This was an appealing "whodunit” mystery since I usually love multiple POV and locked room mysteries, but this fell really flat for me.

The main issue was that I couldn't keep all of the perspectives straight. I couldn't remember who was who and felt really confused so by the time the killer was revealed it didn't hit me in the way I thought it should. The middle dragged on a lot for me as well.

Best part about this book: the atmosphere. I loved the French chateau setting - and the cover is just gorgeous.

Four friends, while studying abroad, go to the chateau on weekends, and visit the grandmother of one of the girls. Twenty years later, they are requested to return by the lady of the chateau, Seraphina.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for a copy for an honest review.

Remote chateaus in France with a million secrets, count me in! This was a fast paced, thrilling novel! 4 friends go back to the chateau after years away. The amount of crazy secrets that are revealed can be a bit unbelievable but no less entertaining. I really enjoyed this read! My only critique is I felt the author felt like she had to hit all demographics in her characters, and each set had their own set of hot button issues. It was hard to keep up and a bit excessive. Nevertheless, this was a great who done it mystery I would recommend!

The premise of this story was so interesting to me. I loved the atmospheric murder mystery vibes. I loved hating a few characters and absolutely loving others.

This book was a bit predictable & far fetched, but fine overall. It’s told in *multiple* POVs which was hard to keep track of periodically.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

**2.5-stars**

When Darcy's Grandmother, the elegant, yet aging, Séraphine Demargelasse, invites Darcy and her four best girlfriends to her French Chateau for a luxury Girls Getaway, they can hardly say no.

The women all studied together in France 20-years earlier and they spent many weekends at Séraphine's. It was at that time, their life-long bonds of friendship were formed, including with Séraphine. It is a beautiful spot, with many beautiful memories.

Prior to the trip, Séraphine tells Darcy she wants to discuss her will with her. This sets a bit of an ominous tone and Darcy wonders if her Grandmother is unwell.

The trip starts off fine, with everyone getting used to being in each other's company again, enjoying the sights and accommodations. It's clear they're hiding some things from one another, but what friendship group doesn't?

After a boisterous evening celebration, Séraphine is found murdered. Everyone is in shock. Who could have done this? There's a limited number of guests, it had to be one of them, but why? Who would want poor Séraphine dead? What is there to gain?

From there the story follows the various characters as the investigation into the murder begins. Everyone is a suspect and in kind, they slowly begin to fall apart.

Here's the thing, starting off, I was very intrigued by this. I love a story that follows friends, or family, traveling together, staying in remote locations on holiday. I like learning about the characters and their varied lives.

This started out strong with that set-up and while the characters weren't particularly likable, I never mind that. I like when you get everyone's perspective in a friendship group, because no matter how close they are, there's always something: secrets, resentments, betrayals, etc. I love watching it all come to light. I'm here for the drama.

Unfortunately, about halfway through this just fell off a cliff for me. It felt like it was trying to do too much and with so much thrown in, it made everything feel less impactful.

There is a betrayal revealed that turned me off. It's weird because I've read that same thing before, but the way it was done here, I was just over it. I can't even really explain why. I don't think it was necessarily that betrayal though, like the circumstance, that killed this for me, but more like from that point on, every subsequent thing the author threw at us had me tuning out more and more. It was a turning point.

Additionally, I didn't feel invested enough in the mystery. I didn't really care who did it. I hadn't felt connected in any way to Séraphine and her murder hardly felt gripping. I realize that sounds awful, but I just wasn't invested enough to care, I guess. I wanted more intrigue, suspense and nail-biting moments. Instead I feel like it turned into more of a character study than a murder mystery.

Again, I feel like the downfall of this book is that it tried to do too much. It diluted the impact with so many things happening concurrently. Like the Van Gogh thing??? Completely unnecessary, IMO.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though this wasn't my cup of tea, I would be willing to pick up this author's next book. I'm a firm believer in second chances!

This book was a little difficult for me to get into. I started it 3 different times before finally reaching a point where I wanted to finish it. However, I think a large part of it could be the style of going to different characters each chapter. The style made following difficult. I will say the story finished well and did have a twist. It also kept you guessing on which character was the murderer.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jaclyn Goldis and Atria books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The premise was right up my alley, but I was not a fan of the writing style. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the ARC.

Giving this one a 3.5, rounded up to 44. It felt fast and slow at the same time and really didn't have a lot of suspense or thriller aspects - just a lot of drama. I enjoyed learning about Van Gogh, the families and just about the chateau. Honestly, that was probably my favorite part. It was a struggle to keep all the women straight as they all seemed similar enough and all unreliable. The ending left me with some questions...a sequel?

Four childhood friends, now adults, gather in a chateau in the south of France to celebrate the birthday of one of their members. But festivities turn sour when their host, the grandmother of one of the four and the owner of the chateau, is brutally murdered. As the story unfolds, historical wounds will come to light, and friendships will be tested. And in the end, no one's life will go on as it did before.

That all sounds like the making for a gripping, if guiltily so, tale, right? Well, it could have been. I read this book on a single trans-Atlantic flight, and I truly believe that the only reason I didn't abandon this book after the first couple of chapters was that I was exhausted and underfed, and thus my standards were significantly lowered.

First, the characters are laughably trite distortions of middle-aged female archetypes. The perfect mother. The outre lesbian. The body perfectionist. The sophisticated career woman. Their unidimensionality makes them at times so utterly predictable that much of the descriptive text seems to unnecessarily inflate the length of the book. One begins to begrudge them their predictability soon after their introduction, making the rest of the book feel like being trapped in conversations with a group of dull chatterboxes and grieving the time one has lost to the senseless enterprise.

The prose, too, is hilariously bad. Certain turns of phrase sound like they were generated by a poorly tuned AI, at worst, and at best, coined by someone looking to impress a cultured audience and falling terribly short. Factual errors abound. And yet, it's addicting. It's hard to put down. Reading this book is somewhat equivalent to passing an auto accident: terrible to see, but oh-so difficult to tear your eyes away.

My recommendation: take an earlier exit off the motorway, and avoid the catastrophic pile-up entirely.

This was a great book. Loved the premise and hated the characters- just the kind of thriller I like!

I devoured this atmospheric murder mystery set in an old French chateau. Four women travel back to France, where they studied abroad as teens, at the request of one's grandmother. When grandmother is murdered, they are the primary suspects, but why would any of them want her dead? As the investigation commences following the murder, shocking secrets are revealed. This would be perfect for a Netflix series!

Grateful for the opportunity to dive into the ARC of this book, though it didn't quite captivate me enough to reach the final page.

Short Synopsis: Darcy and her three friends are invited to go to her Grandmother's lavish French Chateau, and they don't quite know why. When Grandmere is found dead before she's able to make a big announcement, the finger is pointed at everyone. But who has the most to gain by her death?

My thoughts: As I do with most books, I went into this one totally blind. I guessed based on the cover alone it was going to be about a haunted french mansion. Boy was I wrong! This story was more of a murder who done it, with wealth and frienships and family. It read a little bit more as a cozy who-dun-it, than a thriller to me. I enjoyed trying to guess who was responsible as I read through. There were lots of unexpected twists that I didn't see coming.

Although this isn't what I was initially expecting, I really loved watching each of the women's secrets surface and why they were invited to the Chateau. This one had a little bit of everything including long buried secrets, women's rights, history including the Holocaust and antisemitism, and relationships.

Read if you love:
- Slow burn mysteries
- Jewish Rep (Current and Holocaust)
- Friend and Family Drama
- Topics like classism, and women's rights
- Abundance of secrets unraveling slowly

The Chateau tells the story of four friends: Darcy, Jade, Vix, and Arabelle as they return to Darcy's grandmother's Chateau in the countryside for a reunion. When strange things start happening and someone is found dead, everyone is a suspect. Secrets will be uncovered and lies unraveled. Will the friends make it our alive?

I really loved this story. The multiple POV's really helped enhance my experience with this one. I loved the French influences and the story transports you somewhere else. You find yourself questioning everyone and even though there are only 6 characters that could have done it, the reader ends up still very much surprised. This book has so many different life events thrown into it and you can't help but feel for the characters. The story line that brings in concentration camps and antisemitism is very poignant and heartbreaking, especially considering what is going on in the world today. This is a great story to read in general but especially if you are intentionally trying to amplify Jewish authors and Jewish stories. Much love to Jaclyn Goldis and cannot wait to read more from her!!

Usually I love thrillers about reuniting friends and the fact that the setting was a French chateau?! AMAZING. But, alas this one missed the mark for me, the "secret" is one that is getting old and VERY predictable for me.

This was a very character driven story which is not what I was expecting and took me awhile to get into.. I didn't really click with any of the characters and a large part of the book read like women's fiction not a mystery. Things start to pick up after the halfway point yet I could not get fully invested into the story. The conclusion was very action packed and I did enjoy that. The story had potential and I really wanted to love it but unfortunately it was just ok. I gave it 3 stars for the ending.

The Chateau
Jaclyn Goldis
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Pace: Slow Burn

This mysterious dramatic plot explores the ups and downs of family and friendships. While uncovering secrets, hidden inheritances and mind blowing chaos.

Told in numerous POVs making it a little difficult to distinguish one perspective from the other in the beginning. But the confusion dissipates the deeper you get into each characters back story.

Bringing forth reveals and exposing secrets one right after another. You will quickly become obsessed with finding out what could possibly go down next

Once the pace starts to quicken and the tensions get higher, friendships begin to teether, and the decision of who your rooting for just gets harder and harder

The hidden Holocaust history of the house and the unwanted Instagram account added the right amount of extra uneasiness and intrigue to keep the story moving along and pulls you even more

But y'all that ending. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together but god danggg the way it was delivered. Left me speechless

Wow, what a cover! I definitely judged a book by its cover. I was also super intrigued by the premise of this book. However, it was too much. Too much drama and too much irrelevant backstory. I found the characters to sound very similar in their prose and I had to check back to see whose point of view it was.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All the above opinions are my own.

Twenty years ago, in a French chateau, a group of friends got together and something happened. Now, they are called by the owner of the chateau, one of the friend's grandmother, to come back again. Someone ends up dead and all of their secrets come out. Each woman has had something to overcome in her life, and it seems to be their defining characteristic. This book is billed as a thriller but it's really a domestic drama. If you're looking for a locked door mystery, this isn't it. I feel like this book had so much going on that it was hard to get into, which even as I type it sounds odd, but it's how I felt. Every drama or situation you can think of happens in this book. It's just too much....and because of that it's not enough. I couldn't get into it and felt bored.