Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Les sept morts d'Evelyn Hardcastle

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Les sept morts d'Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

104 reviews

wlreed312's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Hard to review this in any coherent way, but it's a super twisty murder mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I thought the way it unfolded was really interesting, and I very much enjoyed the way the story was constructed. I think the only thing that keeps it from being five stars is the fatphobia in a few of the chapters, which I thought was intensely uncomfortable.

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spookily's review against another edition

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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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lizardqueen510's review against another edition

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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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sarahcherie's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

In the minority that seem to not really mesh well with this book. I found the different hosts difficult to distinguish between, and the only real defining features of the characters were reflective about how the MC felt about their bodies while inhabiting them. The plot twists were good, and were well explained, but the writing style fell flat for me, so that I wasn't invested enough to really care who killed Evelyn, though I did come close to figuring out the big reveal in the end anyway. I often found myself skimming the paragraphs without really obtaining any information, so I had to go back and reread passages to even know a plot twist had been introduced. 2/5 stars for me.

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elliebeemellie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

TW for the book itself: fatphobia and references to sexual assault, addiction, child abuse, classism, and traditional terrible rich person things.

The style of writing in this novel isn't my favorite, and there's something distinctly uncomfortable about marinating in a soup of unequivocally terrible people, but the premise of this book is DELIGHTFUL. I have a soft spot for watching people interact on non-linear timelines, and I also loved watching the main character (Aiden) struggle with his sense of self.

The tension ratcheted up nicely as Aiden picked apart the mystery, and while I don't think it's totally possible to predict the ending with the clues you're given, I do think that enough clues are scattered about that it feels earned.

Also, bonus points for where the book landed on the rehabilitation vs permanent incarceration debate.

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dustghosts's review against another edition

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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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