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readinginfairyland's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cakt1991's review
4.0
Kill Her Twice is another intriguing historical fiction book from Stacey Lee, this time with a central noir mystery plot. Having read a bit about this era of Hollywood, I immediately recognized the inspiration in Anna May Wong for the murder victim Lulu, who in real life was the first Chinese American Hollywood film star. While she was not murdered, she faced racism and stereotyping throughout her career, and this, in tandem with the razing of Chinatown which also plays a role in the book, provide a great cultural backdrop to inform readers of the anti-Asian sentiment of the time.
The story follows two sisters, May and Gemma, who are former classmates and friends of Lulu’s. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two, along with their younger sister, Peony and their mother, and their relationships with one another. May is the typical eldest child, being rather dutiful and quiet, while Gemma is much more free-spirited, and that makes for an interesting dynamic between the two of them in particular.
There’s a lot of intrigue with the multiple moving threads, and while there are moments where it dragged in the middle, taking little detours that distracted from the central mystery. But it generally maintained interest, and it picked up towards the end.
This was another solid read from Stacey Lee, and I recommend this book to readers interested in YA historical fiction with a slow-burn noir-mystery plot.
thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25
A YA historical fiction murder mystery by @staceyleeauthor that kept me riveted throughout.
🎬
Hollywood, 1932. Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen with roots in Chinatown, grew up with the Chow sisters—May and Gemma. When they find her body in the stables one morning, they know it’s murder. The police aren’t convinced since the victim is a Chinese actress so the girls decide to take the case into their own hands. The more they investigate, however, the closer they seem to get to the killer who doesn’t want them digging.
🌹
I love that Lee can take important issues set in our nation’s past and make them interesting stories that keep me engaged. I find that’s my struggle with the genre of historical fiction. A lot of times it feels like fact dumping, but this book has me turning pages quickly. It’s my favorite of hers so far!
CW: death, murder, illness, racism, hate crime, misogyny, gun violence, injury, blood, smoking, grief, pregnancy, sexism, xenophobia, cultural appropriation
4.25 pacing seemed slow in some places
🎬
Hollywood, 1932. Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen with roots in Chinatown, grew up with the Chow sisters—May and Gemma. When they find her body in the stables one morning, they know it’s murder. The police aren’t convinced since the victim is a Chinese actress so the girls decide to take the case into their own hands. The more they investigate, however, the closer they seem to get to the killer who doesn’t want them digging.
🌹
I love that Lee can take important issues set in our nation’s past and make them interesting stories that keep me engaged. I find that’s my struggle with the genre of historical fiction. A lot of times it feels like fact dumping, but this book has me turning pages quickly. It’s my favorite of hers so far!
CW: death, murder, illness, racism, hate crime, misogyny, gun violence, injury, blood, smoking, grief, pregnancy, sexism, xenophobia, cultural appropriation
4.25 pacing seemed slow in some places
abbycostello1999's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sol_journal's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
**Thank you so much Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group and Stacey Lee for the arc! All words and thoughts in this review are my own honest opinion!**
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The Storygraph
Posted on: 11 May 2024
3.4 (rounded down to 3) out of 5 stars.
Kind of struggling to write this review because I’m still on the fence of how I feel about this. I loved the theme, the plot, and the setting so so so much. The writing was a little lacking in some areas for me though. I didn’t feel as drawn towards the characters throughout the whole time I read, just during some scenes/parts. I think that if there was a little more depth to them, I’d have found ways to love them each a little more? They were just.. flat, with very redeeming qualities! Each of them, especially how May has her bits of growth or Gemma too! I also feel like Peony was kind of cast out too much? There was a bit of a struggle, it seemed, in deciding how important the little sister’s role would be in this too- or that’s what I felt anyways as I read.
What I liked was their cunning though. The sisters are given chances to grow, to see how they sway with the way the world is changing around them. There’s a certain kind of heart to be found in reading along, waiting to see how the mystery unfolds and just what might happen to our protagonists. I feel like that was the redeeming factor for me? Just the desire to see how the Chow Sisters will move next, how they’ll decide what’s best to do when it feels like things are wholly against them.
All of this back and forth to say that it was still an enjoyable read! I absolutely loved the era we are thrown in to, the challenges that the characters are battling, and the things they do for justice. In the heart of it all, it’s about friendship, it’s about family, and it’s about three sister clouds fighting against the perils thrown their way so they can stay together.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, and Gun violence
Less drug use and more a brief mention of drugs, no on-page usage that I can recall! Similar for alcohol, there is brief on-page uses of drinks at a party/event, but nothing terribly intense. Gun violence in thatsoapsoapsoap's review
2.0
DNF @25%
Well, this was disappointing.
While I highly anticipated this and was overjoyed that I got an arc from the publisher, this just... let me down. It felt like a race through mud, and while it was nicely written at some points, at others it felt very SHOW, not TELL. To add to that, the characters were very pale. May and Gemma were simply words on a screen, not fleshed out people to me. And as another reviewer mentioned, I often forgot that the third sister even existed.
Also, maybe this was because this was an ARC or because of formatting issues with my Kindle, the amount of grammatical and formatting issues in this book was ASTOUNDING to me.
Bottom line: an interesting premise, poorly executed.
2/5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc.
Well, this was disappointing.
While I highly anticipated this and was overjoyed that I got an arc from the publisher, this just... let me down. It felt like a race through mud, and while it was nicely written at some points, at others it felt very SHOW, not TELL. To add to that, the characters were very pale. May and Gemma were simply words on a screen, not fleshed out people to me. And as another reviewer mentioned, I often forgot that the third sister even existed.
Also, maybe this was because this was an ARC or because of formatting issues with my Kindle, the amount of grammatical and formatting issues in this book was ASTOUNDING to me.
Bottom line: an interesting premise, poorly executed.
2/5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc.
erinsbookshelves's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5