The orientalism in this was not it.
I love how the only two characters I suspected both ended up being murderers.
Overall this was boring, the only interesting characters being Julia and Jennifer to an extent.
I did enjoy the discussions about childhood and how it’s parameters/what is acceptable or not acceptable for a child to wear or do is to a degree a social construct, that differs between cultures. Although the discussion on ‘middle eastern culture’ was very orientalist.

I’m being harsher on this book because it’s been very Miss lately with the latter part of the Poirot books.
The plot was predictable, the social commentary on how the youth is going to shit and especially the talk about young girls being foolish and not being controlled enough was boring and yuck. The witness bias talk was interesting but the plot and killers were predictable, the romance was out of nowhere and annoying. And idk David being the typical scoundrel was boring. The interactions we had with the characters and Poirot were few and far between, and the majority of the book was Poirot being stumped at solving the mystery which was out of character since this was so simple to solve, and he just didn’t make the enquiries he usually does in other books, for the sake of this story to exist. I do love the dynamic between Ariadne Oliver and Poirot though, especially Ariadne’s sleuthing. I wish she wrote more books with this duo.

3.5
The unreliable narration was superb, and with us being left with so many unanswered questions, the gothic atmosphere of the story was pronounced.
Were there ever any ghosts? If there were, were they controlling the children or vice versa?
My interpretation is that there were ghosts but that they weren’t so bad and kept the children company as they dealt with the neglect from their uncle. With this interpretation the main character’s need to protect them from the ghosts of Quint and Miss Jessel comes across as a need for her to have the children under her control, for the sake of feeling power and control as opposed to their own happiness and safety. Her love and over the top concern for the children seems needed, relatable and justified at the beginning of the story but by the end it seems stifling. And Miles escapes her stifling grasp in the end, she seeks to protect him even if it means restriction but in the end he joins the ghosts. I don’t think she imagined because there was nothing alluded to from her past that alluded to her being inclined to imagine, and because it wouldn’t make for a rewarding ending.

The best part of gothic books are the lead up to the final big act and the dread you feel first as the whip is being brought down upon the readers and then the blow of the strike. That is how reading this story felt, so many things were left unsaid and not confronted for propriety’s sake when it would have been better to address them head on because the main character began to dread and suppose worse happenings that what really occurred (the reason for Mile’s expulsion for instance). And the final blow being how the story ends with Mile’s heart stopping, it’s likely that looking at the main character’s prior behavior, asking Flora to be taken away from Bly, and declaring that she will deal with Miles, that she might be charged with the murder of the boy and hanged.

I think the main character was the most interesting, and I know both series have been adapted by Mike Flanagan but the protagonist reminds me of Nelly in Haunting of Hill House. I especially loved reading about the duality of her love and then suspicion of the children, I also believe she kept referring to how lovely and innocent and lovable Miles and Flora were whenever she spoke about them and her suspicions because she was secretly harboring resentment and bitter feelings towards them that she did not want to narrate to the readers. But those feelings came across to us in her actions, like when they spotted Miss Jessel and Flora said she could not see Miss Jessel and became afraid of the main character.

It’s a very scary story because being in charge of the health, safety, education and happiness of the most vulnerable members of society is no easy task, and protecting them from external horrors is one thing. But having the horrors potentially be the children themselves is another thing entirely, it is so hard to prove, get support and solve such an issue without others believing you are the source of danger. The main character would have been wise to have left Bly manor but she was invested in the children and so are readers. Although I think the governess/mc was too invested in the children, obsessed with them and wanted to control every part of them, and perhaps rely on them to fulfill every emotional bond she needs; I caught the slight predatory undertones the governess uses when describing the children which had me side eye her a bit, but also possibly indicates as other reviewers have said, a peeresses sexuality. Especially since she fell in love and/or became infatuated with the children’s uncle immediately indicating which hints at a lack of experience in love and expression of sexuality if she spills her emotions and desires all over the floor at the first sight of a man. That is how we begin to see she is flawed, a potential danger to the children and an unreliable narrator.

I am interested to know the exact reasons and circumstances as to how Miss Jessel and Quint died.
I’ll definitely be watching some analysis videos of this story because I love all the possible interpretations of it.

I think this would have done better as a short story since the truth of what happened was easily guessable and then obvious once it was revealed that Margaret had a twin. The lack of many characters to suspect made it easy and a bit boring. Although I do love Ariadne doing her investigations and interviews, it felt so Miss Marple. I will say that the ending was one of Christie’s saddest endings and I did feel dewy-eyed reading it.

Switched from Poirot to Marple for some change and this was better than the last few Poirots I’ve read. I suspected 1 of the killers and knew about the body switch but mainly because I recall watching the TV episodes many years ago but forgot most of it. I did like Basil Blake, I thought he was misunderstood and masked insecurity with rudeness. He was so wrong for calling Jane Marple a hag and should be tried in court for that I can’t lie. But him and Diane being married but pretending not to be to cause scandal is so iconic idk. The way the body came into the library I didn’t guess but it made sense. Hope Basil and the Dolly’s husband can get along better, asince the latter went on making judgements about the former without knowing his backstory. But I didn’t really care for all the ‘oh he went into design, or xyz role because a house fell on him not because he chose to’. The main theme of the book seemed to be the old generation’s misjudgments and perceptions on the youth. Oh and I didn’t care for the colonel Mid whatever, Harper >>>

4 stars

The original fever dream story.
The whimsy, the plethora of characters and settings that Alice is just thrown into, never fully knowing what’s going on, and so we don’t know what’s going on, and then as soon as we begin to wonder we are whisked away to somewhere else in Wonderland.
I remember the white rabbit stressing me out when I watched the movie adaptation as a young child, because it was so like the common dream/nightmare of chasing after someone or something you can never reach. And I think that just added a real layer to this dream like narrative. Alice is also super sarcastic and funny too. This is a favourite classic of mine.

I remembered the TV episode so the reveal wasn’t jaw dropping for me, I wish we had a more interesting cast. A bit more of the family interacting with each other, like Percival and Jennifer.

This started off interesting, by the middle I was ready to give it 2 stars but the ending I wanted happened so I’m giving it 2.25 (I’m talking about the mc being the monster which was predictable once you’re halfway through the story but it was still done well). But I do think that modern fairytale stories should be like the classic ones- SHORT. The middle of this book was just
The horror and dread and almost disgusting feeling of being trapped in a house of abuse and stagnation and rot was captured so well though.
I haven’t read as many books with characters who have EDs as I would have liked, so I don’t have too much to say on how it was written here. I guess you could say it randomly disappearing halfway through the book out of fear from her father on one hand does make sense because fear of being caught can overwhelm the need to engage with the ED and from experience there can be times when it goes but it also comes back. I would have liked to read how they’d navigate that in terms of her relationship with her love interest.
Books about quarreling and awful sisters whilst very fairytale like and unfortunately a reality for people, are never my cup of tea.
The whole having romance and desires being the vehicle through which recognize your freedom and agency is kind of overdone but I found it suited the story.