I was really excited for this book and it exceeded every high expectation. Picture a mashup of Clue, Agatha Christie, Downton Abbey, and Groundhog Day. You know the time turner sequence from Prisoner of Azkaban? Throw in a murder-mystery night feel and this is a whole brilliant book like it, except this one made me even giddier. Enough with comparisons because this was unlike anything I've read before and I absolutely adored it.
A man wakes up disoriented in the forest with a single word on his lips, "Anna". He can't remember who, or where, he is when he hears a scream followed by a gunshot. We soon learn that he is doomed to relive the day of a murder until he is able to solve it. Each day he wakes up in the body of a different witness/suspect. He has 8 days (and hosts) before his memory is wiped and he has to start all over.
The time travel aspect of reliving the same day 8x is handled ingeniously and offers up countless intriguing questions & twists. No one feels reliable. Nothing can be predicted yet the reveals make perfect sense with the clues you were given.
While I would definitely describe this as more of a plot driven novel, I found it fascinating from a character perspective that our protagonist's soul is constant but each host he inhabits has its own mind, personality and body. With each new host he's increasingly at risk of losing his sense of self and each character's traits make him question his own.
The structure is a ton of fun, the setting defines atmospheric, and I loved the writing. Turton's descriptions and playful use of metaphor and personification had me grinning and book darting all over the place. I can't recommend this enough (for the right type of reader 😉).
Recommend for: Readers who love twisty, complex mysteries. Those intrigued by the idea of a book that's both wildly inventive yet still has a classic whodunit feel.
May not be for you if: You have little patience for books that can be confusing and are sensitive to plots that can feel convoluted (This is like a knot of time, characters, and plot points. It's not easy, but it's fun if you're into unraveling it all). You don’t like unreliable characters.
A man wakes up disoriented in the forest with a single word on his lips, "Anna". He can't remember who, or where, he is when he hears a scream followed by a gunshot. We soon learn that he is doomed to relive the day of a murder until he is able to solve it. Each day he wakes up in the body of a different witness/suspect. He has 8 days (and hosts) before his memory is wiped and he has to start all over.
The time travel aspect of reliving the same day 8x is handled ingeniously and offers up countless intriguing questions & twists. No one feels reliable. Nothing can be predicted yet the reveals make perfect sense with the clues you were given.
While I would definitely describe this as more of a plot driven novel, I found it fascinating from a character perspective that our protagonist's soul is constant but each host he inhabits has its own mind, personality and body. With each new host he's increasingly at risk of losing his sense of self and each character's traits make him question his own.
The structure is a ton of fun, the setting defines atmospheric, and I loved the writing. Turton's descriptions and playful use of metaphor and personification had me grinning and book darting all over the place. I can't recommend this enough (for the right type of reader 😉).
Recommend for: Readers who love twisty, complex mysteries. Those intrigued by the idea of a book that's both wildly inventive yet still has a classic whodunit feel.
May not be for you if: You have little patience for books that can be confusing and are sensitive to plots that can feel convoluted (This is like a knot of time, characters, and plot points. It's not easy, but it's fun if you're into unraveling it all). You don’t like unreliable characters.