Book Review: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Author: Stuart Turton 

Genre: Mystery Publication

Date: 2018 

Page Count: 430  

I am going to do my best to keep this spoiler-free. All the information I give will not spoil any big reveals. If you think something sounds crazy and you haven't read the book, it’s probably not a spoiler. This book is just as twisty as whodunits usually are. 

Why did I pick up this book? 

Funny story, I was on a trip to Portland with my best friend when we passed a heavenly used bookstore named Powell’s. Of course, we went in, and of course, I bought as much as I could carry within my suitcase’s weight limit. This book originally caught my eye because the cover was black and gold, and just beautiful. I read the dust jacket summary and, knowing I had a long flight back to Florida, picked up what I thought was a light-hearted mystery. 

Synopsis 

Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. 

There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhibit. 

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... 

First Impressions 

The story starts with our MC(main character) stumbling around a forest, disoriented and calling out the name of a woman he believes has been harmed; however, when he finds his way to a random mansion in the forest, he gets treated like an absolute lunatic for having been out all night and telling everyone they need to save someone they’ve never heard of.  

I’ll be honest, I prefer a book that starts by setting the scene, so starting in the middle of a high-anxiety event was discombobulating. I believe the author did this intentionally to set the mood for the rest of the book and because the character was suffering from amnesia, which would be inherently discombobulating. For me, however, it actually triggered a flight response, and I felt the need to “push through” until the story evened out. Thankfully, this lasts only in the first chapter.  

In Chapter 2, we learn this character’s name and that this person is quite well known in the manor. There is a planned ball happening that night, and our MC is a guest.  

As time goes on, we meet other characters who fill him in on why he is there, what happened to his memories, and how he can buy his ticket to freedom—by solving Evelyn’s murder.  

My first reaction after turning the last page was that it had its well-paced moments, but I found it very easy to put this book down to do laundry, cook dinner, walk my dog, or get a glass of water. The last couple of chapters sped up and were great to experience, but the second act had a tendency to change pace often since you are reading a lot of the same scenes over and over again. 

What I Loved 

The characters here are phenomenal. Even those who were not physically energetic, their mental capacity for connecting dots in the story was great. Turton also did a fantastic job distinguishing voice and mental capacity between characters. You don’t realize how foggy some characters are until you read others who are sharp, and it’s a cool comparison to experience. 

The concept and world are unique. We all know the formula for Sherlock Holmes or Lord Peter Wimsey, but mentally, I usually put those stories wayyy in the past. This novel, though there are no cell phones or laptops, had a highly technical basis for the construction of the world. Very creative, and it’s not something I have seen before.  

Themes & Emotional Impact 

There are a few major struggles here. Most obviously, our MC’s sense of self, despite entering the body of a different person each morning, is challenged constantly. We see his struggle to act in accordance with who he actually is versus the alternate houseguest acting as his host. 

This was one of the most entertaining aspects of the book to read because our hosts are mostly morally grey—meaning, our MC is also struggling with morality and survival. He wants to be a good person, but if his hosts are pressuring him to do something else, is the “right” thing the right move? The stakes are also incredibly high throughout the entire book, so we are constantly considering the question, “If this is a survival situation, is it okay to watch someone get killed when you know what’s about to happen and can prevent it?”  

Another major theme I’ll get into is perspective and redemption. Obviously, there are going to be different perspectives because he is basically living in a twisted Groundhog Day, but it’s more than that.  

Between our MC and his hosts, there are so many storylines going on at once, very mature storylines: drug deals, rape, murder, revenge, etc. Without a second thought, we can say these things are wrong. Still, when you are actively thrown inside the mind and body of someone with an addiction, without having experienced it firsthand, the mental fog, inner demons, and ongoing anxiety are just wild. Our MC talks about how he couldn’t wait to get out of some of these bodies, and it wasn’t because of what they had physically done; it was the psychology of what they were inwardly dealing with every second. 

• This concept also plays into why the world was so expertly crafted. The world itself was built to foster redemption through perspective.  

Reader Recommendation 

Ultimately, I enjoyed reading The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Will it sit on my shelf next to my favorites like Jane Eyre or Deerskin? Probably not, but it was still a hell of a ride! This book is perfect for: 

• Readers of: 

  • Mystery  

  • Puzzles 

  • Character-driven stories 

  • Speculative Fiction 

• Writers of:

  • Same scene with multiple POVs 

  • Complex timelines 

  • Large cast of characters with individual subplots 

  • Psychosis 

Final Rating 

Overall Rating: My personal enjoyment of the book and its many elements.  

Mature Elements: Violence, gore, sex, substances, language. 

Mature Themes: Trauma, mental illness, death/grief, manipulation, existential or moral complexity, identity. 

• Overall Rating: 3.5/5 

• Mature Elements: 3/5 

  • Many things are discussed, but not all are graphically illustrated.  

• Mature Themes: 4.5/5 

*This was a spoiler-free review of the book The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I will be posting a full spoiler-included breakdown studying the writing of this book, so check back soon!