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A review by tneumann
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
Ambitious and mostly entertaining, despite my low grade confusion for a good chunk of the book. I appreciate what the author was aiming for - quite the feat to keep track of all the details and weave them together. While I wouldn’t mind if it were shorter, not sure what’d you’d cut out so length was appropriate to fit in all the perspectives from the various hosts.
A few things that were not my favorite:
1. So much fat phobic language for Ravencort. It was lazy writing, there are better ways to write about this characters physically abilities.
2. Aiden took most things as truth for the first half of the book, happily accepting what various people said and being resolute in whatever the new truth was. Then in the later part, his theories became much more secretive to the reader. I understand why, but it was a bit shift and think there were more skillful ways to keep the reader in the dark.
3.Wasn’t invested in Anna’s reveal and reformation, the latter felt very unconvincing. Aside from murdering Aiden’s sister, the details were so vague that it was hard to understand the magnitude of what she had done. And how much had she really changed and proven herself other than what we see in her actions over the course of the day. And all is supposed to be forgiven?
4. Would have liked to understood more about Daniel’s history, and the footman was just a rando killing for fun?
I liked the reveal of the Plague Doctor and that this was all a justice reformation system, and how much time they’d been there.
Interesting, ambitious, fun aside from being confused for a good part of it, and not quite as expertly executed as it could have been.
A few things that were not my favorite:
1. So much fat phobic language for Ravencort. It was lazy writing, there are better ways to write about this characters physically abilities.
2. Aiden took most things as truth for the first half of the book, happily accepting what various people said and being resolute in whatever the new truth was. Then in the later part, his theories became much more secretive to the reader. I understand why, but it was a bit shift and think there were more skillful ways to keep the reader in the dark.
3.
4. Would have liked to understood more about Daniel’s history, and the footman was just a rando killing for fun?
I liked the reveal of the Plague Doctor and that this was all a justice reformation system, and how much time they’d been there.
Interesting, ambitious, fun aside from being confused for a good part of it, and not quite as expertly executed as it could have been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia, Drug use, Child death, and Animal cruelty