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babewiththepower.bsky.social · @babewiththepower.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Murder Takes a Vacation 6/10

I picked up this book for a local mysterious book club. I like the occasional easy read. I will state at the top I agree with the criticism a few other reviews have had. It was painful to read past the first several chapters where Mrs. Blossom is so unbelievably naive. All of the things that happen before she finally gets on the cruise are enough to tear out your hair if you're anywhere near average cautious about your surroundings and strangers with whom you interact. At home or abroad.<br/><br/>That said, I also rationalized it enough to get past it by being aware that the average senior citizen is incredibly gullible with regards to scams and unable to differentiate many things from reality. So many people have to be constantly on top of their older relatives to make sure they don't hand over money to random thieves and grifters. Don't get me started on the amount of A.I. slop they propagate all over social media.<br/><br/>Once past the set up, I was better able to tolerate the naivete of Mrs. Blossom. Of course, the other thing quite a few reviews get quite huffy to angry about is the constant awareness of her size. To which I say, you've just told me that you neither are nor in the past been a larger woman, especially a woman who was born before women could open bank accounts. Girls and women aren't any less brainwashed to constantly be aware of and value themselves based on their youth and appearance, but it was a whole other ballgame if you couldn't have much real independence without a man. So while I don't like Mrs. Blossom's constant low self-esteem internal dialogue, I think I can understand it.<br/><br/>All of those big topics aside, I felt the plot itself was rather slow-paced and took a backseat a lot to the relationships Mrs. Blossom had with her friend and new acquaintances. I like mystery books for the hints and twists dropped along the way and I didn't think there was as much of that as I personally like. Clarity doesn't really happen until the last 3 chapters, 1 of which happens a couple of months after the wrap-up. I felt like the explanation was rushed and I was left a little confused on who was who doing what and why, but maybe that's just me. I did like the more detective-y Mrs. Blossom in those chapters and wish there had been more of that character in the rest of the book than the mooning over whether or not men were interested in her and worrying about how others perceived her size like a 14 year old.<br/><br/>I appreciated the writer acknowledging at the end in the "Author's Note" that she was/is working on changing some ageist and sizeist writing for which she's received criticism in the past. All the above in mind, a reader who grew up in the 1950/1960s (or raised by someone who was) might relate better or have more patience with and enjoy this book more.

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Published 2026-08-18 17:58 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere