Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Agathas

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Agathas by Liz Lawson, Kathleen Glasgow

20 reviews

tigger89's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I can see why some people would really like this book, but it didn't hold a lot of appeal to me. I thought the mystery was well done, particularly some of the reveals leading into the climax. I wasn't really a fan of the wealthy community setting, but I think it was used well even though I didn't personally like it. The fact that we had two narrators was used to great dramatic effect plot-wise, though I did find their narrative voices difficult to tell apart. The chapters are labeled with their names, but sometimes if I got distracted I'd forget partway through a chapter who I was following, and I'd have to flip back until I found a clue to remember, oh yeah, this is Iris or this is Alice.

I was somewhat disappointed that the involvement of Christie was limited mostly to literary quotes at the beginning of chapters and the fact that the main characters like her books. This might have been an unfair expectation on my part, based on the marketing for the book, but I was expecting something where specific scenes or twists would be referenced from Christie's canon to apply to the situation at hand. That didn't really happen, apart from the most general inspirations. But this really is kind of a quibble. If I'd read a different blurb that didn't stress Christie's importance so much, I don't think I would have complained about this at all. Blame it on the marketing!

The other thing that I couldn't help but laugh at is the chase at the climax. If you know, you know. The whole time I was like, that's not how horses work! None of this is realistic for your relationship/trust level with this ~~panic machine~~ horse! It's a silly horse girl fantasy moment in an otherwise serious title, which sticks out. But again it's not a major complaint, and the unrealistic nature of the climax doesn't really affect the mystery itself, just the drama surrounding it.

All in all, I didn't like the book, but I think that's more down to us not being for each other than any significant fault in the book itself. There is definitely a kind of person out there who would be very into this story. In fact, if I'd had this book in my hands 20 years ago, I know exactly which girl in my scout troop I would've handed it to. It's just not my thing, and that's okay.

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lisaarnsdorf's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved these teen sleuths! Their unlikely friendship and teamwork (and really questionable decision-making) were spot on. The ending was definitely a surprise and a bit out there! I also thought it was great that the authors included information about where to get help for domestic and teen relationship abuse. I love that this is now a series!

I had to doc a star for the alternating perspectives. I really struggled with putting myself in the correct character’s head because both protagonists were written in the first person. I wish they had both been third person, or only Iris had been first. Every switch took me out of the story while I reoriented.

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hannahfaith25's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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spaghettii's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Definitely left the ending open for more books 👀
Shipped the main characters so hard but I'm thinking they're both straight, unfortunately.

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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leffel's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Spoiler

So I figured out it was the counselor from the moment she found the shape in the woods, however!! I still really enjoyed this story that truly focused on friendship rather than romantic relationships. I was wanting a cozy mystery and this definitely fit the bill. It seems like maybe this is a series and I would be open to reading more. I think it would have been rated higher if I hadn’t been able to guess the plot in the first couple scenes.

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hollyk's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I am a sucker for a multi-media story. Give me transcripts! News articles! Tweets! All of it.

This book has an engaging plot, I figured it out about 60% of the way through, but I'm here for a good time, so that sort of thing never bothers me.

Iris Adams, I love her. She is precious. She's a nerd (affectionate) who is dragged into figuring out this murder. She's tough, she's clever, and she deserves all good things.

Alice Ogilvie is a perplexing character. She grew on me, but there are definitely times where her internal monologue comes across as "grown adults writing shallow teens" which was a bit annoying. I also did not like how we barely find out where/why/how Alice just up and disappeared over the summer. It's barely a paragraph in one of the final chapters. I think Alice is better when she's with Iris, but I feel like Iris could stand on her own as a character, whereas Alice is weaker in terms of development.

Spike, Nora, and Neil were fun, but they lowkey could've been condensed into one or two people--they didn't have enough page time to shine as individuals (namely Nora and Neil).

Now, Alice is obsessed with Agatha Christie. I mean the title of the book is a reference to her. The issue I have is that Christie's works contain racism--which isn't uncommon for the time, but it is a fact that cannot be ignored (while Christie's intentions can be debated, that does not erase the fact that her books have racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, etc). The book And Then There Were None originally had the N-word in the title. I wish that this had been addressed in the book, whether in the book itself or in an author's note.

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