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221bpinkst's review
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Murder
pencils's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Murder and Gaslighting
lauramcc7's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Murder
calliopereads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Emotional abuse
Minor: Antisemitism and Racism
shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Minor: Antisemitism, Racial slurs, and Racism
dazed_and_distracted's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Suicide, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
kers_tin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, and Racism
markedwithanm's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Murder, and Death
alba_marie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I spent Thanksgiving with my nana, a huge Agatha Christie fan, and felt inspired to read one myself. This was the only one that didn't have a hold list that I hadn't already read, and it was set in Israel and Petra.
Though the plot itself was fine and the characters interesting, my main problem with this was that I agreed more with the suspects than with Poirot!
The "victim" here was not really a victim. She was a bully, she was rude, controlling, sadistic and enjoyed making her family suffer. We don't just see her for a few pages; no, we get an inside view of her world and the hurt she causes for somewhere between one third and half the book. When she finally dies, it's a relief.
That is what her family says, too: "Freedom!" She's driven one of them to severe depression, her daughter-in-law into leaving her husband just to get away, she's caused her youngest daughter into serious and untreated mental health issues (a type of dissociative disorder) just to escape her reality. The middle two are unhappy and worn-down, dreaming of escape but so cloistered (this is the first time they have left home) that they are helpless to know how to escape. Whenever Mrs Boynton tells them to do something, no matter how little they want to do it, they still eventually do what they are told. This is serious emotional manipulation, and it's awful! So yeah, her death was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Poirot didn't see it that way. He was all like, every death is a travesty, every life is worth something, murder can't be condoned... blah blah blah. Some people are better off dead and old Mrs Boynton is one of them for sure! So it was a bit tough to read because the characters kept pointing out all the awful things she'd done to them, hinting that maybe it's not so bad she's gone, and Poirot sat there on his pedestal lecturing about the sanctity of life. Which didn't resonate with me at all because I was on the side of the family.
The end: Spoiler It could have gone badly. If it had been one of the family and Poirot arrested them, I would have been really annoyed. As it was, it was one of the other random guests who just happened to know the old bat from her days as a prison warder. Now an aristocrat, she is desperate to protect her reputation (all the rage amongst the English, it seems...).
It wasn't the solution I predicted, and I think I liked my own better. Here was mine: Mrs Boynton purposefully sent her family away, indeed planning "some new horror" as Carol predicted. Then she stole the syringe and injected herself with the poison, leaving evidence in the tents of her family members to place the blame on them. Her motive was to control them, even in death. For this to work, she'd need to be dying already, and suddenly made aware of her small place in the world and lack of control outside of her home. By killing herself and blaming her children, she'd get one final kick at them from the grave... now isn't that better than a random travelling companion who happened to be a former inmate and now happened to be a social climber desperate to hide her past? I think so.
The name: Appointment with Death – I don't get it. There was no "appointment." Nothing like that at all! It didn't call the desert or isolation of the landscapes and ancient sites to mind, so vivid in the book. I would have called it either Death in Petra (keeping with her style) or stick to alliteration with Poisoned in Petra - sounds much more exotic, memorable and vivid, and evokes the desolate backdrop of both the book and the characters' states of mind. So there, I'm even critiquing the Queen of Crime herself...
Though the plot itself was fine and the characters interesting, my main problem with this was that I agreed more with the suspects than with Poirot!
The "victim" here was not really a victim. She was a bully, she was rude, controlling, sadistic and enjoyed making her family suffer. We don't just see her for a few pages; no, we get an inside view of her world and the hurt she causes for somewhere between one third and half the book. When she finally dies, it's a relief.
That is what her family says, too: "Freedom!" She's driven one of them to severe depression, her daughter-in-law into leaving her husband just to get away, she's caused her youngest daughter into serious and untreated mental health issues (a type of dissociative disorder) just to escape her reality. The middle two are unhappy and worn-down, dreaming of escape but so cloistered (this is the first time they have left home) that they are helpless to know how to escape. Whenever Mrs Boynton tells them to do something, no matter how little they want to do it, they still eventually do what they are told. This is serious emotional manipulation, and it's awful! So yeah, her death was a welcome breath of fresh air.
Poirot didn't see it that way. He was all like, every death is a travesty, every life is worth something, murder can't be condoned... blah blah blah. Some people are better off dead and old Mrs Boynton is one of them for sure! So it was a bit tough to read because the characters kept pointing out all the awful things she'd done to them, hinting that maybe it's not so bad she's gone, and Poirot sat there on his pedestal lecturing about the sanctity of life. Which didn't resonate with me at all because I was on the side of the family.
The end: Spoiler It could have gone badly. If it had been one of the family and Poirot arrested them, I would have been really annoyed. As it was, it was one of the other random guests who just happened to know the old bat from her days as a prison warder. Now an aristocrat, she is desperate to protect her reputation (all the rage amongst the English, it seems...).
It wasn't the solution I predicted, and I think I liked my own better. Here was mine: Mrs Boynton purposefully sent her family away, indeed planning "some new horror" as Carol predicted. Then she stole the syringe and injected herself with the poison, leaving evidence in the tents of her family members to place the blame on them. Her motive was to control them, even in death. For this to work, she'd need to be dying already, and suddenly made aware of her small place in the world and lack of control outside of her home. By killing herself and blaming her children, she'd get one final kick at them from the grave... now isn't that better than a random travelling companion who happened to be a former inmate and now happened to be a social climber desperate to hide her past? I think so.
The name: Appointment with Death – I don't get it. There was no "appointment." Nothing like that at all! It didn't call the desert or isolation of the landscapes and ancient sites to mind, so vivid in the book. I would have called it either Death in Petra (keeping with her style) or stick to alliteration with Poisoned in Petra - sounds much more exotic, memorable and vivid, and evokes the desolate backdrop of both the book and the characters' states of mind. So there, I'm even critiquing the Queen of Crime herself...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
ms_gouldbourne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
One of my all-time favourite books! Agatha Christie is just so skilled at painting a careful picture of family relations and psychology. Appointment with Death is a masterful Poirot novel, marred only by the occasional racial stereotype that always creeps into books of this era.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Racism