Review: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (S. Turton)
I loved this book. It absolutely, 100% confused the heck out of me, and I still have no idea what was going on, but I loved it. The world was wonderfully built, the story was extremely original and interesting, and I was flipping the pages as fast as I could to try and see what happened next.
Aiden Bishop is stuck in a loop, forced to repeat the same day over and over again, until he solves the mystery of the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. Each day, he wakes up in a different "host," with the memories of that host and knowledge of the events that occurred previously. He must struggle to fit all of the pieces of this insanely complicated puzzle together, all while attempting to dodge betrayals, murders, and more. Will he ever solve the mystery of Evelyn's death? And will he ever escape the mysterious world and loop that he is stuck in?
This book is hands down one of the most confusing books I have ever read, and I'm pretty sure it was meant to be that way. It plays mind games with you, convincing you that so-and-so is the murderer and then saying "whoopsies I was wrong, next suspect!" There are so many sub-plots intertwined with the main plot that you are essentially trying to solve approximately 20 mysteries at once. Which is a brain workout. It is just so packed full of action and mysteries and betrayal... I loved it.
I also love the characters as well. Aiden Bishop himself is pretty interesting, but I actually loved the hosts more because they each had really unique character traits and development, and it was interesting to see the comparisons between the different ones each day. I began to develop some favoritism towards some of the hosts, and others I secretly hated. I loved how each host day helped fill in some of the blanks from the previous ones, and how nothing was how it seemed.
I loved the mystery, the originality, and the plot twist(s) at the end. When everything was finally explained (as explained as it could be), I was in shock. Never in a million years did I think that the book would end like this, and I never even saw the second twist coming either. This book just layered twist upon twist upon twist, and I loved it. Normally I hate complicated books where I have no idea what is going on, but this one I loved.
My only complaint is that I'm still not entirely sure what was going on, and I was lost for most of the book, but with a book this complex I think that it's pretty unavoidable. You can't have a book with this many layers, plots, and sub-plots, and have it be super easy to follow. So this book is a bit of a mental workout, but so totally 100% worth it. I loved it.
5/5 Stars
Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way affected my review, rating, or opinion of the book.