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A review by jess_esa
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.5
Stuart Turton is one of those authors whose books are instant reads for me. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle broke me out of a two-year-long reading slump and reminded me why I loved reading, so this is a very exciting release for me.
This is very different from his last two books; it is a little less like a typical whodunnit (not that his stories are ever predictable) and more of a play with multiple genres, including dystopian, sci-fi, thriller, and classic murder mystery elements. It's a mind-twisting book with multiple POV characters and one common POV, the AI Abi, who is present in all of their brains. Because Abi always knows more than each of the characters, it makes for a unique mystery, where the reveals are delivered constantly throughout the book, making it difficult to put down.
It takes a few chapters to settle into its unusual style, really finding its footing once we're mostly focused on Emory, our detective character. I found some of the characters to be less fleshed out and the world-building a little lighter than I wanted, but this was very minor as I had a lot of fun with this book.
Because Stuart Turton's books always pair so eerily well with an indie game (Evelyn Hardcastle with The Sexy Brutale, Devil and the Dark Water with Return of the Obra Dinn), I'll carry on the tradition and recommend playing Dredge with this one.
This is very different from his last two books; it is a little less like a typical whodunnit (not that his stories are ever predictable) and more of a play with multiple genres, including dystopian, sci-fi, thriller, and classic murder mystery elements. It's a mind-twisting book with multiple POV characters and one common POV, the AI Abi, who is present in all of their brains. Because Abi always knows more than each of the characters, it makes for a unique mystery, where the reveals are delivered constantly throughout the book, making it difficult to put down.
It takes a few chapters to settle into its unusual style, really finding its footing once we're mostly focused on Emory, our detective character. I found some of the characters to be less fleshed out and the world-building a little lighter than I wanted, but this was very minor as I had a lot of fun with this book.
Because Stuart Turton's books always pair so eerily well with an indie game (Evelyn Hardcastle with The Sexy Brutale, Devil and the Dark Water with Return of the Obra Dinn), I'll carry on the tradition and recommend playing Dredge with this one.