The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – ARC Review

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Series: N/A

Publisher: Raven Books

Expected publication: February 8th, 2018 (UK) / September (US)

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Pages: 512

Format: ARC

Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

* Received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much! This doesn’t affect the review in any way. My opinions are, as always, my own.*

How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?

At a gala 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. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend–but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

Deeply atmospheric and ingeniously plotted, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a highly original debut that will appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson and Agatha Christie.

This was such a weird book! Brilliant, sure, but weeeeeird.

Aiden Bishop wakes up in a body that is not his, with no memories at all, with the exception of a name. He will wake up on the same day every day, Groundhog Day-style, but in 8 different hosts – and he has to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle if he wants to escape that day and that place. But there are rules, and more than that, he is not the only one trying to solve the murder! He has to figure out what to do, how to do it and who can he trust. Also, each host has one day, and he can’t get himself killed or he can’t get back to that host. Basically, in this book, nothing is what it seems!

This was a really thrilling book, and what I loved most about it were the characters – hosts. They were so different from each other and that changed our main character too. It was really interesting to see him see the same day through, literally, different eyes. The hosts are really interesting persons, each with their own cons and pros. But I didn’t necessarily like some of the descriptions of them.

It’s quite dark, clever, and written in a very interesting and gripping way. I can’t get the idea of this book out of my head, I think it’s incredible and scary. And I can’t wait to read more from the author. This had so many characters, so many personalities, so many clues, mysteries, time lapses, body jumps, secrets, riddles, and questions. It’s incredible.

Overall the book was a really big surprise, full of mystery and murders and out of all the mysteries in the book, I could only discover one! Which is really awesome. Although it was quite a big one… And when it was finally unraveled, I kinda wanted to kill the main character for how dumb he was sometimes. But other than that, this was an extremely surprising and complex mystery that completely gripped until the very last pages.

It’s confusing at times because there’s a lot to piece together and everything comes in a weird order, so it’s a book that needs quite a lot of attention – as in the same attention you would need to read an Agatha Christie book, or is it just me? -, but it wraps up nicely and everything makes sense in the end, and I loved the end!

It’s a really interesting and unique concept and although it may not be for everyone, I would definitely recommend it if you like complex mysteries that really make you think!

What did you think of it? Are you excited about this book? Let’s discuss it in the comments below!