Tips for Tuesday - Books: Set Point, Influencers Who Kill & Killing Me Softly; Movie: A Murder Between Friends

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books: Set Point, Influencers Who Kill & Killing Me Softly 

Me - Set Point by Meg Jones follows rival tennis players Inés, who has been struggling to regain her early success after sustaining wrist injuries, and Chloe, who is a talented up-and-comer who deals with anger issues when things don't go her way on the court. Although the two of them can't stand each other, they strike a mutually beneficial deal to help each other out, but things don't go according to plan when they begin to fall in love.

This book, while cute, suffers from a lack of development. Both Inés and Chloe were deeply surface-level and underwent hardly any growth throughout the story. Despite this, Inés was a decently likable character whom I found myself rooting for, but I wish we could have learned more about her life and her personality beyond her career. For instance, she would talk about missing her family, but that never became a prominent aspect of the story.

Chloe, on the other hand, was kind of insufferable. The first time we ever see her on-page, she's yelling at an umpire and belittling the skills of her competitor, and she never really gets better from there. I kept waiting for some meaningful explanation regarding why she acted so horribly immature and mean on the court whenever the game wasn't going in her favor, but none ever came. I can understand succumbing to pressure in high-stakes competitions, especially as a person who struggles with mental health issues, but reacting by throwing tantrums like a toddler is not acceptable. I might have gotten past it if Chloe had truly seemed sorry or ashamed and had gone to the necessary lengths to make amends and change for the better, but it never felt like she did.

The romance between Inés and Chloe had its moments of sweetness, and there was chemistry between them. However, the trajectory of their relationship wasn't my favorite. First of all, their rivalry had such potential– being athletic rivals is a believable situation that can easily lend itself to extreme tension– but the way these two interacted felt more like elementary school kids arguing in gym class than grown women who were pitted against each other in their professional careers. Also, their transition from rivals to tentative friends/allies felt abrupt and unearned. The banter was fun and exciting at times, but other times, the dialogue between them seemed, again, too juvenile for adults. That said, watching them overcome their issues and fall in love was still enjoyable, especially since there was no overblown third-act conflict.

The other main issue with this book is that it is much more telling than showing. Inés and Chloe were constantly stating exactly how they felt or what the state of their relationship was at the moment, and it felt almost like I was reading the Sparknotes summary of their story rather than experiencing it firsthand.

This book did have highlights as well, with one of the main ones being the friendships, especially the female friendships. I loved seeing the depiction of such strong, supportive female friendships, especially between women who compete in the same industry. There was so much love and care between Inés, Scottie, and Dylan, and no cattiness, pettiness, or jealousy, which was lovely to see.

If you love rivals-to-lovers and/or sports romance, especially featuring a sapphic couple, and you don't mind characters and relationships that are a bit immature and mostly stay on a surface level, then you'd probably have a really fun time reading this one! However, if you prefer a deeper story with more development throughout, this may not be the one for you.

Mom - Today, I  am recommending Influencer Who Kill by Madison Salters. Reading this book is like watching a terrible car wreck; even though you might hate yourself for it, you can't deny that it stimulates your morbid curiosity. The cases covered, which include the murders of family members, mass shootings, and more, are quite horrifying, so I would only recommend this book for the most avid true crime aficionados. If you are the least bit squeamish, you probably won't enjoy it.

Don't expect to read about any extremely well-known influencers here. Most of these people seem to be on the lower echelons of influencing and probably aren't or weren't well known outside their own little circles. Let's face it, if a particularly well-known influencer committed a heinous crime, you probably would have heard about it already.  

Most, if not all of the perpetrators, suffered from some kind of mental illness, and some had difficult upbringings, although these things don't excuse what they did. Plenty of people experience these things without committing murders. Collectively, they do teach an important lesson; however. Achieving some level of internet fame doesn't necessarily bring happiness, nor does it take away your problems or your perceived problems.

Mom again - Today, I am discussing Killing Me Softly by Sandie Jones.  Charlie and Freya were the perfect couple. Then, they got involved in a devastating car accident in which a man was gravely injured, and their relationship began to erode from guilt, anger, and accusations.

Sometimes it may feel like you know where this book is heading, based on having read similar books. However, it can be pleasantly unpredictable and surprising at times. Yet, the characters are not likable. They are both kind of self-righteous and entitled. 

The other characters, particularly Freya's mother and Nina, the woman who becomes involved with both Charlie and Freya, are not any better. If Freya's mother really cared, she would have confessed what she knew or tried harder to intervene much earlier in the story.  As for Nina, although she definitely has a legitimate issue, the way she chooses to deal with it makes her no better than Charlie and Freya and no easier to root for than they are. 

Also, some parts of the story's resolution seem to contradict what occurred previously, or at least some aspects of the plot are never satisfactorily explained. In this case, the book's dual perspectives, rather than being clarifying, just make things more confusing in the end. 

Movie: A Murder Between Friends

Today, we are talking about A Murder Between Friends. This is a fairly generic film about a group of friends who are staying at a castle when one of them is murdered. Although the story does take surprising turns, some of them seem to come completely out of left field and not all feel that satisfactory as far as the plot goes.

About the most exciting thing about this film is Joan Collins' appearance, although she is mostly wasted in a brief role as a romance novelist. Her presence in the film is explained by her title as one of the film's producers, and it is also true that her career doesn't seem to have been thriving lately. Can you honestly remember the last role you've seen her in? However, those of us of a certain age miss seeing her in her scene-stealing heyday in the original Dynasty television series. 

Influencers Who Kill was published on February 3. Killing Me Softly was published today.  Set Point will publish next Tuesday, April 7. A Murder Between Friends is available digitally for purchase or rental.

Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

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