The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

3.5 stars. A fun book that keeps you reading. A new spin on the classic murder mystery tale where, instead of one main protagonist trying to crack the case, the same day is told on repeat in the body of different characters.

I really started to get into it when there were less than a hundred pages left. It would have had the same potential with fifty fewer pages, but I must say that very often I had the feeling that the author was beating around the bush just to "stretch" the story. All in all, it has an intriguing plot and characters worth remembering, but I wouldn't read it again.

This plot was marvelously convoluted, though at times it felt a bit much. Despite a rather slow beginning, there are no less than three climaxes and they are all soon after the other; quite a lot happened in a short amount of time. I also wasn't a big fan of the twist at the end, but even so it was worth getting there, seeing all the jigsaw pieces fall into place. This is a time loop done well!

The main character Aiden Bishop is a likable enough fellow; he starts out a little bland and confused, but as he gets into his groove, he becomes more and more entertaining to follow. While we are told he had a character arc off-screen as well, and I would have liked to see it, I was satisfied with what we were given, especially as he struggles with his hosts, all of whom were interesting in their own right. With Anna, his assistant, on the other hand, I wasn't particularly pleased. She was helpful from the start, and the 'twist' was shocking but didn't affect her character or particularly alter my impression of her; the reveal about her past felt too disconnected from the Anna in the book. The rest of the cast wasn't expanded upon either; there were so many characters that there simply wasn’t enough time, and some motivations remain rather obscure.

The biggest detractor to me was the strange writing style. I love complicated metaphors and poetic prose, but these metaphors took up quite a bit of space and felt overwrought. Some of them were beautiful; others were strange. For example, "Memories are stirring slowly and so far away that I feel like a man reaching across a river to trap a butterfly between his fingers" strikes me as very, very strange. However, there were truly great lines as well, like "I'm any face in a crowd; just the Lord's way of filling in the gaps."

Overall, the Gothic atmosphere and clever mystery were more than enough to keep me immersed, though not so much that I overlooked my caveats.

What a trip! I spent so much time confused but that was half the fun. And I still want more.

I did not enjoy this book. It could have been accomplished in about half of the time it took to get to the end. I feel that it was too drawn out. I realized my distaste for the book after I reached the halfway point and decided to just keep listening because I was close enough to the end anyway. I don't really remember what I was expecting from this book, but this wasn't it at all.

It's mind-blowing mystery & crime genre book. It's kinda book which f*cks with your mind and crushes well.

The plot of book was out of box to me. Everyday protagonist wakes up in different host and relives the same day again and again in an endless loop. Solving the murder is the only way for him to escape this torment. But, watch out! he is not alone there. There are rivals who are trying to solve the murder and get out. Because only one who coming up with the murderer's name will be set free. With no memories about himself, all he got was 8 days, 8 hosts and 1 murder to solve.

Till the end, author will keep you on your edge. I enjoyed a lot.

Awaiting for another great novel from Stuart.

This book was very long and convoluted. At first, I was really excited about it. However, the premise didn't really work for me, which took away some of that excitement. The characters weren't especially likable, which took away more excitement. And then the length. I kept waiting for it to be over. Anyway, I'm not sad that I read it, but I'm not happy about it either. It just was okay. If you are really excited about cleverness, then this book is great. It is very clever. Just not really fun for me.

DNF. I got a little over half way through the book before I just couldn't do it any more. I know there was more mystery and things we didn't know yet, but after you find out what happens at the end of the day it just didn't hold my interest any more.

3.5 start. It was a good book, however I think I hyped it up in my head to much for me to enjoy it properly when I finely read it.

Found it a bit confusing but like I said it was a good book, just not a five stars book I had hoped

An amazing adventure that constantly left me trying to figure out the mystery. The story will keep you captivated until the very end