tambrads's review
5.0
I loved Catherine Coopers first book and was not disappointed by this one at all!! I absolutely despised every character which made it so much better. I can’t wait for the next one
sooky's review
2.0
The Chateau, or The Case Of The One Too Many Plot Twists. I love outrageous thrillers, I do. What I don't like is when there are plot twists just for the sake of having them, and they make the story outlandish and somewhat over the top. Insufferable Aura and annoying Nick are not having a good time in their new French chateau, and weird thins start happening almost as soon as they move in. On top of this they have "this thing that happened in London" hanging over them. Literally, for about 35% of the book it's mentioned almost on every page to the point where I felt like I don't even care what happened in London, it's just so annoying.
All in all this was an ok story, and I quite liked the neighbours, even though they were a bit weird in the beginning. But all these coincidental and sinister events were just too much.
All in all this was an ok story, and I quite liked the neighbours, even though they were a bit weird in the beginning. But all these coincidental and sinister events were just too much.
laurenlethbridge's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
papa6's review
3.5
Decent enough plot, albeit a bit unrealistic. The mystery was fine, although My main issue though was I didn’t like any of these people: they were whiny, self-centred and mean spirited most of the time. Still, a fast read and reasonably entertaining. 3.5
Spoiler
pretty odd that all three main narrators 1) were unreliable and 2) ended up dead!melreads11's review
5.0
Eventhough I did guess who the killer was easily, I really really enjoyed it and didn’t want to put it down.
monte_cristo's review
3.0
I liked a lot of things about The Chateau. It reads well and at a pace and at no time, I considered not finishing it. It also has some unexpected twists at the end. The issue is, it has one too many twists which makes it a bit ridiculous. Plus, about half of the characters end up dead by the end, this is worst than a full season of game of thrones! 3.5/5 stars is about right, I think.
njbrit's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nice surprise ending
kbrauhn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.0
Finished reading: July 18th 2021
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
Spoiler
WARNING: unpopular opinion ahead!!
I really enjoyed my first experience with Catherine Cooper's writing last year in The Chalet, and I've been looking forward to read more of her work. I admit that I was sold as soon as I read the blurb of The Chateau. I love an international setting and the idea of having a French chateau as a setting and a murder to boot sounded like the perfect premise for a story. I'm still not sure what happened and it might simply not be the right story for me at the moment, but the fact is that I somehow didn't enjoy The Chateau as much as I thought I would.
I still love the idea behind the story and the French chateau setting. The renovating, the expat community, even the TV show filming the family as they try to convert their rundown chateau into a bed and breakfast... It's a great backdrop and I was definitely left wanting for more on that part. Why? Well, at least half of the story takes place in London instead, and I can't say that I was a fan of that particular storyline at all. I could have understood a couple of chapters and flashbacks to explain why the couple decided to move to France, but the London chapters felt too much like the main event and ended up disappointing me.
I think part of the problem is that this type of domestic drama-focused psychological thriller hasn't worked for me for a while now. The whole reveal of the 'secret' why they had to move was a huge letdown (I never like this element in my stories), and I can't say I was happy with the focus on the domestic drama in general and all the fighting. Especially Nick and Ella's POVs really put me off this story, and I wish The Chateau would have focused on the present and the part set in France instead... I understand why the flashbacks were necessary as they help explain what happens in the present, but still. I found that the present chapters had so much more potential and were more engaging too with the mysterious murder and the strange things happening in the chateau.
The writing is solid, but somehow I was too turned off by especially the chapters/events set in London to properly enjoy the story. I liked those chapters/POVs in France a lot better, but as those are only in the beginning and end of the story, I struggled considerably reading the rest of it. I have to say that the final plot twists were not credible at all for me; not only relating to what happens to Ella and its consequences, but also everything relating to Aura and how things end.
As a whole, I don't think The Chateau was a right fit for me at the moment, and I ended up struggling considerably for various reasons. Don't give up on my account though, as most people do seem to enjoy the story a lot better.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
fictionfan's review
4.0
Brits abroad…
Aura and Nick have left England and the thing that happened there behind to create an idyllic new life in France, in an old run-down château which they intend to renovate and run as a posh B&B, or chambres d’hôtes, as Aura likes to call it, proving she has mastered at least three words of French. With them they bring their not-at-all-pretentiously-named sons, Sorrel and Bay, and a film crew, consisting of Seb and Chloe, who are filming the family for inclusion in a fly-on-the-wall series about Brits making new lives as ex-pats in France. Joining the merry throng is Helen from HappyHelp, an organisation that matches up backpackers with families who give them bed and board in return for a few hours work each day (or as Chloe puts it, an unpaid au pair). But the thing that happened in London casts long shadows. Nick and Aura’s marriage is on a knife-edge, and the strange things that begin happening as soon as they arrive add to the tension. And then there’s a murder…
I’m so inconsistent about this kind of thriller that even I don’t know what it is that sometimes makes one work for me, when others quickly get thrown at the wall. This is written in present tense from a variety of first person viewpoints and has the dreaded “that day” aspect of something that happened in the past looming over the present but the reader being kept in the dark nearly the whole way through as to what exactly happened back then, and the plot crosses the credibility line about a hundred times. So I ought to have hated it. And yet…
I think it’s mainly because Aura and Nick are so awful that they become funny, and I felt that that was deliberate on the part of the author. Aura in particular is one of these dreadful types who prides herself on having all the right attitudes, while in fact being swayed by every ludicrous fad that hits her social media feed. And, of course, like the climate warriors who jet around from protest to protest, or the social justice warriors who campaign against victimisation by victimising strangers on Twitter, her attitudes are shallow, self-serving and optional. I loved the occasional line Cooper would throw into Aura’s monologues that showed both her superficiality and lack of self-awareness – some of them made me laugh out loud.
Nick is also pretty awful but in a different way, and honestly, while I try very hard not to blame women for the faults of their men, I couldn’t help having some sympathy for him. Being married to Aura would have tested any man to the limits. However, I can’t go into detail about what puts Nick into the awful bracket because that would impinge on the thing that happened back in England. Suffice it to say, my sympathy for him only went so far.
Although murder and some dark deeds form parts of the plot, the story is quite lightly told for the most part, surprisingly so at times. One plot strand in particular involves a teenager, and has an air almost of innocence around it, in comparison to the standard fare of most thrillers of today. While I got a little tired of the fact that sixteen-year-old Ella thinks of nothing but boys, ever, I felt she thought of them in a way that was pretty true to her age. In a sense, I felt it gave the book a Young Adult vibe – unusually for me with contemporary thrillers, I’d be quite comfortable with the idea of mid-teens reading this one. There is some swearing, but not too much, and some sex, but not graphic. The one thing Aura and I have in common is that we are both prudes and prefer to look away when people are getting up to hanky-panky!
The other aspect that amused me (and I do hope it was supposed to) was the awful ex-pat community, all socialising with each other and having as little to do with actual French people as possible. Aura, of course, speaks no French at all but really doesn’t see it as essential when she can always get other people to do things for her. I laughed again when she said in the same sentence that she wanted Sorrel and Bay to grow up bi-lingual and that she intended to home school them. I guess the two languages would be English and Pretentious then!
It’s a quick read and not one that requires a great deal of concentration to keep on top of the storyline. So despite myself, I found it entertaining – a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a few lazy hours.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Aura and Nick have left England and the thing that happened there behind to create an idyllic new life in France, in an old run-down château which they intend to renovate and run as a posh B&B, or chambres d’hôtes, as Aura likes to call it, proving she has mastered at least three words of French. With them they bring their not-at-all-pretentiously-named sons, Sorrel and Bay, and a film crew, consisting of Seb and Chloe, who are filming the family for inclusion in a fly-on-the-wall series about Brits making new lives as ex-pats in France. Joining the merry throng is Helen from HappyHelp, an organisation that matches up backpackers with families who give them bed and board in return for a few hours work each day (or as Chloe puts it, an unpaid au pair). But the thing that happened in London casts long shadows. Nick and Aura’s marriage is on a knife-edge, and the strange things that begin happening as soon as they arrive add to the tension. And then there’s a murder…
I’m so inconsistent about this kind of thriller that even I don’t know what it is that sometimes makes one work for me, when others quickly get thrown at the wall. This is written in present tense from a variety of first person viewpoints and has the dreaded “that day” aspect of something that happened in the past looming over the present but the reader being kept in the dark nearly the whole way through as to what exactly happened back then, and the plot crosses the credibility line about a hundred times. So I ought to have hated it. And yet…
I think it’s mainly because Aura and Nick are so awful that they become funny, and I felt that that was deliberate on the part of the author. Aura in particular is one of these dreadful types who prides herself on having all the right attitudes, while in fact being swayed by every ludicrous fad that hits her social media feed. And, of course, like the climate warriors who jet around from protest to protest, or the social justice warriors who campaign against victimisation by victimising strangers on Twitter, her attitudes are shallow, self-serving and optional. I loved the occasional line Cooper would throw into Aura’s monologues that showed both her superficiality and lack of self-awareness – some of them made me laugh out loud.
Nick is also pretty awful but in a different way, and honestly, while I try very hard not to blame women for the faults of their men, I couldn’t help having some sympathy for him. Being married to Aura would have tested any man to the limits. However, I can’t go into detail about what puts Nick into the awful bracket because that would impinge on the thing that happened back in England. Suffice it to say, my sympathy for him only went so far.
Although murder and some dark deeds form parts of the plot, the story is quite lightly told for the most part, surprisingly so at times. One plot strand in particular involves a teenager, and has an air almost of innocence around it, in comparison to the standard fare of most thrillers of today. While I got a little tired of the fact that sixteen-year-old Ella thinks of nothing but boys, ever, I felt she thought of them in a way that was pretty true to her age. In a sense, I felt it gave the book a Young Adult vibe – unusually for me with contemporary thrillers, I’d be quite comfortable with the idea of mid-teens reading this one. There is some swearing, but not too much, and some sex, but not graphic. The one thing Aura and I have in common is that we are both prudes and prefer to look away when people are getting up to hanky-panky!
The other aspect that amused me (and I do hope it was supposed to) was the awful ex-pat community, all socialising with each other and having as little to do with actual French people as possible. Aura, of course, speaks no French at all but really doesn’t see it as essential when she can always get other people to do things for her. I laughed again when she said in the same sentence that she wanted Sorrel and Bay to grow up bi-lingual and that she intended to home school them. I guess the two languages would be English and Pretentious then!
It’s a quick read and not one that requires a great deal of concentration to keep on top of the storyline. So despite myself, I found it entertaining – a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a few lazy hours.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com