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. The same with having Lila and Tita Rosie being in a relationship or possible relationship with brothers. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable. Unfortunately, there are families like that. The guilt trips, the demands to be in your private business, etc. are sadly very common in Filipino families.
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t grow a spine, stand up to him, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I did not doubt she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit
Ronnie’s comments to his mother were rude but he did have a point. He said she picked the wrong man and I agree. She essentially picked the wrong man everyday that she didn’t divorce his father. And since she was not divorced, Ronnie, again, was right. She was still a married woman.
What infuriated me the most was scene when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was, ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. The same with having Lila and Tita Rosie being in a relationship or possible relationship with brothers. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t grow a spine, stand up to him, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I did not doubt she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit
Ronnie’s comments to his mother were rude but he did have a point. He said she picked the wrong man and I agree. She essentially picked the wrong man everyday that she didn’t divorce his father. And since she was not divorced, Ronnie, again, was right. She was still a married woman.
And while, I can understand that Ronnie’s numerous bad actions have planted a lot of mistrust and ill will from Lola Flor and Lila, I can’t stand behind Lila not giving Ronnie some grace about him leaving. She knew that he was unfairly targeted by the town sheriff and other people in the community. Could she really not understand why he would want to just leave it all behind?
Then the most infuriating scene was when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
I don’t know. There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t grow a spine, stand up to him, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I did not doubt she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit
Ronnie’s comments to his mother were rude but he did have a point. He said she picked the wrong man and I agree. She essentially picked the wrong man everyday that she didn’t divorce his father. And since she was not divorced, Ronnie, again, was right. She was still a married woman.
And while, I can understand that Ronnie’s numerous bad actions have planted a lot of mistrust and ill will from Lola Flor and Lila, I can’t stand behind Lila not giving Ronnie some grace about him leaving. She knew that he was unfairly targeted by the town sheriff and other people in the community. Could she really not understand why he would want to just leave it all behind?
Then the most infuriating scene was when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
I don’t know. There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. And while a lot of his comments to his mother were rude, he did have a point. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t stand up to him, grow a spine, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I am not doubting she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit.
And while, I can understand that Ronnie’s numerous bad actions have planted a lot of mistrust and ill will from Lola Flor and Lila, I can’t stand behind Lila not giving Ronnie some grace about him leaving. She knew that he was unfairly targeted by the town sheriff and other people in the community. Could she really not understand why he would want to just leave it all behind?
Then the most infuriating scene was when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
I don’t know. There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What was supposed to be a book that focused on mystery with sprinkles of drama became the reverse. And I am supremely annoyed by it.
As expected, there was a death. And sure, I was invested to find out who did it and why. But there was so much family drama going on and other shenanigans that I forgot why they needed to solve it. I mean, yeah, the death should be solved but why it had to be solved by them kinda got lost.
In the 1st book it was clear why. In the second book, Bernie was the suspect and the pageant contestants could be in danger, so I could understand why they felt the need to get into it. But here? Why couldn’t they let the cops do their jobs for once? None of them were even the locked in suspect. Sure, Ronnie’s business was in danger, but again, I was not convinced of the urgency to solve it immediately that they had to wade in. And just to make it clear how fast the timeline of events was, the dead person didn’t even get buried yet when the whole thing happened.
Since the book went into the family drama more than I thought was necessary, I felt that there was not enough bread crumbing of the clues about the real culprit and the motive. They had only a little bit of it in the latter chapters but by that time, I was exhausted from reading the family drama that I didn’t really sign up for.
The family drama had its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It gave us more background on Auntie Rosie.
2. I, again, thought that the portrayal of Lila’s family was believable
Cons:
1. I learned more about Auntie Rosie, and it didn’t really paint that great of a picture of her.
2. The portrayal of the family was believable and like with book 2, it made me mad.
From what I understood, Auntie Rosie’s husband was a bastard. But she refused to kick him out or leave him. I’m not surprised her kid, Ronnie, was screwed up. And while a lot of his comments to his mother were rude, he did have a point. She held on to his father, so he probably mimicked her and held on to him too only to be left behind. And in typical Filipino way, they probably never really talked about it. So, his acting out, while infuriating, was understandable.
The fact that her husband was a douche was not Auntie Rosie’s fault. But the fact that she didn’t stand up to him, grow a spine, divorce him, and show her kid that the way his dad treated them was not right…that was on her.
I am not doubting she did her best to show her son love. But Tita Rosie also showed him, by accepting her husband’s ill treatment and remaining married to him until this day, that it’s okay to be treated like shit.
And while, I can understand that Ronnie’s numerous bad actions have planted a lot of mistrust and ill will from Lola Flor and Lila, I can’t stand behind Lila not giving Ronnie some grace about him leaving. She knew that he was unfairly targeted by the town sheriff and other people in the community. Could she really not understand why he would want to just leave it all behind?
Then the most infuriating scene was when they finally learned that about Ronnie’s kid. Tita Rosie’s first reaction was ”Did you really hate me so much that you couldn’t even tell me about the birth of my first grandchild?” Uh, lady, the world does not revolve around you. The decision to not tell you about any aspect of his life was not about you.
I don’t know. There were so many parts in this book that had me thinking it was stuff from the AITA subreddit. In which my verdict for all of these was ESH (Everybody Sucks Here).
So why did I rate this a 2.0 instead of a 1.5? :
Despite the fact that I got so mad at so many parts of the book, my anger kept me engaged. So, I guess that was it’s redeeming quality.
Side Note:
The fact that the mother of Ronnie’s kid is Izzy’s cousin, and it seems like he and Izzy are going to be a thing…it gave me the ick. It gave me sister-wives vibes.
Audiobook Critique:
That is NOT how you pronounce "tuyo".
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the fact that I am not a “Mystery Girlie”, I am very much the target audience of this book. As a person who was born and brought up in the country and culture, it’s not a surprise that I enjoyed this book.
The previous book I read, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, was tagged as a “Cosy Mystery” but this book actually fits that bill more. Mostly because the scope was a lot smaller. It was more or less focused on the restaurants of one city. All the possible suspects were also within the community. A lot of the secondary characters were friends or family.
Pros:
1. Pacing was good. The whole thing kicked off right at the first few pages of the book.
2. There were enough red herrings to throw things off. However, there were also enough clues or small details that allowed me to suspect the correct perpetrator. I wasn’t quite sure what their motives were but I was already side eyeing that character in some parts of the plot. So, when the person behind the whole thing was finally revealed, I was still surprised but at the same time I felt vindicated.
3. Audiobook --> Excellent. You could tell that the person was also Filipino but one that was either born in the US or grew up in the US.
Cons:
1. Despite the glossary of terms, the mixture of English and Taglish may make it harder for the non-Filipinos. But honestly, I don’t think it would affect a reader who is more than willing to take in a few new words.
Side Note:
- Having recipes of the dishes mentioned in the book, seemed to be a good way that set this book apart from the other books in its genre. Of course, it’s possible that it’s not as unique as I think it is. However, this is the first time I have encountered it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the fact that I am not a “Mystery Girlie”, I am very much the target audience of this book. As a person who was born and brought up in the country and culture, it’s not a surprise that I enjoyed this book.
The previous book I read, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, was tagged as a “Cosy Mystery” but this book actually fits that bill more. Mostly because the scope was a lot smaller. It was more or less focused on the restaurants of one city. All the possible suspects were also within the community. A lot of the secondary characters were friends or family.
Pros:
1. Pacing was good. The whole thing kicked off right at the first few pages of the book.
2. There were enough red herrings to throw things off. However, there were also enough clues or small details that allowed me to suspect the correct perpetrator. I wasn’t quite sure what their motives were but I was already side eyeing that character in some parts of the plot. So, when the person behind the whole thing was finally revealed, I was still surprised but at the same time I felt vindicated.
3. Audiobook --> Excellent. You could tell that the person was also Filipino but one that was either born in the US or grew up in the US.
Cons:
1. Despite the glossary of terms, the mixture of English and Taglish may make it harder for the non-Filipinos. But honestly, I don’t think it would affect a reader who is more than willing to take in a few new words.
Side Note:
- Having recipes of the dishes mentioned in the book, seemed to be a good way that set this book apart from the other books in its genre. Of course, it’s possible that it’s not as unique as I think it is. However, this is the first time I have encountered it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given the foreword written by the author of the book, I can understand why this book was off to me, especially if I compare it to the 1st book. Though, to be honest, I’m not quite sure if the foreword actually set up my mind to notice the difference of the vibe or if the vibe was really just different. Regardless, this 2nd book in the series fell short of what I expected.
I am not saying it’s bad. It was good enough for me to consider it okay but I had quite a few issues with it.
The pacing was slower this time. For one thing, the homicide didn’t happen immediately. The whole thing started off with a threat towards the local teen beauty pageant. So, I thought this will somehow follow the trajectory of the movie Miss Congeniality. I expected Lila to embed herself in the pageant activities to ferret out the culprit and then have humorous scenes sprinkled here and there. But it did not go that way.
What I got was a good dose of Lila reflecting about her relationship with her mother. How she felt like she couldn’t get her mom’s approval if she wasn’t out there winning medals or something. Normally I’d feel a good amount of sympathy during such scenes. However, I couldn’t get into it because I kept on wondering if a child of eight could remember such slights so vividly especially since her mom died soon afterwards. Also, the slights were…slight. Relatively speaking. Always fixing her hair. Telling her to do her best. Were those actions and comments that trauma inducing? Could such things, that weren’t even reinforced after her mom’s death, be really that impactful?
I don’t know. It all felt…forced and unnecessary. Lila was already dealing with PTSD from the events in the first book. Why not focus more on that? Setting up Lila to have issues with her mom just seemed like a reach.
I was not that happy with the characterization of some characters.
1. Amir was just blah. I was hoping he would be fleshed out some more in this book but he has become more of an afterthought in this book. This was probably because the author was setting up the end of the love triangle but, in my humble opinion, it could have been handled better.
2. Dr. Jae was also not that fleshed out. Beyond him being sweet and cute, what was he? I still can’t understand what makes him interesting enough for Lila to want to be with. Was he more accommodating than Amir, sure. But so could a lot of other people. So why him? I will concede, though, that fleshing him out to the point that he had distinct quirks was not important since the book was, first and foremost, about mystery and romance.
3. The characterization of the Calendar Crew, Bernie, Lola Flor and Tita Rosie were believable. However, it was so believable to me that it made me mad.
The whole ‘forgive and forget’ trait that a lot of Filipinos adopt is, quite frankly, unhealthy. Tita June’s and Bernie’s habit of talking shit about people, who were supposedly their friends and family, was sadly typical. The fact that they were welcomed back into the fold later on was also typical. Did they apologize, sure. Will they probably do it again. Fuck, yes.
I could forgive Bernie though. She was pitted against Lila since they were kids. Then in this instance, her life was on the line and people didn’t seem that to care about her. Sure, they were investigating the murder which does help her out. But no one seems to be checking up on her well-being. On top of that, Bernie had been actively trying to be a better person. Unlike her mom.
4. Lila becoming friends with Yuki just struck me as weird. Didn’t that woman cheat on her husband? I found it hard to believe that a person who got cheated on would become friends with a cheater.
Last but not least, I could not get invested in the effort to solve the homicide. The guy was a douche. I really couldn’t care who killed him. And in the end, I was kind of sad they caught who did it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given the foreword written by the author of the book, I can understand why this book was off to me, especially if I compare it to the 1st book. Though, to be honest, I’m not quite sure if the foreword actually set up my mind to notice the difference of the vibe or if the vibe was really just different. Regardless, this 2nd book in the series fell short of what I expected.
I am not saying it’s bad. It was good enough for me to consider it okay but I had quite a few issues with it.
The pacing was slower this time. For one thing, the homicide didn’t happen immediately. The whole thing started off with a threat towards the local teen beauty pageant. So, I thought this will somehow follow the trajectory of the movie Miss Congeniality. I expected Lila to embed herself in the pageant activities to ferret out the culprit and then have humorous scenes sprinkled here and there. But it did not go that way.
What I got was a good dose of Lila reflecting about her relationship with her mother. How she felt like she couldn’t get her mom’s approval if she wasn’t out there winning medals or something. Normally I’d feel a good amount of sympathy during such scenes. However, I couldn’t get into it because I kept on wondering if a child of eight could remember such slights so vividly especially since her mom died soon afterwards. Also, the slights were…slight. Relatively speaking. Always fixing her hair. Telling her to do her best. Were those actions and comments that trauma inducing? Could such things, that weren’t even reinforced after her mom’s death, be really that impactful?
I don’t know. It all felt…forced and unnecessary. Lila was already dealing with PTSD from the events in the first book. Why not focus more on that? Setting up Lila to have issues with her mom just seemed like a reach.
I was not that happy with the characterization of some characters.
1. Amir was just blah. I was hoping he would be fleshed out some more in this book but he has become more of an afterthought in this book. This was probably because the author was setting up the end of the love triangle but, in my humble opinion, it could have been handled better.
2. Dr. Jae was also not that fleshed out. Beyond him being sweet and cute, what was he? I still can’t understand what makes him interesting enough for Lila to want to be with. Was he more accommodating than Amir, sure. But so could a lot of other people. So why him? I will concede, though, that fleshing him out to the point that he had distinct quirks was not important since the book was, first and foremost, about mystery and romance.
3. The characterization of the Calendar Crew, Bernie, Lola Flor and Tita Rosie were believable. However, it was so believable to me that it made me mad.
The whole ‘forgive and forget’ trait that a lot of Filipinos adopt is, quite frankly, unhealthy. Tita June’s and Bernie’s habit of talking shit about people, who were supposedly their friends and family, was sadly typical. The fact that they were welcomed back into the fold later on was also typical. Did they apologize, sure. Will they probably do it again. Fuck, yes.
I could forgive Bernie though. She was pitted against Lila since they were kids. Then in this instance, her life was on the line and people didn’t seem that to care about her. Sure, they were investigating the murder which does help her out. But no one seems to be checking up on her well-being. On top of that, Bernie had been actively trying to be a better person. Unlike her mom.
4. Lila becoming friends with Yuki just struck me as weird. Didn’t that woman cheat on her husband? I found it hard to believe that a person who got cheated on would become friends with a cheater.
Last but not least, I could not get invested in the effort to solve the homicide. The guy was a douche. I really couldn’t care who killed him. And in the end, I was kind of sad they caught who did it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating: 3.0
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating: 3.0
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating: 3.5
Despite the fact that I am not a “Mystery Girlie”, I am very much the target audience of this book. As a person who was born and brought up in the country and culture, it’s not a surprise that I enjoyed this book.
The previous book I read, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, was tagged as a “Cosy Mystery” but this book actually fits that bill more. Mostly because the scope was a lot smaller. It was more or less focused on the restaurants of one city. All the possible suspects were also within the community. A lot of the secondary characters were friends or family.
Pros:
1. Pacing was good. The whole thing kicked off right at the first few pages of the book.
2. There were enough red herrings to throw things off. However, there were also enough clues or small details that allowed me to suspect the correct perpetrator. I wasn’t quite sure what their motives were but I was already side eyeing that character in some parts of the plot. So, when the person behind the whole thing was finally revealed, I was still surprised but at the same time I felt vindicated.
3. Audiobook --> Excellent. You could tell that the person was also Filipino but one that was either born in the US or grew up in the US.
Cons:
1. Despite the glossary of terms, the mixture of English and Taglish may make it harder for the non-Filipinos. But honestly, I don’t think it would affect a reader who is more than willing to take in a few new words.
Side Note:
- Having recipes of the dishes mentioned in the book, seemed to be a good way that set this book apart from the other books in its genre. Of course, it’s possible that it’s not as unique as I think it is. However, this is the first time I have encountered it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating: 3.5
Despite the fact that I am not a “Mystery Girlie”, I am very much the target audience of this book. As a person who was born and brought up in the country and culture, it’s not a surprise that I enjoyed this book.
The previous book I read, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, was tagged as a “Cosy Mystery” but this book actually fits that bill more. Mostly because the scope was a lot smaller. It was more or less focused on the restaurants of one city. All the possible suspects were also within the community. A lot of the secondary characters were friends or family.
Pros:
1. Pacing was good. The whole thing kicked off right at the first few pages of the book.
2. There were enough red herrings to throw things off. However, there were also enough clues or small details that allowed me to suspect the correct perpetrator. I wasn’t quite sure what their motives were but I was already side eyeing that character in some parts of the plot. So, when the person behind the whole thing was finally revealed, I was still surprised but at the same time I felt vindicated.
3. Audiobook --> Excellent. You could tell that the person was also Filipino but one that was either born in the US or grew up in the US.
Cons:
1. Despite the glossary of terms, the mixture of English and Taglish may make it harder for the non-Filipinos. But honestly, I don’t think it would affect a reader who is more than willing to take in a few new words.
Side Note:
- Having recipes of the dishes mentioned in the book, seemed to be a good way that set this book apart from the other books in its genre. Of course, it’s possible that it’s not as unique as I think it is. However, this is the first time I have encountered it.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<br></br>
<b>Rating Description:</b>
<b>1.0</b> - DNF/Despise
<b>1.5</b> - Almost DNFed and wish I had
<b>2.0</b> - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
<b>2.5</b> - Alright with lots of notes
<b>3.0</b> - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
<b>3.5</b> - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
<b>4.0</b> - Love but with notes
<b>4.5</b> - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
<b>5.0</b> - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
I don't round up if half stars are not allowed.
-----------------------------------------------
Rating: 3.0
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.
Rating Description:
1.0 - DNF/Despise
1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had
2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
2.5 - Alright with lots of notes
3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
4.0 - Love but with notes
4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
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<b>Rating Description:</b>
<b>1.0</b> - DNF/Despise
<b>1.5</b> - Almost DNFed and wish I had
<b>2.0</b> - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring
<b>2.5</b> - Alright with lots of notes
<b>3.0</b> - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it
<b>3.5</b> - Technically good but I'm not raving about it
<b>4.0</b> - Love but with notes
<b>4.5</b> - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes
<b>5.0</b> - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive
I don't round up if half stars are not allowed.
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Rating: 3.0
I was torn about giving this a 3.0 or 3.5. The reason I settled for 3.0 is because, while I think this is well written and an enjoyable enough read, there was nothing really outstanding about it. I didn’t get particularly irritated when reading it. But I wasn’t exactly at the edge of my seat either.
Pros:
1. Prose is good.
2. Pacing is good.
3. Characterization is good.
4. Audiobook performance --- Great.
Cons:
1. The title was a bit misleading. I thought this book was going to go into how women related to the house were getting framed for crimes. Turns out a big part of the story was about a woman in a painting. So, it was a woman is a frame in Ardmore House.
2. I expected there to be more clues to lead to the actual perpetrator and that person’s motive. However, there were only quite a few of those so the ending was a surprise but not in a good way.
Would I read sequels to this book? Maybe. I don’t consider myself a “Mystery Girlie”, despite the fact I seem to be reading mysteries since the start of the year. But this was an okay book.
Side Note:
- This is the 2nd Book Club pick where the house burned down. As a person who pays a mortgage, it was very upsetting.