Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie

11 reviews

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book is split into two distinct parts; the events leading up to the murder and then the investigation. That first part read somewhat like a prologue, but in reality that first part was over 40% of the book's length. However, because it read like a prologue the considerable size of that first section made the book flow rather odd to me. In other circumstances, this odd flow would be a small matter.  But given the painful emotions of the book's first section, the length and breadth were nearly unbearable. 

The murder victim of this book is a large and sickly old woman with several children and step-children. Throughout the first section, it becomes clear that she is a type of sadist and has been systematically breaking down, abusing, and controlling these children for their entire lives. There are graphic examples of mental abuse and even more graphic examples of the effects that abuse has had on the now adult children. It is explicit and painful. Had I not been determined to read this entire series I would have DNF'd the book. Upon reflection, I still should have DNF'd it, and taken the loss. 

This may just be a matter of trigger warnings, so I'm trying not to affect my rating too harshly. The book is well-written, the crime is artful, and the mystery reveal is satisfying. I would though, advise caution when you consider reading this because the book hit my emotions far more than I was expecting.

There is also a lot of very casual racism toward the Arab characters in the book. I am sure this was standard speech for the time frame, but it is uncomfortable with modern sensibilities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child abuse

heini's review against another edition

2.0

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Dr. Gerard is a creep. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny

Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

dazed_and_distracted's review against another edition

2.25

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sam_fielder_137's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous lighthearted 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: Complicated

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Cozy little mystery, good for its time. Solution wasn't necessarily expected, but it didn't pack the punch I was hoping for.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sweetestwindmill's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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One of my all-time favourite books! Agatha Christie is just so skilled at painting a careful picture of family relations and psychology. Appointment with Death is a masterful Poirot novel, marred only by the occasional racial stereotype that always creeps into books of this era. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Racism

lizzieb29's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse

Minor: Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ran_sophia's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

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The story is excellently elaborate. The plots are well written and placed. I enjoyed the style of writing and storytelling a lot. The pace of writing was nicely quick and the book was read well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization

musebeliever's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Misogyny, Antisemitism

janeeyre8's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Racism, Antisemitism, Murder