New episode out now! We read the 2018 novel The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, described by many reviewers as a mixture of Agatha Christie, Quantum Leap, and Groundhog Day. We talk about how the book was very confusing and at times frustrating, taking us through twists and turns and paths and timelines and ultimately snowballing until all the threads pulled together at the very end. We comment on how the book gave us a lot to keep track of yet we could not trust anything we knew, thought that all of the characters were interesting but not good people, discuss how there are in reality three separate mysteries, and are very grateful for book club Reddit. We also really get into the wordbuilding and what it means for their society, delve into the meaning of personhood, compare the experience of reading to RPG, and praise the editors for keeping everything straight. Katy had 18 pages of notes, Carrie proofread a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, Maddy forgot what blancmange is, and Mack completed a lot of collector missions in Red Dead Redemption 2. We also investigate how our comprehension is affected (or not affected) when reading a physical book versus an eBook versus an audiobook, share the crafts and busywork we do with our hands when reading or watching things, discuss what we would do in a Groundhog Day situation, and talk about The Good Place a lot. Listen to hear more about Justin McElroy, Star Trek, Jeremy Bearimy, fainting, Disco Elysium, autism, and a lot of audible note shuffling. And please remember to support your local library! Enjoy!

Spoiler Warning: In addition to spoiling this whole book, we also spoil The Good Place and The Outer Worlds video game.

TW: Fatphobia, sexual assault, British Imperialism, Margaret Thatcher, vomiting

Show Notes:

• The Times review
• The Guardian Review
• The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Summary By Med Kharbach, PhD
• The last summary post of JesusAndTequila on Reddit