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melsage1823's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Very enjoyable murder mystery that had me on the edge of my feet despite having seen the film adaptation by Kenneth Branagh.
The only reason why I couldn't give it higher was due to the cramped and rushed prologue. I get that Christie doesn't like having long books but she should have had at least 100 more pages to build up the prologue from different perspectives as the chapter was way to long and unacessible for dyslexic readers like myself. I also didn't enjoy the side characters as much as I did with my Murder On The Orient Express read. Apart from that I still enjoyed the novel and its flaws didn't bring down the book for me too much.
One part of the book I enjoyed was the theme of marginalised rich folk not having the power and luxury people think they do. Almost everyone on the boat had a reason to killer and when you know who actually killed her it's even more impactful. Although she looked pretty and kind on the outside on the inside as a woman she had lots of pressure from inheriting a large fortune. It shows how greedy man has become with money and the theme definitely still applies to today.
Another thing I liked was Poirots allies. Although Mrs Allerton wasn't a co detective I thought she had a great chemistry with him and Colonel Race even with the terrible name was just as fun as M Bouc was in Murder On The Orient Express. You can tell the duos chemistry is strong, Colonel Race in the book was definitely Watson to Poirots Sherlock. Their reactions to the drama and discussing the clues was highly entertaining and never left me bored.
Finally I liked the way again without spoiling that the twist wasn't too predictable. Despite having seen the movie there were sometimes Christie managed to convince that the killer was someone else. It was also really suspenseful when the other murders happened as Poriot and Race were collecting clues. If you like suspense this is definitely the book for you.
Overall I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a suspenseful murder mystery with lots of insightful themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Racism
Minor: Drug use
somelatenightreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Drug use