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pryorlee's review
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Antisemitism and War
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
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
oliviamich's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Cancer, and Infertility
miranda_graham's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
A murder mystery, where a group of friends reminisce about their past excursions in France at this same location? I’m interested!
The good
-I think the author did a good job keeping me guessing about who did what
-Our characters were fairly well-written
-One of my favorite story-telling elements was present, where the author utilized changing perspectives as a way to provide introspection, thoughts, and a flawed perspective of events
-LOVED our narrators! Excellent for an audiobook.
The less good
-I think some background from Jade’s character was jarring and didn’t flow well with the rest of the story.Could we have involved her motives earlier on in the book so her revelations/thoughts are seen as a piece to the puzzle? Ex: could we have had a chapter about the Holocaust or antisemitism aside from Jade’s inner thoughts and rants about what happened to her son at school? Or even have her rant about it to a person rather than think through this monologue to the reader?
-Our killer’s true motives and thoughts were so…I don’t know, mid? It just didn’t feel realistic or like a good enough motive for me. I would have preferred ifArabelle was trying to get revenge for her grandmother or something related to her true parentage, or maybe she discovers the truth regarding Seraphine and the Holocaust in Jade’s revelation, giving hurler further fuel to think her parentage was covered up by both her and her deceased husband. It just felt a bit forced.
On the whole, a good mystery novel!
The good
-I think the author did a good job keeping me guessing about who did what
-Our characters were fairly well-written
-One of my favorite story-telling elements was present, where the author utilized changing perspectives as a way to provide introspection, thoughts, and a flawed perspective of events
-LOVED our narrators! Excellent for an audiobook.
The less good
-I think some background from Jade’s character was jarring and didn’t flow well with the rest of the story.
-Our killer’s true motives and thoughts were so…I don’t know, mid? It just didn’t feel realistic or like a good enough motive for me. I would have preferred if
On the whole, a good mystery novel!
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Antisemitism
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.)
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.)
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Antisemitism
Minor: Rape
realhousewifeofthelibrary's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
MESSY
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
katefrost's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Reading this book about a group of what I can only think to describe as grown up frenemies with trust issues, in this, the year of the Barbie movie, felt bananas. Though it absolutely passes the Bechdel test, the relationships between these women are full of judgement and. back biting, when they’re bothering to communicate at all. Each of the four main characters seem to harbor the belief that each is an island unto herself and no one could possibly understand her (so why bother using words to talk to your oldest and dearest friends).
I feel so frustrated with the predictably pat ending to this frustrating set of interactions. I will say it made me deeply grateful for my own group of friends, because murder mysteries aside, I cannot imagine any of us being so consistently shitty toward one another.
The unnecessarily mind boggling secrecy around even the most banal topics throughout this book was a deeply frustrating experience. I wanted to shake each of these women for their theatrics and make them use their words. I finished reading it through sheer stubbornness on my part.
It’s done now and I’m relieved that I can stop thinking about these self absorbed jerks. Two stars for its vibes and pacing, but no thank you please to any more of these characters.
I feel so frustrated with the predictably pat ending to this frustrating set of interactions. I will say it made me deeply grateful for my own group of friends, because murder mysteries aside, I cannot imagine any of us being so consistently shitty toward one another.
The unnecessarily mind boggling secrecy around even the most banal topics throughout this book was a deeply frustrating experience. I wanted to shake each of these women for their theatrics and make them use their words. I finished reading it through sheer stubbornness on my part.
It’s done now and I’m relieved that I can stop thinking about these self absorbed jerks. Two stars for its vibes and pacing, but no thank you please to any more of these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Genocide
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I felt like the characters lacked depth and weren't fully fleshed out, leading to repetitive iterations of the same internal dialogue. This is especially an issue for a character-based book, as it’s harder to connect to the character, something this style of book is supposed to rely on. Also, the twists were all revealed in such mundane ways that it felt lacklustre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, War, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Vomit
arthur_ant18's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Infidelity, and Murder
Moderate: Blood