Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

37 reviews

cindytheskull's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

I was given this book by my auntie, but it would have never been something I would have bought for myself.

All in all it’s a too easy and predictable read with a cast of absolutely annoying characters that keep acting like no human being would ever act in similar situations.

I finished it just to be sure my prediction, which happened by 20% completion of my reading, was actually correct.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Pregnancy, Death, and Drug abuse

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Incest, Classism, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Biphobia and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm

natashaball's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I had high hopes for this, but I think the storyline was a bit far-fetched , and the clues were made very specifically for Lily so tricky for the reader to work out, although fun to try! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Death

salvianlehdet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Very nice, tense and interesting book! I liked the 12 days of christmas anagram game alot, it made me read some of the chapters multiple times though since I was determined to find all of them. At the end of the book the plot started to get a bit all over the place and crazy and I feel like some of the things were crammed to the end but otherwise absolutely a great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Car accident, Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Murder, Violence, and Suicide

readsacb's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

I did not enjoy the mystery plot in this book & did not end up liking most of the characters.   Though to be fair, some of them you are not supposed to like.  The book was a tedious read to me, & I saw the ending coming for the most part.  However, I did appreciate how much effort was put into the puzzle aspect of the book.  It seemed to be a focus for the author.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Incest, and Pregnancy

chloe_marshall's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Incest

sweekune's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5

Audiobook narrated by Laura Costello.

Lily Armitage returns to her childhood home, Endgame House, following the death of her aunt. To everyone else, she's there to play a game of riddles to win the rights to the house, but secretly she's also there to find out what happened to her mother.

- Originally I thought this was a cosy Christmas murder mystery, sort of a modern Agatha Christie-esque story. However, it was definitely more of a thriller. Yes it had the trappings and decoration of a lighter story but actually things ended up being pretty dark by the end.

- I liked the fun of the riddles and clues both to The Christmas Game and to the mysteries within Endgame itself. they were lyrical and fun but did always make sense. I think it would have been better to read them in the physical version as in the audiobook, you couldn't literally see the clues hidden in them.

- The setting was both festive and creepy. An old manor house with a maze, ice house and chapel really was an amazing place to weave a mystery. 

- This book was actually amazingly queer with multiple characters being queer in some way, shape or form. I also liked how this wasn't forced, it was just there and who the people were, not necessarily their entire personality. And as a bisexual, I'll always appreciate a bi main character.

Dark, eerie but festive. For those who want a Christmas read with a bit of a puzzle and a side of murder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Homophobia, Biphobia, Incest, and Alcohol

georgiamaynard's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

this book feels so slow at the start and then ends in a matter of pages. the writing was unnecessarily flowery (the amount of english class flashbacks to how to use metaphors UGH). however, i felt myself enjoying it towards the end, as the pace started to pick up. i enjoyed figuring out the clues and inevitably guessed the plot twist sooner than i’d hoped but hey ho. still a good festive read, and i always appreciate a bit of the gays (; 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Biphobia

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Grief, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Bullying

Moderate: Incest, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Car accident

lostintheplot's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest