The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
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 . . .
The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.
Review: Our narrator Aiden Bishop has been given one task - to figure out who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. In a very unique premise, our narrator wakes up every day in a different host body and must re-live the day of Evelyn's murder from a different perspective. The only way he can escape this repetitive cycle is to solve the murder.
This novel had such a creative premise that is a mix of Groundhog Day and Clue. It takes a while to get the hang of the narrator migrating from body to body and the shifting perspective of each character he inhabits, but it truly is a creative idea, particularly. for a murder mystery plotline.
But the premise was truly the most and really only interesting aspect of this novel for me. I was not invested in the characters or solving the murder. By the end, the reader has watched Evelyn die so many distinct times that I didn't feel particularly moved by the scene anymore. And the book was far too long-winded! It seemed to just go on and on. This feeling was exacerbated by the fact that the scenes are literally repeated over and over, just from different perspectives and with the narrator learning a little more each time. It just felt repetitive and never ending to me. I wanted to stop reading about halfway through but forced myself to finish it.
Stars: 2
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