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Title: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Author: Stuart Turton
Published: 1st of October 2018 – Raven Books
Format: Paperback – 505 pages
“How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?” – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Hello Hello! How are you?
I am so glad to be finally posting my review of this book because I buddy read it with Candyce from The Book Dutchesses a few months ago and this book took us for a spin. I had wanted to read it ever since it was released and I got my hands on a copy, and I’m so glad that I was able to buddy read it – thank you Candyce!
I am also so happy that I read this book because Stuart Turton might just be one of my new favourite authors to watch out for! Now, let’s get into the review (and please excuse my profuse gushing).
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed – again.
She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn’s killer. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath…
MY REVIEW
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is a mystery, that is also his debut novel, but you would never guess it from reading it. The first thing I need to say about this book is that it is astonishing and I know that I will not do it justice in my review as I’ll waffle and waffle, so I’ll try to keep it short and hope to entice you!
Even though I turned the last page a while ago, I can still remember this story vividly and it is one I will be revisiting in the future. If you like genre-hybrids and books that defy everything, then this is most definitely the book for you. Going into this book, I didn’t know what to expect, I just knew that a lot of people raved about it, and that was enough to make me want to pick it up. I’m so glad that Candyce and I read this together as it was really fun discussing all our theories!
This is the kind of book that you either need to take slowly to think about everything and try to wrap your brain around it – Candyce and I read 3 chapters a day and it was perfect! – or you need to binge-read this one because I guarantee that you won’t want to put it down. There is just something about this book, even now, months after I finished it, that pulled me in and didn’t want to let me go. It is definitely more on the dark side, but if you like twisty and surprising mysteries, then I think you’ll enjoy it.
Now I’ll stop waffling and actually try to talk about this book. When this book starts, we meet Aiden and afterwards Evelyn. Evelyn has been murdered numerous times, but the day she is killed starts, again and again, dragging Aiden and the people he wakes up in through various experiences. One of the cleverest parts of this book were the multiple layers and personalities to all the hosts that Aiden had. Some of them were fabulous and we loved reading about them, whereas others were absolutely awful people, and as Aiden and Evelyn went through each day, Aiden’s hosts started to taint his own soul. I really love multiple points of view and the way that this was set-up was kind of an original take on the multiple POV, in that we saw Aiden, Evelyn and a few other characters constantly, as well as seeing glimpses of Aiden’s hosts. I thought this was a really clever and well-thought-out element and it intrigued me so much to learn more about Aiden but also the people he woke up in and see their personalities and feelings clash with one another.
The plot of this book is absolutely crazy, you could never dream it up, but that’s what makes this book so amazing, you just can’t get enough. Every time another clue was dropped, Candyce and I tried to work it out, find out what it meant, what events referred to, who people were, but I have to say, we never saw that ending coming, and it was possibly my favourite part of the book!
The writing style was just delightful. It is on the dark side, but the beauty and prose are just fantastic. I can’t get over how incredible this book is for a debut, and let me tell you, Stuart Turton’s second book is just as spellbinding and genre-bending! I found that the pacing was perfect. I like fast-paced books and this one somehow had the perfect balance of pace, plot-twists, new events and characters, beautiful writing, wit, humour and intelligence! I just can’t say enough great things about this book other than go pick it up and read it right now!
“So many memories and secrets, so many burdens. Every life has such weight. I don’t know how anybody carries even one.” – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
MY THOUGHTS AND RATING
Overall, I’m sure you can guess, I adored this book! I can’t believe it took me SO long to get to it. I actually started it when it was released and just couldn’t get into it, so I am very grateful to Candyce for agreeing to read it with me as I probably would not have gotten to it for a very long time.
As I’ve said, the writing style, pace, plot, characters – everything basically – were so good and I found that ending to be so original and I just loved it. I think this book says a lot about human nature, forgiveness, and has a lot of important messages, and of course an innumerable amount of beautiful quotes.
I gave this book 4.5 stars and I adored it. It was just missing that tiny little spark and lulled a little bit in a few places, or I got confused with the characters and timings, but those are personal issues on my part and don’t reflect on the book. I think that if you like mysteries, a bit of a fantastical element, multifaceted characters, intelligent plots and gorgeous writing, then this is the book for you and I dearly hope that you will pick it up, read and enjoy it and then tell me all your thoughts!
Thank you once again to Candyce for reading this with me!
“I’m saying every man is in a cage of his own making.” – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
ASPECTS RATING
Atmosphere – 8
Start – 8
Pacing – 8.5
Ending – 7.5
Characters – 7.5
Theme – 8
Style – 8
Total = 55.5
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If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US – AbeBooks – The Book Depository – Audible FR – Waterstones – Barnes and Noble – Audible UK – Scrib’d – Kobo – Blackwell’s – BetterWorldBooks
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad we read this one. I definitely still think about it as well!
I’m so glad we read this one too, it was such a great reading experience!
I loved this book as well! I fell into the race-through-it-at-breakneck-speed camp; I started off trying to fathom every clue and work everything out as I went along, then realised there was no way I was going to be able to do that so just gave in and accepted that there were some bits I just wasn’t going to get! Personally I wasn’t sure about the ending though – it was a very clever idea but some how I just found I couldn’t buy the explanation for what had happened and who all the characters really were….Still doesn’t stop me recommending it to other people though 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed this book, we tried to work out all the clues and utterly failed too ahah!
Excellent review, Ellie.
Thank you Gina!