YMMV / The Heather Wells Mysteries

• Accidental Aesop: It's not a good idea to date your teacher, even if both parties are above the age of consent. There will always be power imbalance in the relationship, he may expect you to exercise with him, or see you as a quick ticket to fame in the Big Apple.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Happens in-universe with Tania Trace. She's introduced as the woman who stole Heather's pop singer boyfriend, and then we learn that she did so to escape from an abusive marriage and that she regrets the pain that she caused Heather, especially since Heather is attempting to protect her from Gary.
  • Is Chris Allington a reformed womanizer in Size 12 and Ready to Rock or an opportunist dating a woman with good connections?
• Angst? What Angst??: Discussed in-universe. Each murder has hardened Heather so that by the time one happens in The Bride Wore Size 12, she can talk about practical matters about calling the local EMR and notifying students appropriately. Lisa even lampshades that she takes a student death too well. Averted with her mother issues, however.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Nicole Cartwright, Cooper's sister. She sings songs about drinking menstrual blood. At the dinner table.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Heather's dad calling her mother to apologize for not being a figure of support (due to the IRS putting him in jail) and the mother saying that it was her choice to take Heather's money and flee to Argentina. Becomes less funny when Heather's mom actually shows up a month before the wedding and tries to move in with Heather and Cooper; Cooper later hears Heather cry in the bathroom and yells at his sister for inviting the lady without Heather's permission.
  • Sarah's snarky digs at Prince Rashid's native country having horrible abuse towards women, after The Reveal that he is married to a British "commoner" who lives in the dorms, and both could be killed because Rashid's dad killed his sister for attempting to elope.
  • Gary Hall's abuse of both Tania Trace and an underage camper, which they justify as him "getting angry" at them for not singing well enough, in light of the #YesAllWomen tag and the Author's Note about Domestic Abuse at the end of the book.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Discussed often in the series.

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