Death by Bubble Tea
by Jennifer J. Chow
Summary
When Yale Yee discovers her cousin Celine is visiting from Hong Kong, she is obliged to play tour guide to a relative she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Not only that, but her father thinks it’s a wonderful idea for them to bond by running a food stall together at the Eastwood Village Night Market. Yale hasn’t cooked in years, and she hardly considers Celine’s career as a social media influencer as adequate experience, but because she’s just lost her job at her local bookstore, she feels she has no choice.
Yale and Celine serve small dishes and refreshing drinks, and while business is slow, it eventually picks up thanks to Celine’s surprisingly useful marketing ideas. They’re quite shocked that their bubble tea, in particular, is a hit–literally–when one of their customers turns up dead. Yale and Celine are prime suspects due to the gold flakes that Celine added to the sweet drink as a garnish. Though the two cousins are polar opposites in every way, they must work together to find out what really happened to the victim or the only thing they’ll be serving is time.
My Review
This was a mediocre murder mystery. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a good job, but she’s not one of my favorite narrators. There was something about her voice that I can’t quite explain that rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t think she was a good fit for me.
The writing was decent, but it was extremely detailed to a fault. It was more like over-explanation that wasn’t necessary. I didn’t need to know every little, single thing someone did, saw, ate, etc. Some imagination needs to be left to the reader. We don’t need to be told every exact detail. That got very frustrating as the story went on.
The characters were not my favorite, so I had a hard time connecting with them; therefore, I didn’t really care about them. Honestly, I could’ve DNF’d this book, but I finished it just because I wanted to find out who the murderer was and watch the case get solved. Yale is an “old soul” with very “old school” ways, which was cute and quirky at first, but then it just got annoying. She didn’t own a car or a cell phone, and eventually, she needed those things. So her old-fashioned lifestyle actually came back to hurt her and became obstacles for her. Then, her cousin, Celine, was the complete opposite. As a Foodstagrammer, she was way too connected to social media and all things technology. She seemed very superficial, shallow, and fake. I didn’t like her at all, even though the two girls became closer by the end. I did enjoy watching their relationship improve and their familial bond become stronger, though.
The murder mystery was decent, and it kept me interested. I wanted to know whodunit. It had decent pacing, but I wish more had happened. I know it’s a cozy mystery, but a tad bit more action would’ve been nice. There weren’t very many thrilling or suspenseful scenes. It could’ve used a few more to make it more entertaining. It was a bit boring for most of the book.
This story takes place during the fall, around Halloween, so it was seasonal, which I enjoyed. It fit my spooky season reading theme and definitely gave fall vibes. I also enjoyed the night market scenes. I’d never heard of a night market before, so that was something different to experience.
The highlight for me was learning about the Asian culture and all of the delicious, mouth-watering Asian food descriptions. This story will definitely make you hungry, especially for Asian food. I’m also a boba tea addict, so I adored all the boba tea talk, and it made me want boba in the worst way!
Overall, it was a tolerable audiobook, but it was just meh for me. This is the first book in a series, but I probably won’t continue with the sequel.