The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a lot different from books that I usually read. When the story starts we know as much abut the main character as he knows about himself. Throughout the course of one day lived in the minds and bodies of several different people our main character discovers what his purpose is at Blackheath and makes it his goal while living the same day over again in his different hosts to find Evelyn Hardcastle's murderer. You would think getting to relive the same day over and over again would put Aiden at an advantage on the hunt for Evelyn's killer, but he soon finds out he is not the only one searching. If his rivals find out first everything resets and all memories of the days he has already lived will be lost and if none of them do they all restart. who knows how long Blackheath has been their prison or how many times Aiden has woken up in the body of another limited by the way their bodies and minds work.
I liked this book because of how well it presented the idea of living inside another persons head. As Aiden finds himself in new hosts he discovers how they can both help and restrict him. Some bodies are less capable then others leaving him to rely on others, some minds prove better suited to his detective work.
The story is also something that you really have to think about. When Aiden moves on to a new host, the day he lived before in the previous is not just suddenly gone. There are several times in fact that he runs into himself, giving him information to keep his past the same so that he can make sure his past self gets the information needed to move on. He checks the time constantly so that he can mentally keep track of where all of his hosts and many of the other guests of Blackheath are at any given time. It becomes like a big elaborate game of chess and it is played out beautifully.
