A Bad Day for Sorry (Bad Day, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 04, 2011 Regina rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-authors, listened-to-audio-only, favorites, thriller, mystery, audio-also-listened-to, have-in-audio, first-in-series, funny-stuff

4.5 stars

Avenging angels in books come in a few different forms, but usually they are super hot young things either male or female. They are highly educated and have top of the line clothes. Well, not in Bad Day for Sorry. Bad Day for Sorry is not a typical adventure or thriller book. The main character is a fifty year old widow who owns a sewing notions shop and runs a side business of helping women safely leave abusive relationships. Stella, the main character, has a drinking issue but attempt 4.5 stars

Avenging angels in books come in a few different forms, but usually they are super hot young things either male or female. They are highly educated and have top of the line clothes. Well, not in Bad Day for Sorry. Bad Day for Sorry is not a typical adventure or thriller book. The main character is a fifty year old widow who owns a sewing notions shop and runs a side business of helping women safely leave abusive relationships. Stella, the main character, has a drinking issue but attempts to control it and has re-defined her body. Formerly overweight and out of shape, she now can run 10 miles and regularly lifts weights. She has trained herself to shoot a gun and owns a suitcase full of torture toys.

Despite Stella's reinvention of her body and her life, she has an image of herself that often clashes with how others perceive her. Stella remembers being physically abused and shamed in public. She remembers being soft and thinks of herself as unappealing. But young people look up to her as a heroine, bad man fear her, and men her age are interested in her. This contradiction in perception of self versus the outside perception of herself makes Stella an interesting character to be with for the course of the story.

The subject matter is dark – women and children are in a vulnerable situation. They often have nowhere else to turn due to their financial situation and the limited protection that the law can provide. The violence and the poverty of their situation is not sugar coated. People end up with life altering injuries and scars. Having read a few books by her, I can safely say that Ms. Littliefield knows how to write about people who are down on their luck, who may be just trying to survive and who live in small rural areas.

So we have dark, gritty and real but on top of that this book is funny. Stella is hilarious, her observations as to people's behavior and choices are funny and she has created an interesting group of side characters. This is a fun book to read. Fun, but with substance.

It took me way too long to read this book, I just wasn't interested in the main character or the subject matter. I couldn't imagine how it would be fun to read about. I was wrong and I should have started earlier. I think this is Littlefield's best work I have read, I enjoyed it more than Aftertime and more than Banished. If you are interested in the audio version, that is what I listened to and I thought the narration was fantastic.
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Mar 22, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-mystery, authors-s, zzcover-pink, authors-l, genre-crime, mystery-edgar-award-finalist, xyzcover-gun, xyzcover-weapon

This book was a kick! I loved, loved, loved Stella Hardesty and she's several notches above the Dixie Chicks and their methods of getting rid of a bad man, as she goes after several. I would never take the law into my own hands, so it's nice that Stella can do it for me. She's described as "scrappy, mean, and incredibly appealing". Yup. I got a good sense of characterization for all involved in this witty mystery with surprising depth. Well worth the read. If this was a finalist for an E ...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Moondance rated it liked it

A former abused woman helps other women with their abusive partners. Stella gets in a little over her head when a 2 year old is kidnapped. A kick ass heroine with a few years on her. Not your usual vigilante. 3.5 stars

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