Reviews - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: A Novel

28.4k reviews for:

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: A Novel

I enjoyed this - I didn't find it as confusing as some reviewers have suggested. it is an excellent take on the country house murder mystery - stuffed full of unreliable narrators...a mysterious plague doctor and more twists and turns than you can imagine. Really excellent - one for a reread to see what I missed I think....
And a reread was good - it is a clever, intriguing mystery

aeithr's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mamakath's review against another edition

4.0

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is unlike any other book I have ever read. The best overall description I can give it is, for those of my generation, "imagine Bill Murray's 'Groundhog Day' in hell." For those younger: "'50 First Dates' in hell, but neither Drew Barrymore nor Adam Sandler remembers the 'meet cute.'" The book opens to a scene that leaves the reader just as confused and shaken as the protagonist. And, it takes the reader a chapter or two to figure out what in the heck is supposed to be happening. The concept is fascinating: replay the day on loop, from a different character's perspective each time. This goes along with two completely different levels of suspense: The protagonist and the reader both know there is a murder to solve. And, they also know that if it is not done within a certain framework, the whole show is going to reset itself and start from the beginning. Halfway through the book, I would have given it 5 stars for sheer genius. But, the approach to the ending seemed to begin to twist too tightly on itself. Plus, a moral? After what we were just pulled through at breakneck speed?
Still a highly recommended read.

firstgirldead's review against another edition

crazy thing to say but this would have worked better as a video game. alright as a book though i feel the author didn’t fully think through the implications of the world they created.