Review of The Chateau

If you’re all about a Friend Group Thriller, then you might want to check The Chateau out. A group of friends heads to France for a festive birthday celebration, but then (of course) things go terribly wrong. Check out my Review of The Chateau!

Jen’s Overview of The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis

To be published on May 23, 2023 by Atria Books

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

The Chateau is the debut of author Jaclyn Goldis.

Jen’s Quick Summary of The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldin

• We’ve seen this story before — girls’ getaway gone wrong — in books like We Were Never Here and The Weekend Away.
• The Chateau is one part Friend Group Suspense and one part travel thriller.
• Multi-POV narrative with (for me) a lack of distinction between different character voices
• Unlikeable characters

Jen’s Analysis of the Chateau by Jaclyn Goldin

The book starts with a bang with the death of Séraphine, owner of the Chateau and the host of a fun girls getaway weekend for Séraphine’s granddaughter Darcy and her three friends: Jade, Vix and Arabelle.

The book did a great job of making me feel like I was in the French countryside. I could smell the lavender and feel the sun on my face as I strolled the market, picking out tomatoes and herbs.

As The Chateau went on, there were things that bothered me

The story was told by multiple narrators with many of the characters getting at least one chapter told from their point of view. The narrators include Séraphine, her guests, and her staff.

For me, that detracted from the story for two reasons.

At first, the characters of Darcy, Vix, Jade and Arabelle seemed distinct.

• Darcy is a rich heiress who has a lot of insecurity about her marriage. Her confidence has suffered after struggling infertility.
• Jade is a confident fitness buff.
• Arabelle, the French granddaughter of the chateau housekeeper, is a chic influencer.
• Vix is an artist who has had some recent heartbreak too: a battle with breast cancer and a recent break-up with her girlfriend.

I had trouble figuring out who was narrating a chapter.

These characters should have sounded more distinct, but for me their narrative voices were never distinct, and blurred together.

The other problem I had was that yes, there was going to be a villain here. But ultimately (and I don’t think this is really a spoiler as it becomes obvious right away) these “friends” were faking their warmth for one another and everyone was an unreliable narrator.

This led to a whole jumble of revelations at the end.

On the positive side, some of these revelations were interesting, but for me, there were just too many of them, and all came out at the end of the book. I think if some of the characters had confessed their secrets and hidden agendas earlier, the book would have been stronger.

In some ways, this book reminded me of The Paris Apartment, a book that many of my readers did not enjoy. It wasn’t just the French setting. Both books also had a whole bunch of shifty characters who were hiding things.

If you love books about friend trips gone wrong, check out my list!