I give this one a solid 4 stars. There were some things about this one that I really appreciated and felt vested in (the characters Charlie and Mr. Olie, Sadie's battle with anxiety, Gayle playing sidekick :) ) The story kept my attention and I found myself devouring the 2nd half to see how it would all play out because I was so engaged.Here's my big complaint and it's petty and comes from having lived in Hawaii... Konnie? Really? Why such a silly spelling of what would otherwise be a perfectly normal Hawaiian name: Kani. That drove me absolute bonkers. Especially with the frequent insertion of other legit and commonly used Hawaiian/pidgin phrases (kama'aina, haole, slippah, mahalo, okole, pau, etc) (as well as a few much less commonly used in daily island speak... "metetaloko"?? "he mea iki" (I actually asked a woman who was native Hawaiian and a kumu hula and teacher of Hawaiian heritage and language once how you say "You're welcome" and she said there wasn't a common phrase used for it.) Anyway, the inclusion of Hawaiian phrases was lovely in some cases, annoying and seemingly inaccurate (or at least forced) in others, and the name Konnie was almost enough to make me not read the book. (I wish I were joking. It really was *that* annoying to me.) I am glad that I didn't toss the book out the window because of "Konnie" though LOL. Because it really was a new side of Sadie that was intriguing and engaging and made her feel much more human and real, and I liked that a lot, and it's left me looking forward to the next book in the series :) I felt sorry for Sadie a lot in this book. She really struggled and we see a different side of her than has been in the other culinary mysteries. She finds herself in a sad situation and tries to help a little boy, Charlie, find answers about his mother. I enjoyed the book and there are always points in these mysteries where I feel like I can't read fast enough to find out what will happen next. Sadie always gets herself into these situations where I want to sit and hold my breath right along with her! It makes it exciting.
What do You think about Banana Split (2012)?
Not as upbeat/positive as the others in this series. But a good read
—Bridgetmaryy
Not quite as good as others in the series
—Keembee
