The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: A Novel

I'm typically not a fan of mysteries—especially murder mysteries—but this book is one of my exceptions. Stuart Turton is a master of this genre. Groundhog Day mixed with Clue is an apt description of this novel, though it truly is a unique novel in and of itself. Because of the unique nature of the plot—Aiden Bishop inhabiting the body of a different guest at Blackheath—the mystery of 'whodunit' does not get solved until the very end, though the twists and turns of this novel will leave you captivated and guessing. The plot is well-paced, and the language is befitting to an experienced author, despite it being Turton's debut novel, which I believe speaks to just how good of a writer Turton is. I especially loved the setting and time period that it takes place in. This book remains one of my favorites to this day, and it is definitely one that I am looking forward to rereading.

THE 7½ DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE by Stuart Turton Imagine waking up in a body that’s not yours, in a remote, rundown estate, surrounded by people you don’t know. You don’t know how you got there and your memory is spotty at best. The only person you kind of know is a woman named Anna. This story follows Aiden Bishop as he tries to solve the mystery and murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. For the next eight days he wakes up in the body of a different person/suspect and he has to essentially not lose himself within the host’s persona and instincts in order to solve the mystery. If he figures out the answer he gets to go home. If he fails he has to start the loop all over again. As you can imagine, this is a wholly unusual, complex and confusing mess of a storyline. Throughout the first few chapters of this book I kept saying, “Wait… what?!” I was equal parts perplexed, frustrated then fully invested and entertained. While I didn’t connect with any of the morally grey, unlikable characters, I did enjoy the story enough to keep reading to the end. The ending itself felt a little anticlimactic for me, but I appreciate how the story came together despite having lingering questions. (What exactly did Anna do to deserve such epic torture and torment?) Overall, the concept is clever and it was enjoyable. Recommend if you love a good thriller and murder-mystery with a sci-fi twist. Rating: 3.75/5 ⭐️

This book was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It was a wonderful mystery with enough holes left open for the reader to fill in. This doesn’t feel like a debut novel in the slightest. This book is really well-written, well-paced and and well-organized despite being on the longer side. It’s definitely worth the read if you’re into mysteries and are looking for something very unique.

Where do you even start? When I read the description (which is basically that the main character wakes up as a new person in the household each day to solve a murder) I thought that was interesting but expected repetition. This book hardly does that at all and even when events do overlap the new perspective and mindset keeps it fresh like your seeing it for the first time. Awesome book

Could not have guessed ending. Definitely a page-turner. This was the most exciting book I've read in a while.

So many twists and turns! I thought I knew how it would end…I was wrong! So good!!

This was my first murder mystery book and it was a doozy. The author has clearly gone through rigorous preparation just to create a web of different perspectives, and timelines. Its mystery inside mystery inside intrigue. Highly recommend this book to anyone.

This was one of the best books I've read all year. I won't go into detail about who or what this book is about cause Amazon already provides that for you. This novel was very refreshing. Like most thrillers, it did have trope and a highly unreliable narrator, but it was done in a fairly unique way. I bought both the ebook, and the audible narration. The Narrator makes this story extremely easy to follow as each "host" and character has a different voice. It is certainly possible to follow the story without the narration, but if you do, you might want to take notes so you can pick apart which personality is which. Or, if you don't want to take notes, don't stop mid chapter because it may be hard to remember which host that chapter is based on.

This is actually impressive for a debut novel! A long and twisty sci-fi (or fantasy) thriller mystery that kept me at the edge of my seat. And while the ending felt kind of uneventful, I thought the journey to that ending had been worth the read. There really is more to the story and the blurb doesn't do this book any justice! Long, winding, and tiring, I kept on reading. Everything connects with each other and if you take good notes, you might just be in awe. It was well thought out and fortunately enough, I still remembered some bits while getting through this novel especially when I had this long hiatus before I got to the end of the story. Unfortunately, the problem was the slow pacing. And since this was more of a plot driven story as opposed to a character driven story, it might just lead people to DNF the novel. I thought a character driven story would've been more interesting but at the same time, since the main character inhabits a different host (body), it could be messy. I mean, the main character does undergo a character development since he was introspective but the reader doesn't know anything about the main character (for the most part) except his name. Although, the character development would make sense near the end of the novel. I thought the slow intricate plot and the fact that the reader doesn't know anything about Aiden Bishop (the mc) might turn some people off from reading the rest of the story. Unless of course, if the reader is still interested in finding out Evelyn's killer. Now it took me a while to get into the story but eventually I couldn't put it down. I really liked this book. The writing was brilliant (albeit wordy) because it was atmospheric and elegant. It definitely suited Aiden's pov. I was in the mindset of trying to solve the murder through Aiden's eyes. I was truly nervous for Aiden which means I was invested in this story. However, this book is not without flaws. I don't know if I just didn't take good notes or if I wasn't entirely paying attention but I did have some unanswered questions that can potentially be plot holes. For instance, the reader never will know the back story of the other players in this book. Additionally, who was the plague doctor working for (as well as Silver Tear)? Who were their superiors? Is this a time-travel novel or the after life? What the hell is this novel? If you like weird books, I highly recommend this one.

Our story follows our main character as he tries to solve a murder mystery. Only he doesn't remember who he is, how he got where he is and only that he remembers a girl named Anna and thinks she has been killed. This book is atmospheric and it is very easy to get sucked into the world he is in. I liked that the book kept up pace and there were a few twist and turns I didn't see coming! My only critique is that at first it was a little confusing to keep track of who was who and I am not 100% sure about the ending. I didn't hate it, I am just not sure how I feel about it. Other than that I really enjoyed playing along and trying to solve this. This is a really interesting book and certainly worth reading!