Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Les sept morts d'Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

72 reviews

tdylan's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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

3.0

I really liked this at the start. The fatphobia about 20% of the way through soured me and felt like bad writing. It never got me fully on board again after that. I found that the reveals in the ending weren’t seeded very well throughout the story, and, so, fell pretty flat

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fatphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Rape, and Suicide

beckyg1016's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

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

4.25

Every puzzle piece draws you closer to the answer, but not in the way you think.
My advice: Don't try too hard to solve it, play along with the main character as the story unfolds - the ending is worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Blood, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Classism

bill_nai_bxtch's review against another edition

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

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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

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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

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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

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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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

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

mgcord's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Rape

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.

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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.

medini_l's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Death, Classism, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, and Child death