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gillian_aftanas's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Gaslighting
Minor: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Classism
arkwen452's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The Hollow unfolds as a dated contemporary narrative following the lives and relationships of urban middle class, and somewhat quirky, group of people. The story primarily centers on a Doctor, John Cristow, his family, his work and the extra relations he has. I do like these forms of Hercule mysteries where the readers spend most of the their time with the supporting characters rather than spend so much time on Poirot.
I must admit that I did not care that much about John or his death. John did not come across as "alive" and thrilling as everyone kept making him out to be. I did however have strong interest in the women in this story that seemed to be side-line characters of interest. They are always the one more relatable and human. For me that was Midge, and John's wife Gerda. And the very quirky Hollow's host Lucy Angketell.
I must admit that I did not care that much about John or his death. John did not come across as "alive" and thrilling as everyone kept making him out to be. I did however have strong interest in the women in this story that seemed to be side-line characters of interest. They are always the one more relatable and human. For me that was Midge, and John's wife Gerda. And the very quirky Hollow's host Lucy Angketell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Murder
Minor: Blood
ishouldbereading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Now this book was exceptional. Let me tell you why. The premise is simple: rich people with giant mansion invite friends that have years of unresolved conflicts and then ✨voilà✨: someone gets murdered. (Unironically though, this is my most favorite thing to read about). The investigation wasn't the best and I wasn't a big fan of the end to be honest, but what makes this book exceptional is that it has so much internal dialogue, which kinda makes it a psychological book in my opinion. We saw almost everyone's point of view, their thoughts and even got a romance very similar to Little women (Good wives)🥹
Agatha managed to capture raw emotions so beautifully and talked about difficult topics such as infidelity, rich vs poor people, suicide attempt and toxic relationship. It was truly not like anything from her I've ever read.
Moreover, Agatha managed to make this book even funny. Poirot could have been here a little more, it is true that he didn't really do much, but nobody complains when Miss Marple does it so why can't we give Poirot a break, huh?
Also, it was so interesting to see an ADHD character written in 1946. I'm not really sure Agatha knew she was writing an ADHD character, but I appreciated it nevertheless.
In summary, I wouldn't recommend it to people who have never read a book by Agatha Christie, because it's not a great way to be introduced to her writing and Poirot, but I loved it because it was different from her other books.
Agatha managed to capture raw emotions so beautifully and talked about difficult topics such as infidelity, rich vs poor people, suicide attempt and toxic relationship. It was truly not like anything from her I've ever read.
Moreover, Agatha managed to make this book even funny. Poirot could have been here a little more, it is true that he didn't really do much, but nobody complains when Miss Marple does it so why can't we give Poirot a break, huh?
Also, it was so interesting to see an ADHD character written in 1946. I'm not really sure Agatha knew she was writing an ADHD character, but I appreciated it nevertheless.
In summary, I wouldn't recommend it to people who have never read a book by Agatha Christie, because it's not a great way to be introduced to her writing and Poirot, but I loved it because it was different from her other books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Antisemitism
bessadams's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
kristinetp's review against another edition
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? Yes
did i like it? it was aight haha
would i read it again? no
this was a context read as I am currently in the stage version of this book. I happened to find the copy of the book at savers days before the initial audition, what are the odds? I thought it would be interesting to see how the book differs from the stage show and a lot of the dialogue is ripped right from the book on put in the script, but there are some other changes
also, this was my first legit adult murder mystery read! I had never read any Agatha Christie before... she's uh.... she put some uh... not so good language in there... like i think we all know what i'm talking about .... that lady kinda racist ...
anyway, yeah it was okay haha
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
helena_chris's review
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A great study of characters, though a bit bizarre. I do understand why Agatha Christie feels like this story was ruined by introducing Poirot but I loved it and think the ending would not have been credible without him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Grief, and Classism
kloughlin's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Murder
3frenchtoast's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Racial slurs
viireads's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Infidelity
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
questingnotcoasting's review
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? Yes
3.5
This was an entertaining read but Poirot is very much at the periphery of the plot which surprised me. It also isn't really a puzzle mystery like most of the Poirot books but there are still enough hints for the reader to try and work out the solution. All the characters are unlikeable in one way or another which makes for a good closed circle whodunnit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Murder