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Book Review: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
 by Stuart Turton

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery Thriller

(Recommended by amusing2write)
7.5 Deaths

Imagine coming to consciousness in the middle of a dark forest, mid-sentence, with no memories of who you are, where you are, or why you’re in the middle of a dark forest yelling someone’s name. That is how this book begins, and it only gets more interesting from there. The main character & narrator eventually finds out that he is going to relive the same day 8 times, and that each time, someone will die (the same someone). Only if he can solve the murder will he be released from doing all of this over again, wiped of memories at the start of doing it again.

I had my ups and downs with this book, but in the end, the ups did outweigh the downs. I’ll start with what I enjoyed.

The murder-mystery itself was intricate and well-planned. It kept me guessing throughout the book, especially in the later half, when answers were finally starting to come, yet kept being not what they appeared to be. No one is ever quite who they seem to be, even the people that you are certain couldn’t possibly be hiding something. And I really appreciated the way that the narrator’s different hosts contributed their own abilities toward solving the murder.

As the same day is being relived by the narrator, it reads a lot like a time travel story, as the narrator sees the same events happen over and over. The author did a good job with the continuity in this respect. There were a few things that confused me in this area, but they were intentional (not intentionally confusing, but intentional as in not a continuity issue). I can’t say more without giving some spoilers.

I was certain throughout the book that there would never be an explanation given for the greater mystery–who or what was behind the narrator being trapped inside the various guests at Blackheath, forced to solve a murder. A combination of some reviews that I read and my own assumption that this wouldn’t be explained, due to the why not being the focus of the story, led me to this certainty. I was pleasantly surprised to find that an explanation was given, and while I was still left with some questions when the book ended, a Q&A section at the back of the book clarified things. To be clear though–this wasn’t a cheat on the author’s part to leave out some information and fill in the blanks later. It didn’t bother me to be left with the questions I had–it was the kind of thing where the reader was left to infer their own answers, and it turned out I had inferred them correctly.

Here were the downsides to the book for me (as spoiler-free as I can be), which can be mostly chalked up to personal preference:

Early on, I struggled with how long it took to get into the mystery, and what was happening that seemed to be completely unrelated, or at least very different, from what the book was going to be about. Between the title of the book and the inside of the book jacket, I knew a lot more than I feel like I was meant to know, and grew impatient waiting for that information to be presented in the book. Even the name of the narrator is right there on the book jacket, but that information wasn’t given until at least 1/4 of the way into the book. I don’t think this is the fault of the book itself though, so much as the fault of the blurb and, to a lesser degree, the title.

The book is written in 1st person and present tense. It works well for the premise, but the downside to this is that certain events are a little too up-close and personal for my taste. This mainly relates to violence and death, but other situations as well. By the end of the book, I felt like I should take a shower, as the mustiness and decay of Blackheath and the alcohol- and smoke-covered guests is described so often, and in such intimate detail that at times it felt like I was swimming in it. I also didn’t care for the extreme way that the author portrayed one of the narrator’s guest’s overweight body, with such disdain, and not to mention as if the host could barely walk 10 feet without being out of breath. I was as thankful to be out of that host as the narrator was.

The last downside I want to mention is that I didn’t personally care for the author’s style. There was so much figurative language that, by the end of the book, I actually said to my husband, “I’ve read this sentence 5 times, but I can’t tell if something big just happened, or if it’s just a metaphor.” There is also quite a bit of description, so between that and the figurative language, the narration often bogged down the story for me. I came to appreciate the dialog, because it was much more straight-forward, but a lot of the story happens in the narration. By the last third of the book, though, I had started to skim the descriptions (how many different ways can you tell me that a new room we’ve entered is dirty, run-down, and dark?), hoping I wouldn’t miss anything important along the way.

To sum up, I did enjoy the book, and once I really got into the mystery, I found myself wanting to come back to it whenever I could. I would recommend it for people who enjoy mystery, especially those with intricate plots. I think many would struggle with the complexity of it though. I would not recommend it to my friends and family, however, as I think the violence and debauchery might bother them as much as, if not more than, it did me, so keep that in mind if you don’t care for that sort of thing.

Find out more about The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle*
*This is the US title. The book is elsewhere titled The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Weave a Circle Round

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Weave a Circle Round
 by Kari Maaren

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: YA Fantasy

WaCR

Freddy doesn’t have the most pleasant life–she doesn’t get along with her siblings very well, her parents are basically non-existent, and her friendships are fragile at best. When Cuerva Lachance and Josiah move in next door, and Josiah starts going to her school, I’d imagine she longs for the simpler days when those relationships were her only problems. The new neighbors just don’t seem to obey the laws of physics, and worse yet, they end up sucking Freddy into their bizarre lives, which just happen to involve time travel.

I enjoyed most of this book. Though I didn’t connect with the main character or her family in the first section of the book, the mystery presented in the second section had me coming back to it every chance I got. I also enjoyed the way the author looped the time traveling, especially when it related to “present time.” My sense of foreboding grew along with the main character, as the time travel played itself out. However, the ending of the book didn’t deliver quite the punch I was expecting. I didn’t follow some of it, and for the rest of it, I was a little out of my element regarding the fantasy elements. There was one moment that I really liked, that called back to the very beginning, but I can’t say more than that. I appreciate Kari’s mind toward continuity within a story.

Overall, I’d say this book is worth a read, especially if you enjoy fantasy, fairy tales, and mythology.

I also want to again mention Kari’s web comics, West of Bathurst and It Never Rains. The former has some fantasy/fairy tale elements, and the latter is more sci-fi. Both have long-running plots (as opposed to a gag-a-day type format).

Find out more about Kari Maaren and Weave a Circle Round

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Preview: Weave a Circle Round (currently reading)

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Following my shameful admission earlier this week, I’ll add this one: a friend of mine published a book a year and a half ago, and I’ve owned it for much of that time, but I hadn’t even read the first page until this week.

I am very quickly remedying this, though, as I have already finished over half of Kari Maaren’s Weave a Circle Round since I started into it on Monday. It is a fantasy novel in the YA range. I have been enjoying it so far, but that’s all I’ll say in that regard until I finish it.

I will at least say that I strongly identify with the main character, 14-year-old Freddy Duchamp, at least when it comes to her introverted tendencies. One particular line in the 1st chapter jumped out at me, explaining my own desire to avoid confrontation in a way I had never consciously thought of it: “Confronting people was just another way of drawing attention to yourself, which wasn’t the best thing to do when you weren’t even sure you were right about anything.” This is me to a T.

I will have more to say on this book next week, as I expect to have finished reading it by then, but for now, let me point you in the direction of Kari’s other works of fiction. I have been a reader of her web comics for 5 years now, reading West of Bathurst from the start right after it ended. I enjoyed it immensely, despite being a bit lost about things specifically related to the setting. Then she began a new web comic, which is still going on now, called It Never Rains. I recommend both of them, especially if you’re a fan of fantasy or sci-fi. (Also, I’m sort of in It Never Rains, which I forgot about until right now.)

Find out more about Kari Maaren and Weave a Circle Round

For Fellow Readers

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

Continuing with changes to my blog that started with no longer posting daily check-ins to report on writing work I’ve done, I am adding a new feature. This is oddly in a similar vein to my writing updates, because in a way it will help me hold myself accountable to a habit I want to develop (or in this case, re-develop), but hopefully will also prove considerably more interesting to readers of the blog than my writing check-ins.

Shameful admission time: I have read less books in the last 10 years than I care to say. I used to be an avid reader. Up through high school, I was one of those kids whose moms had to kick them out of the house to get some fresh air, because I’d rather spend my free time reading. I still read a lot for the next several years, until my own kids started to eat up my free time. Then stress and difficult-to-deal-with jobs, and the abundance of technological entertainment made it easier (and at the time I thought better) to play games or watch something in my free time.

Now it’s time to remedy that. I have started reading a new book, one which I’ve had for about a year and a half, and seemed to be a good place to start. And I’ve already realized how much I miss reading.

Because I’m me, I decided that it was fitting to share my rekindling of this joy here on my blog. I’ll be starting up a new segment later this week. On Fridays, I’ll share something about books–whether about what I’m reading right now or have recently finished reading, books or series I’ve enjoyed in the past, or maybe books that are on my “to be read” list (or even just an “I’m curious about this” list).

I don’t know how quickly I’ll make it through any books, and my preference for books may be more selective, eclectic, or just very different, from others. But I’m open to suggestions for books to consider, especially as I start to make known what types of books I do read.

For now, I will leave you with this: What genre of books do you read most? Who are your favorite authors? What books would you most recommend to others?