Reviews with content warning for Child death - And Then There Were None

This book has a very interesting premise. 10 people are stuck on an island and being picked off one by one. But who has done it?

Personally, I didn't enjoy this book. This has nothing to do with the author herself as I've read a book of hers before and enjoyed it very much. Instead it has to do with the way it was written. Since the very start you have a very good idea of what is going to go on, but you also don't get to build any relationship with the characters before their inevitable deaths. I didn't actually care about any of them dying out. My only pluses for this book were the intrigue of the plot itself and the way the author added in elements of their madness deepening.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend this book to others. I'd personally see into other books by this author because this feels like it may be a complete hit or miss depending on the person.

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clover_ways's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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ziuzia's review

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funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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3shinywindows's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

I've watched the tv adaptations of this book but have never actually read it and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I genuinely found it so ominous and creepy that I had to stop reading it before bed because I knew it would keep me awake. It left me guessing right up until the end and I really enjoyed the in depth explanation at the end rather than leaving it on a cliffhanger.

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urfriendash's review

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dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

This book is about a group of people who are sent to a mysterious island under the request of an unknown man named Owen. One by one, they all are murdered.

I thought the story was predictable, the characters uninteresting, the writing alright, and the ending a bit unsatisfying. I don’t believe this is a terrible story, I just don’t understand how it is as popular as it is. To be honest, I just don’t really get the hype.

All of the characters were unremarkable. None of them were likable; I didn’t find myself caring if any of them would die.

The plot was pretty predictable. Ten people heading to an island, the person who invited them doesn’t arrive, suddenly they are all accused of something horrible, and they all die. It doesn’t sound totally outlandish, but considering this book was written decades ago, this was probably the original island murder mystery, so that’s pretty impressive. Other than that though, it was easy to guess how everyone would die. From the beginning, I thought for sure they would all die the way the characters from the nursery rhyme would, especially after the first person died and the little Indian figure in the dining room was taken. I didn’t totally hate this idea, it was entertaining but it definitely wasn’t surprising if that’s what you’re looking for.

I liked some of the writing, there were a lot of passages I thought were excellent; but a lot of words were very repetitive. Imagine if you counted how many times the word “queer” was used.

The ending didn’t satisfy me very much. I think open endings can be done super well, but this felt lazy. Like, obviously I want to know who was behind all this. In the epilogue, two people detail a bunch of evidence that shows no one on the island were responsible for the murders, and you THINK you may get your answer on who was the murderer, but you never do! There is no explanation or hints whatsoever and it feels unfinished, as if the author didn’t know how to end the story and show who the murderer was, so they just didn’t.

Wasn’t a horrible book, but it wasn’t the terrific masterpiece many say it is. Considering it may of been the first island mystery though, that gives it a lot of credit in my opinion.

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