I thoroughly found myself surprised by this book. At first I struggled to like any characters, but as time went on I found them more and more likeable. The twist while not sure obvious, looking back in hindsight I should have seen it coming. But there is something about a group of women getting together after a long time that always has me hooked. Overall I found the characters well developed and the book has the right amount of suspense to keep the reader wondering how it might all end.

GOD I love this book! Twists and turns from beginning to end. This reminds me of middle aged Pretty Little Liars with a French twist. If you are a fan of suspense, family secrets, and murder, then you will LOVE The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis.
Four best friends who use to study abroad together are back in France to celebrate their 40th birthdays. They stay at Darcy’s rich grandmother’s mansion, The Chateau, where they all used to visit during their study abroad period. They are having fun celebrating and reconnecting until Seraphine, Darcy’s 90 year old grandmother, is brutally murdered inside the mansion. While they search for answers to the brutal murder, they uncover more family secrets than they ever wanted to find.
I could not get enough of this book. I was so invested that not only did I complete it in a weekend, but I was even late meeting my parents for lunch because I could physically not put it down. I loved every character's backstory, the imagery of the chateau, and of course the suspense. I can't say too much because there were so many unexpected secrets revealed right from the beginning, so I do not want to give any spoilers away. This should be on the top of your TBR list when The Chateau comes out May 23rd 2023. Easy 5 out of 5 stars for me!

This thriller was a wild ride! Gave me old school Agatha Christie mixed with Lucy Foley vibes, where everyone has a motive while all being contained in one isolated location for the duration of the novel.

While I guessed a few of the twists, I didn’t guess the final resolution/motivations behind them. Really enjoyed this one from start to finish!

Oooh, a suspense novel set in a lavish chateau in France? I was totally up for this book.

Told in 4 POVs of the four friends who attend the house party, it'os obvious the matron of the chateau has reasons of inviting each woman - and that each woman has her own reasons for saying yes. They're friends on the surface but there's a lot going on underneath - competing loyalties, tragic histories and the need to make things right. Everyone's got her own agenda, and those agendas clash with deadly effect.

The question is - whose agenda also makes her a killer? As the plot unfolds and I discovered why each woman was there, there was enough motive on each person's part to logically be the murderer. The writer tips her hand fairly early on in the book, IMO, but there was enough tension after the reveal to keep me reading. There's good character development as well, which fits logically with the plot - not always true in suspense novels!

Another great summer read!

This was a really fast read with such an interesting plot. A solid thriller, I think any fans of the genre will get a kick out of this. I do wish that the narrative voices for each character were a little more unique, only because I found myself having to go back to see who I was reading from sometimes. I also think that, in the same vein, there were a few character moments later in the book (if you have read it you'll probably know what I'm talking about) that don't really align with what we know about the character, or the information we were given. The change felt sort of...random? But, overall, really fast and fun. I can see this being a hit this summer!

This was a page turner with a very interesting backstory and twist. I wish the POVs had been a little more distinct, as sometimes I had to flip back and forth to remind myself who I was with. Though one character's personality shift was a bit too out of left field for me and I felt a few more breadcrumbs could've been laid. Overall this was an engaging read I'd recommend to thriller fans.

What was Seraphine planning on revealing before she was murdered?

Told through six different points of view, the story starts when Seraphine, a wealthy French widow, invites her granddaughter & her three friends back to the chateau where they used to spend weekends two decades ago when they were all in their twenties. Darcy, Seraphine’s granddaughter, has struggled with fertility & fought hard for her family & her business helping others facing fertility troubles, but things aren’t going as well as she’d hoped. Her best friend Jade is also a mother, & is trying to come to terms with the generational trauma of the Holocaust & the mark it left on her family. Victoria, a largely uninspired artist, was recently dumped & still misses her girlfriend, in addition to having to get used to how breast cancer changed her body. Arabelle is the granddaughter of Seraphine’s housekeeper, & has built a successful brand for herself revolving around French cuisine, but feels like her marriage has stagnated.

The four women try their best to put their personal struggles aside in the hopes of a fun weekend reconnecting as a group, but those plans come crashing down when Seraphine is found viciously murdered in her bed on the same night she cryptically announced that she had something important to discuss with the group in the morning. The friends start to question one another, the groundskeeper is suspiciously under-qualified, an anonymous Instagram user starts stalking them, & as secret after secret is revealed, this weekend becomes so much more than any of them bargained for.

I loved the way this book juxtaposed the charming French countryside with the all of the darkness within the chateau, and look forward to seeing more work from this author.

Thank you to Atria & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Editor Blurb:

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝙸𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝-𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚟𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝙼𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜.

TW⚠️: Anti-Semitism

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this book. Definitely a slower burn as there was a lot of story building needed. But the story would not have been good without the build up. A girls trip, 4 best friends, each extremely different and each with at least one secret. Of course there is also the grandmother who brought them all together. I swore I knew who the killer was but boy was I wrong. And that’s what makes an amazing thriller for me. Plus add in all of the back story and the twists and turns the author intertwined into the murder plot was *chefs kiss* !!

I had an issue with how pretentious this book was. Yes, we all like reading books of affluent people when we aren't affluent, but The Chateau took it to a whole new level.

Slight spoiler here, but I could not get past the cheating and how completely disgusting and mismanaged that entire plot point was. While it did add a bit to the end, overall, it just felt sleazy (in a not good way).

I also believe there were too many perspectives. It took me a while to get into a rhythm of who was who, and I still got lost a bit in the end. They were all too similar.

The ending did redeem the book overall.

I enjoyed this, but probably not as much as I thought I would. It is a locked-room story, which I love. It features a girl's getaway, which I also love. There is a murder. Love that too. So, what was the issue? I found the story a little slow to start and I had a hard time distinguishing one woman from the other. I felt this was more of a suspenseful drama with a murder than a murder mystery, but still enjoyable. The story is told from the POV of the four childhood friends who are invited back to The Chateau where they spent their summer breaks. Now in their 40's, they are summoned by Seraphine, Darcy's Grandmother. Seraphine is killed early on, and all sorts of secrets, drama and old beefs come pouring out. This was a fun read, and I did enjoy it once it picked up. The ending was well executed. Great for Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley fans. I would read more from this author.

This book was a little slow to start, and there were a lot of different characters to keep track of. About 30% in it started to come together much better and the end was very well written.

This was entertaining, but I wasn't particularly gripped by it. It was more of a drama that happens to feature a murder than a murder. And while I love multiple POVs, and just finished a book with ten important characters, for some reason it was near impossible for me to remember which of the four women was which for the first half of the book. They didn't feel distinct enough from one another. The plot itself was interesting, but it was heavy on explaining not showing which took a bit away from it. I'm glad I got an ARC, but wish it didn't drag as much.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒖 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒚𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒔

Four besties go to a luxurious Chateau for a lovely girls trip to celebrate a birthday and spend much needed time together, only for it to turn into a nightmare filled with murder, lies, betrayal, and bonds forever broken. Well, if that doesn’t sound like a book right up my alley, I don’t know what does.

I always love a good whodunit thriller and this one delivers on it all. This one pulls you right into all the drama and dynamics of the girls’ friendships with the multiple povs. The Chateau keeps you on edge with all the lies, revelations, and superb plot twists. I love it when a thriller keeps me guessing right up til the end and this one does just that.

If you love well written whodunits, drama, thrillers, and scandal this one will be perfect for you.

Another locked room mystery/thriller.

In The Chateau, we have four friends, returning to the chateau of their youth. They have been beckoned by the chateau's owner and matriarch, Seraphine. Each of the women have their own motives for coming and it all starts to unravel when Seraphine is murdered in her bed.

This wasn't TERRIBLE, but it wasn't great either. Each of the women told their points of view and frankly they weren't interesting in the least. One character had a complete 360 and it changed the way the story read for me. It was just.....ugh. The first half of the book DRAGGGS out but at least the 2nd half picks up and and things start moving.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I felt this book had a terrific premise. I love a closed-room mystery, an old house, unreliable narrators, and a WWII backstory. I just felt the author did not quite pace the novel as well as she could have. I had trouble differentiating the narrators, and the plot slowed during the middle third. The last third and the climax were really well done! I will look for more from this author!

This was a very slow paced murder mystery. Four friends come back together at one's family chateau. Each are keeping secrets as well as the grandmother who lives in the chateau. One is killed and a series of secrets come tumbling out. This did not hold my attention well and was a little too slow for my taste.

This was very “meh” for me. I think it is meant to be a quick, fun, popcorn read, but it didn’t do much for me. All of the characters are flat and the setting has been so overdone at this point. All of the twists fell pretty flat for me. It is very glossy and a little simplistic for me; there are lots of hyper contemporary references. I have also read about a million thrillers like this, and I don’t think it will be a real heavy hitter with a lot of lasting power. That being said, it is fun and fast paced. I think fans of The Club by Ellery Lloyd would enjoy this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

"The Chateau" has some nice surprise elements and historical facts that strengthen the narrative. However, the multiple points of view and timelines were, at times, a bit confusing. I would recommend this for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis! I liked all of the different plot points and story lines, and once I got to know them, I enjoyed the different characters. I liked how the author created a world in which I was able to create a motive for each of the different characters through learning about them in the different POVs. I will say that the POVs were slightly confusing at times, especially at the beginning of the book when I didn’t really have the characters straight yet. I had an idea as to who the culprit was about halfway through the book- it turned out that I wasn’t exactly wrong …but I wasn’t exactly right either. And I actually really enjoyed the surprise surrounding this whole particular situation! (And the last scene!) The setting was detailed and interesting- I love when the setting kind of becomes another character in the story.

Overall- a really enjoyable read that kept me engaged and invested!

3.5/5 ⭐️
Four friends reunite for a getaway to a French chateau where they used to vacation together. Jade, Arabella, Darcy, and Vix became best friends when they were in college and twenty years later, they are still close. When Darcy’s grandmother invites them back to her chateau for Jade’s fortieth, they jump at a chance to celebrate together. However their host ends up murdered and it’s clear one of them is responsible.

Overall, I thought this was a decent thriller. I think parts could be slow where I wasn’t dying to know what happened (generally the chapters where it was more just relationship stuff), and I think the mysterious Instagram account as a red herring could’ve been so much more. Finally, the ending felt weird to me as there had been zero breadcrumbs about the whodunit.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.