Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

29 reviews

chrnclesofnadia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Difficult to get into but all around rewarding

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Addiction, Death, Gore, Sexual harassment, Blood, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Torture, Classism, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

This was absolutely brilliant and I really enjoyed reading this. 

As stated in the summary, Evelyn Hardcastle has been murdered and will continue to be murdered until it can be solved. Our main protagonist has eight days to solve it and eight different hosts to use to do so, some are more helpful than others, and several obstacles stand in his way. 

It's really difficult to talk about this book because it's one you need to experience and sit with and it's very complex. It has the feel of an Agatha Christie novel, and it has some serious twists and turns and everything happens in a way you don't exactly expect. I'm usually really good at guessing mysteries very early, but this one kept me on my toes for quite awhile, especially since things get more and more complicated as you go. 

I loved the setting a lot. It's perfectly atmospheric in every way, and particularly for this time of year. The plot was expertly woven together and I kept sitting here wondering how you'd keep track of it all to even write. It was excellent. The characters were all very interesting in a variety of ways, and there were some I liked more than others, but I don't think I ever truly fell in love with any of them. They're all despicable along with the intrigue, and yet you find yourself rooting for them in a way. It's very complicated. 

Unlike most people, it seems like I was in the minority who didn't hate the ending. I thought it was very fitting. There were certain parts I wished were explained a little more (but it wasn't needed) and I have a lot of conflicting feelings about certain characters' endings, but it was satisfying nonetheless. 

All in all, my feelings on this book are as complicated as the book itself, but I really enjoyed it anyway and can safely say it's a mystery I'll pick up again because there's so much to unpack. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a marvelously creative and captivating murder mystery. A creative twist in the premise helps shake things up, but it is far from the only trick this book has up its sleeves. A fun workout for the brain with a great narrative voice and complex mystery that will appeal to all fans of the genre, with a surprisingly poignant message at the center of it all. Would be a 5 star if only it fleshed out its message just a bit more, and the occasional moment that raised my eyebrow (but didn’t quite offend).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Torture, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

whatathymeitwas'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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a really wonderful experience. When I first started it, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, as everything is a bit befuddled and there's a reasonably large cast of characters involved, but it's so well written I was immersed and attached in no time.

This reminded me a bit of the play/TV film "An Inspector Calls." Not necessarily for any real direct reason other than they're both examples of very unique ways to approach a mystery, but that alone must have made the connection. I'll be very excited to watch this whenever they finally get it in series form.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, and Stalking

geekberry's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Stalking, Murder, Death, Body shaming, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, and Drug use

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Drug use, Rape, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Infidelity, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Addiction

elle_dee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Stalking, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Classism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Torture

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

liz_ross's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It was complex, fascinating, addicting. Impossible to forget, unique. Unsettling, breathtaking, extraordinary. It was all that and more. One of the best Mystery books I've ever read, complex and intricate and impossible to guess even if you do have all the clues right there, waiting for you to put them together like pieces of a puzzle.

And the characters! Oh, the characters! This is a freaking masterpiece when it comes to characters. Complex, individual, unique, realistic. Imperfect perfection, just how all characters should be. Aiden is 8 diferent persons and yet every single one of them is unique. And so is Aiden. They are the same person and different persons at the same time and the way Turtpn managed to make that clear is extraordinary.

It was all that. But it was also disappoiting in so many ways. I was so scared of how Turton would explain the whole thing, I didn't have time to worry about the ending. Worse, I was even excited to read it, because I never thought it could be bad. Turns out, Turton pulled out a pretty reasonable explanation for everything (which proves how talented he is), but failed to deliever a satisfying ending. The complexity of the characters, the real ones (?), is something I can't help but appreciate. However, the way they got redemption? That's not right; I can't accept that. It's an easy way out, it's giving up.

It took away so much of the joy I felt. The plot was so good; so perfect; a delicious, intricate web of lies, conspiracies and murders that had everything to delight me. I guessed some of the plot twists, while others made my jaw drop. Literally. And I loved it. And hated it (but in a good way). And I was so happy and then... that. And I just can't forgive that ending, I just can't forgive Turton for how insatisfactory that ending was for such a great book. He had given me a satisfactory explanation and after that ending I was left wanting more, needing more answers, because what made a little sense ended up making no sense at all, because Turton overcomplicated something that was already complicated on its own. And then there's the second chances. I can't accept them too. I can't because no matter how much I believe in second chances, I can't accept them if they happen as Turton made them. It's wrong. It's not redemption, it's not a second chance. It's not right, especially not after everything that happened in the book.

I want to forget the ending so badly, to rate this book solely based on all the rest. It would have been so close of the 5 stars that way. But I can't. I can't let go, I can't forget the ending just because I don't like it. I wish I could, but it wouldn't be right. And it breaks my heart more than anything that happened in the book (and trust me, there was a certain part that truly broke my heart).

Full review coming soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

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