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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
tense
Could not stand or care about the characters from the first page ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
๐บ๐๐๐ ๐จ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐
๐ท๐: ๐๐๐๐พ๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐๐๐
๐๐๐
๐๐ซ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ: The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the Calhouns are in the midst of hosting their annual party to celebrate the best of the spring season. With a house full of friends, neighbors, and their beloved three adult children, the Calhouns are expecting another picture-perfect event. But a brutal murder in the middle of the celebration transforms the yearly gathering into a homicide scene, and all the guests into suspects.
๐๐ช๐ฟ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป: Trey. I love his wittiness, and I feel so much sympathy for him.
๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ญ: The DRAMA! This book has so much of it, and I loved that part. Family secrets, affairs, death, deception! The banter between the siblings was great and the secrets really kept me going, I HAD to know what the heck was going on!
๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ญ: One of the characters truly annoyed the crap out of me the entire book. She at times took away from the terrible reality they were facing, and for me it gave a lot away.
Overall this book kept me very intrigued, and had quite a few twists I didnโt expect.
Thank you,
๐๐๐๐พ๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐๐๐
๐๐๐, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this advanced copy
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
If you're looking for some rich people's family drama and murder go give this one a go!
The book had so many characters and different POVs that I had quite some trouble following. They all had some secrets from eachother, were very unlikeable and I wasn't really invested in them. I had moments I really liked the book and other parts just dragged on. The pacing was very off in my opinion and I'm a little sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. As the secrets start to unravel and the big twist is about to be revealed I sadly was already mentally checked out from the story and I didn't really care about the outcome. It isn't a bad book per se but it simply wasn't my cup of tea.
Thank you to Aggie Blum Thompson, A Forgebooks and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for me honest opinion.
The book had so many characters and different POVs that I had quite some trouble following. They all had some secrets from eachother, were very unlikeable and I wasn't really invested in them. I had moments I really liked the book and other parts just dragged on. The pacing was very off in my opinion and I'm a little sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. As the secrets start to unravel and the big twist is about to be revealed I sadly was already mentally checked out from the story and I didn't really care about the outcome. It isn't a bad book per se but it simply wasn't my cup of tea.
Thank you to Aggie Blum Thompson, A Forgebooks and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for me honest opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Car accident, Murder
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at Tor for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Such a Lovely Family follows the Calhouns on the night of their annual Cherry Blossom Party. The D.C. elite love to show up to the family's gorgeous house and view the cherry blossoms in full bloom. But what no one expected was for the night to end in murder. Now a police investigation is underway and this picture perfect family's dark secrets start to come out. When their money can no longer get rid of the Calhouns' problems and they find themselves backed into a corner, what will they do to make sure they come out on top? Such a Lovely Family comes out on March 12th and is available for preorder now.
I was surprised when I finished this book and found myself wanting to give it a 4 star rating. I usually don't give Adult Mystery novels that high of a rating. Usually there's a problem with pacing or something in the ending that ruins it for me. But, surprisingly, not this time. I love some rich people drama because it's so absolutely absurd. It was giving the Grayson family from Revenge which I ate up. We follow the Calhoun family on the day of the party as little secrets start to come out and all of the drama gets laid out. Why did the flowers never arrive? Why is Ellie Grace so focused on getting the perfect photos? Why won't Nate open up about his ex-wife? What is going on with Trey's sobriety? And why is Thom's grin just a little too forced? I loved this small community setting of the uber rich with all of its little daily dramas happening in the midst of the murder investigation. I also found the characters to be well rounded. My favorite character was Nate's fiancรฉe who is meeting the family for the first time and sucked into its vortex. I enjoyed the outsider's perspective. And I just have to say that the last couple of pages of the book were practically perfect for me. Specifically the final sentence. It leaves a sense of foreboding that punctuates the story so well. It also leans into the conversation that could be had about communities like this, neighborhoods like this.
The main problem I had with this one was how obvious some of these little secrets are while you're reading the book. Some of them were completely out of left field for me and were pretty good. But some of them I called pretty early on. The overarching mystery of who committed the murder and why and how was a pretty good surprise. I will also say that the ending is a little sloppy. It was sloppy in a way that can make sense, but made me feel like the author had to pull a few things together at the end to make it all work.
Overall, I had a surprisingly good time with this one. It had a lot of the things I was really looking for in an Adult Mystery. I was originally planning on taking five days to read this one so the fact that I read it in three really speaks to its readability.
This is a popcorn, rich people drama, thriller if Iโve ever seen one. If you like reading about rich white people, family drama, in Lucy Foleyโs writing style, then this will be perfect for you. We follow multiple POVs at the Calhounโs annual cherry blossom party when a murder occurs.
I didnโt think the plot twists in here were anything amazing or unbelievable. Reading this, I figured out that I donโt care about rich family dramas hahaha cause I didnโt care about any of the characters. They were all unlikable, all had their secrets from each other. The ending wasnโt anything shocking. Unfortunately, a pretty average thriller for me.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
I didnโt think the plot twists in here were anything amazing or unbelievable. Reading this, I figured out that I donโt care about rich family dramas hahaha cause I didnโt care about any of the characters. They were all unlikable, all had their secrets from each other. The ending wasnโt anything shocking. Unfortunately, a pretty average thriller for me.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Such A Lovely Family
By Aggie Blum Thompson
Rating: 4.5/5 โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ
The book follows the Calhoun Family A picture-perfect family. Thom and Ginny have been married for 35 years. They have 3 Adult children together. The Eldest is Thomas (Trey) Calhoun III, The middle child is Nate Calhoun and the youngest is Ellie Grace. While hosting their annual Cherry Blossom Party, tragedy strikes when the party ends in murder. Soon dark secrets within the family are slowly revealed when the family is placed under a microscope as possible suspects.
The author wrote the Calhoun family perfectly. This is exactly what Iโd imagine when I think of a โPicture-perfectโ family. Extravagant parties, Christmas cards with coordinating outfits, and spending thousands just for fun. Just for the family to keep up a facade of a perfect life while secretly falling apart. Ginny's favorite child Trey is the black sheep of the family who has returned home with the help of his parents to get him on the right path after making a huge mess in California. Nate is the seemingly normal one of the bunch. He would prefer a simple life with his fiancรฉ Danit and Son Maclom. Ellie Grace an Instagram Influencer with a need to show off her seemingly "perfect life" to her thousands of followers. What Ellie Grace really craves is her parent's acceptance and attention.
Such a lovely family has secrets, lies, twists, betrayal, and murder. This is whodunnit kept me guessing until the very end. Everyone has a secret in the book and in each chapter, it's revealed. The book had me gasping out loud with each reveal. Each character played a special role and the personalities were written in perfect detail. My absolute favorite character was Cookie! I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller and look forward to reading more from Aggie Thompson.
Thank you to NetGalley, A Forgebooks, and Aggie Blum Thompson for the opportunity to be an ARC reader in exchange for an honest review.
By Aggie Blum Thompson
Rating: 4.5/5 โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ โญ๏ธ
The book follows the Calhoun Family A picture-perfect family. Thom and Ginny have been married for 35 years. They have 3 Adult children together. The Eldest is Thomas (Trey) Calhoun III, The middle child is Nate Calhoun and the youngest is Ellie Grace. While hosting their annual Cherry Blossom Party, tragedy strikes when the party ends in murder. Soon dark secrets within the family are slowly revealed when the family is placed under a microscope as possible suspects.
The author wrote the Calhoun family perfectly. This is exactly what Iโd imagine when I think of a โPicture-perfectโ family. Extravagant parties, Christmas cards with coordinating outfits, and spending thousands just for fun. Just for the family to keep up a facade of a perfect life while secretly falling apart. Ginny's favorite child Trey is the black sheep of the family who has returned home with the help of his parents to get him on the right path after making a huge mess in California. Nate is the seemingly normal one of the bunch. He would prefer a simple life with his fiancรฉ Danit and Son Maclom. Ellie Grace an Instagram Influencer with a need to show off her seemingly "perfect life" to her thousands of followers. What Ellie Grace really craves is her parent's acceptance and attention.
Such a lovely family has secrets, lies, twists, betrayal, and murder. This is whodunnit kept me guessing until the very end. Everyone has a secret in the book and in each chapter, it's revealed. The book had me gasping out loud with each reveal. Each character played a special role and the personalities were written in perfect detail. My absolute favorite character was Cookie! I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller and look forward to reading more from Aggie Thompson.
Thank you to NetGalley, A Forgebooks, and Aggie Blum Thompson for the opportunity to be an ARC reader in exchange for an honest review.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes