Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Asesinato en el Orient Express

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Asesinato en el Orient Express by Agatha Christie

31 reviews

hiashleynine's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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duh_uwu's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

It's the second time I've read this book (the first was like 5 years ago or so) and still my first Agatha Christie story. With that being said, the only part I still remembered was the final. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it. In fact, it's much more interesting and confusing than I remember.

It's a great story, considered a classic, and I can see why. The plot twist is what makes this book different from other mysteries, I suppose. That and having Hercule Poirot in it. I think one difference between Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes is that the former's stories actually give the reader a chance to guess what happened, who did what, etc. With Sherlock Holmes, I could never guess anything (or maybe I could, only occasionally. It's been years since I read his stories). Besides, Poirot seems to be more realistic because he won't look at the suspect's dirty shoes and guess he's from Romania because the dirt there is different. ~~Also, I'm not sure why, but, by the end of the book, I think the second theory makes more sense, hmm. I wonder if...~~
Now, onto the negatives. The characters are a little too many for me to remember them all, but that's just me. One thing that I didn't catch on the first read was the sexism and xenophobia, though. They aren't displayed all the time, but it served as a reminder that this book was published almost a century ago. Oh, and some things were a ~~cultural~~ social shock, like asking someone to prepare their beds for the night. Moments like those made me question a lot of things. Also, some moments on the interrogation process were repetitive (which I know it's supposed to happen, given that they had new information), but slow too. The final moments of that process were also frustrating because they were going over all the points time after time. Which shows how impossible the case seemed to be, but it's still frustrating.

Overall, I'm glad I picked this book again and I'm looking forward to read more stories with this curious detective. Totally worth a read!

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nidzi_c's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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stargirlmolly's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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bzliz's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I have to cut it a little slack for the incredible racism, xenophobia, etc given the time it was written but, having never read an Agatha Christie book before, I was still surprised at things that were “okay” to say at the time, as well as how many of the phrases used are still said today. I was familiar with the story prior to reading and I can only imagine how shocking the ending would’ve been when the book was originally published.

I may read more of Christie’s titles whenever I’m in a reading slump in the future.

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