WOW! This was one of those books I kept putting aside and choosing something else to read instead. I am so glad I finally just opened to page one!
It was alittle confusing for me at first but once I found the groove of the story, I was IN IT!
Highly recommend!

Well this story definitely was a suspenseful read filled with many different characters and plot twist.

I found this book a bit difficult to understand and follow eventually putting all the puzzle pieces together to understand what happened. The amount of characters and switching of days left me slightly confused at times struggling to follow the story.

I did enjoy the scenery of the book and the settings. I enjoyed the chase to figure out who truly murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. I can see how there are split arguments on liking or not liking this read. It definitely was an interesting one for me that I am still developing some thoughts on.

Rating mostly based on the premise alone, and the strength of the writing. However this wasn’t the book for me and I found it didn’t hold my interest.

What a freaking ride this book was!

So let's talk about this...

This book has quite an intriguing beginning. You are not thrown right at the middle of the main drama, oh no. You start reading and you have no idea what the hell is going on. This is where you meet Sebastian Bell,who seems like quite the coward to me, though now I have a very different opinion on (as we will eventually know him for) Aiden.

Aiden was an amazing character, at least I think he was since you never really get to know him entirely since he acquires pretty much the personality of the body he is in. Which was so cool by the way, even Aiden was surprised by some of "his" actions.

Evelyn was also very intriguing I didn't really knew what to think of her while I was reading this book, but at the end you will have a formed opinion... I can guarantee that!

The writing was amazing... it was so immersive and the author did such a good job with keeping you in the dark alongside Aiden... Geez I have no idea how to tell you how confused (in a good way) I was while reading. I never saw it coming. This book was twist after twist and I NEVER SAW THEM COMING.
It was kinda frustrating... but I loved it.

If you are looking for something different to read, if you want to have the ride of your life, please read this book. You will not regret it!

When Aiden Bishop wakes up in a body that is not his, and with hardly any memories, he knows there's something strange going on. He soon learns that he is in a time loop in Blackheath Manor, during which he has eight days and eight different bodies to figure out the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. As Bishop repeats each day, eight different times, he begins to learn more about himself and about the people surrounding him but also about the mysterious hunters desperate to kill him before he's completed the mystery of Evelyn.

I quite enjoyed this book and found it very vividly written with a great atmospheric setting. The setting of Blackheath was quite spooky and austere all at the same time, and there were so many different things happening all at once. I really enjoyed all the people Bishop inhabited and finding out about them - and how their personalities would affect the overall mystery and how bishop interpreted everything he learned that day.

There were times the book mentally exhausted me as there was just so many things going on, and so many characters (I did keep confusing Davies and Derby) to remember. And I was frustrated at the amount of times Bishop seemed to give up and allowed the footman to find him or do something to him. As I already said though, the book was quite vivid which I enjoyed - I did not, however, enjoy the stabby dreams i had while reading this and i can only blame the book XD

The ending was interesting and not what I would have guessed at all, so I was nicely surprised. It would be nice to have found out a bit more about the world beyond, and the technology allowing Bishop and Anna to be in the time loop and how it all works, and if they are from the future or how it is all happening but I'm not sure if we'll ever find out. A short story set in the same world with the time loop system would be very interesting.

Good book for fans of Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl!

The concept of this book was really quite brilliant... A little reminiscent of both Life After Life and Ground Hog Day.... with the added little twist of the body swapping....

Although I received the ARC through NetGalley, I was not able to get into this book immediately since it needed my full attention to read this one. Finally I buddy read this book with my bookish friends. The discussion among us was very lively first half of the book, then gradually calmed down. The reason behind is that it became too complicated and we were not able to follow and deduce any longer. Yes, it was very complicated story. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I did. Was I able to follow the story? Not sure I did well. I had to flip back the pages so many times and I believe I read each chapter 2~3 times at least. There were too many happenings and time thickets, which confused me so much. The problem with me is that I am not very good at remembering names, and if the character’s name starts with “D”, I had to flip back to the first page to check which “D” person this is.

I need to reread the whole book to really notice and appreciate all the foreshadows.

That being said, I really enjoyed the reading experience of this book.

I struggled with this book and finally had to give up a couple of chapters in. The beginning was confusing and there was little in the way of writing to compel me to read on.

"Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed... again.

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed."

-If you're looking for a book to keep you up at night, this is it! Awesome murder mystery feel. Explosive, energetic and just great writing. I bought myself the paperback, just because it was that great!

An amazing and page-turning novel!! It kept me on the edge of my seat, guessing until the very last page. The author has created something wonderful and enthralling with this novel!

UM WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ?!?!?!!??

This is one challenging book to read because you're like what the fuck is happening and then realize that everything—no, everything is happening in a predestined kind of way which is unnerving to say the least. I do think it kind of dragged in the middle and the amount of murder seemed a bit too unrealistic for the plot which is why it didn't turn into a screaming favorite. Maybe on a reread...

The author calls this a mix of time travel, Agatha Christie murder mysteries and the 80s show Quantum Leap (I haven't read or watched either but believe me, I can clearly see the comparison) and that's it, really. That's the book. And Evelyn Hardcastle is a fucking hardcore, holy shit.

Everything aside, can I get like a dozen more books in this world in different settings about people solving murders and getting their lives turned on their heads while at it?

I started reading this book no less than 3 times before I finally forced myself to power through. Unfortunately, I did not finish the book. I couldn't keep up with the characters, and found the plot hard to follow.

I read the first chapter but felt there was too much going on and ultimately wasn’t compelled to go further. It’s also a pity that such a great title is marred a bit by the fact that another book shared a similar title around the same time of release (Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). I found myself confusing the titles.

Books aren’t written this way anymore. The prose, the plot, the characters - everything about this was beautiful and terrifying and devious and maniacal. I absolutely must read it again...preferably right now.

I can’t believe how long The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has been on my TBR pile. However at over 500 pages I could never quite find the time to read it! Well, let’s just say as soon as I picked it up I could have kicked myself, why had I left it so long?! It has actually been a while since I finished this book and I will admit that I have tried to write my review a number of times. However it just never seemed quite good enough to sum up how much I loved this book! I still don’t think my review quite covers it but deep breath, here goes…

The first thing I will say about this book is that everything worked from the premise, to the characters even down to the way the story was set out and written. I’m not really sure how to best describe The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle other than to say it is engaging and unusual with a brilliant mystery at its heart! From the very first page I was pulled into a story that I didn’t want to leave and that is the sign of an amazing book! I know I said that The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is kind of long but it honestly never actually felt that way. I did take my time reading this book but in a way I think that this is the best way to read it especially as I didn’t want it to end! The thing is by taking my time I was able to “try” to get to grips with every detail and think about what had just happened along with trying to figure out what would come next!

In a way you are best going in knowing as little as possible because this book is likely to mess with your head but you know what, it is best just to sit back and enjoy the ride. You will feel at times like you have been put in a washing machine on a spin cycle, I know I did! However it is all part of the twisty journey that this book takes you on. I loved being kept on my toes and in the dark as much as Aiden Bishop. Seeing both the confusion and mystery deepen with each new clue that’s revealed. Stuart Turton has created something very special in this book, cleverly crafting a mystery and brilliant twists into a story that will stay with me forever!

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is original, twisty and such an amazing story, I loved it!

I don't want to give anything away, so I'm just going to say that this was perhaps the most imaginative book that I have read in a LONG time.. Wow. This book keeps readers on their toes with plot twists left and right. Aiden must solve a murder and he keeps reliving the same day to do it. But each day, he's in someone else's body. Things become even more complicated when we learn that he's not the only person caught up in the time loop and not all of them want him to succeed. In fact, some would like him dead. The end result is that you never know who to trust and who is really who they say they are.

A great read! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review it

This was one of the most unique & engrossing books I’ve read in a long time. Genre-bending, twisty, and best enjoyed with an open mind.

I loved it so much I made my husband read it, even though he normally sticks to the high-fantasy genre. To my delight, he was raving about it once he finished it, and he’s continued branching out with different genres since. All thanks to this book. Highly recommended!

This book had the potential to be great. However it was somewhat lacking in its delivery. Th author should be commended for his originality in his delivery of the plot. The delivery of the plot though was the weakness. While intrigui9ing, it seemed to leave important gaps in the story. The duplicitous nature of several of the characters was entertaining and unexpected. The ending was utterly genius. Overall a decent read.

TW/CW: Fatphobia 

Review:


So, I tried reading this book for the first time last year and was so confused. I was listening to the audiobook and struggled to follow along with the switching hosts and overall plot. I ended up trying this one again while following along with a physical copy of the book and did end up enjoying it. 

“How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?”

–>plot<–

The plot of this one is really what drove me to pick it up. Evelyn Hardcastle is to be murdered at 11pm. Our main character has eight days and eight hosts to inhabit to help solve the murder and leave Blackheath. 

That concept is was so compelling and really pulled me in. We're immediately pulled into the chaos and mystery. The number of details that came full circle were amazing. It was really intriguing to watch the day play out, even though we were watching it in such a disjointed format. 

That being said, the actual mystery was...okay. There were some things that were genuinely compelling and interesting and other things that just felt a bit meh. I did enjoy the Plague Doctor, who had a bit of a Virgil role to help Aiden escape from Blackheath. I thought the information he provided was some of the most interesting aspects of the book overall. 

I also did grow to enjoy the various hosts that Adien inhabits, though we'll get back to some of the descriptions of the characters. That was one of the things I was not in love with, though I can also understand what the author was trying to do. 

The revelation of Blackheath actually was was just weird. Everything about that and tying that into Anna felt so out of place. I'm not going to lie, Anna's back story was something I was more interested in than the Evelyn Hardcastle murder by the end of the book. 

Going off of that, I think the biggest weakness of this book is that it began to feel looooooooong after a while. This is a 400-something page book and began to drag about towards the middle. I understand that the pacing and clues were necessary for some reveals that came towards the end. But yeah, it was actually boring at times and I found myself needing to take breaks to keep myself interested. 

I also want to address probably the biggest source of criticism in this book, the fatphobia. One of Adien's hosts is an incredibly overweight man and most of the time spent as this character describes his weight is pretty harming descriptions. Now, as someone who is plus size and has struggled with my weight, I'm not excusing these depictions. I do just want to point out that many overweight people have the weight gradually add on and have time to become accustomed to it. For Adien, he woke up in this body, with no time to become accustomed to it, and the author was trying to describe the jarring experience. I acknowledge that the descriptions are definitely harmful, though I'm not sure if the author could accurately describe the sensation of waking up in the various bodies without including some of these descriptions. It's something that readers should definitely be aware of going into the book, though for me, it didn't affect my reading experience. 

“We are never more ourselves than when we think people aren’t watching.”

Final Thoughts:

Evelyn Hardcastle is a fun, unique take on the whodunnit story. though it did definitely drag in the middle. If the concept intrigues you, you may want to check it out, knowing that there are definitely flaws with this book. This is a book where I enjoyed the journey more than the final destination, though I don't feel like my time was wasted by reading it. It's not a new favorite, but it was an intriguing read for a slow weekend.

The concept of the storyline was very interesting.

This one day continuously repeats itself and each time Evelyn Hardcastle is killed. In order to break the cycle Aiden, one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party, must solve her murder. The twist is that Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest each time the day restarts.

I will admit it was a little confusing and difficult to keep up with but I started to pick up on more and more details. I found myself trying to solve the mystery myself as I was reading along. The ending was clever!