Reviews with content warning for Child death - Hallowe'en party

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Hallowe'en party by Agatha Christie

142 reviews

riverofbrokensouls's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Hallowe'en Party is by no means one of Christie's best novels, but it does succeed at being an effective mystery read. Nothing about the story is particularly unique, and the plot and characters are pretty typical of the mystery genre. The final solution however, is somewhat creative. I certainly wouldn't reccomend this novel if you're looking to be stunned and utterly captivated, but if you're looking for a simple, classic mystery novel to cozy up with, Hallowe'en Party is not a bad pick.

Content Warnings

missemilyn's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

While I absolutely love Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver and their friendship, this mystery wasn't great. Poirot seemed to jump to conclusions with

the importance of Miranda Butler

and there were a lot of loose ends and random characters. Not Christie's finest.

Content Warnings

ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“There’s always a local witch, you know, in most places. They don’t always call themselves witches, but everyone knows. They tell a fortune or put a spell on your begonias or shrivel up your peonies or stop a farmer’s cow from giving milk and probably give love potions as well.”

TITLE—Hallowe’en Party

AUTHOR—Agatha Christie

PUBLISHED—1969

GENRE—mystery

SETTING—midcentury England

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—Halloween, murder, xenophobia, Golden Age syndrome, stigma & prejudice against mental illness, “suburban” social conservatism, fairy gardens, Narcissus & the water, standing stones

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BONUS ELEMENT/S—particularly interesting incorporation of the themes of classism, xenophobia, and mental illness stigma & prejudice; also Poirot is a *hoot*

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A lovely spot, and yet in some way, Poirot felt as he had felt before, that it could be a haunted spot. There was a kind of pagan ruthlessness about it. It could be along these winding paths that the fairies hunted their victims down or a cold goddess decreed that sacrifices would have to be offered.”

I really enjoy Agatha Christie’s writing style and her characters. I like how the mystery is always a psychological one, i.e. where the reason a person resorts to murder is the focus of the story, and that at any one time, any of the characters seem like they could have done the deed.

This was also a fun seasonal read with all the Hallowe’en imagery with the party, as well as lots of little English folkloric nuggets from witches to fairies to pagan gods. The setting of the quarry garden was also really beautiful and fae-sounding and there’s even a standing stone circle at the end. Also why are murder mysteries featuring interesting child characters so enthralling?

“Yes—he had become mad, perhaps. Whom the gods destroy, they first drive mad.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

TW // murder of a child, g-word slur, xenophobia, characters holding problematic ideas about mental illness—itself a main theme of the book: “Who is truly “insane” or “inhuman”? Who is truly dangerous?” (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—

Crooked House, by Agatha Christie
The Last Séance, by Agatha Christie—TBR
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
The Summer Book, and The Woman Who Borrowed Memories, by Tove Jansson
Sarah Waters—TBR

Content Warnings

amibo's review against another edition

1.0

mysterious slow-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: N/A

I love Agatha Christie, but this book was awful.

Content Warnings

farbooksventure's review against another edition

3.25

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Di antara 10 buku Agatha Christie yang aku baca tahun ini, Pesta Halloween memang merupakan salah satu judul yang berkesan. Alurnya cepat. Banyak petunjuk menarik muncul ke permukaan cerita tanpa membuat pusing pembaca. Berbagai karakter yang diperkenalkan juga memorable dan asyik untuk diteliti. Pembaca rutin Christie juga akan senang ketika mendapati nama lama seperti Ariadne Oliver, Inspektur Spence, dan Mrs. McGinty muncul kembali.

Harus aku akui, pendapat positif terhadap buku Pesta Halloween ini bisa jadi juga muncul karena aku kebetulan berhasil menebak si pelaku. Sebagai pembaca misteri yang tidak terlalu cermat, aku jarang sekali bisa menebak pelaku dalam cerita. Jadi, sangat mungkin keberhasilan ini membuat aku sangat bias untuk menyukai bukunya.

Sayang sekali, aku tidak bisa memberi Pesta Halloween rating lebih tinggi karena internalized misogyny dan kemunculan komentar-komentar yang patut dipertanyakan masih cukup kentara (disappointed but not surprise honestly).

Content Warnings