silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.25
It's a rough read, watching a relationship slowly fall apart. It's also a fascinating theory about Agatha Christie's disappearance, and that part was quite enjoyable.
I was a bit annoyed by the implication that advice to Agatha to put her husband first and let her life revolve around him contributed to the problem. If her husband hadn't been a jerk, and had reciprocated by putting her first in his life, they could have had a perfectly lovely life following this advice. (Well, assuming they'd figured out how to be good parents AND good spouses at the same time, at least.)
I was a bit annoyed by the implication that advice to Agatha to put her husband first and let her life revolve around him contributed to the problem. If her husband hadn't been a jerk, and had reciprocated by putting her first in his life, they could have had a perfectly lovely life following this advice. (Well, assuming they'd figured out how to be good parents AND good spouses at the same time, at least.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent and Mental illness
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death, Car accident, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
keyareuh's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read this over a few weeks at work. It was intriguing and kept me interested. Ms. Agatha Christie was the original girlboss. I am a Agatha Christie stan now. It was an interesting look into an unhealthy and secretive relationship that I don't believe a lot of people know about. The twists and the mystery were really fun.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Gaslighting
milliemillz's review
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
chrysanthxmum's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
Minor: War
backstagekath's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Abandonment
giraffestickers's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, and Violence
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
This book is Gone Girl—except without the mystery, without any thrills, without complex, developed characters, and without a coherent plot.
And I did not like Gone Girl...
I do like Agatha Christie and the books of hers that I've read (though beware, this book will spoil a few of her books...), so I was interested in this story. And I watched the movie Agatha and the Truth of Murder on Netflix a few months ago, which also gives a fictional explanation for her eleven-day disappearance, and enjoyed it.
But this book was so boring. There is barely a plot, and the mystery is obvious from the beginning. I didn't like any of the characters, and they don't get any development or any real deep-dive into their actions. The ending gives us an info-dump to explain everything that happened previously—a lot of telling and not showing. And then it just ended and I was left thinking, "What was the point of this book?"
It's only saving grace was that it was short.
And I did not like Gone Girl...
I do like Agatha Christie and the books of hers that I've read (though beware, this book will spoil a few of her books...), so I was interested in this story. And I watched the movie Agatha and the Truth of Murder on Netflix a few months ago, which also gives a fictional explanation for her eleven-day disappearance, and enjoyed it.
But this book was so boring. There is barely a plot, and the mystery is obvious from the beginning. I didn't like any of the characters, and they don't get any development or any real deep-dive into their actions. The ending gives us an info-dump to explain everything that happened previously—a lot of telling and not showing. And then it just ended and I was left thinking, "What was the point of this book?"
It's only saving grace was that it was short.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Grief
livvie98's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was my second book by Marie Benedict, and while enjoyable, I didn't like it as much as The Only Woman In The Room.
I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, and being so, was very excited for a glimpse into the real life mystery of her disappearance. And while it's certainly an intriguing premise, no real explanation can actually be gathered, seeing as she never revealed what happened during that period of time. Compared to Benedict's other books, I feel like there was less new things for me to learn about Agatha and her life, compared to how much I learned about Hedy Lamarr in The Only Woman In The Room. I understand the scenes in these novels are all fictional, however, I love the usage of them to convey the real events that happened in the lives of women in history. This novel just didn't provide me with the history and new insight I feel I gathered previously from her other works, understandably so, since the majority of this was speculative.
Unfortunately, I found the characters hard to relate to and connect with, but that may have just been me. It was, I thought, a fast paced and quick read that kept me interested until the end.
Spoiler Warning: This book does mention several of her novels and spoils completely my favorite book of hers, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. If you haven't read that one yet, please read that before reading this book because it will be entirely ruined.
I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, and being so, was very excited for a glimpse into the real life mystery of her disappearance. And while it's certainly an intriguing premise, no real explanation can actually be gathered, seeing as she never revealed what happened during that period of time. Compared to Benedict's other books, I feel like there was less new things for me to learn about Agatha and her life, compared to how much I learned about Hedy Lamarr in The Only Woman In The Room. I understand the scenes in these novels are all fictional, however, I love the usage of them to convey the real events that happened in the lives of women in history. This novel just didn't provide me with the history and new insight I feel I gathered previously from her other works, understandably so, since the majority of this was speculative.
Unfortunately, I found the characters hard to relate to and connect with, but that may have just been me. It was, I thought, a fast paced and quick read that kept me interested until the end.
Spoiler Warning: This book does mention several of her novels and spoils completely my favorite book of hers, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. If you haven't read that one yet, please read that before reading this book because it will be entirely ruined.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse
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