Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis

8 reviews

dev921's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, War, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Cancer, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical content, Outing, and Grief

beckyremillard's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Cancer

Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, and Rape

arthur_pendrgn's review

slow-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

2.25

Trauma as character development.  Way too much going on that clutters up the plot: cancer (2 characters), infidelity (2 of these), break ups, domestic abuse, multigenerational rape, Holocaust trauma, lesbianism (1 hidden), unhappy marriages (at least 4), a missing masterpiece, infertility issues, jealousy, sociopathy, betrayal, murders (2), assault, a custody fight, a potential romance, 2 side mysteries that don't matter, 2 children-as-plot-props, gun & knife violence, and an improbable rescue. That doesn't include the 4 narrators who, sadly, have indistinguishable voices.

Underneath all of that are the bones of a tried-but-true plot. If only the plot had been trimmed down so we could actually focus on a murdered grandmother with a lot of money at stake. Goldis left no time for the reader to connect with anyone. (Honestly, the murderous couple in the last chapter would have been enough rationale.)  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Infidelity

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Incest, Cancer, Antisemitism, Blood, Terminal illness, Classism, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Rape

jaimbee's review

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? It's complicated

2.0

I was intrigued by the synopsis and some summaries I saw on TikTok but was deeply disappointed. What I thought would be a suspenseful locked room murder mystery was slow paced with no sense of danger. The skeletons crawled out of the closet like slugs, the “present danger” occurred far too late into the novel. I felt I was forcing myself to finish rather than ripping through the pages as fast as I could.

Since I also listened to this book on Audible, I feel it’s worth mentioning that the attempted accents were horrible and inconsistent and made this tough read even more difficult to get through.

If you’re looking for a (weak) character-driven story, with no thrills in sight, you could probably still find a better one than The Chateau.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

tlbignerd's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I started this book and the first 100 pages had me disliking every characters. Thankfully everything began to pick up, and as stories began to unravel I connected more with them and was really interested in how things ended.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault

greatestheights's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility

kecresser's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The setting for this book was super intriguing to me, and it was the second thriller I've read recently set in a palatial estate. I can honestly say that I didn't see the major twists coming and I didn't know who the killers was, all the way until the last chapter. It takes a bit to get the four women straight in the beginning of the book, and I wish we had a bit more time for each character to develop, but I do love a multi-perspective story that keeps you guessing on who the unreliable narrator actually is. It was a page turner that I read in a day, but nothing too spectacular. I enjoyed the reading experience, but nothing really stands out to me that I think will stick with me in the long run. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, Infidelity, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Stalking, Infertility, Child death, Rape, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident

markedwithanm's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Murder, Blood, Genocide, War, Cancer, and Infertility