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
annie_e_bea's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: War
ahousethatreads's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I don’t believe I have read any books by Agatha Christie but In December 1926, she went missing for eleven days. Whether her disappearance involved foul play, she left under her own free will, or she experienced some kind of episode of amnesia, we will never know. Neither Agatha Christie's or her husband, Archibald Christie's reputations came out of this incident unscathed. After all, a thousand police officers and 15,000 volunteers were part of the search effort for Christie and it didn't sit well that there was no explanation given for why she was missing for eleven days.
This book did a good job of mixing fiction and nonfiction, and I had to keep double checking that this was indeed fiction. I loved how the chapters went back and forth and how you could never quite decide what had happened until the very end.
TW: Body Shaming, Infidelity, Death of Parent
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, and Death of parent
msjk427's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
I've always been fascinated by Ms. Christie's disappearance when I learned of it. There's even a great Doctor Who episode around it. So imagine my delight when I found this gem. This is my second book by Marie Benedict (I enjoyed The Other Einstein earlier this year). This book is intriguing and provides insight into a tumultuous marriage, leaning on how we build people up in our minds. We really are the main characters in our own narratives. And Benedict delves into one of Christie's techniques of unreliable narrators. I loved this interpretation of the motivation for Christie's disappearance and actually could see it as completely feasible. Amnesia or hoax that simultaneously further catapulted her fame and put her philandering husband in his place? The world will never actually know.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexism
krodv's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
chrysanthxmum's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
Minor: War
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
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