Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Decagon House Murders

I enjoyed this a fair amount. I like the split narrative of the story and found myself engaged in the mystery. I found the tale gruesome and dark. The ending was not what I expected from a mystery novel and it fit well with this story.

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eyesofcrows's review against another edition

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mysterious tense 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

4.0

It’s a neat mystery and I was interested in where it was going. It’s very logic based and straight forward at times which is definitely a sign to look at the words spoken and find a new direction. Mystery novels will be like that. I will say that I felt the ending could have had a little more flavor. There’s details that are given in the end that I wish were given slightly earlier so that there’s more applied pressure. Overall, I liked it. The characters each had their dynamic, motives were pulled left and right. The reveal at the end was exquisite as all the unanswered questions I had are revealed.

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thequeenofsheba3's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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hanniquinn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I REALLY enjoyed reading this. There were definitely parts I didn’t care about as much and some things that I felt were a bit underwhelming but overall I had a lot of fun reading this and I really recommend it!

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blakeandbooks's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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kimtazo's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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_maia3_'s review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I'm rating this a very safe 2.5 because whilst I did enjoy the book, a lot of it felt a little off in a bad way.

Either this reads better in its native language, or the writing is by design a little amateur-ish. Further, the characterisation is lacking (which is tentatively fine, one can only explore so much in a single novel), and this leads to emotional beats lacking punch. The actual set-up for the murders is rather unrealistic - I cannot fathom how any of the students thought staying at a remote island for a week with no contact or escape was a good idea, even if there wasn't a murderer around.

It's clear that this was written for people who are already deeply entrenched in the mystery genre, as a lot of the novel references mystery tropes and this specifically guides the characters in who they suspect/ what they think - but the psychological aspect wasn't very much explored and I think that was a pity.

As for the final twist, it was unexpected-yet-earned, although the overall explanation was a quite convoluted, which meant I didn't feel like much could have been pieced together until the author decided that it was time to give everything out.

Overall, it was a good book which was worth the afternoon I read it in, but it does feel like it may have benefited from a couple more drafts, as it feels too loose and messy. Read at your own peril?

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