Review: 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Author: Stuart Turton
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Date of publication: September 2018

The Rules of Blackheath

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

I have been seeing reviews of this book all over the place, so I caved into the hype.  The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a book that you are best going in not knowing much about it.  It's kind of like Groundhog Day and Memento on steroids.  In the beginning I was a little confused as to what was going on.  But I'm so glad I stuck with it because this book was really interesting.

The story has a really unique premise.  It's not as straight forward as the synopsis makes it seem.  It's actually pretty convoluted.  I would love to see what the author's storyboard or outline looks like.  Because it's probably a sight to behold. I'm impressed he was able to keep it all straight.  Once you get into the rhythm of the book, it really isn't hard to keep track of where and who Aiden Bishop is.  Among all of the re-dos, there is a good mystery with a few twists and solutions.  I was definitely kept guessing.

My only real complaint for the book was the ending.  It was a little unsatisfying.  I needed an epilogue and maybe a little more information on who was causing this to happen.  Other than that, it's a fun book to read and one I highly recommend!