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A review by justinkhchen
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
4.0
4 stars
An indulgent meta-mystery that almost self-implodes on its own gimmick; if Clue was adapted by Christopher Nolan, you'll probably get The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. One simply can't deny the novel's clever core concept — a video game-like mechanic allowing the 'protagonist' to engage the same day through different characters (alongside it varying skill sets and drawbacks), starting a nonlinear chain reaction of cause and effect. It is definitely an original, The Matrix-like take on the classic whodunit.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle's main issue is its epic proportion; my initial enthusiasm for its grand puzzle waned drastically as the story progressed, by the last quarter I was very much ready for it to be over. The quality is evident: excellent writing, and the characters are all inspired by classic, 'murder mystery in a manor' archetypes — the problem is there is simply way too much of it. For me, the novel is stuck in a conundrum; it's length and detailed storytelling seems to imply it should be savored slowly, but the complexity of its plotting suggests rapid consumption (like reading a compulsive thriller), or else one would quickly lose track of all the narrative bread crumbs (unless diligent note is being taken).
Frustration aside, I actually do like The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle quite a bit — maybe in a 'I just climbed Mount Everest' kind of way: it started out exciting, then it got painful, but now looking back I'm glad I got to experience it. I actually wouldn't mind rereading this in the future!
An indulgent meta-mystery that almost self-implodes on its own gimmick; if Clue was adapted by Christopher Nolan, you'll probably get The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. One simply can't deny the novel's clever core concept — a video game-like mechanic allowing the 'protagonist' to engage the same day through different characters (alongside it varying skill sets and drawbacks), starting a nonlinear chain reaction of cause and effect. It is definitely an original, The Matrix-like take on the classic whodunit.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle's main issue is its epic proportion; my initial enthusiasm for its grand puzzle waned drastically as the story progressed, by the last quarter I was very much ready for it to be over. The quality is evident: excellent writing, and the characters are all inspired by classic, 'murder mystery in a manor' archetypes — the problem is there is simply way too much of it. For me, the novel is stuck in a conundrum; it's length and detailed storytelling seems to imply it should be savored slowly, but the complexity of its plotting suggests rapid consumption (like reading a compulsive thriller), or else one would quickly lose track of all the narrative bread crumbs (unless diligent note is being taken).
Frustration aside, I actually do like The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle quite a bit — maybe in a 'I just climbed Mount Everest' kind of way: it started out exciting, then it got painful, but now looking back I'm glad I got to experience it. I actually wouldn't mind rereading this in the future!