Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

59 reviews

teatales's review against another edition

mysterious

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

3.0

I think I liked the premise more than the book itself, although obviously I kept reading through the several hundred pages. The last quarter of the book felt like it had too many twists.

And the weird explanation for the whole host swapping thing left much to be desired, as did the ending. I find it quite boring when it turns out to be some ~crazy~ woman as the killer

Hated the fatphobia as well 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Murder, Death, Body shaming, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Child death

Minor: Colonisation

kimmy0__0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was a very intriguing premise for a book. Until about half way through I didn't make any connections to what was happening and it was a little slow.

I figured out pretty early that this was some kind of prison system, but as for the actual murderer(s) this was a very tangled web.

Overall I thought it was a great read, especially for Agatha Christie book lovers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Stalking, Cursing, Misogyny, and Rape

amartin48's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Body horror, Classism, Death, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, Murder, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

yuidf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Death

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Torture

artstitute's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

This book was full of twists and turns, some of which I found more compelling than others.

The big twist that the whole plot was some cooked-up punishment a la Black Mirror kind of felt unnecessary to me. It didn't ruin the rest of the book, but it introduced a lot of moral quandaries that I don't think added much. OTOH, the Evelyn twist? IMMACULATE.

All in all, though, I definitely couldn't put it down and I would recommend it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Torture

uv_sensibility's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

The first 100 or so pages were strong and enthralling. Then the gratuitous fatphobia came in. And then, the myriad of underdeveloped concepts. 

I feel like this book could've been so much better if the author split it up into a series. I loved the murder mystery, time-travel, groundhog day concepts. It's a very twisty book, but some of the twists just didn't do it for me. They felt unresolved & medium-rare. 

The author has a very strong voice and is great at writing vividly. I felt that his (over)use of dialogue was overdone. Sometimes less is more, you know? Then again, that's down to personal preference.

Also, a bit of a nitpick, but... why does the summary give us the MC's name if he spends the first 100 or so pages trying to find his identity? I feel like that could've been kept secret to naturally unravel in the story rather than have us already know the answer
...😅

It's an easy read despite its length. The concepts are fun and the author knows how to write. But... the twists and turns, characters, and some concepts feel underdeveloped. It could've benefited from being split into a multi-part series. And, once more, was the fatphobia really that necessary?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body shaming, Animal death, Rape, Torture, Fatphobia, Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Stalking

pravi'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

loved it, the characters and the plot were intriguing, and i loved the different perspectives of the characters and the groundhog day style setting. but i felt like there was too much going on and i couldnt really keep track of any of the characters except anna and evelyn. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal death

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

amicamerlo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

This unique locked-room mystery is like Freaky Friday meets Groundhog Day—in a dark, historical country setting, of course.  The novel jumps right in with the main character lost on the grounds of a once-handsome estate—he doesn’t know where he is or how he got there; he doesn’t even know his own name.  Come to find out that he’s been tasked with solving a murder, and he’ll have eight chances to do so.  Each day he’ll wake up in a different body, none of them his own.  The only way he can stop reliving this nightmare is to find out who killed Evelyn Hardcastle.  With lots of moving pieces, Stuart Turton’s debut is sure to keep you guessing.  James Cameron Stewart’s narration sets the scene perfectly.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Fatphobia, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death and Animal death