Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

9 reviews

wickedgrumpy's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

To relate it to a movie mash up, take Being John Malkovich and pair it with Knives Out with a dash of unexplained world building sci-fi time loop situation. 

Premise was quite good, but the execution suffered.  It dragged in the middle and the wrap up at the end wasn’t very satisfying because it left so many questions unanswered.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Torture, Gore, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Self harm, Cursing, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, and Alcoholism

calicat42's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Every time I finished a chapter I had no idea what to expect in the next one… and I GASPED at the ending. What a rollercoaster it was to get through the book! 

Most excitingly was that I constantly felt like I was the main character living each day as each new “host.” Since you only learn what the characters know, you have no choice but to get into the characters’ minds, experience what they’re each experiencing, and hope that the days aren’t wasted. 
Incredibly immersive. 

My only complaint is that the ending didn’t really feel connected to the rest of the book. Maybe if I went back to read it now I could see the signs and clues better, but sooo much information came out in the last few pages that I got a bit lost in how everything connected. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Blood, Confinement, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Kidnapping, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Death of parent

litliz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Grief, Medical content, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Drug use, and Sexual assault

bill_nai_bxtch's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Child death, Toxic friendship, Rape, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Classism, Death, Grief, and Sexual assault

fraise's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Gaslighting, Stalking, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Minor: War and Death of parent

thecriticalreader's review

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Why I Read It: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton first came onto my radar when I was looking for books involving time loops, since I love time loops. Months later, I saw it in the bookstore and decided to pick it up.

 

Review:

Turton should get a standing ovation for the brilliance of this book’s concept. It’s incredibly original, and no lazy author would have even come close to touching it. The execution of the concept is also laudable, as Turton’s beautiful writing and detailed thought made this book a joy to read. I never felt impatient about figuring out the mystery; I was content to let the story unfold and follow the main character step by step as he painfully learns more and more about his situation. Despite the undeniably convoluted plot, I was able to follow along, and I appreciated the moral questions Turton poses throughout the story. More importantly, the characters’ motivations and actions felt well-thought-out and realistic. It would have been far too easy for everything to feel contrived, but for most of the book, this is not the case.

 

I knew that no matter how amazing most of the book was, my ultimate measure of the book would rest heavily on the conclusion. While the conclusion is not the disaster it could have been—no plot holes are introduced, and it remains well-thought-out—unfortunately, it did not quite live up to my hopes. It fell into the trap mysteries so often fall into, in which the author springs a twist so out of left field that it feels contrived and requires a lengthy explanation to understand. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle did not need such a twist for me to feel impressed by the mystery and the book’s intelligence. I felt that the ending somewhat betrayed the main character’s arc.

My main problem with the ending was Anna’s character. How am I supposed to believe that one of the world’s most evil people somehow becomes a good person by endlessly cycling through time loops in a setting that is described as “poisonous” in its immorality and corruption?

One other thing that bothered me considerably was the fatphobic language. The language Turton uses to describe a fat character is unnecessarily cruel. 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle if:

·      You are intrigued by unique, original premises

 

You might not like The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle if:

·      You dislike intricate plots

·      You go into the book wedded to your expectations

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Death, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Child abuse, Blood, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cursing, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Self harm

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This is interesting, but it had way too many characters for me to keep track of, and I didn't feel like I "knew" any of them, even after 17 hours of audiobook. I also may have not been a huge fan of the writing style.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Stalking, Blood, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Bullying, Classism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Avoid if you don't like: torture, trying to remember about 24 vaguely similar characters, or telling instead of showing.

sunny_not's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was close to being a 4 to 5 star read for me. I loved it the first 350ish pages. However, I hated the ending so much. What was that??? What kinda resolution is that???  

Why was Anna such an awful person in real life? The fact that she literally tortured and killed the main character's sister???? How was I supposed to feel for her after that? It just ruined the book for me.

I'm giving it this rating for the rest of the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcohol, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child death, Violence, Physical abuse, and Drug use

lucyselim's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Ableism, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Medical content