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pn_hinton 's review for:
Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
Warning: you will get hungry while reading this book.
I really enjoyed this debut. It took a bit to get into and I think some of that had to do with wanting to get the murder out of the way (which I enjoy because if I have to wait more than five chapters for a body in a mystery, cozy or otherwise, I usually DNF) while simultaneously introducing the characters. Once that was done and the pacing more or less evened out.
I love close knit zany families in my cozies and this had it in spades. I also appreciated that all the characters, not just the dead guy, were flawed in a way. Even Lila was although it took a bit to get to her story. It was a change to read about an imperfect character who may have as much common sense as one would like. There were one or two missteps Lila made that had me rolling my eyes hard.
The characters were a nice mix of likeable and then unlikeable. The Calendar Crew didn't stand out as much to me as I thought they might based on their intro cut that was okay. I was more invested into Lila's relationship with her Tita and Lola and hope that we see more of that.
I also hope that the friendship between Adeena and Lila get explored more. While they were okay at the end, their lifelong friendship didn't seem too healthy. Maybe the author will branch into that bit more because while, for me, it wasn't as toxic as other female friendships I've observed or been, it sure as heck isn't the healthiest either.
And (slight spoiler) please do not add the detective as a possible love interest. I don't know if it just the current political climate (2021) but he was completely unbearable for me. Like, I spent most of the book wanting him to get shot and taken off the case. He's one of those that won't ever admit he's wrong about a 'hunch' and yeah...while I don't this in other cozies I really that isn't the path here because right now that character is pretty unredeemable for me.
I won't touch on the mystery because that's part of the fun of the journey, but I will say it would be difficult to figure it all out. At least for me it was.
Highly recommend and looking forward to the others in this series.
I really enjoyed this debut. It took a bit to get into and I think some of that had to do with wanting to get the murder out of the way (which I enjoy because if I have to wait more than five chapters for a body in a mystery, cozy or otherwise, I usually DNF) while simultaneously introducing the characters. Once that was done and the pacing more or less evened out.
I love close knit zany families in my cozies and this had it in spades. I also appreciated that all the characters, not just the dead guy, were flawed in a way. Even Lila was although it took a bit to get to her story. It was a change to read about an imperfect character who may have as much common sense as one would like. There were one or two missteps Lila made that had me rolling my eyes hard.
The characters were a nice mix of likeable and then unlikeable. The Calendar Crew didn't stand out as much to me as I thought they might based on their intro cut that was okay. I was more invested into Lila's relationship with her Tita and Lola and hope that we see more of that.
I also hope that the friendship between Adeena and Lila get explored more. While they were okay at the end, their lifelong friendship didn't seem too healthy. Maybe the author will branch into that bit more because while, for me, it wasn't as toxic as other female friendships I've observed or been, it sure as heck isn't the healthiest either.
And (slight spoiler) please do not add the detective as a possible love interest. I don't know if it just the current political climate (2021) but he was completely unbearable for me. Like, I spent most of the book wanting him to get shot and taken off the case. He's one of those that won't ever admit he's wrong about a 'hunch' and yeah...while I don't this in other cozies I really that isn't the path here because right now that character is pretty unredeemable for me.
I won't touch on the mystery because that's part of the fun of the journey, but I will say it would be difficult to figure it all out. At least for me it was.
Highly recommend and looking forward to the others in this series.