Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

15 reviews

a_little_wonky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Really intriguing premise and writing. I usually stay away from mystery/thriller because I find them predictable but this wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination - and there were many stretches of the imagination. I’d definitely have to read this a second time to catch all the little clues now that I know the ending. Honestly I’m sure I missing things because it was so fast-paced I just kept going, I couldn’t put it down. 4 stars because I do think some plot lines were left hanging (I hate intentionally misleading clues that are never resolved), and time travel isn’t really my jam. But definitely worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Addiction, Rape, and Suicide

esv_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, Grief, and Classism

jaysaysnope's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

A lot of this books seems opaque for opacity’s sake. It was extremely puzzling, more of an out-and-out mystery than I was expecting, and I actually ended the book with more questions about how this world works. It was well-written and the suspense was compelling, but the author’s ending left me wanting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Rape

avertacnik's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was wonderful! So many twists and turns, and I was kept me guessing until the very end. I don’t give books 5 stars lightly, but this one deserves it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual assault

stella323's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

lo_fi's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is slow in the beginning but it works. It all adds up.  The last 25% of the book I didn’t want to put down. The twists and turns and a major plot twist at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

genny's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I was apprehensive about this book because I felt lukewarm about The Devil and the Dark Water, but I enjoyed this so much more! Tense and gripping, this could make for a really fun live-action adaptation. I also think it would've been fun to annotate a physical copy (I had the ebook from my library) and go ham with plotting time stamps, locations, etc. 😆 

It's a testament to Turton's writing that the protagonist's voice always felt distinct despite him waking up in different bodies. For all of Aiden's confusion, he was still way smarter than me because I was scrambling to keep up with his plans, haha. He was always one step ahead of me in figuring it all out, but it was entertaining enough that I didn't mind just going along for the ride. The glimpses we got of the "outside world" were enough to establish some sort of dystopian society, and this (along with some important reveals) allowed for commentary on the justice system that I thought was well-done. Surprisingly, I got quite emotional towards the end! I'd give this 5 stars except all of the language regarding Ravencourt's body bothered me (check content warnings); I understand needing to emphasize the difficulties of each host but the author went over-the-top there IMO.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol

Aiden inhabits the body of an obese man and there's a LOT of comments about how difficult it was to navigate his surroundings, being unable to stop gorging on food, feeling useless because of his body, etc. He also inhabits the body of a rapist. He doesn't sexually attack anyone but feels the urge to do so.

helenferg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

cassielaj's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is a WILD ride

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Alcohol