Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for review based upon my honest opinion.

This book was like Groundhog Day and a bizarre game of clue mixed together. I was hooked, I had no clue what was happening, but I knew that I had to find out. Who did kill Evelyn Hardcastle; wasn’t that the question of the day. Blackheath was not your normal mansion, things that went on there, and that kept me entranced, our main character, Aiden has been given eight days to solve a crime; eight days, eight different witnesses to inhabit, can Aiden solve this crime and stop the cycle, who is Anna, who killed Evelyn Hardcastle, so many questions and the answers are all delivered by the end of the book, but they are not the answers I thought they were. Great debut book, an author to keep an eye on.

Wow, this was such an interesting read! Pretty much from the moment it started to the moment it ended, my head was reeling, trying to take in all the different events and characters and seeing how the storylines all intertwined, but in the best possible way.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, centers on our narrator, Aiden Bishop, who is trying to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle by reliving the same day 8 times, in 8 different hosts (he was inhabiting other characters who were present at the time of the murder). Due to the nature of the story, it was told non-linearly and Aiden had a different perspective (and therefore processed what he was seeing differently) from each host, which would hopefully all work in his favor to discover the murderer.

I really enjoyed this book and trying to solve the mystery. There were some things I guessed on, but a lot that I didn't, and there was a lot that I didn't see coming and I would actually gasp out loud. It was an intoxicating read as well, because I didn't want to stop reading it. Any time I had to put it down, I just was thinking about when I could pick it up again.

Each of the characters were very different and while I definitely hated some of them, it was really interesting to see the same day through multiple POVs (even though it was all Aiden, he also embodied the personality of his hosts) and to see it all come together.

The main reason that I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because there was a section of the book towards the beginning (maybe 30% in?) that just seemed to drag a little. The beginning was super intriguing (with Aiden waking up in his first host and knowing nothing about who or where he was), and then it slowed for a bit before getting really in to the action again, to the point where I had trouble stopping reading.

<em>Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! </em>

One thing I'm REALLY proud of us this year is really pushing people (myself included!) outside of our comfort genres through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/758469254281752/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our book club.</a> I am not a mystery reader, but when I heard about the plot of <a href="https://amzn.to/2CBb3Ki" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle</em></a>, I thought this might be just the plot ticket to get me reading one.

First of all, put your wine glasses down for this one because you will need ALL those brain cells to help solve this murder mystery!

There are three rules of Blackheath House:
<ol>
<li>Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.</li>
<li>There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.</li>
<li>We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.</li>
</ol>
Agatha Christie fun meets <em>Groundhog Day</em> in this wildly inventive debut that will keep the reader guessing from start to finish. The reader knows that Evelyn Hardcastle will die. In fact, she will die every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. Aiden finds himself waking up in a different body and repeating the day over and over again, armed with new information when he wakes.  Some of his hosts help him while others make his job very hard. Leaving clues for himself to find, he must win the game in order to leave the property...but that's just what everyone else wants to do to. It will be a fight to the surprising finish.

Turton crafts some unlikable characters and creates beautiful tension when Aiden has to fight the impulses of the body he inhabits. His confusion though is the reader's confusion too so that is why the story keeps the reader on their toes throughout.

Read on Kindle, I missed one of the most important elements to the story...the map and cast of characters to flip to. Although they are there, they are not easy to read on the Paperwhite so be sure to print out <a href="https://amzn.to/2uoKHqr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the pages from the sneak peek</a> so you can keep everyone straight.

This felt a bit like <em>Clue </em>in book form and I would highly recommend it, in particular, for Agatha Christie fans. We had one reader who has read her entire body of work and said this is the first book she's read that actually delivered on the Christie hype.

This book was a confusing challenge and I loved it.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I am in shock. So many emotions. It shocks me that this is a debut novel this book is so well designed and it kept me guessing. I would think I had it figured out then a twist would come and I would be completely thrown off again. The complexity and the layers upon layers of overall plot had me reeling in the best way. I can't imagine the amount of time and planning this book must have taken. The writing style was fantastic and extremely poetic.

Spoiler Section Starts Here: Proceed with caution

So, when this book first started, I wasn't feeling it. The pacing felt sluggish and I felt like I was taking on water. I was becoming more and more confused instead of less. However, as more information was given, the loop being 8 days long, 24 hours in each body unless they die and how Daniel and Ana, the other people trapped, only get one day whereas Aiden gets 8. To solve the murder that was much more complicated than anyone first thought, even the original organizers of the "rehabilitation center." The original reason Aiden went in was because he wanted to kill Anabel Caulker for vengeance for killing his sister, Juliette. Anabel tortured and killed Juliette publicly just because she could. Aiden rescued Ana from her never-ending fate by forgiving her and letting her live freely for the rest of her life. The more excited I got about the book. I would get bored and get pulled out but the book would pull me immediately back in. I am so happy about this book.

I'm really struggling to even encapsulate my thoughts on this book. In the end, this story left me feeling unmoored as though I needed to sit quietly for a while to process all that happened. Was it mind-blowing? Was it impossible to put down? Did it leave me stunned and shocked by the brilliance of it all? Yes, yes, and yes. What a novel.

I will admit to not being engrossed in the story until about 35 pages in because I was so thoroughly confused that I contemplated not continuing. However, I saw the star ratings and had faith that my fellow reviewers couldn't possible be so wrong to find this book worth it in the end. When I flipped to the next page, I knew why. The world tilted on its axis and suddenly the picture I thought I knew was something completely different. And no, these aren't exact page numbers. I'm determined not to spoil it for you, even if that makes this review VERY difficult to do.

It's a story that requires focus but every single character you meet serves a purpose. Even the smallest of cameos turns out to have huge consequences. I found each character to be interesting and unique, particularly the ones closest to the main protagonist, and I was impressed with how each person's actions connected to the larger web of the story. I think the prose was perfect for the feel of the book as well: mysterious, dark, and almost lyrical at times before switching to hard and fast to fit the danger surrounding the protagonist.

There are so many reveals in this story and each successive one hits harder than the last. Very often while reading I would think to myself that something new couldn't possibly be more of a revelation than what I had just learned, and every time I was wrong. The way the threads come together in this story is truly mind boggling and I love that feeling as a reader when you suddenly catch on to the path the author has been preparing for you, brick by brick, even when you couldn't see it. That's what makes this story so darn satisfying to me. It's certainly a story I could see myself reading for a second time and savoring that first read-through knowledge which makes revisiting your favorite books so enjoyable.

It is absolutely one of my new favorite books and possibly the best mystery I've ever read. I could not recommend it more highly.


Note: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks, and the author Stuart Turton for the opportunity to do so.

I love books that have the plot of a character reliving the same day over and over again until a problem is solved but this was a hot mess with so many rules and exceptions that the story got lost in a bonfire of madness. It's too long. By the time I was nearing the end I didn't care who was dead or what the motives were for the crime.

This was a very Freaky Friday-ish read. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s use of time hopping to convey the story and it’s characters. I felt that this was a creatively written novel with a refreshing twist on the thriller genre.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded so intriguing. Unfortunately, I just could not get into it. I’m not sure what it was but I just didn’t find the main character that interesting. I tried several times to push on but ultimately decided to move on to another book. I may try again at some point to see if I just needed to be in the right frame of mind.

“ The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” was heart pounding right from the first page! You really cannot tell me that this is Stuart Turton’s debut novel. The whole plot of the book was pretty original. I don’t ever recall it being done quite like this.
“Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.
There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.
We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
Understood? Then let's begin...
Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others...”
Like I mentioned above, the originality of this book is what made me love it so. The pacing was pretty good although it was slow at times. There were so many surprises and twists that I didn't see coming. It was a super fun read, but the ending came kind of abruptly. I just needed a little bit more to finish it all up. I will definitely be checking out whatever else is in store from Stuart Turton in the future.

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are entirely my own.

I was really excited to see this book up for request on NetGalley. I’d heard so many great things about it. It was supposed to be a thrilling mystery on a whole new level, a page-turning and addictive new book from a debuting author. High praise for a first timer, but Stuart Turton proved to me that he’s a fantastic writer who deserves all the praise he’s been getting. I am definitely looking forward to his second book (the one he’s writing as we speak, supposedly).

My first thought after finishing this book was: “Wait, what? It’s over? No, that can’t be it. Give me more!” It was a refreshing, time-warp of a story. It kinda reminded me of Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day meets Cluedo. It was such a stunning novel, witch incredibly intriguing characters and a mind-blowingly good plot. I can’t help but ask myself how Turton wrote this. Did he start at the end? Did he write his way back to the start? It’s a very complicated concept, but he managed to pull it off quite spectacularly, I have to say.

The story follows Aiden Bishop on his quest to solve a murder. He’s stuck in a time loop – every day he wakes up in a different body, but on the same day. And every day Evelyn Hardcastle dies. Aiden has not yet been able to stop her murder, and he has no idea who the killer is. Aiden gets seven tries from a mysterious man in a Plague Doctor costume. If he fails to succeed by the end of the day in his seventh host, his memory will be rebooted and he’ll be forced to try again. His only way out is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder. An almost impossible task.

That’s not the only thing, though. When Aiden wakes up in his first host, he doesn’t know his name or where he is. The only thing he does remember is a name. Anna. When he finds her, it turns out she’s been stuck in the same loop as he is, only she never changes hosts. The two of them want to work together, but there’s a catch: according to the Plague Doctor, only one of them can escape.

I don’t know what else to say than: I FREAKING LOVED THIS. It’s absolutely worthy of all the praise it’s getting and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for a nerve wrecking page turner. Stuart Turton has a great way with words and he keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. I’d dare say he’s a new master of suspsense and all those years reading Agatha Christie books have obviouly paid off for him. This book was a thrilling read from start to finish, the first chapter manages to suck you in and the story holds you in its grip until the very end. Even then, you don’t really want it to be over.

I thought Turton’s debut was not only thrilling, but also confusing (in a very good way), intriguing, shocking and mind-blowing. In one word brilliant. Definitely deserves a 5 star rating from me.

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. A great murder mystery that had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Thanks for the opportunity to read it.

I really really wanted to like this book, I did. But after several attempts at it, I just couldn't get into the story or the style of writing. I love a good murder mystery, give them to me all day, but for some reason this didn't click with me. Thank you for the opportunity to read.

This book gets so much praise but unfortunately I just didn't connect to it. I feel like the "waking up in a different body" plotline is getting really overused now.

Very innovative book.
Compelling and twisted story.
Will recommend for purchase and look forward to reading any other books by the author.

I was given a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think I need to give a lengthy review of this one because if you're reading this then you've probably already heard the raves. And yes all the buzz is true, for once! An Agatha Christie pastiche with a twist; a book so charming, so impeccably plotted and paced, so twisty, that you will have to accept that you will not breathe or sleep until you finish it. Highly recommended.

Had I enjoyed it? Yes, absolutely!
Would I recommend this book? Without any doubts! They are publishing it in Italian, too, and as soon as it comes out here I would buy some copies to gift because I know a lot of people that would enjoy it!
Was it as I was expecting? Nope. At all.

If you want the short version, you can just read the three questions and answers and be done with it. But if you want more… well, I’ll try to be clear or, at least, understandable! But I am not making promises here!

First of all, the pace. When I read the plot for the first time I was enamored and intrigued. And I was expecting a fast-paced book, with a compelling rhythm to the narration, but that’s not the case. I won’t say that the book is slow, because it’s not really slow slow, but it’s not fast, either. The author takes his good time to get around and to tell the story and we can’t do much if not sitting and keep on reading. I think that, in the end, this choice is the best one, I have to be honest, but once or twice (or maybe more) I wished for something a little bit more… fast.

And then we have the story and characters. The author did an amazing job with all of them, he creates a time paradox (and we have to make an act of faith on this one, because if you start to doubts or start questioning, you won’t come out sane) really complex, because we have a lot of actors in it and he manages to keep track of all, he doesn’t loose threads around and he does it with a precision and an ease that it makes it all look easy. But it’s not easy at all. And he creates for us a story full of mystery, intrigues, twists, and momentum. You are there, reading page after page because you need to see what would happen next, or why something is happening. You are driven for all the reading by your need to understand and to discover what happened in the past, because even if we are all here for the death of Evelyn, our story began some years ago. And the need to understand and discover sometimes is almost maddening. You have to know and you have to know now!

But, even if the author has done a great job, and the story is compelling, it’s not a beautiful story. I mean, we are speaking about murder so yes, it would not be a fun or happy story, that’s a given. But it’s more. We have a lot of characters and all of them have secrets, both in the present and in the past, and all of them are, in a way or another, not exactly good people. We don’t have a drop of good in all the manor. Not the story, not the characters, not the setting (that’s quite creepy and misty, always full of darkness), nothing. And mind you, I am not complaining, that’s not it. It’s just that I found it quite peculiar, and I wanted to point that out.

And last but not least, we have the characters. We have a lot of them but all of them are well developed. The author is amazing with them all, too. And even if we know that they aren’t good people, we are driven by them, we want, no, we need to know more about them, about all their secrets, that are so many and so dark that hang in the air, like a fog around every each one of them. The characters that I despised the most were the Hardcastle seniors, they were really despicable characters and I often wondered about what kind of person they were, because really??? They really get me annoyed in more than one occasion, but, to be completely honest, most of the characters would drive you mad, one time or another. It’s just their charm. Or at least, I guess. And ok, they aren’t really all bad, but almost all. I have warned you!

I know that it can seem like I was complaining, but trust me, I enjoyed the reading and I have appreciated all of the things I wrote about, as strange as it can sound. And I really think the author is a genius. But the best thing, the real stroke of genius is, is that the author creates a complete and complex story, with real characters, mysteries, and secrets everywhere, that keep you on the verge of your chair because you just need to know and… and he gives us all the answers that we wanted but… he lets us with a ton of new questions with the answers. It’s diabolical, I know. But the point is that the story has an end and we learn all the secrets and all the answers we needed, and that is so satisfying! But the author left us with an ulterior twist, that is not a story twist but a… setting twist? A world-building twist? I don’t know how to explain this but the last mystery for us is about the world in which the story is set. We end a story and we open a universe of possibilities, and I found it almost mind-blowing.
And ok, this was just the cherry on the top, because, believe me, this book is good, as in really good, but with this not so little detail has become not just good but amazing!

4.5 stars

Aiden Bishop spends 8 days in 8 different bodies and must solve the mystery of who kills Evelyn Hardcastle. The 8 days are filled with a gala party, secrets, and lots of drama. One person dies every single night, and it is up to Aiden to not only figure out who kills her, but why, and how he can stop it.

The plot of this is extremely complex and I'm not going to lie a little confusing at times. Keep all the characters straight and how they were connected took some rereading of certain pages in order for me to connect things.

Overall I did really enjoy this story. Aiden was a likeable character and I loved how determined he was to not only get himself out of this situation, but to also get someone out who he had started to care for. He was very smart in how he got information out of people and connecting the dots as time went on and kept it all straight in his mind for the most part. The last 100 pages is the best part of this book in my opinion, the rest was all back story that was needed but got a bit tedious for me at times. This probably had a lot more to do with the fact that I kept getting things confused though and wasn't the books fault.

I am interested to read something else by Turton in the future as I hadn't read something this complex before.

I ended up reading a library copy of the book so I could read it in physical form.

DNFed after about 20 percent. From the beginning I wasn't enjoying it too much because it was too wordy and I got a little confused, but after reading the part where the narrator/character made so many horribly negative comments about weight I had to DNF.

I couldn’t finish this book. I kept picking it back up and trying, but it was very slow and never grabbed my attention.

In brief:
- Turn of the 20th century feel - speech, clothing, buildings
- Main character seems to have some kind of memory loss
- Snippets of intrigue through the first ten chapters
- Very confusing re host bodies and timelines
- Good concept but difficult to keep up with