Scan barcode
A review by laciecatherine
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.25
Non-spoiler review:
To set the scene, on a strange island and in a strange house, a quadruple murder-suicide took place six months prior to our story. Members of a mystery-fiction at a university visit the island and have no access to the outside world (this is the 1980s so no cell phones). The plan is to stay there for a week and re-examine the aforementioned homicide/suicide case. However, one by one they are picked off and killed.
To be honest, I have never read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but it is on my bookshelf waiting to be read. This novel is a self-claimed reminiscent homage to Christie's famous work. Since no one person is the narrator, it focuses on the plot and gives you just enough character details to become attached and interested (there are about ten characters you meet and have to remember and it is a relatively short book for all it accomplishes). I found myself getting attached to the characters, finding myself in each of them and not wanting any of them to be the killer.
One of the things I did not like about the book is that the usual spacing of conversations was off from what I usually read and it was sometimes difficult to tell who was talking, which can get ultra confusing when you have seven characters to juggle. I am finally getting back into reading after some grueling college years. I am currently applying to graduate schools and this is the second book I have read and finished in quite a few years so my rating system is quite generous. I would give this a 4.5 rounded down to a 4 because of the sometimes confusing conversations and because I was not ENTIRELy satisfied with the ending, although it did shock and infuriate me (in a good way??). I honestly think I will be thinking about this book for quite a while.
To set the scene, on a strange island and in a strange house, a quadruple murder-suicide took place six months prior to our story. Members of a mystery-fiction at a university visit the island and have no access to the outside world (this is the 1980s so no cell phones). The plan is to stay there for a week and re-examine the aforementioned homicide/suicide case. However, one by one they are picked off and killed.
To be honest, I have never read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but it is on my bookshelf waiting to be read. This novel is a self-claimed reminiscent homage to Christie's famous work. Since no one person is the narrator, it focuses on the plot and gives you just enough character details to become attached and interested (there are about ten characters you meet and have to remember and it is a relatively short book for all it accomplishes). I found myself getting attached to the characters, finding myself in each of them and not wanting any of them to be the killer.
One of the things I did not like about the book is that the usual spacing of conversations was off from what I usually read and it was sometimes difficult to tell who was talking, which can get ultra confusing when you have seven characters to juggle. I am finally getting back into reading after some grueling college years. I am currently applying to graduate schools and this is the second book I have read and finished in quite a few years so my rating system is quite generous. I would give this a 4.5 rounded down to a 4 because of the sometimes confusing conversations and because I was not ENTIRELy satisfied with the ending, although it did shock and infuriate me (in a good way??). I honestly think I will be thinking about this book for quite a while.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death