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lizshayne 's review for:

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen
3.5
dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Lev Rosen's books are always delightful examples of their genres. I'll even forgive this one for having slight hard-boiled vibes because it turns out that everyone is actually soft inside here. Yolks on you!
My main critique is that I called whodunnit not based on the plot or clues, but based on the prejudice of the characters involved. Which I would not have been able to do had a few more people been assholes. Basically I could have used a little more messiness even though I understand the ambiguous utopia that Rosen was trying to construct. I get it, I just don't like it is, after all, the prerogative of the reader.