Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - And Then There Were None

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

12 reviews

lalu's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow. This was quite something! I couldn't help myself but read the second half in one sitting.

Ten people are invited to "Soldier Island" under different pretences. It turns out that each one caused the death of someone in a way that was untouchable by law.

One after another they all die.

Here are some of the guesses/suspicions I had while reading. None of them were correct.

When Mr Rogers was seen outside and very shortly afterwards was seen in the attic, I thought he might have a twin or doppelganger.
The way Ms Brent wrote in her diary and also went outside on her own... Very suspicious!
When the last five sat in the drawing room and we could read each ones thoughts I thought the last one was Blore and therfore suspected him.

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bringmybooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

I did it, y’all. I DID IT. I read And Then There Were None before someone spoiled it for me!

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

To explain further, I became convinced within literal moments of deciding last year that I wanted to read Agatha Christie that someone would spoil her books for me (namely this one & The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) before I could actually read them, thus depriving me of the joy I would have had upon finishing them.

Is there a statute of limitations on spoiling books? Honestly, I think there is. If I happen to off handedly mention the ending of The Great Gatsby, I don’t think I can get blamed for ruining that for you, you know? (Personally I put my limit at 50+ years - if it’s been published prior to 1970, that’s fair game)

ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, I WAS NOT SPOILED AND I AM SO GLAD

Furthermore, take this as your sign to read And Then There Were None if you haven’t already, because this was such a dang fun read and I absolutely loved how everything came together at the end! Loved the setting, loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the writing, LOVE how a mystery book that was written almost 100 years ago could still be so relevant & important to the genre today!

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jojo_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

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bellemontemagni's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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scaredykatbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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brenna2themax's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Damn. This book holds up.

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bellebooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I must preface this spiel with this: I am a certified ELA teacher who also tutors many students. I have used this for tutoring.

Moving on.

What more is there to say? I think knowing the landscape of England in the time of 1900s pre-WWII helps tremendously, as the novel is more nuanced and intricate that way, making this novel act as a judge and jury of the culture at the time. (I would recommend looking into social classes relations regarding gender, race, wealth, and orientation at the time, most notably post-WWI.) However, that information is not necessary to appreciate quite possibly the greatest mystery novel of all time, at least in the literary canon.

As far as the quality of writing, Christie herself wanted to write a murder that was nearly impossible to solve. (Personally, I deduced the murderer quite easy to solve, but that's beside the point.) Her use of an omniscient narrator works well, as many times, the narrator focuses on one character at a time, expressing their thoughts, feelings, fears, and motives as if a first person narrator. The regression of the characters from a space of superiority, as part of urban society, to one of survival instincts (I hate using the terms "civilized" to "uncivilized") is quite intriguing, as it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of not just all classes of English society but also English (and to a similar degree, American) culture as a whole.

Out of their own mouths, my kids love this book: They admitted that it was slow in the beginning, (and they don't like how it took 3-4 chapters to set everything up), but once things started rolling, they were hooked. They have argued, debated, researched information to try and lock down who the killer is and motives; this is includes literally having a cork-board with pictures and string, mapping out the characters and their arcs.

We have looked at the 1945 and 2015 adaptations of this book. They talked about their favorite/least favorite characters, (Vera was the hands down favorite,) how the adaptations have changed what they've read, why they felt the book was better, etc. (Mind you, I had to do very little prompting. I merely would ask who their favorite/least favorite character was, what they thought of XYZ and why, and to pick a character and look up these two topics surrounding them. They went the distance.)

So yes. This is one of my favorite novels of all time. I may have a lot of opinions of the literary canon, but this novel is by far the first one I would argue to keep in its pedestal.

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