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thewolfishgal's review
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
3.5
I’m always a fan of Christie’s mysteries. I’m rarely a fan of the romance in it. I’m never a fan of the racism. There is definitely racism here.
Spoilers ahead
I didn’t agree with the whole “John was more alive than any one at The Hollow” idea. Was he a complex character? Sure. But he was a selfish person with barely 1 good thing about him. The only thing made him seem alive, in my eyes, was his drive and passion to help one sick woman. Too much time was spent on him and his dalliances with the other women. They deserved better (except maybe Veronica ).
I very much loved Lucy and her fairy-like existence, she was a hoot. I also liked how we got a bit of insight of Gerda’s way of thinking.
Henrietta was definitely interesting, with her artistic mind and cool detachment from the passion of romance.
Midge felt too one dimensional. I would’ve loved more details of her and her working girl life. She and David could’ve butted heads over class issues and eventually find common ground (maybe through debates over whether something works in theory vs in action). I felt these two would be a more compatible couple (if they were close in age) than the actual couple we ended up with.
The way the murder was executed and followed up on was a real page turner. You could get the sense that people knew more than they let on. It was just a matter of how things panned out.
Spoilers ahead
I didn’t agree with the whole “
I very much loved Lucy and her fairy-like existence, she was a hoot. I also liked how we got a bit of insight of Gerda’s way of thinking.
Henrietta was definitely interesting, with her artistic mind and cool detachment from the passion of romance.
The way the murder was executed and followed up on was a real page turner. You could get the sense that people knew more than they let on. It was just a matter of how things panned out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Chronic illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
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
poirot's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Incest and Death of parent
Minor: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Antisemitism
exlibrissum's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
backpackfullofbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.0
“What does one say to a women who has just killed her husband?”
“What alchemy their was in human beings.”
“I love autumn. It’s so much richer than spring.”
~
When a small group of people congregate at The Hollow, a country house with a strange feeling connected to it, no one expects one of the party to end up dead. Never the less the body is found by the pool, the spilt blood turning the pool water pink.
The entire party discover the body at the same time, a surprising extra member of this party is the world famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who happens to be a neighbour of The Hollow.
Poirot gets to work trying to route out the murderer while the inhabitants of The Hollow try and adapt to this turn of events and manage their complex personal connections.
~
This was a really strong one, the suspense was excellently crafted the characters where complex and interesting and their relationships with each other where such a messy web you are never entirely sure what they are going to do next.
I think I particularly enjoyed it as we spent some time in the heads of the suspect’s which lead to a better understanding of their motives and more investment in their welfare.
~
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Christie’s more dramatic works. Also good for anyone who enjoys complex side characters and unusual social dynamics.
“What alchemy their was in human beings.”
“I love autumn. It’s so much richer than spring.”
~
When a small group of people congregate at The Hollow, a country house with a strange feeling connected to it, no one expects one of the party to end up dead. Never the less the body is found by the pool, the spilt blood turning the pool water pink.
The entire party discover the body at the same time, a surprising extra member of this party is the world famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who happens to be a neighbour of The Hollow.
Poirot gets to work trying to route out the murderer while the inhabitants of The Hollow try and adapt to this turn of events and manage their complex personal connections.
~
This was a really strong one, the suspense was excellently crafted the characters where complex and interesting and their relationships with each other where such a messy web you are never entirely sure what they are going to do next.
I think I particularly enjoyed it as we spent some time in the heads of the suspect’s which lead to a better understanding of their motives and more investment in their welfare.
~
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Christie’s more dramatic works. Also good for anyone who enjoys complex side characters and unusual social dynamics.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
tbjeremiah's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder
cherryvillegirl's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
the January Read Christie 2021 book.
I have three main issues with this book, which impacted my rating the most, all of which are common with Christie's works, especially those with Poirot.
1. The victim and how he is portrayed.He's awful. Let's just make that clear to begin with. He's a narcissist and an unfaithful husband, yet he's extolled as a wonderful man and doctor, which, to be fair, is a common occurrence with victims of narcissists. They often can't or won't see the awful things that are happening to them and only see the abuser as some magical, wonderful person that must be upheld as all that is good in the world, so I guess his portrayal is accurate. With this said, it's really frustrating to me to see him continually being portrayed in a positive light. Normally I'm sad about the death in a mystery novel, but I was honestly excited when this guy died.
2. The ending. a common trope in Poirot novels is him acting as judge and allowing murderers to get away without facing justice. In this book, he let the murderer poison themselves without stepping in and stopping them, just so they wouldn't have to face justice. As much as I pitied the person, I don't like the idea of justice not playing out and this really frustrated me.
3. The pacing. It was so slow. I felt like it could have been cut in half and it would have upped the suspense tenfold. It's especially frustrating when it's revealed that he knew for a while whodunit, leaving me wishing they just revealed it sooner instead of playing games.
There were a few instances of twists that I enjoyed, but mostly I was bored and disappointed by this one.
I have three main issues with this book, which impacted my rating the most, all of which are common with Christie's works, especially those with Poirot.
1. The victim and how he is portrayed.
2. The ending.
3. The pacing. It was so slow. I felt like it could have been cut in half and it would have upped the suspense tenfold. It's especially frustrating when it's revealed that he knew for a while whodunit, leaving me wishing they just revealed it sooner instead of playing games.
There were a few instances of twists that I enjoyed, but mostly I was bored and disappointed by this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder