Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Evelyn Hardcastle'ın Yedi Ölümü by Stuart Turton

11 reviews

bookhoarder2022's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Decent mystery & interesting premise, but the way the narrator speaks with such disgust about his hosts was a huge turn-off

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Self harm, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Stalking, Addiction, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity, Drug abuse, and Grief

quillreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

4.25

Why I Read It: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton first came onto my radar when I was looking for books involving time loops, since I love time loops. Months later, I saw it in the bookstore and decided to pick it up.

 

Review:

Turton should get a standing ovation for the brilliance of this book’s concept. It’s incredibly original, and no lazy author would have even come close to touching it. The execution of the concept is also laudable, as Turton’s beautiful writing and detailed thought made this book a joy to read. I never felt impatient about figuring out the mystery; I was content to let the story unfold and follow the main character step by step as he painfully learns more and more about his situation. Despite the undeniably convoluted plot, I was able to follow along, and I appreciated the moral questions Turton poses throughout the story. More importantly, the characters’ motivations and actions felt well-thought-out and realistic. It would have been far too easy for everything to feel contrived, but for most of the book, this is not the case.

 

I knew that no matter how amazing most of the book was, my ultimate measure of the book would rest heavily on the conclusion. While the conclusion is not the disaster it could have been—no plot holes are introduced, and it remains well-thought-out—unfortunately, it did not quite live up to my hopes. It fell into the trap mysteries so often fall into, in which the author springs a twist so out of left field that it feels contrived and requires a lengthy explanation to understand. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle did not need such a twist for me to feel impressed by the mystery and the book’s intelligence. I felt that the ending somewhat betrayed the main character’s arc.

My main problem with the ending was Anna’s character. How am I supposed to believe that one of the world’s most evil people somehow becomes a good person by endlessly cycling through time loops in a setting that is described as “poisonous” in its immorality and corruption?

One other thing that bothered me considerably was the fatphobic language. The language Turton uses to describe a fat character is unnecessarily cruel. 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle if:

·      You are intrigued by unique, original premises

 

You might not like The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle if:

·      You dislike intricate plots

·      You go into the book wedded to your expectations

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Medical content, Classism, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Rape

Minor: Cursing, Sexism, War, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Sexual content

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Drug use, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Murder, Torture, Violence, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

joyolivia's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Child death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a marvelously creative and captivating murder mystery. A creative twist in the premise helps shake things up, but it is far from the only trick this book has up its sleeves. A fun workout for the brain with a great narrative voice and complex mystery that will appeal to all fans of the genre, with a surprisingly poignant message at the center of it all. Would be a 5 star if only it fleshed out its message just a bit more, and the occasional moment that raised my eyebrow (but didn’t quite offend).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Torture, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

nellkristen's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Alcohol

spookily's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Torture, Medical content, and Rape

lydiakach75's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

If I could give this a 6 out of 5 I would. It was amazing. You know that quote by Lady Gaga that goes "amazing, incredible, never done before, etc" it's like that. Also be aware that this takes place probably around the early 1900s and because of that the use of queer is used to mean weird but not as an insult. There is something else one has to be aware of as a content warning because mention of rape but never telling of the rape.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Death, and Child death

Minor: Rape

davidrb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny 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

4.5

I waffed on what to give this, but I decided that despite my reservations, this thing slaps beyond belief. It completely shifted my perspective on what a good mystery can be, and what a good book can be in general. It was engaging, and I have a feeling I'll get even more out of rereads, but it also has a solid heart: more than I thought it would. Do yourself a favor and pick this up! It's fun.

Points deducted for being kinda slow to start (took me a few tries before I got into it) and a weird, prolonged section of fatphobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

When Dr. Bell wakes, he is in a forest, with no memories—not the previous day, not his family, not even his own name—just the name Anna. He hears a woman calling for help and then a gunshot, and then a mysterious person (a murderer?) hands him a compass and tells him to go east. Following these dubious directions, he arrives at Blackheath, a crumbling estate currently hosting a reunion of sorts. On the following day, Bell wakes up as the Butler, and learns that he is not Bell, and it is not the following day. He is someone else entirely, but he will be trapped in a new body every day for eight days—but really just the same day, re-lived eight times from eight different perspectives. The only way to escape: he must solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, who dies every evening like clockwork. But there are others in the house also trying to solve the murder—and only one can escape. There are many secrets in Blackheath, and Evelyn’s is not the only murder.

I could barely keep track of all the characters, let alone the twists and turns of the plot. Everything was a red herring, but also nothing was, because there were so many details and so many awful deeds and characters up to no good. This book reminded me a bit of <i>The Guest List</i> because both books consist of a group of unbearable characters trapped in one place. Both have dark, twisting plots and new details (and crimes), both past and present, are slowly revealed as the story progresses.

I The ending really threw me off though, because it felt totally different from the rest of the book. The worldbuilding was half-baked at best, and so few details were given about the world outside of Blackheath that I thought there was little point in giving any at all. Why introduce Anna/Annabell and Aidan’s backstories and then barely use them? I did appreciate the anti-prison stance the story took, as well as the themes of forgiveness and the ability of people to change for the better.

I think I’ve mentioned this in other reviews, but I’ll say it again: while it’s not a bad thing to have a male author, it is a red flag for me if I can tell that the author is a man from the writing alone. This was one of those books. I mean seriously, you’re going to have your protagonist jump between eight different bodies and not one of them is going to be a woman? I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but I could also tell from the way Turton described his female characters...so yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way on occasion. There was also some fatphobia in his descriptions of Ravencourt, so if that’s a trigger for you, I’d avoid this book. 

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Like… sort of happy? I guess? I liked the message of the ending, but it wasn’t exactly satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence