Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

5 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This Hercule Poirot mystery is considered one of Christie's lesser offerings.  However, I enjoyed it.  I look forward to seeing how "A Haunting in Venice" has adapted it.  This book is set in the English countryside, so the move to Venice will be interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Child death, Deportation, Infidelity, and Murder

chasingpages1's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

fanboyriot's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

I picked this up at random but honestly didn’t really care for it.  There was detailed settings immersing you into the world but there was no character development, the overall plot fell flat, and it was incredibly misogynistic.  There were also some terms through I that I didn’t like and while it might have been published 2001 it’s still pathetic.  Honestly, I was just waiting for it to end.  I only finished it out of spite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Blood, Classism, Racism, Sexism, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide

sibertooth's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Xenophobia, Incest, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Forced institutionalization

keegan_leech's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

1.25

Not a terrible book, but I just can't see a reason to recommend it. I'm sure anyone who wants a good murder mystery could pick up any one of a number of other books, or a number of more noteworthy Agatha Christie books

There's something satisfying about the way the mystery spreads out before you over the course of the novel and then wraps itself up again by the end. But as already noted, there's plenty of other books that would give the same satisfaction. The plot itself is plain and with nothing much to say, the characters are all rather flat, and while the writing is fine it's also not a draw. The events of the novel play out in a very straightforward, predictable way, and Hercule Poirot's clue gathering becomes more than a little dull and repetitive by the end.

Ultimately, a decent book to pick up for next to nothing second-hand and spend some carefree time with, but not one to seek out for any reason.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Child death

Minor: Toxic relationship