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A review by georgey1809
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
5.0
My first 5 star of 2019!!!
I loved this book and would advise everyone to read it, but I know it isn't going to be a book that suits everyone's tastes. I would advise that if you want to read this book and experience all of its glory for yourself then stop reading this review now and go for it!
The idea that someone's soul hops between 8 different "hosts" in order to solve a murder over 7 days is a very unique and creative idea and I think Stuart Turton executed this extremely well. The fact that Aiden is unable to remember anything before waking up in person #1 except for the name "Anna" adds to the story because you don't know anything either. From the get go there is mysteries surrounding the house "Blackheath", the death that haunts the family from years before, who is the plague doctor, and who killed Evelyn Hardcastle?
It's hard to say that Aiden, himself, is a likeable character as you cannot differentiate between his personality and that of his "hosts" but the plague doctor seems to be intrigued by him.
One of my favourite things about this book is the fact that the timeline of the "hosts" is not linear but all "wibbly wobbly" in the words of the Tenth Doctor; and everything overlaps but you cannot piece it together until you are maybe around the 3/4 mark (unless you're extremely switched on). I enjoy books that focus on multiple characters and jumps around time; although I don't know whether you could count it as multiple characters if it's one person hopping between "hosts" - this is a question I would like to discuss further?
What I like about Stuart's writing is that it flows seamlessly and you can get engrossed within it and lose track of time. I was honestly surprised by the ending and did not see it coming even if there were clues scattered throughout the book. How he managed to write this book and not get confused himself is astounding; so for that he gets all my praise.
I loved this book and would advise everyone to read it, but I know it isn't going to be a book that suits everyone's tastes. I would advise that if you want to read this book and experience all of its glory for yourself then stop reading this review now and go for it!
The idea that someone's soul hops between 8 different "hosts" in order to solve a murder over 7 days is a very unique and creative idea and I think Stuart Turton executed this extremely well. The fact that Aiden is unable to remember anything before waking up in person #1 except for the name "Anna" adds to the story because you don't know anything either. From the get go there is mysteries surrounding the house "Blackheath", the death that haunts the family from years before, who is the plague doctor, and who killed Evelyn Hardcastle?
It's hard to say that Aiden, himself, is a likeable character as you cannot differentiate between his personality and that of his "hosts" but the plague doctor seems to be intrigued by him.
One of my favourite things about this book is the fact that the timeline of the "hosts" is not linear but all "wibbly wobbly" in the words of the Tenth Doctor; and everything overlaps but you cannot piece it together until you are maybe around the 3/4 mark (unless you're extremely switched on). I enjoy books that focus on multiple characters and jumps around time; although I don't know whether you could count it as multiple characters if it's one person hopping between "hosts" - this is a question I would like to discuss further?
What I like about Stuart's writing is that it flows seamlessly and you can get engrossed within it and lose track of time. I was honestly surprised by the ending and did not see it coming even if there were clues scattered throughout the book. How he managed to write this book and not get confused himself is astounding; so for that he gets all my praise.