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ameydireads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
"It is a duel to the death, mon ami. You and I on the one side, the Big Four on the other."
After being reunited with Hastings, Poirot goes up against the toughest enemies he has faced till now. Every time it seems like he’s one step ahead of them, the Big Four proves him wrong. But Poirot doesn’t give up easily! I liked that this mystery wasn't easy to solve. Poirot really had to give his all and put his little grey cells to work.
The structure of the story was different compared to the other Poirot stories. Whilst the focus mainly lies on the Big Four, Poirot has many side investigations which all in turn seem to be connected to the Big Four.
The structure of the story was different compared to the other Poirot stories. Whilst the focus mainly lies on the Big Four, Poirot has many side investigations which all in turn seem to be connected to the Big Four.
I liked that there were references to Poirot’s previous cases. Poirot and Hastings have inside jokes about Inspector Giraud, the human foxhound, who appears in ‘Murder on the Links’, and Hastings’ soft spot for girls with auburn-coloured hair. This became evident when he proposed to Cynthia in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’.
Also, there were many similarities with Sherlock Holmes! The Big Four reminded me of the criminal mastermind Moriarty. During his struggle with Moriarty, Watson believed Holmes was dead and that is exactly how it went down with Hastings and Poirot in this story. Poirot additionally mentions that he has a brother who is as smart as Poirot and maybe even smarter if he wasn’t lazy. We eventually find out that Poirot made this up to confuse the Big Four, but still it is very similar to Holmes’ brother, Mycroft.
There were some parts that I didn’t like that much. First of all, it bothered me that an Asian character was referred to as ‘Chink’ and secondly, Hastings’ comment about women in science.
“It has always seemed to me extraordinary that a woman should go so far in the scientific world. I should have thought a purely masculine brain was needed for such work.”
But it didn’t bother me too much. The story is nearly 100 years old and it is not entirely fair to judge it by today’s standards.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny and Racial slurs
mijtje's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
TL;DR
wtf
So this is a weird little book. It’s good to be aware that it’s a collection of short stories which together make up one longer story. This makes it a little too fast paced at times and it might feel like a weird, all-over-the-place book. Which it is. But hey, now you know the reason!
The weirdest part is the crossover between Hercule Poirot and James Bond. It has gadgets, disguises, evil geniuses and of course a world order that secretly controls everything. It’s still good old Poirot and his adorable friendship with the kind of stupid Hastings, but then packed into a really weird story.
The beginning especially is hard to get through. As someone on here described it very aptly: it read as a Hercule Poirot fanfiction. About halfway through it gets better, however. Still, very weird. I feel like I was sucked into a parallel universe for a moment where Agatha Christie wrote shitty spy novels. Good thing she decided not to.
It’s still Hercule Poirot and I love Hercule Poirot, so it’s hard to give a very low rating, but yeah. Read Christie’s other books instead.
wtf
So this is a weird little book. It’s good to be aware that it’s a collection of short stories which together make up one longer story. This makes it a little too fast paced at times and it might feel like a weird, all-over-the-place book. Which it is. But hey, now you know the reason!
The weirdest part is the crossover between Hercule Poirot and James Bond. It has gadgets, disguises, evil geniuses and of course a world order that secretly controls everything. It’s still good old Poirot and his adorable friendship with the kind of stupid Hastings, but then packed into a really weird story.
The beginning especially is hard to get through. As someone on here described it very aptly: it read as a Hercule Poirot fanfiction. About halfway through it gets better, however. Still, very weird. I feel like I was sucked into a parallel universe for a moment where Agatha Christie wrote shitty spy novels. Good thing she decided not to.
It’s still Hercule Poirot and I love Hercule Poirot, so it’s hard to give a very low rating, but yeah. Read Christie’s other books instead.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Racism
Since the book was published in 1927, there are some paragraphs that can be seen as racist towards Chinese people.dorsetreader's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder
kloughlin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Death and Suicide
thomas_wright's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
i enjoyed this not as much as the previous book (the murder of Roger Ackroyd)
which is mentioned in the final line of this book which you may miss if not reading in release order
this book is Poirot and Hastings on multiple cases
which is mentioned in the final line of this book which you may miss if not reading in release order
this book is Poirot and Hastings on multiple cases
as aposed to the usual 1 case per book thats been the norm so far
(excluding Poirot investigates which was a bunch of unconected cases)
(excluding Poirot investigates which was a bunch of unconected cases)
the cases in thi book where all linked by the criminal organisation the big four
which i thought might be a potential inspiration in Alex Rider books by Anthony Horrowitz
the way Scorpia operate in those books
i tweeted Anthony Horrowitz about it and he said possibly subconsciously which is so cool
the way Scorpia operate in those books
i tweeted Anthony Horrowitz about it and he said possibly subconsciously which is so cool
because this book was more about the over aching plot in how they all link together the case's do suffer slightly in how few pages they take up and connections are made a little to quickly and conveniently I'd say
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Mental illness, Racism, and Sexism
biblio_creep's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Death, Suicide, and Violence