Blackmail and Bibingka

this is such a quick and fun cozy series! i really enjoyed the plotline of this one especially compared to the first

Always guaranteed to make me hungry and laugh!

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 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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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: 3.75 stars

The third book in the series is a step up from the second one because there is better pacing and character development.

I loved seeing Lila fight for her family, but still being willing to listen to others. Also there were so many secrets!! I guessed one secret, but another one was a really good red herring. As we got closer to the end, I figured out part of the solution, but mot all of it. So I was definitely surprised by the solution. This is such a great series and I am so glad that there will be more!

This book had so many new characters that I had a hard time tracking who was who and which sketchy thing they were doing. However, the plot came together beautifully and the backdrop is just as charming as it has been from book one. The food sounds fantastic as well.

3.5