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carolineloveswombats's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
fyre_flies's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Rape
es1265's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
The plot bored me a lot ngl and there was a lot of stuff in there in particular how sexual assault victims were portrayed which rubbed me the wrong way
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Ableism
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Sexism, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Grief, and Misogyny
trekkifulshay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, and Sexism
readingelli's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Ableism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
mary_juleyre's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, and Mental illness
Minor: Racism
hkburke2's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
I see why people don't like this one - definitely read the content warnings or other reviews for more on that. But it's helped me read a book in a stressful time and I found it both familiar (for Marple) and surprising (for the way the mystery was presented). I also liked that there was a slight connection to the Caribbean mystery one and more references to other characters in this universe. (But I am still laughing about MM's description of women as "less accurate" than men!)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Murder, Rape, and Sexism
hymnedhiver's review against another edition
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? Yes
2.0
what i've learnt from reading this book:
- agatha christie mysteries are the quickest way to get yourself out of a reading slump
- never pick up a book without reading the trigger warnings beforehand, unless you want to find yourself feeling sad on the train at 7am with a long day of work ahead. at first i thought it would be a lighter book, focused on a riddle rather than a murder, but Boom! tw // rape, assault, victim-blaming and victim-shaming, misogyny, all of which seemed somehow worse than murder.
- agatha christie was a woman of her time and this book was a product of its time. i cannot expect from her to write humanitarian novels, when the time she lived in was like that, and her own choices to remain ignorant were very prominent and questionable. that being said, all the misogynistic opinions and victim-blaming reflected in this book are very anachronistic and, frankly, disgusting to come across in an otherwise okay book.
- the book was quite repetitive, miss marple explaining how she reached a conclusion regarding a clue at least three times. it was too long unnecessarily. nothing much happened during the first third of the book. we're literally trying to find out what the mystery is and so, the plot wasn't that adventurous, nor were there really any useful or interesting distractions from the eventual reveal of a murderer. in fact, the ending was rather disappointing and a bit bland. it wasn't necessarily predictable, but certainly not shocking either, whereas i much prefer to be confused and surprised, even if it's a far-fetched revelation. this is just my preference.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
ivy123's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
3.0
I found this book hard to rate as there are some parts that really did not appeal to me and some which I thoroughly enjoyed.
To get what I did not like out of the way first the pacing of this book was very slow which was not too bad but I found myself wanting things to hurry along a bit faster. Stories are also repeated several times which just took up unnecessary time. Lastly, I found some of the themes of victim shaming, disbelief of assault victims, and general attitudes held about young women by some of the main characters to be particularly disturbing. I am not sure if they reflect Agatha Christie's own beliefs or a reflection of how society views these topics as a whole but they made me uncomfortable. I think what made me extra uncomfortable is they remind me that a lot of the views expressed by these characters are still prevalent today. There is one part where a character is talking about how some boys get away with their crimes as courts feel that they do not want to ruin the boy's future which I feel is still seen in our society today.
What I liked however about this novel was the general plot it was very mysterious and as each piece of the puzzle was revealed it made things more interesting. Miss Marple's interactions with her companions on the trip and the way she gathers information by playing on her age and how people view those of her age were also very fun to read.
All in all, although she is my favorite author this is not one of my favorite works she has produced.
To get what I did not like out of the way first the pacing of this book was very slow which was not too bad but I found myself wanting things to hurry along a bit faster. Stories are also repeated several times which just took up unnecessary time. Lastly, I found some of the themes of victim shaming, disbelief of assault victims, and general attitudes held about young women by some of the main characters to be particularly disturbing. I am not sure if they reflect Agatha Christie's own beliefs or a reflection of how society views these topics as a whole but they made me uncomfortable. I think what made me extra uncomfortable is they remind me that a lot of the views expressed by these characters are still prevalent today. There is one part where a character is talking about how some boys get away with their crimes as courts feel that they do not want to ruin the boy's future which I feel is still seen in our society today.
What I liked however about this novel was the general plot it was very mysterious and as each piece of the puzzle was revealed it made things more interesting. Miss Marple's interactions with her companions on the trip and the way she gathers information by playing on her age and how people view those of her age were also very fun to read.
All in all, although she is my favorite author this is not one of my favorite works she has produced.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
only mentioned briefly but the language surrounding victims and victim-blaming can be difficult to readsophmeow's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape