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urfriendash's review
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.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Child death, Homophobia, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt
karen_lo's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a m a z i n g
Kept me guessing the whole time, I was never right.
Truly the queen of mystery. The book is fast-paced and it goes straight to the point. I loved the clues and how it is narrated 🤩
Kept me guessing the whole time, I was never right.
Truly the queen of mystery. The book is fast-paced and it goes straight to the point. I loved the clues and how it is narrated 🤩
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Suicide, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Child death
leajulianne's review
mysterious
tense
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
3.25
This book was a perfect short book to jumpstart my reading habit this year. It kept me guessing up until the very end, and while it wasn't the most mindblowing conclusion ever, I was still satisfied by the end of the book.
You don't really find yourself rooting for any of the characters, which lessens the impact of their deaths (that's not a spoiler !! we know they'll all die, or at least expect them to). I love how the manner of their deaths are also laid out cleanly for us to try and figure out, but still doesn't make the story predictable. The plot points and dialogue can be dated at times (which is most seen in its former title), which lends itself to not being as timeless or understandable as it could have been, and it's quite obvious why this isn't one of AC's titles that has become a famed classic.
Overall, it was an okay book, short enough to read in one sitting, and satisfying enough for me to pick up AC's other (maybe more well known) stories.
You don't really find yourself rooting for any of the characters, which lessens the impact of their deaths (that's not a spoiler !! we know they'll all die, or at least expect them to). I love how the manner of their deaths are also laid out cleanly for us to try and figure out, but still doesn't make the story predictable. The plot points and dialogue can be dated at times (which is most seen in its former title), which lends itself to not being as timeless or understandable as it could have been, and it's quite obvious why this isn't one of AC's titles that has become a famed classic.
Overall, it was an okay book, short enough to read in one sitting, and satisfying enough for me to pick up AC's other (maybe more well known) stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Death, Murder, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Antisemitism, Car accident, Child death, and Homophobia
riley84's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Racism
bellebooks's review
dark
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
I must preface this spiel with this: I am a certified ELA teacher who also tutors many students. I have used this for tutoring.
Moving on.
What more is there to say? I think knowing the landscape of England in the time of 1900s pre-WWII helps tremendously, as the novel is more nuanced and intricate that way, making this novel act as a judge and jury of the culture at the time. (I would recommend looking into social classes relations regarding gender, race, wealth, and orientation at the time, most notably post-WWI.) However, that information is not necessary to appreciate quite possibly the greatest mystery novel of all time, at least in the literary canon.
As far as the quality of writing, Christie herself wanted to write a murder that was nearly impossible to solve. (Personally, I deduced the murderer quite easy to solve, but that's beside the point.) Her use of an omniscient narrator works well, as many times, the narrator focuses on one character at a time, expressing their thoughts, feelings, fears, and motives as if a first person narrator. The regression of the characters from a space of superiority, as part of urban society, to one of survival instincts (I hate using the terms "civilized" to "uncivilized") is quite intriguing, as it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of not just all classes of English society but also English (and to a similar degree, American) culture as a whole.
Out of their own mouths, my kids love this book: They admitted that it was slow in the beginning, (and they don't like how it took 3-4 chapters to set everything up), but once things started rolling, they were hooked. They have argued, debated, researched information to try and lock down who the killer is and motives; this is includes literally having a cork-board with pictures and string, mapping out the characters and their arcs.
We have looked at the 1945 and 2015 adaptations of this book. They talked about their favorite/least favorite characters, (Vera was the hands down favorite,) how the adaptations have changed what they've read, why they felt the book was better, etc. (Mind you, I had to do very little prompting. I merely would ask who their favorite/least favorite character was, what they thought of XYZ and why, and to pick a character and look up these two topics surrounding them. They went the distance.)
So yes. This is one of my favorite novels of all time. I may have a lot of opinions of the literary canon, but this novel is by far the first one I would argue to keep in its pedestal.
Moving on.
What more is there to say? I think knowing the landscape of England in the time of 1900s pre-WWII helps tremendously, as the novel is more nuanced and intricate that way, making this novel act as a judge and jury of the culture at the time. (I would recommend looking into social classes relations regarding gender, race, wealth, and orientation at the time, most notably post-WWI.) However, that information is not necessary to appreciate quite possibly the greatest mystery novel of all time, at least in the literary canon.
As far as the quality of writing, Christie herself wanted to write a murder that was nearly impossible to solve. (Personally, I deduced the murderer quite easy to solve, but that's beside the point.) Her use of an omniscient narrator works well, as many times, the narrator focuses on one character at a time, expressing their thoughts, feelings, fears, and motives as if a first person narrator. The regression of the characters from a space of superiority, as part of urban society, to one of survival instincts (I hate using the terms "civilized" to "uncivilized") is quite intriguing, as it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of not just all classes of English society but also English (and to a similar degree, American) culture as a whole.
Out of their own mouths, my kids love this book: They admitted that it was slow in the beginning, (and they don't like how it took 3-4 chapters to set everything up), but once things started rolling, they were hooked. They have argued, debated, researched information to try and lock down who the killer is and motives; this is includes literally having a cork-board with pictures and string, mapping out the characters and their arcs.
We have looked at the 1945 and 2015 adaptations of this book. They talked about their favorite/least favorite characters, (Vera was the hands down favorite,) how the adaptations have changed what they've read, why they felt the book was better, etc. (Mind you, I had to do very little prompting. I merely would ask who their favorite/least favorite character was, what they thought of XYZ and why, and to pick a character and look up these two topics surrounding them. They went the distance.)
So yes. This is one of my favorite novels of all time. I may have a lot of opinions of the literary canon, but this novel is by far the first one I would argue to keep in its pedestal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Child death, Stalking, and Torture
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, War, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness
imoran's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Grief, and Death
Minor: Suicide and Car accident
egurgens's review
challenging
dark
informative
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? Yes
4.5
I honestly had no idea who the killer was until the very end of the epilogue. Ten people are invited to this mysterious island by a U.N. Owens, for different reasons. The doctor was to attend to the owner's wife's health. One was hired for a job. The one thing all of the characters have in common is that they are all guilty of murder, but cannot be convicted by the law. Following the pattern of deaths laid out by a children's poem, one chokes to death, one never wakes up, one went crazy, one was cut by an axe, one was stung, one was in trouble with the law, one fell for a red herring, a bear killed one, another freaked out and was killed, and the last went mad and killed themselves. There were only 10 people on the island, and all of them are dead by the end. However, the last person kicked over a chair to kill themselves, and the detectives found the chair upright, standing orderly by the wall. So who could have killed everyone? There was no place to hide from the inhabitants, and no one was left alive on the unreachable island when the detectives showed up. So who could have killed them? The only person who was truly innocent of the supposed murder they committed and wanted to take justice into their own hands.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence
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