The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
2.25 stars
“Nothing like a mask to reveal somebody’s true nature.”
What would you do if you woke and couldn’t remember who you are, but you know that the body you’re in isn’t yours? Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight potential witnesses to the crime and that means eight hosts for you to inhabit. You are charged with identifying the killer by a mysterious man in a Plague Doctor costume and it will set you free of Blackheath, a hell of its own. The problem is that some hosts are smarter than others and some know more than others. Aiden has to use the hosts to his advantage while also battling a footman who wants him dead and allies who could be looking to murder him. I do want to comment Turton on capturing a very Agatha Christie-like mood. This is one of the view mysteries that I’ve read outside of Christie that I’ve felt that intense and dark mood enveloped with a light tongue-in-cheekiness. I did enjoy Turton’s ability to create scenes at times, but at others I felt so bored. I found the story and its transitions easy to put down. I didn’t hunger to come back to the story and I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to unearth who killed Evelyn Hardcastle. The story itself has captivating qualities, but Turton’s writing style did not capture me intently enough for me to speed through this suspense novel. It took me three months to read this and this novel is over 400-pages which in my opinion was far too long because there was so much exposition and setup as he is entering new hosts. I’m kind of salty to be honest. This was a novel I was anticipating and I was left feeling unsatisfied while reading. However, I will say that the ending did redeem my enjoyment overall, but the process was so unbearable that it overwhelmed my overall enjoyment of the novel.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2.25
“None of them is your real face, or your real personality. Those were stripped from you when you entered Blackheath, and they won’t be returned until you leave.”
Aiden is not a very visceral main character. I don’t know who he is or why I should root for him to get free of the confines of Blackheath because he himself doesn’t know who he is. I found that this was both interesting to the development of the plot and overall revelations at the end about his past, but also, I didn’t care enough about him to care about who he was outside of this eternal hell. I’m just uninterested in his character.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 1.5
There are a lot of characters and to be honest, I don’t have one favorite. That’s disappointing because one would expect that at least one character would capture my heart and get my interest piqued. In reality, these characters were despicable and didn’t enhance my desire to know what was going on because I couldn’t buy that any of them were evil enough to leave their own selfish obsessions of sin and depravity to plot a murder that looks like a suicide. I guess the most interesting character was the Plague Doctor, especially towards the end because I have so many questions about how the justice system in this world works and how one becomes trapped in this kind of role as an observer.
Character Scale: 1.5
“Not all hells are created equal.”
The Villain- There were so many villains in this plot. Like I said the characters suck, but I did love this twist. What a ride and how dark. I actually bought it and was enthralled by the character’s callousness.
Villain Scale: 3.25
Overall, I was incredibly sad not to have loved this novel but I do think that many will find it to be a treat. It has a wonderful concept and while the execution fell short for me, I believe many will be pleased with this story. If it intrigues you, don’t let my negative saltiness turn you away from this novel because it may be one that blows you away. Especially if you are looking for an Agatha Christie with a Twilight Zone twist.
Plotastic Scale: 3.25
Cover Thoughts: This feels like an Agatha Christie novel in Gatsby font.
Thank you, Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
2.25 stars
“Nothing like a mask to reveal somebody’s true nature.”
What would you do if you woke and couldn’t remember who you are, but you know that the body you’re in isn’t yours? Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight potential witnesses to the crime and that means eight hosts for you to inhabit. You are charged with identifying the killer by a mysterious man in a Plague Doctor costume and it will set you free of Blackheath, a hell of its own. The problem is that some hosts are smarter than others and some know more than others. Aiden has to use the hosts to his advantage while also battling a footman who wants him dead and allies who could be looking to murder him. I do want to comment Turton on capturing a very Agatha Christie-like mood. This is one of the view mysteries that I’ve read outside of Christie that I’ve felt that intense and dark mood enveloped with a light tongue-in-cheekiness. I did enjoy Turton’s ability to create scenes at times, but at others I felt so bored. I found the story and its transitions easy to put down. I didn’t hunger to come back to the story and I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to unearth who killed Evelyn Hardcastle. The story itself has captivating qualities, but Turton’s writing style did not capture me intently enough for me to speed through this suspense novel. It took me three months to read this and this novel is over 400-pages which in my opinion was far too long because there was so much exposition and setup as he is entering new hosts. I’m kind of salty to be honest. This was a novel I was anticipating and I was left feeling unsatisfied while reading. However, I will say that the ending did redeem my enjoyment overall, but the process was so unbearable that it overwhelmed my overall enjoyment of the novel.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2.25
“None of them is your real face, or your real personality. Those were stripped from you when you entered Blackheath, and they won’t be returned until you leave.”
Aiden is not a very visceral main character. I don’t know who he is or why I should root for him to get free of the confines of Blackheath because he himself doesn’t know who he is. I found that this was both interesting to the development of the plot and overall revelations at the end about his past, but also, I didn’t care enough about him to care about who he was outside of this eternal hell. I’m just uninterested in his character.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 1.5
There are a lot of characters and to be honest, I don’t have one favorite. That’s disappointing because one would expect that at least one character would capture my heart and get my interest piqued. In reality, these characters were despicable and didn’t enhance my desire to know what was going on because I couldn’t buy that any of them were evil enough to leave their own selfish obsessions of sin and depravity to plot a murder that looks like a suicide. I guess the most interesting character was the Plague Doctor, especially towards the end because I have so many questions about how the justice system in this world works and how one becomes trapped in this kind of role as an observer.
Character Scale: 1.5
“Not all hells are created equal.”
The Villain- There were so many villains in this plot. Like I said the characters suck, but I did love this twist. What a ride and how dark. I actually bought it and was enthralled by the character’s callousness.
Villain Scale: 3.25
Overall, I was incredibly sad not to have loved this novel but I do think that many will find it to be a treat. It has a wonderful concept and while the execution fell short for me, I believe many will be pleased with this story. If it intrigues you, don’t let my negative saltiness turn you away from this novel because it may be one that blows you away. Especially if you are looking for an Agatha Christie with a Twilight Zone twist.
Plotastic Scale: 3.25
Cover Thoughts: This feels like an Agatha Christie novel in Gatsby font.
Thank you, Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle or plan to? What did you like about this novel or piques your interest about? Let me know down below in the comments!
