A review by raccoonbirb_
Seven Down by David Whitton

adventurous funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Seven Down is a deep dive into an assassination attempt gone wrong. We follow seven different hotel employees as they speak to multiple mysterious interviewers, recounting their experience of the day and the circumstances that led them there - ultimately, we’re trying to figure out exactly what was supposed to happen, and how it went wrong. The book is written as transcripts from each individual’s interview, at multiple different times after the botched attempt. 
 
I LOVED the way this story was told - at first, I’ll admit, it was difficult to get used to this new way of storytelling (new to me, at least). But after I adjusted, I found myself staying up late, telling myself “I just need to get to the end of this transcript!” It was so much fun to put together the different perspectives of all the characters involved in the operation, and also figure out WHY any of these characters would possibly get caught up in something like assassination. 
 
My personal favourite transcripts were from Ramen and Ivy, but seeing other characters pop up in each other’s memory was like finding little nuggets of excitement in each story. There’s so much to be said here about memory, truth, and secret. 
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