Death by Choc-Lit (Summer 2018): Book 6

[KeithLeMonde]

Discussion thread for group 2 book 6

[clairethewitch70]

Just finished this book. I really enjoyed it. The cover is bland and not something I would have picked up in a shop, but it was a good story, a family saga. The book was centred around a trust fund that had been unexpectedly depleted and the repercussion throughout the siblings who had already spent the money before they received it. I see that film rights have been sold for this book. All in all 4 out of 5 stars.

[MyGastIsFlabbered]

I've just received this book. Checking in for when I've read it

[MyGastIsFlabbered]

I've just finished this book and I must admit I struggled with it. I found the characters quite hard to care about, especially Leo and I'm really cross at the ending. Not sure if it's ok to post spoilers on here though so am wary of posting too much.

[KeithLeMonde]

I liked this one :) In some aspects it was like a classic novel - Jane Austen or Trollope - starting with an inheritance that goes wrong, and showing how that impacts on the lives of the people who are disinherited. The characters were fairly lightweight and you may get bored of reading about rich white people in New York but I was OK with that - not every book needs to be specially meaningful.

@MyGastisFlabbered, I think it's OK to post spoilers as people don't have to read these threads until they have read the book (if they do then that's their look out!). Which bit(s) of the ending annoyed you?

[Chewbecca]

I really enjoyed this book.

It's not a dramatic book, there are no big highs and lows, I didn't laugh or cry. It is a fly on the wall type book where you get to know the characters and see the impact events have on their lives over time and how they react.

I thought that, whilst dysfunctional, the characters were believable and I liked the way the stories wrapped up, not 'everyone lived happily ever after' but believable, satisfying endings. The only part that irritated me was the statue/Vinnie/Matilda link which felt contrived. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold from different perspectives.

I mostly read this on the train to/from work and found it perfect to drift off into another world.

8.5/10 from me - thanks for a book I would likely not have otherwise picked up.

[yaela123]

I really liked this book. I pretty much agree with everything that Chewbacca said. I found it very readable and got through it quite quickly, and I liked seeing the different characters' lives and problems. Other than the statue thing that Chewbacca also mentioned, I thought it was all believable, and I liked being able to just be inside the story without having to think too much about anything. Sorry I haven't worded that very well but I hope you get what I mean.

Interestingly, I did like the old-classic-style cover.

[yaela123]

I've been thinking about this book a bit more and there were a few other things I didn't mention in my previous comment. Something I found interesting was seeing the different ways the siblings thought. For example, I think Melody talked about her mother and childhood a lot more than the others. It is interesting how this seems to have had a much bigger impact on her than the others.

One thing that annoyed me was the clichés of some of the more minor characters - especially Simone and Matilda. As the only non-white characters (I think), they were really not that well developed, which did let the book down slightly for me.