Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Die sieben Tode der Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

38 reviews

juanat77'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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

heini's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Torture, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

emcheym's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

I love the writing style the author uses in this book. The language is so descriptive and the plot is complex. It’s a bit hard to follow at times, but I’m really impressed with the thought and detail that went into the writing. I might consider rereading it at some point just to help understand more of the details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

starlitpage's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Rape, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

loronicole's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

1.0

I could barely stand this book. It manages to spend 17 hours saying absolutely nothing and running around in circles. Some of the twists were clever, and I enjoyed those, but overall it just became tiring and completely meaningless by the end. Absolutely would not recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Rape

hilarylouise's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

amartin48's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

artstitute's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

This book was full of twists and turns, some of which I found more compelling than others.

The big twist that the whole plot was some cooked-up punishment a la Black Mirror kind of felt unnecessary to me. It didn't ruin the rest of the book, but it introduced a lot of moral quandaries that I don't think added much. OTOH, the Evelyn twist? IMMACULATE.

All in all, though, I definitely couldn't put it down and I would recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gore, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

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: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

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: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism