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A review by finding_novel_land
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
*Looks at reading time* Well I am well and truly in a reading slump aren't I!
It's hard to judge this book when I clearly have struggled to read over August, but I'm going to give it a go none the less.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a extremely complex book about a man reliving the same day over again in different bodies as he attempts to solve a murder that's never been solved. Oh and he's competing against other people to solve it first. And there's someone out to kill him.
This was honestly one of the most intriguing plots I have read in a long time, which unlike some intriguing concepts I could mention *cough The Book Thief cough* it actually lives up to and develops the concept.
The pacing is pretty good, although varied and sometimes very convoluted (there really is a lot to keep track of and probably a few too many side characters). It's also quite tense, with the dreaded footman there to keep you on your toes - until this book I said books couldn't scare me. How very wrong I was. Edge. Of. Your. Seat.
That's not to say that it was structurally perfect. As I said before, there were too many side characters to keep track of and remember, and some plot points were not given the space to breath and develop fully (but this book is long as it is, so I'm not asking for them to have more screen time). Honestly, if the author didn't use a map, string and drawing pins to put together this plot I would be amazed.
Of course, the issue with long, convoluted plots is that you have a nice amount of time to build up some amazing plot reveal expectations which are rarely met. For me, the overall reveal felt a little rushed and underwhelming and I just didn't buy certain plot points.
- The prison reveal was meh (probably as it had been hinted at most throughout the book).
- Silver Tear was necessary for the whole Anna subplot at the end, but felt like a tagged on addition.
- On that note, while I like how it changed the dynamic of the last 50 pages, I wasn't fussed by the 'Anna is an axe murderer who killed your sister but we're gunna get her out and be besties now even though the rest of the world will hate her' twist.
- I just couldn't buy that only one person had been fooled by an Evelyn Doppelgänger (especially when her parents were around a bit) and her overall motivation (oops a friend fell in a hole and it turns out I'm a psychopath so I'm just gunna leave him there and cover my tracks for 19 years) just felt boring in contrast to everything else which was so well planned out.
And while we're on the topic of things that disappointed, here's a further list for your enjoyment:
- I feel like knowing Aidan will wake up in a different body (via the blurb) spoils some of the first 100 pages as you start reading knowing more context than the protagonist and some of the mystery is gone.
- Aidan being a policeman near the end of the book seemed very convenient as he got to go full Sherlock mode and solve just about everything in an afternoon.
- It did feel a little like Aidan as Gold no longer needing to tell his past version about the carriage should have incurred some timey-wimey issues (ie he would have no longer felt the need to call witnesses to the graveyard), but I suppose this is a different set up to messing with real timelines, and it was his last day...
- The comment at the end about all 8 hosts inhabiting Aidan felt like a last minute addition that hadn't really been built up to properly across the book, only his current host slowly taking over was ever really mentioned (and even that felt like one plot point too many).
Before reading this, I saw one review calling this a fatphobic text, and I'd partially agree with that. Aidan's obsession and grotesque description of Lord Ravencourt made for uncomfortable reading and half of it was entirely unnecessary - he does not comment on his other hosts half as much.
While it sounds like I hated this book, I actually quite enjoyed it and finished the last 100 pages in one go - once I got into it, I loved it, it was just the picking it up that was the issue. In contrast to what I've been saying all review, I enjoyed most of the complexity (though there really were too many characters) and the challenge to pick through what was going on, I just didn't feel wholly satisfied with the ending - I would have quite liked to have seen the real world and the set up of the prison, a bit like The Good Place. For example - has real Aidan aged? Also, can we talk about how prison guards have been watching them for 30+ years?! .
Overall, for my first murder mystery in years this was wonderfully complex and challenging with lots to keep me on my toes (I can see why it won the Costa Book Award) but I got the feeling the author tried to cram absolutely everything in. I can't wait to explore this genre more.
P.S. All the way through I thought how well this would translate to screen, so was very pleased to see this is in the works at Netflix. Count me excited!
It's hard to judge this book when I clearly have struggled to read over August, but I'm going to give it a go none the less.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a extremely complex book about a man reliving the same day over again in different bodies as he attempts to solve a murder that's never been solved. Oh and he's competing against other people to solve it first. And there's someone out to kill him.
This was honestly one of the most intriguing plots I have read in a long time, which unlike some intriguing concepts I could mention *cough The Book Thief cough* it actually lives up to and develops the concept.
The pacing is pretty good, although varied and sometimes very convoluted (there really is a lot to keep track of and probably a few too many side characters). It's also quite tense, with the dreaded footman there to keep you on your toes - until this book I said books couldn't scare me. How very wrong I was. Edge. Of. Your. Seat.
That's not to say that it was structurally perfect. As I said before, there were too many side characters to keep track of and remember, and some plot points were not given the space to breath and develop fully (but this book is long as it is, so I'm not asking for them to have more screen time). Honestly, if the author didn't use a map, string and drawing pins to put together this plot I would be amazed.
Of course, the issue with long, convoluted plots is that you have a nice amount of time to build up some amazing plot reveal expectations which are rarely met. For me, the overall reveal felt a little rushed and underwhelming and I just didn't buy certain plot points.
- The prison reveal was meh (probably as it had been hinted at most throughout the book).
- Silver Tear was necessary for the whole Anna subplot at the end, but felt like a tagged on addition.
- On that note, while I like how it changed the dynamic of the last 50 pages, I wasn't fussed by the 'Anna is an axe murderer who killed your sister but we're gunna get her out and be besties now even though the rest of the world will hate her' twist.
- I just couldn't buy that only one person had been fooled by an Evelyn Doppelgänger (especially when her parents were around a bit) and her overall motivation (oops a friend fell in a hole and it turns out I'm a psychopath so I'm just gunna leave him there and cover my tracks for 19 years) just felt boring in contrast to everything else which was so well planned out.
And while we're on the topic of things that disappointed, here's a further list for your enjoyment:
- I feel like knowing Aidan will wake up in a different body (via the blurb) spoils some of the first 100 pages as you start reading knowing more context than the protagonist and some of the mystery is gone.
- Aidan being a policeman near the end of the book seemed very convenient as he got to go full Sherlock mode and solve just about everything in an afternoon.
- It did feel a little like Aidan as Gold no longer needing to tell his past version about the carriage should have incurred some timey-wimey issues (ie he would have no longer felt the need to call witnesses to the graveyard), but I suppose this is a different set up to messing with real timelines, and it was his last day...
- The comment at the end about all 8 hosts inhabiting Aidan felt like a last minute addition that hadn't really been built up to properly across the book, only his current host slowly taking over was ever really mentioned (and even that felt like one plot point too many).
Before reading this, I saw one review calling this a fatphobic text, and I'd partially agree with that. Aidan's obsession and grotesque description of Lord Ravencourt made for uncomfortable reading and half of it was entirely unnecessary - he does not comment on his other hosts half as much.
While it sounds like I hated this book, I actually quite enjoyed it and finished the last 100 pages in one go - once I got into it, I loved it, it was just the picking it up that was the issue. In contrast to what I've been saying all review, I enjoyed most of the complexity (though there really were too many characters) and the challenge to pick through what was going on, I just didn't feel wholly satisfied with the ending
Overall, for my first murder mystery in years this was wonderfully complex and challenging with lots to keep me on my toes (I can see why it won the Costa Book Award) but I got the feeling the author tried to cram absolutely everything in. I can't wait to explore this genre more.
P.S. All the way through I thought how well this would translate to screen, so was very pleased to see this is in the works at Netflix. Count me excited!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Gore, Violence, and Blood