Review by Farmgurl1 -- Toxic Side Effect by Sandy Magner

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Farmgurl1
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Review by Farmgurl1 -- Toxic Side Effect by Sandy Magner

Post by Farmgurl1 »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Toxic Side Effect" by Sandy Magner.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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The novel Toxic Side Effect by Sandy Magner is a crime thriller about the life of Jennifer Burns and her plight to uncover the truth about her father’s death. This novel is the sequel to Pocket Dial.

The book starts with a phone call from Jennifer’s mother to inform her that her father is dying and he is on his way by ambulance to the hospital. Jennifer soon learns that her father has been poisoned and her mother is the number one suspect. Jennifer knows she must find the person responsible for his death and exonerate her mother. What Jennifer soon finds out is that her father had more than one secret he had been hiding for decades and the investigation into his death will reveal the shocking double life her father led.

The book is about a very dark subject but is written in a very light-hearted way. The characters in the book are so much fun and the author does a great job of making all of the characters likable and real. Jennifer and her best friend, Kat, really have doubts about the innocence of Jennifer’s mother, and the author does a great job of making this a funny dialogue between the two women. They both agree that she definitely had motive after 20 years of her husband’s infidelity. Jennifer and Kat are both hilarious as they come up with different schemes to unmask the true killer. I found myself laughing out loud several times throughout the book.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I felt like this was a great book that was very well-written with very few errors. The ending has a great plot twist that I didn’t see coming and it made the book even stronger. The only thing I really didn’t like about the book was I thought Jennifer’s level of involvement in the official police investigation seemed very unlikely. If she were just investigating everything on her own and the police weren’t actually asking her to help with the investigation, it would have been more believable.

In summary, I think the book would appeal to readers who are looking for a light and fun book that is not overly complex. The story is about family secrets, infidelity, murder and also has lots of good humor throughout. The characters keep the story moving and it’s one of those books once you start reading you can’t put it down. I also plan to go back and read the prequel to this book Pocket Dial because it will shed more light on Jennifer’s personality.

******
Toxic Side Effect
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oluwastaytimi16
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Post by oluwastaytimi16 »

This is my kind of novel. I love when I read and I get amused to the point of laughing out aloud. Great review, am definitely going to read it
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Post by gali »

A thriller revolving around the life of Jennifer Burns and her plight sounds good. Likable characters, humor, and twists should make it a fun read. It seems that Jennifer’s level of involvement does require suspension of disbelief. It is good that the book was well-written with very few errors. Thank you for the review!
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Post by mindyg123 »

A young woman's investigation into the death of her father leads her down a path she never suspected. This is definitely my type of read, especially when I can laugh in places. Grabbed my #free copy and congrats on being BOTD.
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Post by Misael Carlos »

I had fun reading the review; it was detailed and yet there was no spoiler, written in a way that intrigues whoever is reading the review-- you want to dig right into it! Happy reading to us!
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

Hopefully Jennifer can uncover the truth of her dad's murderer! I wonder what secret she ends up uncovering as she digs into the investigation? It's good to know that the author was able to write about a dark subject in a light-hearted way and that the characters were likable. Laughing out loud during a murder mystery? Sounds like a unique take on the genre. It's great to know that there were few errors and a good plot twist. Too bad that Jennifer's involvement in solving the murder mystery was unrealistic. I don't think this is for me, but I'm glad that you were able to enjoy the book! Thank you for sharing!
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Post by Asisha Joseph »

I've read the book, and unfortunately, I don't share your enthusiastic opinion. But I'm glad you liked it!
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Post by FictionLover »

The book is about a very dark subject but is written in a very light-hearted way. The characters in the book are so much fun and the author does a great job of making all of the characters likable and real. Jennifer and her best friend, Kat, really have doubts about the innocence of Jennifer’s mother, and the author does a great job of making this a funny dialogue between the two women. They both agree that she definitely had motive after 20 years of her husband’s infidelity. Jennifer and Kat are both hilarious as they come up with different schemes to unmask the true killer. I found myself laughing out loud several times throughout the book.
Thanks for your take on Toxic Side Effect.

I also reviewed it and found it lacked suspense and was full of consistency errors. For instance, Jennifer admits (before her conversation with Kat), that she is not sure what ever happened in her parent's marriage after her father's affair was discovered. But in the next scene, Kat knows that the affair went on for 20 years. How did she know, when Jennifer doesn't even know yet?

Not my only problem with this novel. I'm glad you enjoyed it, because I didn't.

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Post by Ruba Abu Ali »

This is my kind of novel, a crime thriller complicated by family secrets. Thank you for the lovely review.
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Post by tarafarah7 »

I loved your review! It was helpful, and it got me excited to read the book - thank you! Today's BOTD falls into my favorite genre, and with the added element of humorous dialogue, this is a winner in my book! I'm so excited this was free today, and I'm lookimg forward to starting it soon. Yay! Thanks, again!
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Post by khandzz09 »

The title is so engaging and I thought it is a self-help book. But, this is a crime thriller and I also like books with a good sense of humor. Humor and murder mystery is interesting to read in one book. Congrats for being a Book of the Day. God Bless. Thank you for his review.
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Post by Sirajuddin A »

The main character of this crime thriller is Jennifer Burns whose life has been turned upside down after the death of her father. It is when Jennifer comes to know that her father didn't die a natural death, but he was poisoned, and the police suspect her mother. Now Jennifer has to find the killer and the secrets her father had been hiding from her. Thanks for a brief and beautiful review.
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Post by Strangerthanfiction »

Great review. I love a good crime thriller. The fact that this one not only has murder, secrets, and a great swift plot but also a good deal of humor and is hard to put down puts it in the must read catagory for me. I think that I will read the prequel Pocket Dial as I like to read series in order. Congrats to the author on a smashing review. Thanks so much for sharing.
Last edited by Strangerthanfiction on 16 Sep 2018, 08:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Very intriuging,a secret search that led to an endless discovery.
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Post by sanykip »

Wow! I loved reading the review, its really a nice one it details the book and since i haven,t read this book, am actually cubed into getting a copy too
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