Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

A novel way of approaching a murder mystery. I liked some of the characters but I think I prefer to really adore the investigator in mysteries. At first I found myself frustrated by the characters that were not astute enough to pick up on clues I felt were obvious. I put together a lot of the big pieces on my own and then the middle of the book seemed to lag behind. I also struggled with the overt ableism and fatphobia and veiled homophobia in one section of the book and graphic imagining into the mind of a rapist in another section. I do appreciate a mystery story that you can solve from the information provided and that the final missing piece is slotted into place at the very end was satisfying. But the other elements plus some heavy handed soap-boxing made it feel simultaneously icky and trite for me overall. This is one of those books that upon completion I think, "Gee, I really wish this had been written by a woman."

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catereadsbooks248's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.0

The ending was the only part of the book I was actually invested in - the rest of the book was slow and confusing. I like the idea of time travel/manipulation, but if the authour doesn’t explain/incorporate their “rules” into the plot it’s just frustrating… I was frustrated most of the book.
Also, the extreme fatphobia made it so hard to read!!! You can tell the authour is extremely discriminatory towards larger bodies through how he writes about people in the book - it was so much it was hard to read!!

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katiekinsi97's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

The premise, while interesting, lead to a story with a confusing plot that had too many elements, a world building structure that was difficult to follow, and an ending that was felt disconnected from the story and was unsatisfying based on the premise given. More spoiler based thoughts below.

I don’t understand how time works in this story. To me, the events of the day should be fixed, no matter who Aiden is at any given moment. The fact that they aren’t doesn’t make sense. Additionally, if they’re supposed to be solving a murder that actually happened- the actions of Daniel, Anna, or Aiden shouldn’t have any effect on it. But having Felicity as the murderer is DIRECTLY tied to Aiden’s actions. The twist at the end should have been that Evelyn wasn’t murdered- Felicity was. Thats the /actual/ answer.
I have so many more thoughts.

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proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ett ensligt beläget gods. En dag som upprepar sig. Ett mord som måste lösas för att bryta cirkeln. Låter tillräckligt udda för att locka mig att vilja läsa den här deckaren!

Jag har mestadels lyssnat på boken (utmärkt uppläsning av Anders Jansson), men eftersom det är ett stort persongalleri så var jag tacksam att jag även hade den fysiska boken tillgänglig. De sista kapitlen, med upplösningen, struntade jag faktiskt helt i ljudboken.

Vi får lära känna en mängd mer eller mindre udda karaktärer, alla med helt egna personligheter och temperament. Däremot är det bara en berättare, Aiden Bishop, och honom får vi veta minst om, hur konstigt det än låter. Man kan säga att det är en pusseldeckare, men en väldigt originell sådan och mer komplex än t ex Agatha Christies dito (som för övrigt var en stor inspiration till den här boken, enligt författarens efterord). Den kräver fokus och koncentration, kanske lite mer än jag var villig att ge, för jag blev i alla fall överraskad av upplösningen (tack och lov - jag brukar bli besviken om jag kommer på lösningen i förtid!).

Det här är en bok som det passar att gå in ganska blind i. Jag visste egentligen bara att den var annorlunda på något sätt och det brukar räcka för mig. Det gjorde också att jag till en början inte hade någon aning om vad som försiggick och jag bjöds på flera överraskningar längs vägen. Att det var så många karaktärer inblandade gjorde mig ibland förvirrad och jag fick gå tillbaka för att se vem som var vem, men Turton gjorde verkligen ett bra jobb med att ge alla speciella egenheter. Jag är grymt imponerad av att det här är en debutroman!

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unfoundation's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

A pretty entertaining and original concept for a mystery. You’re able to predict a few of the twists if you’re paying attention, but never perfectly, meaning there’s always an exciting reveal. It does get a little slow and repetitive at times but picks up again towards the end.

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