Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Les sept morts d'Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

122 reviews

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.

irisvdn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.0

Only thing I can say is OH MY GOD!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, Rape, Self harm, and Violence

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Drug use, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Murder, Torture, Violence, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

bealittlebrave's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

To call this "ambitious" is such an understatement. I don't understand how anyone can even begin to layout this story and its timelines (and at this point I'm trusting blindly that they all add up correctly because I wouldn't know if he snuck one past me).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Suicide, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Classism, Confinement, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Violence, Drug use, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Stalking

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

4.0

This was pretty good. Loved the mystery and all the twists and turns it brought us through. It is very long so I'm glad I listened to the audio. I'll be real, I don't think I would've liked it as much if I physically read it because of how long and kind of slow it is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, and Gun violence

mekrasts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.0

It took me a really long time to finish this book. I think that the plot was pretty good, but not quite my style. On the other hand, the writing itself was absolutely beautiful. There were so many moments where I just had to highlight entire paragraphs for fear of losing such amazing writing. It was almost lyrical or melodic in the way that it just grabbed and immersed you into such vivid descriptions. This is easily the best written book I've seen in a while, hence the many many tabs and highlights that are in my copy. I would recommend this book to a lot of people, but mostly those who are looking for a book that will sweep them off of their feet with the flow of words on the paper.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Stalking, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

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

hillarym's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Fatphobia, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use

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

boatjo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Murder

Moderate: Medical trauma

Minor: Torture