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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's really a 3.5/5.
I was worried there for a minute, but the narration by Hastings clearly distinguished his thoughts and opinions from the thoughts and opinions of the other characters, and a little bit of the authors, enough to where I was significantly less annoyed than the last time I read a Poirot book with Hastings as the POV character. To reiterate, I hate Hastings and I dislike being in his head and having to experience his thought patterns. It's trying. I did find it funny when, on a couple of occasions in this book, some characters has cause to wonder why Hastings is there, and Hastings has no answer to give.
In all, this is my favorite Christie book I've read so far. I think if Death on the Nile wasn't spoiled for me, that would rank higher, but since I had watched the movie, the reading experience there was frustrated. The A.B.C. Murders had a fast moving plot and was a very quick read, enough information was provided where you could sort of see a pattern emerge and maybe make a guess as to where we were headed, but the twist at the end was still halfway a surprise to me because I had an estimated guess, but couldn't tell you why that was my guess. I was wrong, but close, which always feels like a nice tug of war between the reader and author. When I have no clue who might have done it, I get bored or annoyed, and when I am pretty much sure the same thing happens. When I think I could be close but also could be way off, that feels like the right balance that lets me really enjoy the tension of the genre. Pretty good stuff, finally. It feels more like what I was expecting when I started to read Christie's work.
I was worried there for a minute, but the narration by Hastings clearly distinguished his thoughts and opinions from the thoughts and opinions of the other characters, and a little bit of the authors, enough to where I was significantly less annoyed than the last time I read a Poirot book with Hastings as the POV character. To reiterate, I hate Hastings and I dislike being in his head and having to experience his thought patterns. It's trying. I did find it funny when, on a couple of occasions in this book, some characters has cause to wonder why Hastings is there, and Hastings has no answer to give.
In all, this is my favorite Christie book I've read so far. I think if Death on the Nile wasn't spoiled for me, that would rank higher, but since I had watched the movie, the reading experience there was frustrated. The A.B.C. Murders had a fast moving plot and was a very quick read, enough information was provided where you could sort of see a pattern emerge and maybe make a guess as to where we were headed, but the twist at the end was still halfway a surprise to me because I had an estimated guess, but couldn't tell you why that was my guess. I was wrong, but close, which always feels like a nice tug of war between the reader and author. When I have no clue who might have done it, I get bored or annoyed, and when I am pretty much sure the same thing happens. When I think I could be close but also could be way off, that feels like the right balance that lets me really enjoy the tension of the genre. Pretty good stuff, finally. It feels more like what I was expecting when I started to read Christie's work.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hercules Poirot se enfrenta a un asesino serial cuya víctimas siguen un orden alfabético? Tenés que leerlo, es una maravilla.
An Audible book, very well read, good plot nicely written, one of her better ones
At first I thought this novel was going to disappoint me, given where it was headed to; I should have trusted more in Agatha Christie, since in her novels things are never what they seem.
In my defense I would say that, at first, I had many hypotheses about who the murder could be and why they did what they did and one of those happened to be the idea of the serial murders hiding just one. But Hastings had to start with his recall of what Mr. Cust was doing and that threw me off; ironical that it was Hastings, who always tends to be lost on the cases, the one who made me feel lost.
This was quite an interesting novel, because we as readers were expecting was going to happen with the whole alphabetical order and letters business, and at the same time we were marvelously fooled. I don’t think I would have ever guessed the right murder, I even sat in disbelief as it was uncovered, since I though him to be such a nice person and a firm contender to be one of the halves of the romantic story of the novel. But what can I say, Agatha Christie knows how to build complex and believable stories were everything fits in the end.
I’ve truly enjoyed reading this novel since, as Poirot would say, it got my grey cells working even if they didn’t reach a right conclusion.
In my defense I would say that, at first, I had many hypotheses about who the murder could be and why they did what they did and one of those happened to be the idea of the serial murders hiding just one. But Hastings had to start with his recall of what Mr. Cust was doing and that threw me off; ironical that it was Hastings, who always tends to be lost on the cases, the one who made me feel lost.
This was quite an interesting novel, because we as readers were expecting was going to happen with the whole alphabetical order and letters business, and at the same time we were marvelously fooled. I don’t think I would have ever guessed the right murder, I even sat in disbelief as it was uncovered, since I though him to be such a nice person and a firm contender to be one of the halves of the romantic story of the novel. But what can I say, Agatha Christie knows how to build complex and believable stories were everything fits in the end.
I’ve truly enjoyed reading this novel since, as Poirot would say, it got my grey cells working even if they didn’t reach a right conclusion.
5 stars
I first read this a couple of years ago, and it's still one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels of all time. I was pretty much hooked from the first few chapters, and the plot twist at the end was phenomenal.
I first read this a couple of years ago, and it's still one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels of all time. I was pretty much hooked from the first few chapters, and the plot twist at the end was phenomenal.
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No