The Chateau

"4.5/5 stars rounded up ✨(for a lot of perspectives introduced initially that were at first a struggle to differentiate, but otherwise so good) The Chateau was about a girls’ trip gone wrong and I thought it cleverly interspersed history, of place and people, along the way. There’s a murder at the center of the mystery of the woman who owns the chateau and each character is placed under the spotlight as a potential suspect. What does each lady have to potentially gain in life from the death of Séraphine, the owner of the chateau and grandmother of one of the ladies. This was whip-smart, twisty, and filled with thoughts on the preciousness of life and tragedy of death. I thought it was intense, meaningful, and an introspective account that dives into the dynamics of a group, which increasingly become more and more heated and dangerously fraught. A shady Instagram account, too, emerges from the ethers as each lady fears her secrets will be unearthed at a hefty price. Every minute had me wanting more and this ultimately took me on a storied journey I won’t soon forget when true colors are slowly revealed at a captivating pace."

"A reunion of three friends at a family-owned chateau in France turns ominous…murder, betrayal and family secrets revealed."

"I was so excited to read this novel, the cover and reviews really drew me in. It had a great premise for a thriller, but as I read the story I found myself feeling literally nothing. There was so much back story and information on every character, descriptions of places or items that seemed unnecessary. I felt like the descriptions took a lot of the emotion out of the story for me as a reader. The characters also all read similarly, even though they were meant to be very different women. It made the chapters confusing and I found myself having to peak back at the beginning to remind myself which character was narrating. Ultimately, I didn’t like any one of the characters and felt no suspense or emotion towards them or the events happening to them as I was plodding along through this story. Frankly, I skipped entire chapters just to make it to the end and even then I mostly skimmed. I thought about dnf-ing this novel but I wondered if knowing the ending might help me better understand why so many other readers enjoyed this story so much. I think I can see why maybe others would enjoy the ending. There certainly is a lot of information to reveal given all the back stories, but I still don’t think most of it was even necessary for the story. In my opinion, this story is more of a dramatic fiction than a mystery/thriller but perhaps this authors writing style just isn’t for me. "

"3/5 This was a fun book that kept me guessing the whole time who the murderer was. The first 3/4 of the book was super slow and I didn’t really get into it until the end. Overall for a murder mystery it was super light, if you like a murder mystery that’s not scary at all this book is for you. "

"Not bad, has a good twist and an extra one at the very end but I think multiple perspectives in novels are becoming overused"

"3.75 Stars Rounded to 4<br/>Cover 4 Stars<br/><br/>WWTQ: Is sociopathy genetic?<br/><br/>Answer: Medically, no, but in this world? 100% Yes.<br/><br/>There is A LOT going on here: Nazi stolen artwork, unknown masterpieces, French food, unhealthy social media behavior, adultery, kidnapping, aristocracy, sexual assault, hidden rooms ... Oh yeah and murder. The murders are benign and not terribly interesting or even necessary. <br/><br/>The story is told from the first person POVS of pretty much all the characters: the four main friends, the grandmother, and grandma's servants. Unfortunately, except for the chapter title which told you who was speaking, and that Raph, the farmhand spoke like a hillbilly, you can't tell one person from another. None of them had a distinct voice other than some unsubtle and strange vocabulary choices. This made it difficult to connect with the characters since they all sort of mushed together. That one of them is the murderer and is an unreliable narrator makes the Scooby Doo- villain exposition ending unsatisfying. The murderer should not have been able to hide their murder tendencies for decades without tipping anyone off to how not-quite-right they were. These murders were not committed out of necessity. They were premeditated and strategized, which is all explained at the end, while holding the non-murderer characters at gunpoint.<br/><br/>That said as a light, locked room mystery, at a chateau in St. Remy, France, it was fun. I loved the setting and how much the characters loved the setting. Details in the writing about the place made it feel real, even if the human characters never did. <br/><br/><br/>"

"Thank you to #netgalley for granting me this ARC.<br/>Wow, what a great thriller! <br/>The story kept me guessing and what a nice backdrop for the story. Nestled in a Chateau in France, 4 friends are invited to celebrate a birthday. Unbeknownst to all of them, the lady of the manor, so to speak, has many secrets to reveal to them all, not all of them pleasant.<br/>A suspenseful and mysterious thriller."

"This book is a mystery that follows Darcy, Arabella, Jade, and Vix as they vacation in France for Jade's birthday. Darcy's grandmother Seraphina calls them all to meet with her and has something important to tell them but is found dead before she can. We get the POVs of all four women as they uncover secrets and work to find out who killed Seraphina and why. <br/><br/>I struggled a lot with this book, but I think the plot was good and interesting, especially with the uncovering of secrets and mysteries. I also liked most of the characters ad getting to know them and what they were hiding. I didn't really enjoy the multiple povs, though, that really confused made this book harder to read. Keeping track of all the characters and all their backstories while trying to pay attention to the mystery was a little much for me. The ending did pick up, and that plot twist in the last chapter was good and made the book worth it. Overall this was an okay read, the twists were good, and I liked that we had Jewish and queer representation. <br/><br/>Thank you, Atria Books and Netgalley, for this arc."