The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I was going to give this 4 stars for compulsiveness of reading, but had to deduct for a couple significant problems:

1.) the constant irritation of poor writing/editing (uncounted dangling participles, and dumb stuff like “Sutcliffe and Pettigrew laughing uproariously with a drink in their hand.” Really? They have a single drink in their somehow common hand? Or “He frowns, smiling a little,” or the occasional slips from present tense narration. Come on, guys.)

2.) Turton wants you to know that fat people are so totally gross, y'all. GROSS! Don't get him started on old people - yech! (And yes arguably these are prejudices of the narrator, that Turton presents as a growth experience for him when he appreciates the hosts' good points. But it's over the top.)

3.) no spoilers, but the utter failure of the framing story when subjected to the slightest analysis. It's very, very clear that Turton thought “wouldn't it be cool to write an Agatha Christie/Quantum Leap/Memento mashup?” and then struggled to come up with a justification for why Aiden is in that position. I can't even call it Fridge Logic because it bothered me even as I was reading - the minute you think about the supposed explanation of this setup, you hit a bunch of unanswered, “But why would he . . . ?” “HOW did they . . .?” “Wait, how does X indicate Y?” type questions.

THAT SAID, go ahead and read this with the expectation that it's a fun ride, it doesn't have a real satisfying meta-explanation, but Turton did a lot of amazing work weaving and keeping track of threads, crafting characters, and making you desperate to know what happens next.

I apparently read this book over the course of seven days, but in reality I read it in two long sittings and a final 30 minute stint. And right up until that last 15%, the last 30 minutes, this book was a five star read for me.

To begin with, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a mystery novel like none before it. Aiden Bishop lives the same day in eight different perspectives on repeat; challenged to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle so he may earn his freedom from the loop. I think the mystery was well crafted as it was difficult to figure clues out as you went and prevented me from “solving” the book before the end. In fact, I didn't come close to it. I'm not sure anyone would. The reveal of different perspectives, their limitations and strengths, and their unique relationship to the cast of characters was an incredible strong point for me in this novel and has me ready to add this book to my favourites of the year.

However, I found the last 15% to be a significant decrease in quality. The twist was unexpected and could have been good, but as it was relegated to such a small portion of the book it came across as a rushed decision. I thought it read like the author decided he wanted a twist and wrote it into the book in the forty minutes before submission. I personally feel if the twist had been introduced more gradually, the book would have been a strong five star read. I recommend this book to anyone who is bored with the thrillers and mysteries they've read recently, because this was a shock to the system and deeply addicting.

3.5
Fun, if a bit flimsy at times. I think this would make a really cool video game...

Man, what a ride that was! I feel like I need to reread it right away and try to pick up on things I missed the first time. I think reading a physical copy would help because I did confuse a few names. Some parts felt overly long, but that's my only issue. What a book!

Agatha Christie murder mystery meets rashomon, with a touch of time-skipping and body-hopping. What's not to like ? Yet it did not do it for me. Nice concept but the pace felt slow and the plot twists over-engineered

I'm really not sure what to think about this book. I mean, I really liked it, but I'm definitely going to have to read it again. There were so many chapters I had to rewind multiple times when I just gave up and kept going. I figured that the pieces would fall into place eventually. I've decided to buy the book and comb through it and highlight everything, and maybe I can understand it better

I genuinely enjoyed this book so much. While I found the start to be a bit flounder-y and slow, it set the whole story up so well imo. There is definitely a lot of information but thats how I like my mysteries!

The whodunit aspect is so layered that the a-ha! moment is actually quite split up and drawn out. I loved that it wasn't simply, “Oh, here, you're done. Buh-bye!” There are also some interesting moral questions that I'm still thinking about. I honestly could have done with like 20 more pages on the aftermath of the whole thing.

While this is a 5 star rating, I do have some questions (spoilers for the very end of the book): Who is Daniel? How will he stay in Blackheath without competition? Was Oliver lying when he said the rest of Aiden's incarnations would disappear one he left? How are they going to leave this prison and live in the real world? Were Anna and Aiden physically at Blackheath or was it something else? How were the people in charge of the prison able to make this prison without already knowing the murderer?

At the end of the day, I'm gonna put this on my bookshelf and re-read it in a year or two. Can't wait to see it from new eyes. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a thick manor mystery with a large cast and period settings!

Delightfully plays with time-worn concepts and devices, from the whodunnit structure and archetypes to bodyswaps and time travel (ish). Each aspect culminates into an amalgam of genres and ideas, one which is executed with such grace. While the intricate structure and plot can feel overwhelming at times, the puzzle is constructed so well that I don't particularly mind the occasional confusion. More to look forward to next time I read this, I suppose.

Intertwined with the mystery is a wonderfully executed theme of identity and memory, one executed through the protagonist's amnesia and the (utterly brilliant) concept of him inheriting the traits of the personas he inhabits. Areas like that are where Turton's writing really shines for me. Yes, the sheer audacity of the premise was worth the time for me, but there's some very clever and even profound ideas beyond the superficial fun of it.

A few passages are a bit rough, and some things don't quite work. But overall, this is one of the most creative novels I've read, blending an eclectic range of ideas into something cohesive and wholly unique. Highly recommended!

I was really hoping I would like this book. It started so cool and I love the way the things are described. I thought it was beautifully written at first. But as it went on and on I just thought it was getting really dramatic. And then the plot.. Fuck me it is horrible. It starts interesting, a person who woke up and have no idea what is going on or where they are. But then the whole situation is just kinda explained by a dude in a plaque mask. Like.. okay then. And then plot twist after plot twist that made the story the most ridiculous convoluted shit. And there were WAY to many characters that I was apparently supposed to keep track of.  The ending was also absolute trash. 

The whole thing about a mystery book is that, if you do it right, the reader should be presented with a bunch of facts and when things are eventually revealed they are supposed to go “Oh of course!” And maybe able to slightly predict some aspects. But the way this was done just felt like random information pulled out of nowhere.

Really is like Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day. Less funny more suspense/mystery. Recommend.

Twists and turns kept me thoroughly engaged,  and the multiple character perspectives kept the story fresh, even though it's the same day & events.

This was a wild ride. My issue and why it didn't get more stars is because I had a lot of difficulty keeping track of everyone. Lots of moving parts that lead to some confusion for me.

Very enjoyable mystery. The surprises were excellent, I just wish they hadn't all been at the end.

Aiden has to solve and prevent Evelyn's murder to get out of the neverending repeating day. He keeps repeating the same day in the bodies of different people. It is a strange book and takes a little getting used to. There is a bit of a surprise at the end.

Started with a very intriguing premise but it ran out of steam around the middle. The conclusion was more satisfying than I expected though as it was actually an ending with an explanation.

3.5

A very unique, compelling read.

An interesting plot but a slow read. Has enough hooks to keep going but was tough to come back to it every few days. Also hard to keep track of so many characters. 

I liked the concept of the story but I was bored throughout most of it and ended up speed reading through the last 200 pages. There is way too many details and the story unfolds super slow - and worst of all the ending was not surprising.

It's like Clue but with Multiple Personality Disorder.

This book was.... interesting. I am glad I read it, but I am not sure if I would actively recommend it to others.

I think my main issue was that it went on too long for me personally. I felt like we could have done a heavy edit round and still not lot the essence of the story - in fact, I think we would have gained more from this. I kept getting confused and a little bored throughout the story. Not because the story was uninteresting, but because we had way too much detail, and I can only read the same scene so many times before it gets to be overkill. I think we could have experienced it with less detail each time and it would have kept my interest longer.

The other issue I have is that the women in the story are either described as meek, petite, and good to their men, OR they are super bad people. We did not get an intelligent neutral woman, and none of the hosts were women. I personally felt this took away from the story for me - and maybe this means I am not the right audience for the book.

Finally, I did not like the ending. Personal preference, but it wasn't for me.

NOW, there was plenty of things that were for me.

I liked the hosts and how he navigated the story with them - it was very interesting to see how your mind and physical state affect the outcome so much. I enjoyed the mystery aspect and felt that the plot was awesome. I liked the plague doctor as a character, and I enjoyed how the events unfolded.

Overall, it was a good book, it just went into too much unimportant detail for me, and I wish it ended differently.

I do have a few theories about the prison though - My favorite coming out of my book club discussion this past month. We thought it might represent purgatory - and now that they are 'out' they get to suffer through what comes next. We also considered it to be a simulation style prison, which was interesting!

I love an unreliable narrator and this has an unreliable narrator in a totally unique way. The characters are developed and well rounded. The mystery is a really good one. The timeline stuff is so smart. This is a great book.

Time travel and the grandfather paradox are well-worn tropes, but it's rare for a story to gracefully handle this many overlapping timelines.

The ending was a bit of a let-down, but the ride was a lot of fun.

An engaging, thoughtful and creative mystery. The best novel I've listened to in a long time!?? ?? ?? ??

Woah!

Gave up about a quarter of the way. Not really my thing. It's not bad, I will probably give it another go later, but I don't feel it at all.