3.75/5 it has taken me nearly six years to read this book, and in all honesty, i'm glad i stuck out. (not only because i bought the books, lol). the writing is beautiful, the characters feel real in a way that's sometimes hard to find in ya, the teenagers act like teenagers. the way maggie describes magic is beautiful. it was like i could feel the magic bursting out of the book into the room i sat in. all that said, the beginning was extremely slow. i feel as if it could've been sped up a little. but i'm extremely pleased by how everything comes together in the end, so it's not that big of a complain from me.

You know, a time loop murder mystery is right up my alley of books, so it's not that hard to imagine that I found things to like in this book. The mystery of the murder was brilliantly done and was, in fact, the best part of the book. With every chapter, the author gave another piece of a puzzle that kept getting bigger and more complicated the more you solved it. The suspense was brilliantly done. Whatever red herrings we see are also resolved in a way that makes sense to them, and their particular plots. Similarly, the characters and their interpersonal dynamics were extremely well-done. It was easy to see why a character might feel the way they do for another character, whether that be affection or pure hatred. Also, the dynamic between Aiden and his hosts' and his hosts' family was great to see and nicely fleshed out for the time they had. Of course, there were some things that were not as well-done. For starters, the fatphobia. To some capacity, I understand why the MC might have said the things he said, and of course, we cannot forget the ways the fat character was complimented too. But, I do believe the author could've written a fat character with internalized fatphobia without getting as explicit as he did. The greater world-building, too, was left a bit hand-wavy. I understand why (this book isn't about a fantasy world, after all). But it could've been a bit more fleshed out, in my opinion. Similarly, the exact plot with the two Main Characters could've been started a little earlier in the story. It didn't need to be thrown at our faces in the last few chapters. And it would've felt a bit more streamlined if it had been seeded in a bit more. All in all, I liked reading it. Even despite the flaws, because the mystery of the multiple crimes happening at Blackheath was just too good. So, credit where credit is due: Stuart Turton knows how to write a hell of a whodunnit.