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chelseazhao's review against another edition
I only got this far because I was listening to the audiobook while out on errands.
I did not like the writing. It was too descriptive and old fashioned.
I did not like the characters.
I was lost for so much of this because we don’t really get into some plot until over 2 hours (on 2x speed) in.
I hated the heavy handed fatphobia.
I’m done.
I did not like the writing. It was too descriptive and old fashioned.
I did not like the characters.
I was lost for so much of this because we don’t really get into some plot until over 2 hours (on 2x speed) in.
I hated the heavy handed fatphobia.
I’m done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury
clovetra's review against another edition
challenging
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
2.0
i really don’t know how i finished this. or why. i have never been this baffled by a book. and i mean baffled in a bad way.
the plot is insanely complicated to the point i had no idea what the fuck was happening. isn’t the point of mystery novels to allow your reader to semi-follow the mystery? guess this book didn’t get the memo. the concept itself is neat, but it instead results in way too many players, too many strings to keep ahold of, and by the end, none of them really come together in a nice little bow. instead they come together like when you cut your wrapping paper too short and instead just cut a square and stick it overtop to hide the fact you fucked up your measurements. trying to keep track of not only every character, but every host, every changeable event, everyone’s roles throughout the day, and what has happened for 8 days straight is exhausting. i as a reader should not have to almost make a fucking mind map to grasp your plot. there’s a fine line between interestingly complex and confusing to the point i think sherlock holmes would have an aneurysm trying to solve what in the fuck was happening here for 507 pages.
the characters were boring. nobody interested me. i didn’t care if evelyn was saved, i didn’t give a shit about anna, and i really didn’t care about aiden. cmon now after 500 pages i should care about our main character. but i dont!
the explanation for this time loop is…. boring and under explained. the explanation in general was ok, but it literally was just touched on and we moved on. every single goddamn explanation beyond blackheath sucked.
this book tried to do about 75 different things all at once, and it resulted in 75 underbaked, poorly explained and downright unnecessary plot points. not to mention by the end the explanation of the “murder” did not pay off, and instead i just sat there being like ‘oh…. ok whatever.’ like it was not stupid, i just felt for how much was going on and the sheer complexity, the reveal was so boring and simple.
this book pissed me off. i would like to come back to it one day in the future to see if i can actually follow what the fuck is going on, but i doubt i could, because you need to literally be a MENSA to follow this plot.
and before anyone asks “why did you give this two stars if you very clearly hated it?” because it still managed to interest me enough to want to find out how the murder unfolded. sue me.
the plot is insanely complicated to the point i had no idea what the fuck was happening. isn’t the point of mystery novels to allow your reader to semi-follow the mystery? guess this book didn’t get the memo. the concept itself is neat, but it instead results in way too many players, too many strings to keep ahold of, and by the end, none of them really come together in a nice little bow. instead they come together like when you cut your wrapping paper too short and instead just cut a square and stick it overtop to hide the fact you fucked up your measurements. trying to keep track of not only every character, but every host, every changeable event, everyone’s roles throughout the day, and what has happened for 8 days straight is exhausting. i as a reader should not have to almost make a fucking mind map to grasp your plot. there’s a fine line between interestingly complex and confusing to the point i think sherlock holmes would have an aneurysm trying to solve what in the fuck was happening here for 507 pages.
the characters were boring. nobody interested me. i didn’t care if evelyn was saved, i didn’t give a shit about anna, and i really didn’t care about aiden. cmon now after 500 pages i should care about our main character. but i dont!
the explanation for this time loop is…. boring and under explained. the explanation in general was ok, but it literally was just touched on and we moved on. every single goddamn explanation beyond blackheath sucked.
this book tried to do about 75 different things all at once, and it resulted in 75 underbaked, poorly explained and downright unnecessary plot points. not to mention by the end the explanation of the “murder” did not pay off, and instead i just sat there being like ‘oh…. ok whatever.’ like it was not stupid, i just felt for how much was going on and the sheer complexity, the reveal was so boring and simple.
this book pissed me off. i would like to come back to it one day in the future to see if i can actually follow what the fuck is going on, but i doubt i could, because you need to literally be a MENSA to follow this plot.
and before anyone asks “why did you give this two stars if you very clearly hated it?” because it still managed to interest me enough to want to find out how the murder unfolded. sue me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
brnnede's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood
katyrdn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
hawkescatesreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
mrs_coxen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Wonderfully adventurous & mysterious!!! I couldn't put this down! Giving it a 4.5 because there are triggering & startling sections that I wouldn't watch in movie format. Also, the ending drags a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Cursing
ohsarajay's review against another edition
4.25
An excellent, tense, exciting book. The twists kept coming and they didn't stop coming and I never had any idea what was happening. I do find myself sceptical of the self-stated theme of compassion because I feel it was a lot less prominent than it thought it was. Especially with aspects of the ending, but maybe I also feel so strongly about it because I found the descriptions of the fat character (Ravencourt) so off putting and viscerally fatphobic. The premise does lend itself to a very utilitarian view of bodies - "this host can do less than the last one because he's old" - and to an extent all the hosts were categorised that way. But Ravencourt's was really singled out and almost gleefully pulled apart as a body that wasn't just inconvenient but unbearable and humiliating and shameful. Idk where I'm going with this. But I do think the compassion was pretty scarce and concentrated on few individuals throughout and almost slotted right in with the other twists at the end. Speaking of which there are so many implications of that final reveal. She was in prison and they let you in to torture her???? And going through this wretched game was someone's idea of rehabilitation???? What kind of dystopian hellscape society sets this up lmao. Also Evelyn's role at the end was bizarre and I choose to pretend we didn't get "maybe the ten year old child was a miserable psychopath who grew up to commit more crimes and deserved to die" . I came in for a time loop story and this sure delivered, but a very unique flavour of time loop. Much to think about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Suicide and Violence
Minor: Rape
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
maryconney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Torture, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
jstilts's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
An intriguing and complex tale that starts gently with an amnesiac discovering themselves at a 1920s British mansion day-long party, but quickly progresses into a rollercoaster "groundhog day" murder mystery where our sleuth wakes in a new host body as the day begins anew to try and solve or stop the murder that ends the day, all while avoiding unknown antagonists out to kill him in any and all of his host bodies.
It's an intriguing tale that does a great job of putting you in the head of the main character - no mean feat as each time they switch hosts the original personality influences their own.
That, to put it mildly, is the simple summary - the book is much more twisty and complex - but an absolute page-turner.
While it's hardly unusual for a murder mystery to have unexpected layers revealed late in the piece by the detective, this time it pretty much derailed the book for me. It's unusual flow of time and character is a lot of enjoyable work to keep up with, without the plot taking a sudden left turn as well. Ordinarily I might consider immediately re-reading the book with this new information in mind, but my brain needs a rest from juggling so very many elements of time, character and place!
One minor niggle on top: the backstory to the whole setup comes across poorly. It's a bit sci-fi when the book is very entrenched in the 1920s, and adds another layer of complexity in an already complex tale. If I was the editor for this book I would have suggested they reframe it as a ghostly supernatural cause, which would fit with the 1920s period better, and was already present in a red-herring manner to obscure that it was going to be a sci-fi explanation.
Still, that's minor, and my issue with the late-in-the-piece complication is my only real complaint, hence giving this gripping book 4 stars.
Surprisingly (mild spoiler) our main character never ends up in the body of someone of a different gender, which seems like a missed opportunity.
It's an intriguing tale that does a great job of putting you in the head of the main character - no mean feat as each time they switch hosts the original personality influences their own.
That, to put it mildly, is the simple summary - the book is much more twisty and complex - but an absolute page-turner.
While it's hardly unusual for a murder mystery to have unexpected layers revealed late in the piece by the detective, this time it pretty much derailed the book for me. It's unusual flow of time and character is a lot of enjoyable work to keep up with, without the plot taking a sudden left turn as well. Ordinarily I might consider immediately re-reading the book with this new information in mind, but my brain needs a rest from juggling so very many elements of time, character and place!
One minor niggle on top: the backstory to the whole setup comes across poorly. It's a bit sci-fi when the book is very entrenched in the 1920s, and adds another layer of complexity in an already complex tale. If I was the editor for this book I would have suggested they reframe it as a ghostly supernatural cause, which would fit with the 1920s period better, and was already present in a red-herring manner to obscure that it was going to be a sci-fi explanation.
Still, that's minor, and my issue with the late-in-the-piece complication is my only real complaint, hence giving this gripping book 4 stars.
Surprisingly (mild spoiler) our main character never ends up in the body of someone of a different gender, which seems like a missed opportunity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Dysphoria, and Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail