5/5 ✨ Convoluted and brilliant. The Art Deko on the cover really fits the book's content. I'm gonna add this to my collection so I can reread it with the solution in mind and catch all the little details, and annotate it. Absolutely recommend this to people who like a good murder investigation with a hearty dash of magic, and listen to the Inscyption OST while reading it, it keeps up with the vibe of the book.

“Too little information and you're blind, too much and you're blinded.” The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, or The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle as it was called and marketed in the US to avoid confusion with the popular bestseller [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|32620332|The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo|Taylor Jenkins Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1664458703l/32620332._SY75_.jpg|46885151], is Stuart Turton's debut novel that sells a unique Gosford Park meets Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day premise, as many other reviewers will surely have told you already. Renditions of the 'infinite time loop' premise have suddenly experienced a wave of renewed popularity in the mid-to-late 2010's, with major hits in pretty much all the genres imaginable: action/sci-fi (Edge of Tomorrow), comedy (Palm Springs), horror (Happy Death Day) – it's no surprise that historical fiction would receive similar treatment, and in fact an adaptation of Evelyn Hardcastle is already in the works for a Netflix series. But let's talk about the novel itself. It can be a serious struggle to get through, and I don't say that lightly. Skimming through the reviews on Goodreads, it appears that many readers have had a similar issue with this book. The characters in Evelyn Hardcastle are hard to root for, which would not be such a terrible problem if they were, at the very least, interesting. Alas, we are introduced to so many different characters (make sure to have a list with notes on each character handy while reading, or you'll be lost), and the characterizations are often so blurry that it becomes extremely different to keep every voice apart from each other. In my opinion, that's where Stuart Turton failed to make his story a masterpiece, because the characters really felt too flat and uninteresting to find the mysteries of Blackheath engaging. Which is a shame, because the premise is so unique, and I love a good story about a murder mystery in an upper-class British family. And the story is good. You can probably accuse Turton of going for one too many unexpected twists, especially the closer we come to the final revelations, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the plot most of the time – with the major exception that it feels like Turton didn't establish the rules of the supernatural elements (i.e., the time loops) in this story sufficiently. But the tight plotting still won me over and had me turn the pages whenever I picked this book up – no wonder it took Turton three years to write this beast, because the complex plot intricacies seem poised to give just about any author nightmarish headaches. As much as I wanted to love this book, it really left me feeling conflicted. The premise, the writing style and the plot developments are absolute gold. But the characters and the lore did not deliver what the story deserved. I loved the idea, which is why I began to read this in the first place, but unfortunately couldn't bring myself to love the book. I had it at a four-star rating initially, but while writing this review realized that I really couldn't defend rating it any higher than as a mid-tier novel. Still, maybe take that as a side effect of going in with high expectations – this is a good novel, and if you spend the time and energy it demands of its reader, it can be a satisfying ride. “We are never more ourselves than when we think people aren’t watching.”

Mein Lieblingsbuch aus 2020, und das einzige meiner top 4, welches ich im Original gelesen habe. Ob das jetzt einen Unterschied macht, kann ich nicht sagen, aber mein Favorit aus Januar 2021 habe ich ebenfalls auf Englisch gelesen. Ich mochte den Schreibstil von Turton sehr und habe mir auch bereits ein weiteres Buch von Ihm bestellt. Die Geschichte fand ich persönlich außergewöhnlich, gerade die Tatsache, dass Aiden Bishop jedes Mal in einem von 7 Körpern aufwacht ohne vorher zu wissen wann und in welchem. Dadurch das Aiden Bishop sich auch nicht daran erinnert, wie er in diese Situation gekommen ist, lernen wir als alles Neue mit ihm zusammen, was das Lesen sehr spannend macht. Das Ende war für mich sehr überraschend, wenn es auch nicht ganz zufriedenstellend gewesen ist. Es war bei weitem nicht enttäuschend, fiel im Vergleich mit dem Hauptteil der Geschichte aber etwas ab.

For the murder mystery element and how twisty this book is, I would give this book a 5/5. This element of it and the different perspectives keeps everything sizzling and the puzzle thoroughly engaging. I have qualms about the concept. I mean it's like being in love with a terrorist in a mental torture facility. That's where my satisfaction wanes. I would give this part a 0/5. It weakens this book substantially. If this was written as a true collaborative investigation with multiple leads that converge, this would've been perfect. I commend the author though for trying something not beaten to death specially for this genre. Everything considered, I'll just rate this book a rounded up 4. It's a real 3.7 to me.