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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Just re-read it and it is a topper even if it's not my favorite.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The family dynamics sure were weird in this one!
This is quite a strange story. Admittedly, this is my first Agatha Christie novel. While I see how the format of this story influenced modern mysteries and whodunnits, I wasn't all that impressed.
To start, a lot of scenes felt downright redundant. The reader is told the same details and timeline of the crime over and over and over again with very little new information provided. It's Mary and Phillip recounting evidence we already know ad nauseam, followed by Calgary and Huish or Calgary and Hester going over the same information we already know ad nauseam. Quite simply put, it was boring to read the same thing over and over again. This novel could've been about a 100 pages shorter.
There were a few comments made about Tina's race that weren't great. Namely Phillip Durrant thinking it was the part of her that "isn't white" that might allow for her to be a cold blooded murderer. Add to that that, while she was the only member of the family that loved the matriarch and bore no ill will towards her, she's presented as only desiring her familial connection out of money and nice things. Not great, but I guess I should say I've read worse things about non-white characters in Stephen King novels.
I hated that there was so much importance placed on blood. So many different characters posit that perhaps the adopted children would've had more love for their mother if they'd been "her own" children and born from her. That maybe she would've been a better mother if she'd given birth to them. That she never really could be their mother because they're not her blood.
I hate that mentality. Not only has it been hurled at queer adoptive parents to minimize their connection to their children, but because adoptive relationships are just as valid as blood ties. Even stranger, this story establishes that the matriarch couldn't have children by natural means. This entire novel was full of people minimizing her ability to be a mother because she was barren. It's just gross.
So, there's not a lot here that I enjoyed. The mystery would've been more fun had I not had the same evidence presented several times.
To start, a lot of scenes felt downright redundant. The reader is told the same details and timeline of the crime over and over and over again with very little new information provided. It's Mary and Phillip recounting evidence we already know ad nauseam, followed by Calgary and Huish or Calgary and Hester going over the same information we already know ad nauseam. Quite simply put, it was boring to read the same thing over and over again. This novel could've been about a 100 pages shorter.
There were a few comments made about Tina's race that weren't great. Namely Phillip Durrant thinking it was the part of her that "isn't white" that might allow for her to be a cold blooded murderer. Add to that that, while she was the only member of the family that loved the matriarch and bore no ill will towards her, she's presented as only desiring her familial connection out of money and nice things. Not great, but I guess I should say I've read worse things about non-white characters in Stephen King novels.
I hated that there was so much importance placed on blood. So many different characters posit that perhaps the adopted children would've had more love for their mother if they'd been "her own" children and born from her. That maybe she would've been a better mother if she'd given birth to them. That she never really could be their mother because they're not her blood.
Spoiler
That, in a really strange twist, it's totally okay for Tina to marry Micky, someone raised as her brother, because "they're not really brother and sister".I hate that mentality. Not only has it been hurled at queer adoptive parents to minimize their connection to their children, but because adoptive relationships are just as valid as blood ties. Even stranger, this story establishes that the matriarch couldn't have children by natural means. This entire novel was full of people minimizing her ability to be a mother because she was barren. It's just gross.
So, there's not a lot here that I enjoyed. The mystery would've been more fun had I not had the same evidence presented several times.
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a family believes that one person, the troublemaker son, was guilty of the murder, but then here comes new information with an alibi for the sibling they believed did the murder. TWIST. great time.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
I can cross Christie off my list of classic authors to try. I’ve read 3 books of hers and only 1 was good. Although it’s got the worst name so I’m not even proud of that.
No thank you. Moving on.
No thank you. Moving on.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Ada pembunuhan, pasti ada pembunuhnya. Aneh sekali saat seseorang menyampaikan kepada keluarga Argyle dan membersihkan nama putra mereka dari tuduhan pembunuhan dua tahun sebelumnya, keluarga kaya tersebut sama sekali tidak langsung tergerak untuk mencari tahu: kalau bukan Jacko Argyle, siapa yang telah membunuh ibunya, Rachel Argyle?
Sebuah buku pinjaman, selesai dalam sekali duduk (mau ga mau sih, hehe....) yang menggambarkan kembali sebuah penokohan yang sering berulang dalam buku2 Agatha Christie: seorang perempuan dominan anak seorang pria Inggris terkemuka dengan seorang wanita Amerika kaya raya.
Dan tokoh perempuan dominan ini dalam berbagai bentuknya, merupakan korban suatu tragedi.
Sebuah buku pinjaman, selesai dalam sekali duduk (mau ga mau sih, hehe....) yang menggambarkan kembali sebuah penokohan yang sering berulang dalam buku2 Agatha Christie: seorang perempuan dominan anak seorang pria Inggris terkemuka dengan seorang wanita Amerika kaya raya.
Dan tokoh perempuan dominan ini dalam berbagai bentuknya, merupakan korban suatu tragedi.