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ambarleti's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
itzbrianna's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle had a great idea behind this book. Having to solve a murder that reoccurs the same day while the protagonist is in the body of a different host is a great and interesting idea for a book. The plot sounded fun which is why I jumped at the chance to read this. However, despite wanting to like this book, the very first chapter just didn’t hook me.
It was hard to care about any of the characters and especially the protagonist. I was only interested in the main mystery so anything that ventured off of it seemed pointless. And this book was way longer than it needed to be.
I enjoy long books that have strong character development and interesting storylines to keep you hooked. But this novel wasn’t that. The writing made it hard for me to stay engaged. Not to mention the blatant ableism and fatphobic commentary throughout the book.
The concept as a whole would’ve been great had it not been for those things. It’s an ok novel and if you enjoy drawn out mysteries with this kind of writing style you’d enjoy this. I, however, did not.
It was hard to care about any of the characters and especially the protagonist. I was only interested in the main mystery so anything that ventured off of it seemed pointless. And this book was way longer than it needed to be.
I enjoy long books that have strong character development and interesting storylines to keep you hooked. But this novel wasn’t that. The writing made it hard for me to stay engaged. Not to mention the blatant ableism and fatphobic commentary throughout the book.
The concept as a whole would’ve been great had it not been for those things. It’s an ok novel and if you enjoy drawn out mysteries with this kind of writing style you’d enjoy this. I, however, did not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Fatphobia
Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Sexual harassment
jess2obsess's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia
Minor: Ableism
retswerb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.75
Definitely kept me engaged, although a bit longer than I often prefer. A bit hard to follow in places in the audiobook, which is common for mysteries. Certainly inventive and creative.
Worth checking content warnings on this one if you’re sensitive. There are multiple descriptions of murder from the perspective of the victim(s) which were pretty brutal. Also worth noting that the narrator’s response to the experience of being fat is pretty over the top.
Worth checking content warnings on this one if you’re sensitive. There are multiple descriptions of murder from the perspective of the victim(s) which were pretty brutal. Also worth noting that the narrator’s response to the experience of being fat is pretty over the top.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
ajparmentier's review against another edition
Genuinely, I'm not sure I've ever read a book as hatefully fatphobic and ableist as this book. Every single iota of attention paid to fat characters is dripping with disgust and hate. And that's saying a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Fatphobia
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Representations: https://trello.com/c/8xKeIU81/86-the-seven-deaths-of-evelyn-hardcastle-by-stuart-turton
To start this off, the ending is pretty flat. It's a bit disappointing after the thrilling and complex rollercoaster the rest of the book is - but I don't think it was so bad it ruined it honestly. I wouldn't recommend reading it for the ending, certainly read it for the journey and puzzle it'll lead you through and the complex weaving story of twists and turns.
I will not go into a decent-length talk about the plot, all you need to know is it's a time-loop concept with body hopping to solve a murder - and nothing is as it first seems like. Not all the characters are likeable, but I believe they're not actually meant to be likeable anyways.
I quite liked the main trio: Aiden, Anna and Plague Doc. While I didn't love who they where, I was interested in their motivations, backgrounds and goals and was curious as to what they'd do next.
With the story starting essentially with the end and working backwards, you get this really complex puzzle-like mystery that slowly builds up more and more, but both you and the MC are given the same pieces to work with. It's a book I'd have loved to do the string-and-pin board meme with!
It does get complex and confusing, my copy of the book had a guest list in the front + a map - I *heavily* used the guest list and tried to keep a short bullet point list for the major players in my head. If your memory is as bad as mine is, or you read over a long period of time/in short bursts, highly recommend to take notes while reading! It's certainly a book to read if you have time to commit to it.
The ending though, man the ending. It's just a bit sad honestly. It feels like a cop-out that got tagged onto the end last second. Almost as if the journey to the end was the only focus, and the ending hadn't gotten thought of until right before publication. It's just a bit too convenient, a bit too.. dumb? Plain? after how complex the whole thing was it was just a bit too plain imo.
The world building however and the whole story around the timeloops I felt was fascinating and heavily under-explained sadly. I'd have loved to have seen more around that side of things.
To start this off, the ending is pretty flat. It's a bit disappointing after the thrilling and complex rollercoaster the rest of the book is - but I don't think it was so bad it ruined it honestly. I wouldn't recommend reading it for the ending, certainly read it for the journey and puzzle it'll lead you through and the complex weaving story of twists and turns.
I will not go into a decent-length talk about the plot, all you need to know is it's a time-loop concept with body hopping to solve a murder - and nothing is as it first seems like. Not all the characters are likeable, but I believe they're not actually meant to be likeable anyways.
I quite liked the main trio: Aiden, Anna and Plague Doc. While I didn't love who they where, I was interested in their motivations, backgrounds and goals and was curious as to what they'd do next.
With the story starting essentially with the end and working backwards, you get this really complex puzzle-like mystery that slowly builds up more and more, but both you and the MC are given the same pieces to work with. It's a book I'd have loved to do the string-and-pin board meme with!
It does get complex and confusing, my copy of the book had a guest list in the front + a map - I *heavily* used the guest list and tried to keep a short bullet point list for the major players in my head. If your memory is as bad as mine is, or you read over a long period of time/in short bursts, highly recommend to take notes while reading! It's certainly a book to read if you have time to commit to it.
The ending though, man the ending. It's just a bit sad honestly. It feels like a cop-out that got tagged onto the end last second. Almost as if the journey to the end was the only focus, and the ending hadn't gotten thought of until right before publication. It's just a bit too convenient, a bit too.. dumb? Plain? after how complex the whole thing was it was just a bit too plain imo.
The world building however and the whole story around the timeloops I felt was fascinating and heavily under-explained sadly. I'd have loved to have seen more around that side of things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault
adgfost's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
lizziaha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.25
I have to give it to the author for the sheer complexity of the story, as well as making each of the 8 hosts distinctly different characters, but after that, this book is just average. I didn’t feel like the characters really had motivations behind their actions, more like they were just playing the parts. And despite the fact that the men far outnumbered the women, not a single woman came across as complex or multi dimensional. As for the plot twists, I either guessed them or didn’t really care about them, so I didn’t really feel the need to keep turning the page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Death of parent
loronicole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I could barely stand this book. It manages to spend 17 hours saying absolutely nothing and running around in circles. Some of the twists were clever, and I enjoyed those, but overall it just became tiring and completely meaningless by the end. Absolutely would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Rape
sungravity's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
gripping story just don't think too hard about the nuances/rules of the time-travel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Gun violence
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism