Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

68 reviews

spookily's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Torture, Medical content, and Rape

lydiakach75'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If I could give this a 6 out of 5 I would. It was amazing. You know that quote by Lady Gaga that goes "amazing, incredible, never done before, etc" it's like that. Also be aware that this takes place probably around the early 1900s and because of that the use of queer is used to mean weird but not as an insult. There is something else one has to be aware of as a content warning because mention of rape but never telling of the rape.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Death, and Child death

Minor: Rape

lizardqueen510's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Child death, Violence, Torture, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity

Minor: Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Grief

graciffer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Rape

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

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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

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

+ Beautiful turns of phrase, figurative language, the kind of writing that makes me want to also sit down and write
+ Satisfyingly cyclical, repetitive but full of just the right twists and turns that you want to keep reading to figure out what the exact same scene and setup looks like through a different set of eyes
+ Super exciting exploration and expansion of how to use POV to invoke emotion, tell a thrilling story, and string everything together
+ A very charming cast of absolutely unbearable little bastards; feels like you gain an evolving and empathetic understanding of each character with each new day

+ Despite the author’s sort of muddled/overly neutral comments in his own commentary, I find the book to be a pretty compelling allegory for and argument against the carceral state. The text itself feels distinctly poised against both the current prison system and the future potential for “mental imprisonment”.

- Some really egregious fatphobia that feels uncomfortable and gross to read, especially for a contemporary book. Not really skippable, either— while this character has other values to the narrative, fatness is treated as a debilitating moral failing reflective of character.
- So extremely British—
- Near the end, starts to feel as though things are being wrapped up too quickly, not quite as immersive as the rest of the book.

For example, I think we’re supposed to interpret Annabelle before Blackheath as as heinous as Daniel, whose villainy we’ve watched develop and worsen throughout the week. But whoever she was before feels too simply and vaguely summarized in comparison to the blunt relaying of Daniels crimes throughout the rest of the book. I wish we could spend a little more time remembering WITH Aiden, though I suppose the pacing might suffer for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Addiction, Classism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Rape, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

fgmetzger's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

3.0

Is this story really hard to put down? Yes. A page turner? Absolutely.
But it’s also extremely fatphobic. There is just zero need for that.
I have a hard time reading men, and this book was just bursting with toxic masculinity.
I finished this one pretty fast, because I had to know what would happen. But I’m just left frustrated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

parkerknoll's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

Out of all the murder mystery books I’ve read, I’ve never experienced this type of tension and intensity. Unlike others where the story is presented in front of you, this book draws you straight into the story. Every chapter you are figuring out so much but so little at the same time. Every murder mystery should include time loops.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

davidrb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I waffed on what to give this, but I decided that despite my reservations, this thing slaps beyond belief. It completely shifted my perspective on what a good mystery can be, and what a good book can be in general. It was engaging, and I have a feeling I'll get even more out of rereads, but it also has a solid heart: more than I thought it would. Do yourself a favor and pick this up! It's fun.

Points deducted for being kinda slow to start (took me a few tries before I got into it) and a weird, prolonged section of fatphobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This may well be the best old-fashioned mystery I have ever read.

Though I didn't care much for the meta reasons for the story

-- why Aiden was there, what the Plague Doctor was trying to accomplish --

I even loved that there was a reason behind all the madness and that it made sense. It was such a snapshot on how people can change and become different. 

As for the actual mystery, as soon as I figured one thing out, another surprised me. Though I didn't agree with all the choices of the characters, they were a consistent welcome within a constant flux of other characters. 

If you loved Knives Out or the Poirot books, this book is for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Suicide