The jokes in this one was too funny. The jokes Dayna had about herself and others had me on the floor. The story follows Dayna, a childhood actress, who came into some money troubles. Due to those troubles she had to make some tough decisions. One of those decisions was to find out who killed a fellow actress/friend, figure out who is the rat pack, and help her parents through a difficult time. 

One of my favorite parts of this book was how awkward Dayna was with the guy she liked, Amari. I felt the awkwardness through the pages and can definitely relate to foot in mouth syndrome in those situations. 

She often felt that she had to fix everyone's problems and often neglected herself. She had friends who were by her side. She also had friends who had other plans of their own. I found Dayna and the side characters to be balance and well placed throughout the book. I thought the high fashion and allure of fame was interesting. I often hear about how hard it is to become an actor in Los Angelos and this book shed light on that. Because I know this is a series, I am curious to find more out about the detective and how their relationship will evolve. The last chapter was definitely a cliff hanger. This was just the mystery book I needed to start to get me out of my reading slump. 

One critique is that I had an instinct of who the killer was in the middle of book. But I thought something else would happen. I guess all things that glitter ain't gold (as the saying goes). 

However, that did not take away from how the book was written and presented. Shockingly, one of the suspect had a much deeper secret to share that totally caught me by surprise. I am STILL in shock. 

I must say I totally called the love interest thing. I knew it. OR DID I?? There are still answers that need answers!

Wow! What a great book. I am so happy to have fallen into this this book and can't wait to get into the rest of the series. This follows the story of Gethsemane, a musician who is looking for her big break of sorts. Only to find herself in a small town in Ireland, broke, and in a haunted house. 

While she has so many things to juggle, one including being a teacher; she is dedicated to helping a ghost who is living her house find out who killed him. I found the pace in the book to be perfectly matched. I didn't feel rushed and I didn't feel like they were sections that the author could have expanded on. 

I felt that influence of Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, and others in this story. I am so happy that this book is a series. I am interested to see if the school boys will get bigger roles in the upcoming books. 

Catch the liveshow replay: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViSagigZBYg&list=PLrkfYcHIeFq4EzUzhTMgPuLxeW3jPlagg&index=21

Watch the Live review replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn8LgwLcgwM

The depiction of Black women was too hard to process. In addition to colorism superiority. 

I enjoyed this book. I found it interesting and heart warming how the two main characters were an unlikely match. I was scared for the woman because of how abusive her father was. I think the fear was because it was not exactly written on page. I felt that Katee wanted to reader to further imagine how abusive the father can be. Let me you tell you, I have an imagination and it was not good. 

The scenes with the father was unbearable to read at times but I kept pushing through it and I am glad that I did. 

I truly, truly enjoyed this book. This book was everything to me. I truly enjoyed the podcast and current murder mystery to solve aspect of the book. I hope the author gives us more books with this dynamic. I think having the podcast element and two similar cases running side by side really solidified the book plot. It was written very cohesively and I enjoyed the suspense. 

Some of the characters were unlikeable but I have to say that I enjoy unreliable and unlikable characters. 

Check out my review with the co-host of the Uncle Rick Readalong!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZlKKynL3LE

Liveshow book review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9jP0NSi1Mc&list=PLrkfYcHIeFq4EzUzhTMgPuLxeW3jPlagg&index=20

Honestly I felt the three previous books were moving slowly. This book picked up the pack of the action and hard decision the heroes had to make. This is my favorite book in this series so far. I am sad that it’s coming to an end soon.

Here is a livable review of the book.

https://youtu.be/16iwfm8NikU

My big takeaway was “do you understand?” This phrased/question was repeatedly said throughout the book from Rabbit to her granddaughter. This book is a novella about two women who had a significant power play in their relationship. They both loved each other and tried their best to be there and protect each other against the nastiness of the emperor.
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There were specific word choices used in this book that transcended love. I kept thinking “what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained.” Each time the character Rabbit told a story about the Empress she tried her best to get her granddaughter to understand what happens and Rabbit’s love she had for the empress. It was up to the reader in my opinion to judge rather the granddaughter understood.
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If I’m being honest one of my favorite parts of the book was the Empress’s obsession with fortune-tellers and having access to future knowledge.
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I am so happy I re-read this book. I made it much better and much more enjoyable for me.