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djwudi 's review for:

We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews
3.0

Not my usual genre, this was recommended to me by Prairie because it's a murder mystery set at a fan con for a fantasy TV show...so, given my Norwescon association, right up my alley. It's a cute and frequently amusing bit of fluff, occasionally even getting me to laugh out loud (particularly when some of the show's actors are reading and critiquing slash fanfic). Much of it felt like the author definitely had some amount of con going experience, though I did wonder whether some of the situations were purely put in for entertainment purposes, or whether her experience was with shoddy cons...for example, the hotel allowing people without rooms to sleep in the halls and lobby (a big no-no at Norwescon's hotel). I did have a few quibbles with some of the choices — early on, a few fans described as being in costumes not appropriate for their body type, where I'm not fond of body-shaming-as-humor — but those moments were fairly rare. While I'm not likely to dive full-on into the "themed mystery series" genre, this was an enjoyable way to dip my toe into the waters.