Mr. Kiss and Tell

This kind of was missing the Veronica Mars je ne sais quoi for me. It was kind of a standard mystery, without much that makes the VM franchise. Also, I think it was gutsy for Rob Thomas to take on a rape victim who's an unreliable witness after the reception that Season 3 got. The best parts for me were the sideplots revisiting core VM characters, such as Weevil's arc.

(I also like neither Logan nor dogs, so your mileage may vary.)

I'll admit to being disappointed that this audiobook wasn't narrated by Kristen Bell. Having the actress from the show/movie narrate that previous audiobook added to the experience. That said, this book fits with everything viewers/readers have come to expect from the world. There's a clever mystery at the heart of the story, great character-based writing, and most of our favorite characters are represented. The timeline dovetails masterfully with the series, subsequent movie, and previous book, so there's a cohesiveness that's also highly rewarding to fans. And with another web streamed season of the show upcoming, it will be interesting to see if that season is a rehash of one of these books or if it builds on the events which took place in the books.

Much as with the first book, this felt exactly like picking up a script from a lost TV episode and reading it as a narrative. Definitely worthwhile if you're already a fan of the characters and the world, probably of little interest if you're not already invested. I loved it.

Executive Summary: Not quite as good as the first one. People wanting more Logan will get a bit more here, but I thought the main story wasn't quite as good. It's a 3.5 stars, and I should round it down to 3 just for that reason, but I love Veronica Mars and I want them to make more books. I just want Kristen Bell back!

Audio book: Ms. Lowman was given an impossible task. It would have been hard enough if they hired her for book 1. The book series is based on a TV show with well known and beloved characters. Those characters already have voices.

But to make her job worse, they hired Kristen Bell to do the audio of the first book. And she killed it. Not only because she is Veronica Mars, but she did an awesome job with the other voices as well.

So when I saw Kristen Bell wasn't doing this one, I was furious. Ms. Lowman might normally be a fine narrator for other books. I have too hard of a time making a fair assessment. I'm just still too mad it's not Kristen Bell.

I really it was a one time thing, and they bring Kristen Bell if they do a 3rd book. If not, they are probably going to lose my interest.

Full Review
So this book, much like the last one has a lot of fan service, and spends some time world building adding some interesting new plot points to the world of Veronica Mars.

Fans of Logan should be happy that you get more of him in this book, than you did in the last, but it's still mostly Veronica, Mac, Wallace, and Keith. This one also gives us a lot more Weevil.

Once again this is a fun book (or as fun of a book as it can be given the subject matter). I love spending times with Veronica and company, and think that the novels are a great idea that Rob Thomas should have come up with sooner.

This series has never been shy about discussing rape, it's been central to Veronica's character, and a plot point on the show in more than one occasion. I think it's once again handled well, though I'm probably not the right person to make those kinds of judgement calls.

This once again feels like an extended episode with lots of cameos and world building that should appeal to Veronica Mars fans, but probably won't do much for people new to the series.

Overall, still pretty enjoyable, and I'll probably pick up the next one if they put one out. I just hope they get Kristen Bell back, or I may switch to reading it.

Mmmm, like, this cements a lot of the feelings I had about [b:The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line 18209454 The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1) Rob Thomas https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393100477s/18209454.jpg 25630244], namely that VM works so much better as a show than as a book. A lot of stuff here just reads as cheesy that I could just picture Kristen Bell and Enrico Colatoni being able to pull off. Or like, in basically every chapter, they namedrop what music Veronica is listening to, which felt a little forced, versus in the show just... having the music in the background.Also I felt a little uncomfy about the actual mystery–a violent serial rapist who preys on callgirls? Like I get that it's noir, blah blah blah, but also mmm idk. I did like the parts with Logan and Mac. I guess what I'm saying is I should probably just read unofficial, fluffy VMars fanfiction instead of this officially sanctioned, rape-riddled, VMars fanfiction.