Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Die sieben Tode der Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

22 reviews

carolinekiiing's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

It was free on Kindle, and that about sums up how I feel about the book. It started out super slow, and I understand the reason why, but the first 75 pages were still certainly a slog. I didn’t feel a particular closeness to any of the characters except for Evelyn, but that totally changed in the end. The Evelyn we came to know wasn’t all too important ironically, and most of the reveals surrounding her murder were either corny as hell or involving a totally irrelevant character just so that the author could say they trick me. The laws of the universe are clumsily explained through some Act III dialogue dump, which feels like the author forgot this was something they had to explain until way too late. Also- Insane fatphobia??? The only fully sympathetic character was just constantly assaulted by the author, as if his weight was some sort of moral failing despite the fact that he is disabled. Weird take, Stuart. 

I liked the gothic setting and an interesting twist on the Groundhog Day troupe, but it wasn’t enough to distract from the weird shit. It’s a kinda fun read when it’s not being annoying or weird, I guess.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

CW: this is a murder mystery-esque, so there are themes of violence, death and murder throughout the novel. Drug use, animal cruelty and torture are mentioned in short detail. There are very brief mentions of rape and sexual harassment through the lens of one character, but it is not central to the plot nor often repeated. Also, the fatphobia is actually worse than anything else, so strap on for that.

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Disorienting by design, this book was interesting yet somewhat overwhelming. There are a lot of characters— most unlikeable for their own individual reasons — and they’re hard to keep track of. There’s a tricky time loop. The story isn’t told in a linear narrative structure. There’s deceit and confusion and the narrator is incredibly unreliable. The conclusion is intense but satisfying — it was hard to get there but mostly worth the trek. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

erundlett's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

Pretty much everybody in this book could be justifiably called a bad person. Some have done some truly heinous things. With the exception of some moderate depictions of violence it’s almost all allusions to things that happened off screen

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

As sete mortes de Evelyn Hardcastle foi um livro que recebi boas referências no booktube e, no geral, não decepcionou. Foi um bom mistério com uma dimensão especulativa

que, apesar de eu ter previsto uma das revelações, especificamente que Michael, irmão mais novo de Evelyn, estava por trás da morte da suposta irmã, me surpreendeu com os principais plot twist. Não previ que a verdadeira Evelyn estava viva e se passando como a camareira Madeline e na verdade ela havia arquitetado todo o plano em conluio com Michael para que a falsa Evelyn morresse a deixando livre para começar outra vida. Também não previ que o protagonista, Aiden, estava numa prisão em que a sentença dos condenados era desvendar o crime para conseguir o perdão. É claro que se for olhar muito de perto é possível achar alguns buracos no enredo, mas a história foi tão intrigante que não me importo. O livro ainda colocou alguns questionamentos importantes, por exemplo, quando um criminoso é digno e pode receber o perdão? No caso de Anna, uma assassina condenada que cometeu vários crimes horríveis, mas mudou com o tempo que passou presa no time loop. O protagonista tinha razão em perdoar os crimes que Anna cometeu até contra ele mesmo e lutar para que ela obtivesse a liberdade? É uma boa reflexão.

O principal ponto negativo do livro para mim foi a fatphobia do autor que ficou clara e evidente sempre que ele se referia ao noivo de Evelyn, Lord Ravencourt. As descrições dadas do personagem me deixaram desconfortáveis como leitora. O livro é atmosférico, repleto de personagens desagradáveis e intrigas entre eles (apesar de haver alguns personagens “agradáveis”), com mais de um mistério no centro. Houve o mistério da morte de Evelyn, mas também como isso estava relacionado a acontecimentos do passado como a morte de Thomas, irmão de Evelyn e Michael que foi assassinado quando criança, e o desaparecimento de um garoto do estabulo na época da morte de Thomas. Amei o clima e cenário montado, a trama me entreteve e até surpreendeu até o fim. Contudo preciso descontar alguns pontos pela evidente fatphobia. Dou 4.75 estrelas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

will_meringue's review against another edition

2.0

Incredible concept with solid delivery. There's one or two plot points that made me roll my eyes, but even considering that I think Turton pulls this off.

However - the fatphobia in this is horrendous and obscene. I would actively warn fat people against reading it and I'm appalled it got past the editor. They should be ashamed - we should all be ashamed - that something so vile was allowed to be published in 2018 (!). And, not to the same extent as the fatphobia, but some of the characterisation is pretty misogynistic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Rape

placeholder13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

To relate it to a movie mash up, take Being John Malkovich and pair it with Knives Out with a dash of unexplained world building sci-fi time loop situation. 

Premise was quite good, but the execution suffered.  It dragged in the middle and the wrap up at the end wasn’t very satisfying because it left so many questions unanswered.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, and Grief

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.25

I have to give it to the author for the sheer complexity of the story, as well as making each of the 8 hosts distinctly different characters, but after that, this book is just average. I didn’t feel like the characters really had motivations behind their actions, more like they were just playing the parts. And despite the fact that the men far outnumbered the women, not a single woman came across as complex or multi dimensional. As for the plot twists, I either guessed them or didn’t really care about them, so I didn’t really feel the need to keep turning the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Death of parent