Hey if you ever wanted to do Doctor Who reviews/conversations/reactions etc, esp of the David Tennant era, I know tons of us would love to deep dive with you. Odd question, but are you a fan of the Star Trek: Next Generation series? I think you'd enjoy it and I would be so interested to hear from a 21st century perspective, since some of it was not on the right side of history after all. I took a grad school course that was 1/2 STNG analysis lol, it's packed with discussable themes. Was just thinking that one hour tv shows might be easier to digest in between 15 hr books, you could even have a second monetized channel very quick I'm sure. Just thoughts! Loved this, and yeah, disgusting bigotry inevitably ruins what it touches, what you read upset me, and I minimized my weight over a decade ago (it was/is an illness, nothing I did, and I certainly don't hate my fat self, she was soft & cozy & cute & she looked like the Venus of Willendorf & she could eat like a champ!)
You would have loved Readerly when it was still active, at least once a month I think about how sad I am the app closed down. I’m currently using Literal and just a day ago downloaded fable. Very excited as I love statistics!
The fact that Aiden finds it more disgusting to be the body of a fat person than the body of a serial rapist who he can feel lusting after his targets and raped someone the night prior is by far the most disgustingly fatphobic thing I've ever read.
@@krazyketo5148”BOTH hosts took a toll on him” but literally just being fat shouldn’t take a toll on him; he and the author clearly just hate fat bodies and equivocating his reaction to those two situations is weird!
@@krazyketo5148 me when i compare being in a body of a serial rapist and being a fat person like can you hear yourself????? rethink your brain chemistry because it is not computing
@@dilificusif this story was willing to explore any sort of actual commentary in a genuine way, I think it could be really interesting to see how someone suddenly ‘becoming’ fat and having to deal with the (both mental and physical) toll of having to exist in a fatphobic world would be. But Yk. I wouldn’t even call this book a missed opportunity.
I gained 100 pounds in college very suddenly. I found out later this was a rare side effect of a medication I'd been prescribed. I've always been bigger, but the change was so difficult to cope with at the time. My doctors all blamed my weight suddenly for problems that I'd been complaining about. I went to an endocrinologist who straight up told me I was lying about what happened and why I gained the weight and told me basically to buy this hundreds of dollars exercise video series to do at home. I've not been able to get that weight off because of the hormonal changes that occurred due to that medication. I have literally zero patience for fatphobia. The excerpt you read was so disgusting and unnecessary. Fat people deserve to exist peacefully in our bodies regardless of the hows and whys of our weight.
This. My mom gained around 100 lbs due to an intense cocktail of medications she was on for like 20 years. Despite eating maybe 500 calories a day (we tried everything but she just didn't eat) the weight never changed. People would always make comments and tell her ways to lose the weight. Then one day she finally changed medications and over the course of a summer it was like all that weight just melted away at an almost scary rate. So many life factors influence a person's weight and it's no one else's business because everyone deserves to live their lives.
I was prescribed several different medications for mental health but my psychiatrist failed to go through the side effects very well with me. Turns out most of them caused my 50-pound weight gain, AND several of them were basically redundant and canceling each other out. Some health care people really shouldn't be in health care.
Can relate. When I was 22, I was having anxiety induced tachycardia and my PCP put me on a beta blocker. I ended up gaining 30 lbs. I was already overweight and he never discussed any side effects with me or mentioned that I could gain more weight while on it. I was trying to diet, going to the gym an hour a day at one point every day, and kept gaining. I even ripped my jeans sitting down and I cried bc I was so embarassed for myself and didn't understand why I was getting bigger. Family members were making nasty comments, and telling me I was eating too much when I really wasn't. 1 year later, at 210 lbs, I went to get birth control, and the doctor brought up my weight and was like, "Oh, you know that medication can make you gain weight, right?" This was 2008 and I had never been on any meds before so I had no idea meds could make you gain so quickly. It wasn't doing much for me anyway, so when the rx ran out, I never requested to get a refill and lost 25 lbs in less than 9 months. It just fell off. I feel like since then, med side effects have been made more clear by doctors and pharmacies, but I def learned my lesson.
i hate how common it is for doctors to be fatphobic, but also how common it is to not listen to their patients or call them liars for talking about their own experiences in their own bodies
I’ve seen a lot of authors thinking they either don’t need an editor and will just “edit themselves” (which almost never works) or they ask a friend to edit for them. It’s been an unfortunate rising trend since Steph Meyer admitted she edited Twilight herself.
Considering the widespread societal and political acceptance of fatphobia, i would argue that body neutral or positive sentiments are far less politically correct than you think @krazyketo5148
It is EGREGIOUSLY fatphobic and i used to have a review outlining just the quotes from the first page of that chapter and got enough comments saying it was "an accurate representation of someone that size" i eventually just deleted it.
That's a dumb argument for lit. If I write "she had large brests which hung in the shape of heavy teardrops," it sounds better than "her huge breast looked heavy, like two slabs of meat hanging on hooks in a Bucher shop." Lmao, but I guess they are the same cuz it both describes large booba. I felt gross even writing that.
I dragged myself through the horrendous fatphobia and general tedium because I wanted so badly to see how the book ended. When the ending finally came, it was just... awful. The solution to the mystery was "fuck you, actually." It wasn't a twist, it was just stupid. I slogged through all that garbage and was rewarded with even more garbage.
Rachel, I love that you’re honest in your reviews. You’re always talking about how “not funny” you are however I often chuckle at your little quips throughout. I really enjoyed crocheting away while you talk about your feelings about this book.
I'm literally crocheting right now while listening. I agree with the quips; they're always so refreshing. Anytime a video is posted I bring out my latest project, sit back, and always do a double take when the video ends. No matter how long the video is I get so lost in it that I never realise how far I've gotten to.
I have a fat character in my story, and it's never once crossed my mind to actually write about him being fat, or write about how others feel about his weight. He doesn't even feel self conscious about his weight, and there's multiple characters he occasionally gets with, that thinks he's an absolutely charming guy and they adore him. The people that dislike him don't use his weight against him, they use the things he's done, or his morality against him. Striking at his personality and actions, rather than physical appearance. Fat shaming isn't even something I'm trying to avoid, it's just something that never comes up. Writers that have fat shaming in the way they write, clearly do it with the intent of it being harmful.
I also have a fat character in my fan anime! She’s quite sensitive and helpful and is a magical girl the the bullies/antagonists only make fun of her because of the sensitivity. I mean she’s based on a fat movie character. So why would I take that away from her?
@@draconicfeline6177haha you don't have to be ashamed lmao, we often write characters that suit aesthetics we like, it's the reason why so many characters are beautiful, I'd recommend trying to to however simply for the fun and experience of it, sincerely an aspiring plus sized author who writes about plus size characters lmao
I have a fat character, and they are trans. They do feel a bit insecure about their body, but it’s to do with her chest and genitalia. Most of the other characters who meet them think that they’re very pretty, and towards the end she gets to feel comfortable in their body with figure hugging clothes. If anyone can give me any tips about writing a fat, transfem character that would be greatly appreciated (I experience dysphoria with my chest but with its presence rather than lack of)
My main character is plus sized too and he literally doesn't ever need to talk about it??? Like, the only thing that ever gets commented on for his body is that he's "soft" as in like, no calluses on his hands. Why ppl feel the need to shame weight like it matters is beyond me
I feel like there was an opportunity here to discuss the fat characters struggles in terms of “wow things are harder for him in these ways” and explore some of the things a thin person doesn’t think about empathizing with. Shame it took a different route
That's the appeal of Christie. Her books are short and sharp. I can't stand adaptations that stretch the story out to multiple hours (hello, most recent And Then There Were None.
the funniest thing about it being 17 hours long is that it's based on a videogame (he did not give it credit) that you can beat in much less time than that
In a bit of unpleasant irony, there was quite a lot of fatphobia in Closed Casket, one of the Poirot novels written after Christie's death - there's a secondary character who's portrayed as an unpleasantly grotesque freak for being tall *and* portly (shock! horror!) and any complaints he has about his shoes being too small or stuff like that is all due to him being a big greedy dum-dum. Needless to say, I was mildly horrified when I listened to the audiobook.
I'm so jealous of all the people who will be able to read Piranesi for the first time, thanks to your recommendation. What a magical book. What an experience it is to read it.
I am one of those people! I’ve been in a major reading rut but Piranesi has so completely drawn me in. I’m halfway through and I keep thinking about the book when I’m not reading and when I’ll have time to read more 😃
I recommend looking into "The 22 Murders of Madison May". It's got guaranteed murder that has to be stopped but each one is fresh because it's parallel universe hopping instead of time loop. I'm not saying it's problem free, only that it's similar and i mostly enjoyed it and don't think it's got these problems
Its annoying when people make comments to invalidate your body. Once I was talking about clothes and how I have broad shoulders when someone cut me off and with a sweet toned, "no you don't." Im not telling you this to fish for imagined compliments, its relevant to cloths, and I've come to like my shoulders now, so telling me I don't kinda feels insulting at this point.
Yeah it’s super weird how (women especially) can’t have negative opinions about our OWN bodies because “you should love yourself!” But then women also harshly judge each other. It’s so odd. Because I’ve had the same experience of being like “oh I don’t like xyz” and people just HAVE to be like “nooo you’re beautiful!” And like… I never said I was ugly 😂 it’s okay I’m allowed to think my nose is ugly but my eyes are pretty. Like it’s okay folks. Not asking you to validate me
Based on the premise of the book, I think you might like Quantum Leap instead. It's an old TV show from the 90s where the protagonist jumps into different people's bodies to solve a mystery in that person's life and then hopefully be beamed back to his own body. He usually takes in each new body in stride, regardless of their gender, age, skin color, etc. It's not perfect, but infinitely way better than this book.
funnily enough, the reboot has one episode where the main guy body hops into multiple people in an effort to stop one tragic event. each time he fails to figure out the problem, he dies and jumps into the next person. def took the body hopping, time loop themes in a refreshing way - and without the fatphobia! 😅
A coworker just recommended Quantum leap to me half an hour ago! Now I gotta watch it (ignore that I have yet to finish Link Click 'cuz I don't know if it has a happy ending or not)
Thank you so much for calling this out. My experience was much the same as yours, but I second-guessed myself about how tedious and confusing the plot was and how meaningless the reveals felt because I had listened to the audiobook. I'd been planning to get a physical copy and re-read it, but now I can gleefully abandon that idea! I am also reminded of how grateful I am that I finally left my first husband. Even though he understood intellectually that I could not simply stop eating until I'd dropped enough weight to be acceptable to him, he was angry at me every single time I ate anything. And if I ate anything "extra," he'd give me the silent treatment for days. I was so confused when I was hospitalized for a week (due to a pulmonary embolism resulting from a genetic blood disorder) and the hospital dietician kept nagging me to eat more. She'd literally send me two of everything I ordered because I wasn't eating enough.
I am so happy that the doctor was like no you have to eat. That's absolutely disgusting that your partner would give you silent treatment for DAYS! for eating. You can actually starve even if you are fat. Fat people need more food than others because fat bodies use up more energy.
Literally, there is a part in one of JK's books where the protagonist sees a fat person, and immediately thinks how the first thing people must think about when they see him is what his penis looks like. I didn't think that was a realistic portrayal of how anyone thinks when they see a random person fat or not, but Staurt here seems to also have JK Rowling's weird fixation.
Thank you so much for this review! I have a daughter who is an avid reader, and a lot of the descriptions and such were really making it sound like a book for her. But my daughter has been struggling with her weight for some time, compounded by health issues which caused her to gain weight. I really don't want her to mistakenly be caught in something fat phobic. Again, thank you so much.
The argument "you are fat because you are lazy and do not stick to a diet" is as victim blaming as "poor people are poor because they are lazy and do not want to work". Plus there is a line between giving an advice out of health concern and being disrespectful as hell. And EVEN if somebody is fat and puts her or his health in danger you don't have the right to force them to listen to you and change, because getting fat has tons of reasons. This even made me remember those "lose weight" reality shows where the psychological abuse forced into the participants to lose weight is the reason that later they get even more health problems. Nice vid, I respect people talking about this more and more.
Thank you for putting the word out - I feel like fatphobia is rarely listed as a trigger warning in stories because of the implicit acceptance of same. EDs get TWs but not fatphobic writing like what you described. Disgusting. And a waste of words where a good story is meant to be told... So sorry you got triggered Rachel, please take care of yourself! Hugs! 💜
I've never read Evelyn Hardcastle but I HAVE read Piranesi and it ropes me in and I'm always in awe about it. It's so beautiful. It has a lot of conversation around identity, truth, and the pursuit of knowledge
I read Piranesi for the first time last year, then I immediately read it a second time to my husband. Watching him react to the story in real time was almost as good as reading it the first time. It’s a brilliant, masterfully-written book.
18:51 thank you for talking about this. I’m currently having problems with literal panic attacks when I think about eating in public. I have a restaurant I love that is down the street from my gym and I feel like explaining myself when I get food. I went to a dinner with friends, saw the numbers of calories, and had to hide in the bathroom for several minutes to stop hyperventilating and feeling my heart race.
It's just tragic that fatphobia took this book from a 5 star to a 1 star for you. From the way you described it, the plot would have moved on without it. It didn't even need to be there. That's unfortunate.
Nooooo she said the 5 first chapters made her think it was gonna be a 5 stars but it went sideways because of the fatphobia and the confusing/bad plot after the beginning.
@@8bitbee148 yeah, I must admit it lost my sympathies very firmly but by the end I think it flubbed seriously terribly. I don't really want to spoil it randomly, even though I think it's trash, but it thinks it's about redemption but it fails on every level to actually include the redemption. So it's ultimately a fun mystery that is about nothing, but it sincerely wants you to believe it said something important. Also, it's based on a videogame called The Sexy Brutale. That game did it better and you can beat it before the audiobook is over. They did not get credit, but there is a Eurogamer article where he tries to pass it off as wild coincidence.
The book has many fault, but I don't really think this is one of them. From looking up the plot of the game, it only seems to share a few elements, and mostly those are pretty common for time loop stories - trying to prevent something bad that happened, redemption, etc. @@storageheater
@@m2012o1 "I've never read anything like it. I have, however, played games like it. What's remarkable is Stuart Turton never made the connection. "It got pointed out to me immediately after people started reading it," he tells me now, sat in a room recording a podcast interview [which I am working on making available again now]. "I'd not intended it as a video game, I never thought about video games when I was writing it... I went to video games and did not realise I was doing it!"" "A more appropriate question for us to end on, however, has to be what a video game of The Seven Death of Evelyn Hardcastle would look like. "Sexy Brutale probably!" he answers right away, and laughs. "I tell you what, when that game was announced, I shit myself. I absolutely shat myself. Bits of that, bits of Maniac Mansion..." The Sexy Brutale was announced several years before Evelyn Hardcastle and came out a full year before it. Odd really.
I used to engage in fatphobia all the time. All my friends did too. I would notice while i was doing it how needlessly mean i was being but I did it anyway just as habit. Now that I have stopped doing that and reflected on it, I notice it everywhere. I can't believe that this was so engrained in me and just shoved in my face all the time. it's cruel and dehumanizing and should not be accepted by so many people
Oh thank goodness someone said it - I remember back when every booktuber was recommending this, and some of them would mention the fatphobia as a slight detractor, but I was astonished at how extensive it was when I read it
I recently went to the doctor for an EAR INFECTION and walked away with a recommended exercise regimen, and a prescription for tylenol and to focus on "body wellness and losing weight". Existing as a fat person is literally miserable. This is so terrible.
The way you phrased your frustration with fat phobia was so perfect. I think that most people would not be fat by choice and yet people who are fat phobic can only see it as a choice, or worse, a moral failing. They don’t stop to consider why a person’s weight would be outside of their control. They see being fat as some sort of negative, awful thing. I say “I’m fat” and I get responses like “No! Don’t say that about yourself!” Why not? I AM fat and I don’t see it as an insult, so why are you treating me like I called myself something horrible? People who don’t struggle with their weight or with body issues in general just DONT understand and it leads to fatphobic (or transphobic or ableist etc….) media like this book.
Also honestly if the fat phobia had a point, I could stomach it. There is a time and place for triggering content when done right and with warnings. If it was there to illustrate something about the personality and thoughts of the body hopping character, for example. I don’t think a narrator has to be necessarily nice or likable. It could have been a moment to demonstrate character growth or whatever the book wanted to comment on other than just “fat people are gross.” Not only is it egregious, it’s also just such a waste.
for real. (tw for disordered eating) I've tried to starve myself down to get weight off in the past, dropped maybe 20 pounds, was too miserable, went back to eating, went back to my previous weight. Would those people seriously think that stopping starving myself was a failing? I've literally tried to choose to stop being fat and it exacerbated my depression so much.
That sounds horrifying. I would probably be traumatized if I read something that horrendously callous. I've had my weight made fun of before on top of people being sexist and racist towards me so when I read books I just want to be able to get away from that. This book is needlessly cruel and for what? 1 star because we aren't allowed to give negative or imaginary numbers (so what was the point of learning about them in school?).
I don't see how negative and imaginary numbers not being applicable to the rating of books means that they aren't worth learning about, the idea that everything taught in schools needs to be immediately applicable to participating in the workforce/capitalism is rather harmful. Learning about new things is just good in and of itself
Maybe it's a brain fart but no-makeup Rachel with that hair swipe to the side I just had the word "Evanescence" pop in my head. Why? No idea but I'm listening to my immortal after this vid
I gained a huge amount of weight during puberty cause of hormones going crazy and not in nice way. I got my fair share of shame about how I am not like any other girl in my class, I did not grow the "right" curves and ate myself away from grief. You are incredibly beautiful, Rachel. As a woman, as a soul, as a reader and reviewer. I am trying to write a story and you are my inspiration how not to mess it up. I come to your new videos to listen to your amazing voice, I enjoy your jokes, I enjoy the way you are presenting yourself, your opinions and principles. I wish I would care enough to make such an effort with make up. You are a delight. And I am always there till the end for the "trash can Rachel". Lots of love to you and your family!
I tried this listen to this audiobook about 4 years ago and lasted about 50% before I gave up. I remember being truly baffled how a book which such a fascinating premise could end up being so boring. Hearing what happened in the end, I'm SO happy I didn't power through 😅
Rachel, you have AMAZING timing!! I just started writing a time loop murder mystery fanfic novel, and seeing a really good negative review of one from a reviewer I trust is SOO helpful right now!! I was taking notes while watching because you have a lot of great points I want to keep in mind as I do my pre-writing!! 💜
I was genuinely so fucking excited to read this book and it ended up being my ONE dnf of last year (a year when I finished 70 books!!!!) because I got to the first fatphobic chapter and just. I couldn't. I read a couple of chapters beyond that feeling deeply conflicted before I realised that if this had been racism or homophobia, even if it was redeemed later in the book, it would have been an instant dnf. What it really highlighted to me is how generally acceptable fatphobia is even in progressive spaces. I've had my eye on this book since it came out and not ONCE had I seen it mentioned. Like, part of the reason I kept reading for those couple of chapters was because no-one else was talking about it so I was like, maybe I'm being weird about this? I've never been perceived as fat so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about? But in the end I couldn't stop thinking about how uncomfortable those, what, 5 pages?? made me feel. What I'm saying is, fucking THANK YOU, this video is so fucking validating. My best friend also had this on her tbr and I'm just kind of relieved I got to this before she did because she's much more attuned to fatphobia than I am and I just feel like this needs to be something taken much more seriously than it is. Like, I can only imagine how horrible it would be as a fat person to be super fucking excited about this book and go in as ignorant about the fatphobic content as I was and how devastating it would be. I've largely dodged this particular bullet but I've also witnessed first hand how deeply it has fucked up people I love. Especially women, including trans women. tl;dr rian johnson steal this idea for a film and make it without the rancid content, thnx
Im currently reading it and im loving the story so far. The Fatphobia caught me wayyyy off guard and while I can understand trying to convey the complex emotions of being in a body so different from your own, it was just so...harsh. The language used made me uncomfortable at times and it felt like something that wasnt necessary to the story. If the author wanted to add phsyical limitations to one of the characters, he could have written a disabled or injured character to give the mc a greater challenge they had to work around. It can be tastefully done too. However, while I see what the author was trying to go for, it was pushed way too far and was dehumanizing in its execution.
piranesi and city of stairs (another robert jackson bennett book) are two five stars for me so glad you recc'ed them! shame about seven deaths, i absolutely love time loop stories
I used to be made fun of all the time for being under weight, thankfully I am now at a decent weight for my height, even though it wasn't the same as it was for my bigger friends I still absolutely HATE when people bully others based on their weight (too big or small) you never know what is causing it and a lot of times it is simply genetic and no matter what one does they will remain overweight. There is no excuse for making someone feel uncomfortable in their own body.
What an amazing coincidence! I'm exactly at the halfway point of Piranesi. During the first few chapters, there was just something about the capitalization of words within sentences that made it extremely hard for me to parse (German-phobia...? Homestuck war flashbacks...? The ADHD...? Who knows.....), but as it gets rolling, it's really hard to put down. My only regret is reading it in ebook format rather than hardcopy, cuz it's way harder to flip back and forth when the connections are connecting! I can see myself getting a physical copy if the ending pans out as well as the rest, though. It puts me at ease that Rachel and so many people in the comments are also recommending it wholeheartedly, though :)
I don't know if I'd give it one star, but fatphobia aside, the end of the novel's just a real let down. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery, because it really does not scratch that itch. It's an interesting creative writing exercise, and a lot of work probably was put into that, but it's markedly not for Agatha Christie fans (Oh but can you tell the ending made me kind of mad? Lol)
the only timeloop media ive ever enjoyed was in stars and time (ignore my pfp). a video game is the only thing that can make the repetition work, imo. a feel like a timeloop book is a bit of a nightmare in concept
TAZ did it well too but it was for one shortish arc. I think anything where the entire premise is a timeloop is usually not the best. Anyways how do you do fellow enjoyer of the only good timeloop media?
The initial premise reminded me A LOT of the game The Sexy Brutale. I feel like a concept like this would work better as a game anyway so that you still have to pay attention to your own actions during repetitive sections.
huh. if i had a cent for everytime there was a main character who body hopped and dealt with questions related to identity in a book that got fatphobic at some point, i'd have two cents, which isnt a lot but sad that it happened twice (every day by david levithan)
Turning this review into a Piranesi rec made me UNSPEAKABLY happy. And thank you for warning us about the insane, regressive anti-fat bias in 7 1/2 Deaths, it's going on the "never read" pile.
I love the Fable summaries! It’s been fun to see mine change with each book I read. Right now mine is Magic-Addicted Time Traveler: Your bookshelf is a portal to magical realms and twisted timelines. You're as likely to summon a dragon as to solve a murder. Just don't get lost in Faerie or a history book!
The body jumping thing reminds me of a YA book I read a decade ago called Every Day by David Levithan. The protagonist of the book, A, wakes up every day in a new body, and has done so their entire life. I remember a lot of the kids in my GSA reccomended the book as nonbinary representation, but I dont know if it was intended that way. I remember enjoying it but idk if it holds up or not
I was also reminded of that book (read it bc I was recommend it as a queer story and I really enjoyed it) but idek either how it holds up. It definitely dealt with the "brain hopping" better than what I can gather this book here did Migh reread it now
Also, if you like time loop stories, I highly recommend What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell! It’s a time loop horror staring a fat girl! They have to escape a corn maze, and it does the sort of character work you were describing that 7 1/2 Deaths lacks. It was one of my fav reads last year.
So so so glad I saw this when I did! I have a terrible habit of online book shopping and often simply purchase a read on synopsis alone, was just about to buy this book too so glad I didn’t waste my money! Glad to have avoided such a disappointment because I too thought this would be a 4-5 star for me, sad to hear it’s as much of a flop as it is but I look forward to the alternative recommended reads from the video and the comments! Thank you Rachel (and the commenters with all their excellent suggestions✨)!
It would have been more interesting if Anna (? the other person looping) was linked to the family and had been trapped in the loop for longer and became mad from it, maybe even lost her humanity and asked the protagonist to find the killet because she didn't find the answer and it haunts whatever she is now.
I just recently read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and it's a far superior book. It has very positive bi rep and presents such complex and realistic characters that are all written with respect. It sucks that 7 1/2 deaths has to resort to such egregious fat phobia to demonize a character. Makes me wonder if the author is dealing with these kinds of feelings towards other people in his life. It's sitting on my TBR pile now but I'm debating on unhauling it at this point
Not what the video was mainly about, but I’ve been thinking about finding a copy of Piranesi but didn’t have anyone I *knew* who had read it and recommended it so it just sat on the backburner for literal years. Now it’s at the top of my TBR list! 👀
This sounds like “the 7 lives of Lea” on netflix (amazing show 1000% recommend) Edit: I am now further into the video and the plots are very different, but if the idea of body swapping around to solve a murder in a different time stream sounds intriguing then I recommend this show
sounds like the plague doctor mask character (+ the setting of a rich person party) could've been going for a "masque of the red death" metaphor! doesn't seem like it made a lot of sense here tho haha
I was so excited for this book and was utterly disappointed the middle dragged so much and as other people have said he was more comfortable in the body of a sex offended than a bigger guy who has mobility issues is what’s truly vile!
thank you for saving me from ever having to bother trying to read a Turton book. I started this one but made it a few pages in ages ago - now I'm so glad I didn't get further.
This was something I only realized recently watching a different video discussing how much we as a society still hate fat people, how difficult it can be to go to the doctor. The video had clips from a podcast where a fat dude was discussing how miserable it is to go to the doctor for important health concerns, but only hears "how about you lose a few pounds" from said doctor, rather than this doctor doing their due diligence, THEIR JOB, and examining this person for the actual problems. And all I can think of is that I'm fat, but my doctor has never done that before. And I realized, its because my doctor is also a fat man, and his PA is a fat woman. When I go in and I've gained a few pounds they don't care. His PA says to me, "So what, as long as you're healthy." I have taken that for granted, and realizing that has made a fundamental impact on me, I appreciate them so much more.
The description you gave reminds me a lot of the video game "the sexy brutale", where you're also a stuck in a time loop trying to solve a murder mystery and its a lot better than this book sounds
It sounds like it should have been: 1) A different person every day 2) Aiden's control of the body is somewhat limited (since he does need to witness what they witnessed) 3) Aiden struggles with all kinds of body dysmorphia trapped in someone else's body 4) More diveristy among the witnesses 5) Every witness saw something different 6) Aiden is always booted out of the body within 3 or 5 minutes of the murder (so he can't see who did it) 7) One body, one chapter on how they experienced the day of the murder. 8) Should have been 10 chapters- one chapter for every suspect (7), 2 with Aiden in his own body (first and last), and 1 in Evelyn's. This fits with the title. 9a) It shouldn't've been purgatory 9b) Aiden's jumping should have been like, a curse or a feature of being a detective, or Evelyn is NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE HERE, so Aiden was tasked with saving her. Like Rachel said this has like, a good foundation but the execution and some of the choices didn't benefit the foundation.
i started reading this book on march and put it down because school was happening i was gonna pick it back up over the summer. definitly will not after hearing about it from you thanks for the warning ❤
The title reminds me of the first 15 lives if harry august. It’s about a man who is reincarnated and keeps the memories of all his previous lives. I liked it, but the writing style is a bit tedious to read( this could have been due to me reading this at 12 or 13)
After watching your video, I became curious if anybody interviewing Stuart Turton has asked about the fatphobia, and my searches turned up nothing. I did find this interesting quote from Turton though, where he congratulates himself for how much he humanized the fat character: "My protagonist is very cruel about his weight and, initially, only sees him as a hindrance. As the novel goes on he realizes the value of his intellect and comes to miss him. That was a great arc to write." Disgusting.
This has been on my TBR since it came out. It's now soundly off of that list. I am SO glad I put off reading it cause my body dysmorphia does not need to deal with random fatphobia in a book I wanted to get comfy with. No thank you! Fantastic video as always.
18:16 THIS! I hate taking food offered to me cuz I feel like I’m being greedy for taking food that was _literally_ offered to me. The anxiety and guilt go so hard!
Or when you grow up being told not to waste food so you don't even when you're too full to finish but you do and afterwards you feel like a disgusting pig because you have a hard time saying no to people. That's the biggest one for me
I stopped reading Evelyn Hardcastle after, like, 3 chapters because I just personally didn’t like the writing style. IDK how to describe it, just got bad vibes from it. Looking back I guess it was just my 10/10 perfect intuition lol
I know I'm super late to the party but I have to add this: It pisses me off to no end when people use the wet paper bag of an excuse for fatphobia of "I aM wORriEd ABoUt youR hEAltH". When a skinny person eats a whole bag of oreos do you react the same way? Or are they just treating themselves? If all of their labs and stats indicates that they are healthy would you stop asking them to lose weight? If they suddenly lose a bunch of weight over a short period of time, a sign of illness like cancer, are you concern about their health then? When they engage in unhealthy ways to lose weight do you tell them not to because it's unhealthy to do extreme diets? No? Do you know their medical history? Do you know what medications they are on? You don't care about their health, you care about their weight. Weight is related to health but it is NOT health.
The title of this book feels like it’s trying to dupe people into buying it by being a mix between ‘The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna’ and ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’
Join me on the Fable app to get your own reading stats: links.fable.co/reads-with-rachel
Hey if you ever wanted to do Doctor Who reviews/conversations/reactions etc, esp of the David Tennant era, I know tons of us would love to deep dive with you. Odd question, but are you a fan of the Star Trek: Next Generation series? I think you'd enjoy it and I would be so interested to hear from a 21st century perspective, since some of it was not on the right side of history after all. I took a grad school course that was 1/2 STNG analysis lol, it's packed with discussable themes. Was just thinking that one hour tv shows might be easier to digest in between 15 hr books, you could even have a second monetized channel very quick I'm sure. Just thoughts! Loved this, and yeah, disgusting bigotry inevitably ruins what it touches, what you read upset me, and I minimized my weight over a decade ago (it was/is an illness, nothing I did, and I certainly don't hate my fat self, she was soft & cozy & cute & she looked like the Venus of Willendorf & she could eat like a champ!)
Fable sucked me in back in February and I have not gone out.
@@standdownrobots_ihaveoldgloryI second this!
You would have loved Readerly when it was still active, at least once a month I think about how sad I am the app closed down. I’m currently using Literal and just a day ago downloaded fable. Very excited as I love statistics!
I love Fable! It’s been my favorite app of late.
The fact that Aiden finds it more disgusting to be the body of a fat person than the body of a serial rapist who he can feel lusting after his targets and raped someone the night prior is by far the most disgustingly fatphobic thing I've ever read.
It is incredibly disgusting and immoral.. filthy priorities. What a fucking waste of a premise.
@@krazyketo5148”BOTH hosts took a toll on him” but literally just being fat shouldn’t take a toll on him; he and the author clearly just hate fat bodies and equivocating his reaction to those two situations is weird!
@@krazyketo5148 me when i compare being in a body of a serial rapist and being a fat person
like can you hear yourself????? rethink your brain chemistry because it is not computing
Bro wtf that's a real insane choice on the part of the author. Make it make sense.
@@dilificusif this story was willing to explore any sort of actual commentary in a genuine way, I think it could be really interesting to see how someone suddenly ‘becoming’ fat and having to deal with the (both mental and physical) toll of having to exist in a fatphobic world would be. But Yk. I wouldn’t even call this book a missed opportunity.
I gained 100 pounds in college very suddenly. I found out later this was a rare side effect of a medication I'd been prescribed. I've always been bigger, but the change was so difficult to cope with at the time. My doctors all blamed my weight suddenly for problems that I'd been complaining about. I went to an endocrinologist who straight up told me I was lying about what happened and why I gained the weight and told me basically to buy this hundreds of dollars exercise video series to do at home. I've not been able to get that weight off because of the hormonal changes that occurred due to that medication. I have literally zero patience for fatphobia. The excerpt you read was so disgusting and unnecessary. Fat people deserve to exist peacefully in our bodies regardless of the hows and whys of our weight.
This. My mom gained around 100 lbs due to an intense cocktail of medications she was on for like 20 years. Despite eating maybe 500 calories a day (we tried everything but she just didn't eat) the weight never changed. People would always make comments and tell her ways to lose the weight. Then one day she finally changed medications and over the course of a summer it was like all that weight just melted away at an almost scary rate. So many life factors influence a person's weight and it's no one else's business because everyone deserves to live their lives.
Horrifically fucked up. You deserve better.
I was prescribed several different medications for mental health but my psychiatrist failed to go through the side effects very well with me. Turns out most of them caused my 50-pound weight gain, AND several of them were basically redundant and canceling each other out. Some health care people really shouldn't be in health care.
Can relate. When I was 22, I was having anxiety induced tachycardia and my PCP put me on a beta blocker. I ended up gaining 30 lbs. I was already overweight and he never discussed any side effects with me or mentioned that I could gain more weight while on it. I was trying to diet, going to the gym an hour a day at one point every day, and kept gaining. I even ripped my jeans sitting down and I cried bc I was so embarassed for myself and didn't understand why I was getting bigger. Family members were making nasty comments, and telling me I was eating too much when I really wasn't. 1 year later, at 210 lbs, I went to get birth control, and the doctor brought up my weight and was like, "Oh, you know that medication can make you gain weight, right?" This was 2008 and I had never been on any meds before so I had no idea meds could make you gain so quickly. It wasn't doing much for me anyway, so when the rx ran out, I never requested to get a refill and lost 25 lbs in less than 9 months. It just fell off. I feel like since then, med side effects have been made more clear by doctors and pharmacies, but I def learned my lesson.
i hate how common it is for doctors to be fatphobic, but also how common it is to not listen to their patients or call them liars for talking about their own experiences in their own bodies
Are book editors an endangered species?
Yes.
🙁
And sensitivity readers?
@@yarrowandlace1 extra yes
I’ve seen a lot of authors thinking they either don’t need an editor and will just “edit themselves” (which almost never works) or they ask a friend to edit for them. It’s been an unfortunate rising trend since Steph Meyer admitted she edited Twilight herself.
Considering the widespread societal and political acceptance of fatphobia, i would argue that body neutral or positive sentiments are far less politically correct than you think @krazyketo5148
It is EGREGIOUSLY fatphobic and i used to have a review outlining just the quotes from the first page of that chapter and got enough comments saying it was "an accurate representation of someone that size" i eventually just deleted it.
That's a dumb argument for lit. If I write "she had large brests which hung in the shape of heavy teardrops," it sounds better than "her huge breast looked heavy, like two slabs of meat hanging on hooks in a Bucher shop." Lmao, but I guess they are the same cuz it both describes large booba. I felt gross even writing that.
That’s awful yet unsurprising. People really just don’t understand that no, fatphobia is not normal. Demonizing weight like this is wrong.
Wooooooow that’s horrific. I don’t blame you for removing that at all.
@@UwUImTheoYou responding to every comment is concerning. Touch grass.
@@Ranixo286I blocked them. The fatphobia going on in the comments is childish.
I dragged myself through the horrendous fatphobia and general tedium because I wanted so badly to see how the book ended. When the ending finally came, it was just... awful. The solution to the mystery was "fuck you, actually." It wasn't a twist, it was just stupid. I slogged through all that garbage and was rewarded with even more garbage.
If you like Time Loop Mystery stories, check out Higurashi: When They Cry.
Rachel, I love that you’re honest in your reviews. You’re always talking about how “not funny” you are however I often chuckle at your little quips throughout. I really enjoyed crocheting away while you talk about your feelings about this book.
Hey, I too crochet along to Rachel’s videos! It’s so relaxing :D
I like to cross stitch while listening/watching videos like this.
I knit during! Hello fellow crafters! 💖
I'm literally crocheting right now while listening. I agree with the quips; they're always so refreshing. Anytime a video is posted I bring out my latest project, sit back, and always do a double take when the video ends. No matter how long the video is I get so lost in it that I never realise how far I've gotten to.
🥹💕😭 thank you for being here
I have a fat character in my story, and it's never once crossed my mind to actually write about him being fat, or write about how others feel about his weight. He doesn't even feel self conscious about his weight, and there's multiple characters he occasionally gets with, that thinks he's an absolutely charming guy and they adore him. The people that dislike him don't use his weight against him, they use the things he's done, or his morality against him. Striking at his personality and actions, rather than physical appearance.
Fat shaming isn't even something I'm trying to avoid, it's just something that never comes up. Writers that have fat shaming in the way they write, clearly do it with the intent of it being harmful.
I also have a fat character in my fan anime! She’s quite sensitive and helpful and is a magical girl the the bullies/antagonists only make fun of her because of the sensitivity. I mean she’s based on a fat movie character. So why would I take that away from her?
I have never written a fat character. I realized this just now. I am ashamed.
@@draconicfeline6177haha you don't have to be ashamed lmao, we often write characters that suit aesthetics we like, it's the reason why so many characters are beautiful, I'd recommend trying to to however simply for the fun and experience of it, sincerely an aspiring plus sized author who writes about plus size characters lmao
I have a fat character, and they are trans. They do feel a bit insecure about their body, but it’s to do with her chest and genitalia. Most of the other characters who meet them think that they’re very pretty, and towards the end she gets to feel comfortable in their body with figure hugging clothes. If anyone can give me any tips about writing a fat, transfem character that would be greatly appreciated (I experience dysphoria with my chest but with its presence rather than lack of)
My main character is plus sized too and he literally doesn't ever need to talk about it??? Like, the only thing that ever gets commented on for his body is that he's "soft" as in like, no calluses on his hands. Why ppl feel the need to shame weight like it matters is beyond me
I'm deleting all fatphobic comments. Grow up.
Only issue-people don't know how to do that. Anyways great video as always
All fatphobic comments
THANK YOU. This book triggered my ED like no other and I felt so betrayed by many ppl who recommended it to me with no warning
Ah fuck. Hope you are doing okay now 🙂🤗
I feel like there was an opportunity here to discuss the fat characters struggles in terms of “wow things are harder for him in these ways” and explore some of the things a thin person doesn’t think about empathizing with. Shame it took a different route
That requires empathy, though.
my mom who just finished this book who has severe body image issues- 💀 I wish I’d known so I could’ve told her to skip it
I hope she's okay after reading it.
I hope she is ok
Agatha Christie's murder mysteries last 6h on audio, 17h is unjustified for the genre.
That's the appeal of Christie. Her books are short and sharp. I can't stand adaptations that stretch the story out to multiple hours (hello, most recent And Then There Were None.
the funniest thing about it being 17 hours long is that it's based on a videogame (he did not give it credit) that you can beat in much less time than that
@@floraposteschild4184 wait what adaptation is that?? what kind of media is it 👀👀
@@melowlw8638what game? It's probably a better play.
In a bit of unpleasant irony, there was quite a lot of fatphobia in Closed Casket, one of the Poirot novels written after Christie's death - there's a secondary character who's portrayed as an unpleasantly grotesque freak for being tall *and* portly (shock! horror!) and any complaints he has about his shoes being too small or stuff like that is all due to him being a big greedy dum-dum.
Needless to say, I was mildly horrified when I listened to the audiobook.
I'm so jealous of all the people who will be able to read Piranesi for the first time, thanks to your recommendation. What a magical book. What an experience it is to read it.
I am one of those people! I’ve been in a major reading rut but Piranesi has so completely drawn me in. I’m halfway through and I keep thinking about the book when I’m not reading and when I’ll have time to read more 😃
@@sprocket0942. oooh! Hope you had fun!
The fatphobia is so aggressive oh my gosh. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was so cruel.
I recommend looking into "The 22 Murders of Madison May". It's got guaranteed murder that has to be stopped but each one is fresh because it's parallel universe hopping instead of time loop. I'm not saying it's problem free, only that it's similar and i mostly enjoyed it and don't think it's got these problems
Anyone recommending a Max Barry novel is an automatic like from me!
exactly what i thought of just seeing this book’s title! definitely an enjoyable read
Its annoying when people make comments to invalidate your body. Once I was talking about clothes and how I have broad shoulders when someone cut me off and with a sweet toned, "no you don't." Im not telling you this to fish for imagined compliments, its relevant to cloths, and I've come to like my shoulders now, so telling me I don't kinda feels insulting at this point.
Yeah it’s super weird how (women especially) can’t have negative opinions about our OWN bodies because “you should love yourself!” But then women also harshly judge each other. It’s so odd. Because I’ve had the same experience of being like “oh I don’t like xyz” and people just HAVE to be like “nooo you’re beautiful!” And like… I never said I was ugly 😂 it’s okay I’m allowed to think my nose is ugly but my eyes are pretty. Like it’s okay folks. Not asking you to validate me
Based on the premise of the book, I think you might like Quantum Leap instead. It's an old TV show from the 90s where the protagonist jumps into different people's bodies to solve a mystery in that person's life and then hopefully be beamed back to his own body. He usually takes in each new body in stride, regardless of their gender, age, skin color, etc. It's not perfect, but infinitely way better than this book.
Oh I loved quantum leap! Used to watch it with my dad
The remake is surprisingly good too - a LOT of very positive trans rep from what I’ve seen
funnily enough, the reboot has one episode where the main guy body hops into multiple people in an effort to stop one tragic event. each time he fails to figure out the problem, he dies and jumps into the next person. def took the body hopping, time loop themes in a refreshing way - and without the fatphobia! 😅
@@xoPotatoTreexo oh, no! that sucks :(
A coworker just recommended Quantum leap to me half an hour ago! Now I gotta watch it (ignore that I have yet to finish Link Click 'cuz I don't know if it has a happy ending or not)
Piranesi was such a delight to read and perfectly encapsulating the weird loneliness of 2020.
Thank you so much for calling this out. My experience was much the same as yours, but I second-guessed myself about how tedious and confusing the plot was and how meaningless the reveals felt because I had listened to the audiobook. I'd been planning to get a physical copy and re-read it, but now I can gleefully abandon that idea!
I am also reminded of how grateful I am that I finally left my first husband. Even though he understood intellectually that I could not simply stop eating until I'd dropped enough weight to be acceptable to him, he was angry at me every single time I ate anything. And if I ate anything "extra," he'd give me the silent treatment for days. I was so confused when I was hospitalized for a week (due to a pulmonary embolism resulting from a genetic blood disorder) and the hospital dietician kept nagging me to eat more. She'd literally send me two of everything I ordered because I wasn't eating enough.
I am so happy that the doctor was like no you have to eat. That's absolutely disgusting that your partner would give you silent treatment for DAYS! for eating. You can actually starve even if you are fat. Fat people need more food than others because fat bodies use up more energy.
When I read the title of the book, I thought "wait, is this a sequel to the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo?" 😂
The titles are kinda similar lmao
I was thinking that! I wonder if it’s on purpose to get people to pick it up thinking they’re related
I feel bad that the titles and covers are kinda similar bc the seven husbands of Evelyn hugo is so good and this is so not 😅
So, this author went to the same Plus Sized Representation class as JK Rowling?
That was exactly my thought as I was watching this!
Literally, there is a part in one of JK's books where the protagonist sees a fat person, and immediately thinks how the first thing people must think about when they see him is what his penis looks like. I didn't think that was a realistic portrayal of how anyone thinks when they see a random person fat or not, but Staurt here seems to also have JK Rowling's weird fixation.
And David Levithan... This book sounds a lot like "Every Day"
@@queencharlenewasn't Dudley fat and that was part of how his morals were illustrated?
@@draconicfeline6177Yeah, sadly. Rowling did give him more of a personality than people give credit for though.
Thank you so much for this review! I have a daughter who is an avid reader, and a lot of the descriptions and such were really making it sound like a book for her.
But my daughter has been struggling with her weight for some time, compounded by health issues which caused her to gain weight. I really don't want her to mistakenly be caught in something fat phobic. Again, thank you so much.
The argument "you are fat because you are lazy and do not stick to a diet" is as victim blaming as "poor people are poor because they are lazy and do not want to work". Plus there is a line between giving an advice out of health concern and being disrespectful as hell. And EVEN if somebody is fat and puts her or his health in danger you don't have the right to force them to listen to you and change, because getting fat has tons of reasons. This even made me remember those "lose weight" reality shows where the psychological abuse forced into the participants to lose weight is the reason that later they get even more health problems. Nice vid, I respect people talking about this more and more.
Thank you for putting the word out - I feel like fatphobia is rarely listed as a trigger warning in stories because of the implicit acceptance of same. EDs get TWs but not fatphobic writing like what you described. Disgusting. And a waste of words where a good story is meant to be told...
So sorry you got triggered Rachel, please take care of yourself! Hugs! 💜
I've never read Evelyn Hardcastle but I HAVE read Piranesi and it ropes me in and I'm always in awe about it. It's so beautiful. It has a lot of conversation around identity, truth, and the pursuit of knowledge
It's so good!
I read Piranesi for the first time last year, then I immediately read it a second time to my husband. Watching him react to the story in real time was almost as good as reading it the first time. It’s a brilliant, masterfully-written book.
18:51 thank you for talking about this. I’m currently having problems with literal panic attacks when I think about eating in public. I have a restaurant I love that is down the street from my gym and I feel like explaining myself when I get food. I went to a dinner with friends, saw the numbers of calories, and had to hide in the bathroom for several minutes to stop hyperventilating and feeling my heart race.
This keeps getting recommended to me and it’s available on Libby right now. Thank you for saving me 17 hours of my life.
Same. Just seeing this video's title my immediate thought was, "well, guess now I'm glad I never got around to that one" lol
Thanks for warning, I couldn't handle that level of fatphobia right now.
I'm not even fat, and that description made me feel dirty on the inside. To imagine someone looking at themselves in this way is so painful.
@@UwUImTheoAre you serious?
@@bregowegothey’re blocked now.
It's just tragic that fatphobia took this book from a 5 star to a 1 star for you. From the way you described it, the plot would have moved on without it. It didn't even need to be there. That's unfortunate.
Unfortunately (fortunately??) it seems it wasn’t just the fatphobia that earned it its 1 star
Nooooo she said the 5 first chapters made her think it was gonna be a 5 stars but it went sideways because of the fatphobia and the confusing/bad plot after the beginning.
@@8bitbee148 yeah, I must admit it lost my sympathies very firmly but by the end I think it flubbed seriously terribly. I don't really want to spoil it randomly, even though I think it's trash, but it thinks it's about redemption but it fails on every level to actually include the redemption. So it's ultimately a fun mystery that is about nothing, but it sincerely wants you to believe it said something important. Also, it's based on a videogame called The Sexy Brutale. That game did it better and you can beat it before the audiobook is over. They did not get credit, but there is a Eurogamer article where he tries to pass it off as wild coincidence.
The book has many fault, but I don't really think this is one of them. From looking up the plot of the game, it only seems to share a few elements, and mostly those are pretty common for time loop stories - trying to prevent something bad that happened, redemption, etc. @@storageheater
@@m2012o1
"I've never read anything like it.
I have, however, played games like it. What's remarkable is Stuart Turton never made the connection. "It got pointed out to me immediately after people started reading it," he tells me now, sat in a room recording a podcast interview [which I am working on making available again now]. "I'd not intended it as a video game, I never thought about video games when I was writing it... I went to video games and did not realise I was doing it!""
"A more appropriate question for us to end on, however, has to be what a video game of The Seven Death of Evelyn Hardcastle would look like. "Sexy Brutale probably!" he answers right away, and laughs. "I tell you what, when that game was announced, I shit myself. I absolutely shat myself. Bits of that, bits of Maniac Mansion..."
The Sexy Brutale was announced several years before Evelyn Hardcastle and came out a full year before it. Odd really.
I used to engage in fatphobia all the time. All my friends did too. I would notice while i was doing it how needlessly mean i was being but I did it anyway just as habit. Now that I have stopped doing that and reflected on it, I notice it everywhere. I can't believe that this was so engrained in me and just shoved in my face all the time. it's cruel and dehumanizing and should not be accepted by so many people
Oh thank goodness someone said it - I remember back when every booktuber was recommending this, and some of them would mention the fatphobia as a slight detractor, but I was astonished at how extensive it was when I read it
It's so long and detailed that you almost wonder if it was the secret reason the book was written, a la Tolkien and his invented languages
I recently went to the doctor for an EAR INFECTION and walked away with a recommended exercise regimen, and a prescription for tylenol and to focus on "body wellness and losing weight". Existing as a fat person is literally miserable. This is so terrible.
I’m so sorry that happened to you
doctors treat fat people like human beings challenge (99% FAIL)
The way you phrased your frustration with fat phobia was so perfect. I think that most people would not be fat by choice and yet people who are fat phobic can only see it as a choice, or worse, a moral failing. They don’t stop to consider why a person’s weight would be outside of their control. They see being fat as some sort of negative, awful thing. I say “I’m fat” and I get responses like “No! Don’t say that about yourself!” Why not? I AM fat and I don’t see it as an insult, so why are you treating me like I called myself something horrible? People who don’t struggle with their weight or with body issues in general just DONT understand and it leads to fatphobic (or transphobic or ableist etc….) media like this book.
Also honestly if the fat phobia had a point, I could stomach it. There is a time and place for triggering content when done right and with warnings. If it was there to illustrate something about the personality and thoughts of the body hopping character, for example. I don’t think a narrator has to be necessarily nice or likable. It could have been a moment to demonstrate character growth or whatever the book wanted to comment on other than just “fat people are gross.” Not only is it egregious, it’s also just such a waste.
for real. (tw for disordered eating) I've tried to starve myself down to get weight off in the past, dropped maybe 20 pounds, was too miserable, went back to eating, went back to my previous weight. Would those people seriously think that stopping starving myself was a failing? I've literally tried to choose to stop being fat and it exacerbated my depression so much.
I loved the concept of this book, time traveling body hopping mystery solving sounds great! But my god, the execution
Right?!
Figures your greatest foe, Colleen Hoover, would be your most read author. One must keep their enemies close.
Susanna Clarke writes amazing fantasy. I’ve only read _Jonathan Norrell and Mr. Strange_ and _Piranesi,_ but her worlds feel so real and plausible.
tbf those are her only two novels. Her only other book is a collection of short stories.
Yeah, she's such an underrated author. Truly a master of modern fantasy.
Piranesi is so brilliant. One of my favorite books of all time.
That sounds horrifying. I would probably be traumatized if I read something that horrendously callous. I've had my weight made fun of before on top of people being sexist and racist towards me so when I read books I just want to be able to get away from that. This book is needlessly cruel and for what? 1 star because we aren't allowed to give negative or imaginary numbers (so what was the point of learning about them in school?).
I don't see how negative and imaginary numbers not being applicable to the rating of books means that they aren't worth learning about, the idea that everything taught in schools needs to be immediately applicable to participating in the workforce/capitalism is rather harmful. Learning about new things is just good in and of itself
malevolent time loop deity sounds fun! at least we can be glad that idea wasnt wasted on this book 😊 24:36
I felt like I was the only one who noticed and was hurt by that part of the book😢 thank you for calling it out ❤
Maybe it's a brain fart but no-makeup Rachel with that hair swipe to the side I just had the word "Evanescence" pop in my head. Why? No idea but I'm listening to my immortal after this vid
I forgot about the plague doctor mask 😂😂😂
I gained a huge amount of weight during puberty cause of hormones going crazy and not in nice way. I got my fair share of shame about how I am not like any other girl in my class, I did not grow the "right" curves and ate myself away from grief.
You are incredibly beautiful, Rachel. As a woman, as a soul, as a reader and reviewer. I am trying to write a story and you are my inspiration how not to mess it up. I come to your new videos to listen to your amazing voice, I enjoy your jokes, I enjoy the way you are presenting yourself, your opinions and principles. I wish I would care enough to make such an effort with make up. You are a delight. And I am always there till the end for the "trash can Rachel". Lots of love to you and your family!
I tried this listen to this audiobook about 4 years ago and lasted about 50% before I gave up. I remember being truly baffled how a book which such a fascinating premise could end up being so boring. Hearing what happened in the end, I'm SO happy I didn't power through 😅
I have never been so early to any video. I feel the power! Is this what it means to be a god?
O Grand First Commentator, show the way to us mere late mortals!
Early bird gets the gummy worms
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness Infinite.”
Rachel, you have AMAZING timing!! I just started writing a time loop murder mystery fanfic novel, and seeing a really good negative review of one from a reviewer I trust is SOO helpful right now!! I was taking notes while watching because you have a lot of great points I want to keep in mind as I do my pre-writing!! 💜
I listened to this on 2x while playing Lego Fortnite…. It still took me 3 days to get through but lots of progress on my game village 👍
I was genuinely so fucking excited to read this book and it ended up being my ONE dnf of last year (a year when I finished 70 books!!!!) because I got to the first fatphobic chapter and just. I couldn't. I read a couple of chapters beyond that feeling deeply conflicted before I realised that if this had been racism or homophobia, even if it was redeemed later in the book, it would have been an instant dnf.
What it really highlighted to me is how generally acceptable fatphobia is even in progressive spaces. I've had my eye on this book since it came out and not ONCE had I seen it mentioned. Like, part of the reason I kept reading for those couple of chapters was because no-one else was talking about it so I was like, maybe I'm being weird about this? I've never been perceived as fat so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about? But in the end I couldn't stop thinking about how uncomfortable those, what, 5 pages?? made me feel.
What I'm saying is, fucking THANK YOU, this video is so fucking validating. My best friend also had this on her tbr and I'm just kind of relieved I got to this before she did because she's much more attuned to fatphobia than I am and I just feel like this needs to be something taken much more seriously than it is. Like, I can only imagine how horrible it would be as a fat person to be super fucking excited about this book and go in as ignorant about the fatphobic content as I was and how devastating it would be. I've largely dodged this particular bullet but I've also witnessed first hand how deeply it has fucked up people I love. Especially women, including trans women.
tl;dr rian johnson steal this idea for a film and make it without the rancid content, thnx
Im currently reading it and im loving the story so far. The Fatphobia caught me wayyyy off guard and while I can understand trying to convey the complex emotions of being in a body so different from your own, it was just so...harsh. The language used made me uncomfortable at times and it felt like something that wasnt necessary to the story. If the author wanted to add phsyical limitations to one of the characters, he could have written a disabled or injured character to give the mc a greater challenge they had to work around. It can be tastefully done too. However, while I see what the author was trying to go for, it was pushed way too far and was dehumanizing in its execution.
piranesi and city of stairs (another robert jackson bennett book) are two five stars for me so glad you recc'ed them! shame about seven deaths, i absolutely love time loop stories
City of Stairs annoyed me because I felt like it fell into the "kill your gays" trope. Do Bennett's other works avoid this trope?
I used to be made fun of all the time for being under weight, thankfully I am now at a decent weight for my height, even though it wasn't the same as it was for my bigger friends I still absolutely HATE when people bully others based on their weight (too big or small) you never know what is causing it and a lot of times it is simply genetic and no matter what one does they will remain overweight. There is no excuse for making someone feel uncomfortable in their own body.
What an amazing coincidence! I'm exactly at the halfway point of Piranesi. During the first few chapters, there was just something about the capitalization of words within sentences that made it extremely hard for me to parse (German-phobia...? Homestuck war flashbacks...? The ADHD...? Who knows.....), but as it gets rolling, it's really hard to put down.
My only regret is reading it in ebook format rather than hardcopy, cuz it's way harder to flip back and forth when the connections are connecting! I can see myself getting a physical copy if the ending pans out as well as the rest, though. It puts me at ease that Rachel and so many people in the comments are also recommending it wholeheartedly, though :)
I don't know if I'd give it one star, but fatphobia aside, the end of the novel's just a real let down. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery, because it really does not scratch that itch. It's an interesting creative writing exercise, and a lot of work probably was put into that, but it's markedly not for Agatha Christie fans (Oh but can you tell the ending made me kind of mad? Lol)
I LITERALLY HAVE THIS ON MY SHELF AND I HAVEN'T READ IT YET NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The name "Evelyn Hardcastle" reminded me of Hank Green's band album "Ellen Hardcastle." Never listened to it, but the name is certainly iconic.
the only timeloop media ive ever enjoyed was in stars and time (ignore my pfp). a video game is the only thing that can make the repetition work, imo. a feel like a timeloop book is a bit of a nightmare in concept
TAZ did it well too but it was for one shortish arc. I think anything where the entire premise is a timeloop is usually not the best. Anyways how do you do fellow enjoyer of the only good timeloop media?
I think it can work, but you would have to probably keep it a short novel or a novella.
The initial premise reminded me A LOT of the game The Sexy Brutale. I feel like a concept like this would work better as a game anyway so that you still have to pay attention to your own actions during repetitive sections.
I loved “The Sexy Brutale.”
huh. if i had a cent for everytime there was a main character who body hopped and dealt with questions related to identity in a book that got fatphobic at some point, i'd have two cents, which isnt a lot but sad that it happened twice (every day by david levithan)
bro i read this book literally two years ago and i never think about it and i instantly remembered what chapter you mean...
I love people who reference phineas and ferb
If you love Looper, I think you might be interested in not a book, but a game: Deathloop.
Even if you can’t play it, take a look at a story synopsis!
Turning this review into a Piranesi rec made me UNSPEAKABLY happy. And thank you for warning us about the insane, regressive anti-fat bias in 7 1/2 Deaths, it's going on the "never read" pile.
I love the Fable summaries! It’s been fun to see mine change with each book I read. Right now mine is
Magic-Addicted Time Traveler: Your bookshelf is a portal to magical realms and twisted timelines. You're as likely to summon a dragon as to solve a murder. Just don't get lost in Faerie or a history book!
Yeah, if Agatha Christie heard of this mystery, she would be jealous-jealous of her past self who hadn’t heard of it yet!
The body jumping thing reminds me of a YA book I read a decade ago called Every Day by David Levithan. The protagonist of the book, A, wakes up every day in a new body, and has done so their entire life. I remember a lot of the kids in my GSA reccomended the book as nonbinary representation, but I dont know if it was intended that way. I remember enjoying it but idk if it holds up or not
I was also reminded of that book (read it bc I was recommend it as a queer story and I really enjoyed it) but idek either how it holds up.
It definitely dealt with the "brain hopping" better than what I can gather this book here did
Migh reread it now
Also, if you like time loop stories, I highly recommend What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell! It’s a time loop horror staring a fat girl! They have to escape a corn maze, and it does the sort of character work you were describing that 7 1/2 Deaths lacks. It was one of my fav reads last year.
So so so glad I saw this when I did! I have a terrible habit of online book shopping and often simply purchase a read on synopsis alone, was just about to buy this book too so glad I didn’t waste my money! Glad to have avoided such a disappointment because I too thought this would be a 4-5 star for me, sad to hear it’s as much of a flop as it is but I look forward to the alternative recommended reads from the video and the comments!
Thank you Rachel (and the commenters with all their excellent suggestions✨)!
I have been waiting for this review !!
god i really do appreciate your book reviews
Continuing the proud tradition of literary fatphobia. Think I'm gonna need to give it a pass.
I got an anxiety stomach ache just from hearing you talk about the book. How could anyone let this get to print? What was his editor THINKING???
It would have been more interesting if Anna (? the other person looping) was linked to the family and had been trapped in the loop for longer and became mad from it, maybe even lost her humanity and asked the protagonist to find the killet because she didn't find the answer and it haunts whatever she is now.
Thank you for always reviewing the books im like “ehhhh idk” and then I knew I was right to trust my instincts lmao
I just recently read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and it's a far superior book. It has very positive bi rep and presents such complex and realistic characters that are all written with respect. It sucks that 7 1/2 deaths has to resort to such egregious fat phobia to demonize a character. Makes me wonder if the author is dealing with these kinds of feelings towards other people in his life. It's sitting on my TBR pile now but I'm debating on unhauling it at this point
Commenting for when I find this video again after I've finished the book, I saw the title and thumbnail, and I totally understand lol
Not even the description of the Inn owner in Papa Goriot made me feel so revolted as this omg. Its so umprompted and unjustified
Not what the video was mainly about, but I’ve been thinking about finding a copy of Piranesi but didn’t have anyone I *knew* who had read it and recommended it so it just sat on the backburner for literal years. Now it’s at the top of my TBR list! 👀
if you need more assurance i really loved it too :)
I watched Looper in theater and it chilled me!
Thanks for the clarification at the top of this because I definitely thought this was a sequel to Evelyn Hugo one 🤣
This sounds like “the 7 lives of Lea” on netflix (amazing show 1000% recommend)
Edit: I am now further into the video and the plots are very different, but if the idea of body swapping around to solve a murder in a different time stream sounds intriguing then I recommend this show
sounds like the plague doctor mask character (+ the setting of a rich person party) could've been going for a "masque of the red death" metaphor! doesn't seem like it made a lot of sense here tho haha
5:05 I'm so excited for this, I had read it years ago and kept notes of every chapter and such. Only to hate it *and* know the upcoming twists
I was so excited for this book and was utterly disappointed the middle dragged so much and as other people have said he was more comfortable in the body of a sex offended than a bigger guy who has mobility issues is what’s truly vile!
Men ☕
(The book was written by a man, right?)
@@mittag983 yes it was lol
thank you for saving me from ever having to bother trying to read a Turton book. I started this one but made it a few pages in ages ago - now I'm so glad I didn't get further.
This was something I only realized recently watching a different video discussing how much we as a society still hate fat people, how difficult it can be to go to the doctor.
The video had clips from a podcast where a fat dude was discussing how miserable it is to go to the doctor for important health concerns, but only hears "how about you lose a few pounds" from said doctor, rather than this doctor doing their due diligence, THEIR JOB, and examining this person for the actual problems. And all I can think of is that I'm fat, but my doctor has never done that before. And I realized, its because my doctor is also a fat man, and his PA is a fat woman. When I go in and I've gained a few pounds they don't care. His PA says to me, "So what, as long as you're healthy."
I have taken that for granted, and realizing that has made a fundamental impact on me, I appreciate them so much more.
Do you happen to remember what video you watched? I’d love to watch something like that to broaden my perspective 😁
@@kayejk
we need to talk about Ozempic. - by
elle literacy
@@caitlinfitzgibbon9410 Thank you so much!
The description you gave reminds me a lot of the video game "the sexy brutale", where you're also a stuck in a time loop trying to solve a murder mystery and its a lot better than this book sounds
It sounds like it should have been:
1) A different person every day
2) Aiden's control of the body is somewhat limited (since he does need to witness what they witnessed)
3) Aiden struggles with all kinds of body dysmorphia trapped in someone else's body
4) More diveristy among the witnesses
5) Every witness saw something different
6) Aiden is always booted out of the body within 3 or 5 minutes of the murder (so he can't see who did it)
7) One body, one chapter on how they experienced the day of the murder.
8) Should have been 10 chapters- one chapter for every suspect (7), 2 with Aiden in his own body (first and last), and 1 in Evelyn's. This fits with the title.
9a) It shouldn't've been purgatory
9b) Aiden's jumping should have been like, a curse or a feature of being a detective, or Evelyn is NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE HERE, so Aiden was tasked with saving her.
Like Rachel said this has like, a good foundation but the execution and some of the choices didn't benefit the foundation.
i started reading this book on march and put it down because school was happening i was gonna pick it back up over the summer. definitly will not after hearing about it from you thanks for the warning ❤
LOVED piranesi… god almighty it was amazing
We read this at my must club and if I remember right everyone who finished it liked it. I don't recall finishing it.
The title reminds me of the first 15 lives if harry august. It’s about a man who is reincarnated and keeps the memories of all his previous lives. I liked it, but the writing style is a bit tedious to read( this could have been due to me reading this at 12 or 13)
After watching your video, I became curious if anybody interviewing Stuart Turton has asked about the fatphobia, and my searches turned up nothing. I did find this interesting quote from Turton though, where he congratulates himself for how much he humanized the fat character: "My protagonist is very cruel about his weight and, initially, only sees him as a hindrance. As the novel goes on he realizes the value of his intellect and comes to miss him. That was a great arc to write." Disgusting.
This has been on my TBR since it came out. It's now soundly off of that list. I am SO glad I put off reading it cause my body dysmorphia does not need to deal with random fatphobia in a book I wanted to get comfy with. No thank you! Fantastic video as always.
read this book ages ago and it drove me MAD with the potential versus outcome
18:16 THIS! I hate taking food offered to me cuz I feel like I’m being greedy for taking food that was _literally_ offered to me. The anxiety and guilt go so hard!
Or when you grow up being told not to waste food so you don't even when you're too full to finish but you do and afterwards you feel like a disgusting pig because you have a hard time saying no to people. That's the biggest one for me
Love that at the end this just went off the rails and became a recommendation dump. Needed the good ideas for what to read next
I stopped reading Evelyn Hardcastle after, like, 3 chapters because I just personally didn’t like the writing style. IDK how to describe it, just got bad vibes from it. Looking back I guess it was just my 10/10 perfect intuition lol
I know I'm super late to the party but I have to add this: It pisses me off to no end when people use the wet paper bag of an excuse for fatphobia of "I aM wORriEd ABoUt youR hEAltH". When a skinny person eats a whole bag of oreos do you react the same way? Or are they just treating themselves? If all of their labs and stats indicates that they are healthy would you stop asking them to lose weight? If they suddenly lose a bunch of weight over a short period of time, a sign of illness like cancer, are you concern about their health then? When they engage in unhealthy ways to lose weight do you tell them not to because it's unhealthy to do extreme diets? No? Do you know their medical history? Do you know what medications they are on? You don't care about their health, you care about their weight. Weight is related to health but it is NOT health.
The title of this book feels like it’s trying to dupe people into buying it by being a mix between ‘The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna’ and ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’
That’s sad and disappointing :( I saw this one in the store and took a picture so I’d remember to get it later, i guess the author shot for the sun