Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

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The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

132 reviews

amicamerlo's review against another edition

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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

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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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.

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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

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winnie_is_swag's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Quite literally one of the best books I've ever read. The plot twist at the end was... insane. I recommend this to literally anyone who asks for recommendations. It is very slow paced, but I PROMISE it is so worth it.

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mgcord's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

It was fine. Slow to get into, incredibly so. But the ending was good. It definitely surprised me towards the end, I just struggled to dig into the story.

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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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.

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amphibianwitch's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Las siete muertes de Evelyn Hardcastle es una historia que promete intriga, acción y giros increíbles. Y digo que lo promete, porque no tiene mucho éxito en cumplirlo.

La novela comienza con una situación típica: un hombre que ha perdido la memoria llega a una mansión llena de secretos, en la que va a celebrarse un baile que terminará en tragedia. En la página 80 se produjo el primer giro que me hizo pensar que me iba a encantar la novela, porque revela su verdadera trama y es una idea que me fascina. El final también es muy interesante, cuando llegué a la misma conclusión que los protagonistas aplaudí el giro final y no podía despegarme de las páginas.

El problema es el resto. Las otras 300 páginas están colmadas de cosas puestas para rellenar el libro pero que son aburridísimas. Nos dedicamos a ahondar en personajes que a mí por lo menos no me importan, a desvelar secretos cada cual menos interesante y en general a hacer cosas porque hay que llenar huecos hasta el gran final.

No ayuda que es muy difícil empatizar con los personajes. Como he comentado, el protagonista sufre amnesia, no conoce su identidad, sus acciones pasadas ni sus motivos, por lo que el lector tampoco los conoce. No puedo decir mucho más sin destripar la historia, pero por cierto punto vital de la novela, es imposible llegar a conectar con la personalidad del protagonista. Los otros personajes más recurrentes son dos mujeres que están ahí para motivar al protagonista, para ayudarle e incentivarle. No es muy emocionante. Y no mejora cuando sucede la revelación sobre los dos protagonistas, su historia y sus motivos, que es, cuanto menos, cuestionable. De alguna forma, el libro intenta venderla como esperanzadora.

Una historia que tenía un montón de ingredientes para ser genial, pero se quedó en mediocre. Se deja leer, pero poco más.

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twistykris's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.0

I honestly was going to DNF this book about 20% in and I wish I had. I loved the concept of this (especially since I'm going through a phase of wanting to read murder mysteries) but I seriously struggled getting through this.

The fatphobia made me so so uncomfortable. Aiden is in a host body of one character, and every other paragraph talks about how "huge" and "grotesque" this man is, and how every piece of furniture "creaks" under his "immense" weight, and how he has "many greasy chins." It felt excessive and unnecessary (yes, he's fat, you hate how fat he is when you're in his body, we get it. And sure, maybe some of it was
because the thoughts and memories of the hosts start to take over Aiden's mind, and maybe this is that character's own self-hate and internalized fatphobia but YIKES
).
I don't mind reading a book I feel is dense or challenging. But maybe my brain was just not prepared for the absolute string-and-post-it-note levels of dense this book felt. I had to make a GoogleDoc to keep track of who said what when and who interacted with who because as it turns out, tiny little details would pop up later and I had to be constantly re-reading and flipping back to previous chapters, and not in a fun "OH I'M MAKING A CONNECTION" way; more of a "wait, who said what? I'm so confused" way. To be honest: this book made me feel dumb as hell at times.
I couldn't seem to be invested in these characters. I felt a twinge of it for Aiden closer to the ending after a big reveal, but nothing that made me hold my breath in anticipation, fear, or excitement.
Without spoilers: the ending left me feeling a sort of "ick."
There were some things that felt unanswered in an unsatisfying way.

All in all, I'm giving this a 2.25- this book wasn't for me. I went into this book, craving a "Benoit Blanc"-style mystery but it left me feeling disappointed. Maybe it was a wrong-book-wrong-time scenario, maybe I would never have enjoyed this. But I leave with the knowledge that I need to learn when to put a book down if it isn't giving me satisfaction.

If you enjoy a book that will make you put up a whiteboard to keep track of the intricate webs, if you enjoy multiple twists that leave you feeling a smidge lost and wanting to find the connections, if you feel compelled to immediately re-read a complex book so you can pick up on all the details you missed the first time, this might be the book for you.

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laurajordensharris's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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phantomgecko's review against another edition

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mysterious 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

5.0

An enigma wrapped in a mystery. Mindbending. Have you seen Source Code? This is Source Code but with more layers.

The pacing of discovery was good. Enough questions were answered along the way to keep my interest. Semi-answered questions also made new puzzles acceptable.

The reader is supposed to care about the characters and how they feel. I didn't. But it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the robust plot. To be fair, plenty about character motivation, personal dilemma and interpersonal relationships exist in this book. I just dodged all of that because I cared more about answers.

The resolution didn't disappoint. The ending didn't disappoint. Chef's kiss, A++

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