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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
First few chapters of the audiobook were a bit of a slog, but worth it. Helped to listen at a faster speed. The ending was satisfying and unexpected.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*3.5 stars*
It took me a while to get into this, at first I was a bit bored. It was until the murders actually started that I got invested in this. But overall, it was a compelling isolated closed-circle mystery, by the end, I really wanted to figure out what was going on in the island but also why there was a whole perspective that took place outside of the island. I appreciated the ending, I wasn't expecting the reveal at all.
I think I would have liked this more if it wasn't because I stopped reading one day without realizing that the big reveal was coming in the next chapter, so when I picked the book up again the following day, the reveal happened immediately and it went over my head because I was not immersed in the book yet since I had just picked it back up.
I thought the mainland sections were boring and unnecessary until I got to the reveal. Wow. I loved this book. Devoured it in under one day.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This had such a good atmosphere, the characters themselves were so interesting and each had their distinct personalities, which made it fun for me to guess who did it. The island setup, the peculiar house, and the mystery surrounding it all tied up really nicely to the story.
A love story to classic murder mysteries. It is just familiar enough to feel like homage, but also added enough to feel fresh. Obviously, the main plotline is reminiscent of "And There There Were None' by Agatha Christie, but along with the current murders the we are trying to solve, were also trying to find the truth behind the previous murders on the island as well as the prior death of a student an how all of these are connected. The reveal was really well done, we got multiple POVs so that made it even more confusing and intriguing. Not ashamed to say that I had no idea what the final answers were going to be until the very end. I think that the characters were ok, there were a lot, so keeping track of everything (especially considering that they used pseudonyms) was a bit confusing.
This book was much more gruesome than others in this genre (or at least the murder mysteries that I have read). I liked that, I think it worked especially for the regret from the killer at the end. Of course the plan was complex, the revenge plot on the students that were at the party where the girl the killer was in love with (and the daughter of the architect of the Decagon House) killing the student one by one, having parts of paintings finished ahead of time to solidify an alibi on the mainland and helping two others that have gotten mysterious letters. There were a lot of twists and turns in this one and I think that the number of characters and the fact I listened to it on audio made it confusing.
This book was much more gruesome than others in this genre (or at least the murder mysteries that I have read). I liked that, I think it worked especially for the regret from the killer at the end. Of course the plan was complex, the revenge plot on the students that were at the party where the girl the killer was in love with (and the daughter of the architect of the Decagon House) killing the student one by one, having parts of paintings finished ahead of time to solidify an alibi on the mainland and helping two others that have gotten mysterious letters. There were a lot of twists and turns in this one and I think that the number of characters and the fact I listened to it on audio made it confusing.
‘My father is over sixty, but still full of energy, so the only time I can recite a sūtra for the dead is when someone dies in a detective novel I’m reading,’ said Shimada and he solemnly put his hands together.
4.5 stars. /slaps knee. This was so good! I think I've come to an agreement with myself that any mystery that can lead me along a path like this really can't get lower than 4.5 stars. The path, of course, being the one where I pinpoint someone as the culprit pretty early on, through logic or guesswork, and then I get distracted by some well placed red herrings, convince myself that I'm wrong, and then at the end it turns out that my very first supposition was correct! I LOVE when that happens. I love when I CAN figure out a mystery and the clues are all there and I DO figure out parts of it but the author manages to lead me away/trick me in subtle ways. It's sooooo satisfying. I hope more of Ayatsuji's mysteries are translated into English, because I can't wait to devour them.
This is an isolated murder mystery featuring a group of college students, and I won't say more about the plot than that, because it really is a pleasure to watch it all unfold. I will say it's very (purposefully) reminiscent of And Then There Were None while being very different from it. It refers to a lot of classic mysteries and authors, really, and I love stuff like that, when a mystery is self-aware, and both it and the characters are cognisant of all the genre conventions circling around them. I genuinely love the type of mystery that Ellery talks about preferring in the first chapter, with impossible crimes and never-before-seen tricks and a great detective. This is honestly really comforting in how classic it is, how it sticks to form but just gets really clever about it. As always, everything seems clearer in hindsight, and maybe if I'd been paying more attention I wouldn't think this was so smart. But I had such a good time. The detective character is really excellent, steals the show every time he appears, and he doesn't even appear all that often. All the misdirection really got me, and the sort of secondary mystery was also really engaging. I do kind of wish that we had gotten to know the students on the island a bit more before everything started happening; they had personality, but I still had trouble differentiating them a bit.
Spoiler
(Except the girls, and side note: even though the reader is told that it's a man, I was kinda hoping it would turn out to be one of the girls, and in her confession she'd be like 'Also I killed them because they never attempted to help with the cooking even after the bodies started dropping!!')Listened to the audiobook as read by P.J. Ochlan, a new-to-me narrator whom I enjoyed very much. This is really close to being a perfect mystery to me, and I'm glad I tried it out. Can't wait to read about Shimada again!
This story leaned a little too heavily on tropes established by the great mystery writers. It felt very pedantic.