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leahrosiee's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Most of this book would have been 2 stars for how I struggled through it but it was unlike any other mystery I’ve experienced so it gains another star. Maybe in a different mood or time I would have liked it better. The way the story spirals in on itself is insane and I truly would have never seen the ending coming, which is frustrating and great at the same time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Child death
Moderate: Infidelity, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Abandonment and Self harm
afaulkner3e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A mind-bending take on the classic Christie whodunnit; but, wrapped up in some Black Mirror techno-thrills.
The final reveals that Blackheath is a mental prison and that Evelyn is the killer deliver a solid punch to the the finale; but, the world-building beyond Blackheath could have been more thorough.
The final reveals that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Suicide, Blood, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Classism
hopevigilshuck's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual assault
zakcebulski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
So, January always tends to be a part of the year when I start reading slowly. This year is no different. I started this year reading 2 mystery books- I started a third book, but DNF'd it after I just didn't fucking care about the plot.
I picked this book up as I thought that the synopsis sounded interesting, and a blurb on the back referenced Agatha Christie (the Queeeeeeen), Quantum Leap and Groundhog Day.
Admittedly so, I am not the best at sussing out what the mystery is going to be within mystery books, and in fact, have only done so a few times in all of the mysteries that I have read.
This book added another few layers to that by having the main character's body switch throughout eight hosts, and having the day repeated again and again with different hosts.
I thought that the setup to this book was exquisite. I loved the setting of a decrepit- or near so- estate, which is filled with the dirges of high society. I think that this was such an interesting read. And, truly so, I thought that the way in which the estate of Blackheath was set up was so nice to read- because it always feels unwelcoming. I think that that was such a nice tonal setting as we are constantly surrounded by an atmosphere of unsettling proportions.
I thought that the cast of characters really did rival the likes of which you would see in other high tier mystery novels (for me, this is Agatha Christie, because, who does it better?). Which is a feat to be able to do well.
I thought that the characters were over all, extremely interesting, and very well described to be diverse. I will admit that reading from the point of view of a rapist was not something that I liked at all, and in fact gave me the chills. Turton, the author, did a great job of really diversifying the reactions that each of the hosts get from those they interact with. To one host everyone may be very cordial and polite, and to another they are standoffish, and rude even. This was an interesting way to show the dynamic between the hosts and each other, and the hosts and other non-host charters in a way that thankfully did not rely heavily on exposition.
I will say that the characters who have personalities that rely more heavily on nuance to diversity them are the ones that I liked reading more- Rashton, Bell, Gold were some more interesting ones. I didn't quite like reading Ravenscourt or Derby, honestly. Turton clearly loves describing Ravencourt's weight, as it is mentioned in every other paragraph it seems- and it is excessive.
I have to take a second to commend Stuart Turton's writing style. This book is an absolute treat to read with the way in which he explains the plot and the characters. His use of personification is so vivid and fun to read through that I could nearly recommend this book solely off of the prose alone. There are so many turns of phrase that stuck out to me especially one wherein the first host explains something and uses a phrase (which I might be getting wrong) as "How lost do you have to be for the devil to guide you home?". SO GOOD.
Now to the plot... At first this seems to be a run of the mill murder mystery. This changes when you realize that that is true, with the inclusion of plot points that include the reset of a single day, 8 times, through the eyes separate people.
I thought that this was exceptionally interesting, and it is clear that Stuart Turton was absolutely meticulous in his construction of this plot. However, I will have to bemoan a few things. Starting off with the positives. I thought that the inclusion of plot twists that Anna was actually a villain and the real Evelyn were interesting. I liked that Anna came out to be a villain because it changed the dynamic between herself and Aiden.
The parts that I did not care for was how the Plague Doctor helped Aiden so much- he is supposed to be an omnipotent game runner, and he is knowingly fuckin' with the plan. It just felt too much like a deus ex machina for my liking.
I thought that it was interesting to have Blackheath be a rehabilitation center for criminals in this metaphysical, magical world was interesting, and opens up the world for expansion.
I felt like Turton was extremely creative to pull off this book as well as he did, but, it still fell flat for me. With all of the things this book tries to do, it still falls back to how Evelyn's motivations being her relationship with a stable boy potentially being discovered by her family, and her killing her brother who was going to spill the beans.
It just felt so much like he wanted to make something incredible, and instead, to me, it was like reading and overly complex Agatha Christie mystery.
Whereas someone like Christie puts the pieces of her story together with meticulous precision, this book has a god-like character pulling the strings and the main characters still almost fumble it.
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't something I care to return to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Drug abuse
lucyselim's review against another edition
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Ableism, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Medical content
dustghosts's review against another edition
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.
+ 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
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Addiction, Classism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Rape, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
annaconaway19's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Drug abuse
maddox22'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Torture
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
vmp5062's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
I think there were sime really interesting ideas in this book, but I didnt enjoy the authors writing. To start there's a healthy bit of misogyny (looking back Im not sure this book passes the bechdel test), and the ableism is fairly intense as our main character keeps changing bodies and reacts to each one. I also found myself disappointed with the ending. It felt abrupt and frankly I think this book didnt include the parts that would be most interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Torture
bobin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use