4½ stars.
Really good whodunit and an interesting take in the "repeat the same day over and over" trope. If you have played The Sexy Brutale you'll know what to expect.
Why then did I discounted ½ a star? Three main reasons.
First, because the author presented the book as a 1920's-1930's weekend-murder-on-an-English-mannor type of detective story, but the language used it's not quite there (it bothers me and jars me out of the suspension of disbelief. I'm funny that way). Nevertheless, at about chapter 6, I got used to it and enjoyed the rest of the book.
Second, as my sister said when she was almost finishing the book: 'Good twist in the plot, but now he (the author) is just wallowing in his own cleverness'. And she was right. There really are times when too much of a good thing is just too much (You'll know …
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Lectora asidua y de carrera larga, jullida de Alibrate. Además, moderadora de cierto subreddit relacionado con libros. byayoi.livejournal.com/www.goodreads.com/user/show/78449159-byayoi-sour-kittywww.goodreads.com/user/show/78449159-byayoi-sour-kitty
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Review of 'The 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4½ stars.
Really good whodunit and an interesting take in the "repeat the same day over and over" trope. If you have played The Sexy Brutale you'll know what to expect.
Why then did I discounted ½ a star? Three main reasons.
First, because the author presented the book as a 1920's-1930's weekend-murder-on-an-English-mannor type of detective story, but the language used it's not quite there (it bothers me and jars me out of the suspension of disbelief. I'm funny that way). Nevertheless, at about chapter 6, I got used to it and enjoyed the rest of the book.
Second, as my sister said when she was almost finishing the book: 'Good twist in the plot, but now he (the author) is just wallowing in his own cleverness'. And she was right. There really are times when too much of a good thing is just too much (You'll know what I mean).
And third, this kind of whodunit must be perfectly executed, no plot holes should be visible, all loose ends should be tied with beautiful ribbons (or really strong knots), and sadly, this one is not perfect. Very close, but no.
Notwithstanding this is a very enjoyable book. I really recommend it! (and if you knew me, you'd know I generally tend to do the contrary, so that's plenty!).
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Una mecánica sin talachas: 5 stars
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Meddling kids: 4 stars
byayoi - Sour Kitty reviewed The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Night in the Lonesome October: 5 stars
Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Zelazny manages to cleverly combine Jack (the Ripper), Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Frankenstein, and Dracula together with witches, werewolves, druids and …
byayoi - Sour Kitty reviewed Helix : Episode 1 by Nathan M Farrugia
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Doors of Eden: 5 stars
byayoi - Sour Kitty reviewed The Blackwing War by K.B. Spangler (The Deep Witches Trilogy, #1)
Review of 'The Blackwing War' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Such a disappointment! "Stoneskin" is so good, and this had so much potential... all wasted into obviousness, forced storyline, badly patched plots in the holes, I mean, holes in the plot, and a bunch of Young Adult tropes.
This is oh so sad!
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Thresholds: 4 stars
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated Meetings: 4 stars
Meetings by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Magic next door -- bk. 2)
Middle school student Maya Andersen and her family move to Oregon, where the residents of the apartment building next to …
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated The Physicians of Vilnoc: 3 stars
byayoi - Sour Kitty rated The Left-Handed Booksellers of London: 3 stars
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the …
byayoi - Sour Kitty reviewed The Novice's tale by Margaret Frazer
Review of "The Novice's tale" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Maybe if I hadn't read Peter Ellis' Cadfael series (although I haven't finished all the books yet) I would have liked this book more... I don't know.
Maybe if the lusty, blaspheming dowager Lady Ermentrude was not so an anachronistic character, or if it didn't take more than half the book for Sister Frevisse to realize that said lusty dowager and some other "innocent" victim were in fact very obviously poisoned, or if the poisoning symptoms weren't so singularly described that at first I thought that the poison used was Monkshood instead of the poisons that the author names later (which symptoms are not exactly the ones described either), I wouldn't be writing this.
And there are more things that bother me, for example the fact that the author makes it purposefully obvious that the wine was use as the administration method for all the poisons, and then for a …
Maybe if I hadn't read Peter Ellis' Cadfael series (although I haven't finished all the books yet) I would have liked this book more... I don't know.
Maybe if the lusty, blaspheming dowager Lady Ermentrude was not so an anachronistic character, or if it didn't take more than half the book for Sister Frevisse to realize that said lusty dowager and some other "innocent" victim were in fact very obviously poisoned, or if the poisoning symptoms weren't so singularly described that at first I thought that the poison used was Monkshood instead of the poisons that the author names later (which symptoms are not exactly the ones described either), I wouldn't be writing this.
And there are more things that bother me, for example the fact that the author makes it purposefully obvious that the wine was use as the administration method for all the poisons, and then for a twist in the plot, makes it impossible for the wine to be poisoned, but NEVER explains later how the poison was administered! But hey! Don't worry about that! She will still use the poisoned wine in the frantic climatic scene where we learn that indeed the wine was poisoned!
After writing all this, I think I actually didn't like this book.