Book Review | The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

 

Title: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

By: Stuart Turton

Series: NO

Pages: 432

Published: September 18th, 2018

By: Sourcebooks Landmark

Genre: Adult | Mystery/Thriller | Fantasy

Buy it: Book Depository

 

 

 

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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

“Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day . . . quite unlike anything I’ve ever read, and altogether triumphant.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.

For fans of Claire North, and Kate Atkinson, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive mystery that follows one man’s race against time to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem….

This inventive debut twists together a thriller of such unexpected creativity it will leave readers guessing until the very last page.

Recommended in The New York Times, The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar, Buzzfeed, Vulture, BookRiot, and more.

| Goodreads |

 

 

“How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?”

This book is one of the smartest things I’ve read in a long time, the reading process was a little bit hard for me, but I think that in large part is because I was coming out of a reading slump and this is a highly complex book that needs your full attention, so I don’t blame the book, I can see it’s brilliant and after halfway through I started to enjoy reading it more and more. The plot is intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat, the characters are quite complex which I like and most of all THAT GREAT, creepy, and intriguing ATMOSPHERE is ALL I needed. Amazing book!

This is the story of Aiden Bishop a man who’s forced to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle in order to break the cycle and get out of Blackheath, but every day Aiden will wake up in a different host and some of them could be a challenge.

I know that the explanation of the book is quite vague, but I feel that it’s one of those stories that you must enter knowing as little as possible and so it can impact you even more. I think it was brilliant, one of the most intriguing and shocking plots I’ve read in a while, extremely compelling and complex, I loved that. As I mentioned at the beginning, I was coming out of a reading slump so this book was a challenge for me, especially because of the number of characters, its highly descriptive style, and its super intricate and complex plotline. Still, I was able to see and enjoy its great potential and clever writing.

Being a book highly focused on a mystery/murder, I cannot give much information and I would really prefer that the reviews I read myself are somewhat vague, so I’ll do the same here, I’ll let you know my feelings without revealing too much, but enough so you want to read it because it’s really worth it, guys.

The writing style is a challenge, I liked it a lot and I think the author has an exceptional talent for telling stories, but even so the reading process it was difficult for me, I feel that it’s one of those books that needs 100% of your attention not to miss any detail because here everything and every little thing counts and will have an impact on the plot, which I love! I would undoubtedly read another work by the author, I’m excited to read more of his stories and his brilliant mind since I love the combination of mystery with the fantastical touch behind, that makes it a unique book and stands out from the others that I’ve read.

I totally LOVE the fantasy/paranormal aspects that the book has, I love when plots play with timelines and loops in time, it’s brilliant and is one of my favorite aspects to read and also to watch in series, I LOVE everything that has to do with crazy temporal/timeless things lol. It also allows honestly anything to happen and the plot twists were perfect with this element, no doubt, it adds a lot.

I didn’t feel really connected or fond of any of the characters, but I think that’s the goal of the author, despite being a highly character-centered book, I think that readers will be able to enjoy more of the plot itself, and of its originality. The characters are very complex and morally gray which I appreciate because as you progress through the story that factor makes you confused and you never know who to trust or who is telling the truth. I love that characters aren’t lovable, this is an example that sometimes works very well and gives even more depth to the plot!

The atmosphere is one of my favorite things in the book, the book takes place during the same day several times, even so, we are all the time having new information, and on this day the weather is quite unstable and rainy, this combined with the setting that’s a huge old shabby house has such a creepy vibe and makes the atmosphere perfect for this type of genre, I adore it.

I really liked the ending, I didn’t see those plot twists coming at all nor did I see any revelations coming which I love because isn’t it simply incredible to be surprised when you least expect it? JUST AMAZING! A great ending and a solid outcome to an unpredictable plot.

I really loved it, I know that in the future I would love to re-read it because I think that despite knowing the ending and the revelations, I’ll be able to enjoy it even more, and also I’ll appreciate more all those small intelligent details that make this book so unique. I highly recommend it if, like me, you like mystery books with a touch of fantasy very well executed, solid atmospheric scenes, morally gray characters, and an unexpected ending. This is a very smart book, well thought out and even better executed, I’m happy to have given it a chance.

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4/5

 

 

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