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dazed_and_distracted's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
kers_tin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Murder
maddireads13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, and Murder
alba_marie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I spent Thanksgiving with my nana, a huge Agatha Christie fan, and felt inspired to read one myself. This was the only one that didn't have a hold list that I hadn't already read, and it was set in Israel and Petra.
Though the plot itself was fine and the characters interesting, my main problem with this was that I agreed more with the suspects than with Poirot!
The "victim" here was not really a victim. She was a bully, she was rude, controlling, sadistic and enjoyed making her family suffer. We don't just see her for a few pages; no, we get an inside view of her world and the hurt she causes for somewhere between one third and half the book. When she finally dies, it's a relief.
That is what her family says, too: "Freedom!" She's driven one of them to severe depression, her daughter-in-law into leaving her husband just to get away, she's caused her youngest daughter into serious and untreated mental health issues (a type of dissociative disorder) just to escape her reality. The middle two are unhappy and worn-down, dreaming of escape but so cloistered (this is the first time they have left home) that they are helpless to know how to escape. Whenever Mrs Boynton tells them to do something, no matter how little they want to do it, they still eventually do what they are told. This is serious emotional manipulation, and it's awful! So yeah, her death was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Poirot didn't see it that way. He was all like, every death is a travesty, every life is worth something, murder can't be condoned... blah blah blah. Some people are better off dead and old Mrs Boynton is one of them for sure! So it was a bit tough to read because the characters kept pointing out all the awful things she'd done to them, hinting that maybe it's not so bad she's gone, and Poirot sat there on his pedestal lecturing about the sanctity of life. Which didn't resonate with me at all because I was on the side of the family.
The end: Spoiler It could have gone badly. If it had been one of the family and Poirot arrested them, I would have been really annoyed. As it was, it was one of the other random guests who just happened to know the old bat from her days as a prison warder. Now an aristocrat, she is desperate to protect her reputation (all the rage amongst the English, it seems...).
It wasn't the solution I predicted, and I think I liked my own better. Here was mine: Mrs Boynton purposefully sent her family away, indeed planning "some new horror" as Carol predicted. Then she stole the syringe and injected herself with the poison, leaving evidence in the tents of her family members to place the blame on them. Her motive was to control them, even in death. For this to work, she'd need to be dying already, and suddenly made aware of her small place in the world and lack of control outside of her home. By killing herself and blaming her children, she'd get one final kick at them from the grave... now isn't that better than a random travelling companion who happened to be a former inmate and now happened to be a social climber desperate to hide her past? I think so.
The name: Appointment with Death – I don't get it. There was no "appointment." Nothing like that at all! It didn't call the desert or isolation of the landscapes and ancient sites to mind, so vivid in the book. I would have called it either Death in Petra (keeping with her style) or stick to alliteration with Poisoned in Petra - sounds much more exotic, memorable and vivid, and evokes the desolate backdrop of both the book and the characters' states of mind. So there, I'm even critiquing the Queen of Crime herself...
Though the plot itself was fine and the characters interesting, my main problem with this was that I agreed more with the suspects than with Poirot!
The "victim" here was not really a victim. She was a bully, she was rude, controlling, sadistic and enjoyed making her family suffer. We don't just see her for a few pages; no, we get an inside view of her world and the hurt she causes for somewhere between one third and half the book. When she finally dies, it's a relief.
That is what her family says, too: "Freedom!" She's driven one of them to severe depression, her daughter-in-law into leaving her husband just to get away, she's caused her youngest daughter into serious and untreated mental health issues (a type of dissociative disorder) just to escape her reality. The middle two are unhappy and worn-down, dreaming of escape but so cloistered (this is the first time they have left home) that they are helpless to know how to escape. Whenever Mrs Boynton tells them to do something, no matter how little they want to do it, they still eventually do what they are told. This is serious emotional manipulation, and it's awful! So yeah, her death was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Poirot didn't see it that way. He was all like, every death is a travesty, every life is worth something, murder can't be condoned... blah blah blah. Some people are better off dead and old Mrs Boynton is one of them for sure! So it was a bit tough to read because the characters kept pointing out all the awful things she'd done to them, hinting that maybe it's not so bad she's gone, and Poirot sat there on his pedestal lecturing about the sanctity of life. Which didn't resonate with me at all because I was on the side of the family.
The end: Spoiler It could have gone badly. If it had been one of the family and Poirot arrested them, I would have been really annoyed. As it was, it was one of the other random guests who just happened to know the old bat from her days as a prison warder. Now an aristocrat, she is desperate to protect her reputation (all the rage amongst the English, it seems...).
It wasn't the solution I predicted, and I think I liked my own better. Here was mine: Mrs Boynton purposefully sent her family away, indeed planning "some new horror" as Carol predicted. Then she stole the syringe and injected herself with the poison, leaving evidence in the tents of her family members to place the blame on them. Her motive was to control them, even in death. For this to work, she'd need to be dying already, and suddenly made aware of her small place in the world and lack of control outside of her home. By killing herself and blaming her children, she'd get one final kick at them from the grave... now isn't that better than a random travelling companion who happened to be a former inmate and now happened to be a social climber desperate to hide her past? I think so.
The name: Appointment with Death – I don't get it. There was no "appointment." Nothing like that at all! It didn't call the desert or isolation of the landscapes and ancient sites to mind, so vivid in the book. I would have called it either Death in Petra (keeping with her style) or stick to alliteration with Poisoned in Petra - sounds much more exotic, memorable and vivid, and evokes the desolate backdrop of both the book and the characters' states of mind. So there, I'm even critiquing the Queen of Crime herself...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
ms_gouldbourne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
One of my all-time favourite books! Agatha Christie is just so skilled at painting a careful picture of family relations and psychology. Appointment with Death is a masterful Poirot novel, marred only by the occasional racial stereotype that always creeps into books of this era.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Racism
chalkletters's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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
4.25
I chose to read Appointment with Death this week because I’ve been watching Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with my online writing group and I thought it would be interesting to carry on the theme of terrible parents. Reading it with that in mind definitely added intensity to the toxicity the Boynton family are forced to endure. I’ve already said that I like it when Agatha Christie evokes a creepy atmosphere, but this experience dialled it up to eleven!
Unusually, the best part of this murder mystery is not the detective, nor the solving of the crime. While Mrs Boynton is the victim of murder, her family are all the victims of her reign of terror, and that’s where the reader’s sympathy lies. Agatha Christie sets this up incredibly well, with lots of small simple details which have a chilling cumulative effect.
Against such a dramatic backdrop, Hercule Poirot doesn’t stand out as much as he usually does. In his sections, the verbatim repetition of his list of clues and his timetable for events surrounding the murder felt like padding; it was difficult not to skim read material that had already been presented word-for-word. That said, the Summation Gathering was effective — particularly the way Agatha Christie twisted the usual practice of trying out how each suspect could be guilty. The solution to the mystery works, and all the clues have been fairly presented without being rushed or told rather than shown, which is more than I can say for some of Agatha Christie’s works.
Finally, the ending works back around to centring the Boynton family members, which pays off all that they suffered in the set-up. It’s not a long scene, and it wraps up a lot of storylines very quickly and neatly, but it feels justified because these characters deserve it!
Appointment with Death doesn’t quite reach the heights of Five Little Pigs, but it’s pretty darn close!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Antisemitism
poirot's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Gun violence and Misogyny
Minor: Fatphobia and Death of parent
kloughlin's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
ran_sophia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
The story is excellently elaborate. The plots are well written and placed. I enjoyed the style of writing and storytelling a lot. The pace of writing was nicely quick and the book was read well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
readingelli's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content