Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

64 reviews

sofia_montero's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

3.5

Beware with the pace of the book. Personally, it was really difficult for me to keep myself reading during the first half/two thirds of the book, and because I left too long spaces of time in between, I forgot many characters or places. The book is heavily plot-based, so be careful with that. 
I pushed through because I really wanted to know how it would end and what the hell was happening, and I can tell you that from host 7, answers will come and the pieces will start to click. However, I don't think I fully understood the whole book... like I feel there are things that I still don't get. But maybe that's because when I finished it, I had already forgot the first half 😅 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Blood

Minor: Animal death

maddysf's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

izzybusy_2117's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

This book was a whirlwind that had you scrambling to the next page and instant thriller mystery that leaves you breathless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Animal death and Alcohol

abbs15norm's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, and Classism

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

starsbyname's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Gore

elle_dee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault

Minor: Torture

wrackspurtt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, and Murder