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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
This book was gifted to me by a family member as I was feeling festive this year. I was hoping to feel more festive reads and I was excited going into this and I love a mystery and I love Christmas so it was a perfect mix.
This book is based on Lily Armitage. She never intended to return to Endgame House, the grand family home where her mother died twenty-one Christmases ago. Until she receives a letter from her aunt, asking her to return to take part in an annual tradition: the Christmas Game. The challenge? Solve twelve clues, to find twelve keys. The prize? The deed to the house. Lily has no desire to win the house, but her aunt makes one more promise: the clues will also be revealed who really killed her mother all those years ago. So, for the twelve days of Christmas, Lily must stay at Endgame House with her estranged cousins and unravel the riddles that hold the key not just the family home, but to the family’s darkest secrets. However, it soon becomes clear that her cousins all have their own reasons for wanting to win the house and not all of them are playing fair. As a snowstorm cuts them off from the village, the game turns deadly. Soon Lily realises that she is no longer fighting for an inheritance, but for her life. This Christmas is to die for . . . let the game begins.
I love a good mystery and the build-up and the twists and turns. I loved Lily and Isabelle and the aspect of the Christmas Game every year. I always love reading or hearing about people’s traditions. I loved the games that Alexandra has within the book though I could only do the wordsearch because I'm too stupid for anagrams. I loved reading Lily’s story and getting to know her even though it was mainly focused on Lily’s grief which can affect a lot of people are Christmas plus she was going through a lot of life changes during these twelve days. I loved Mrs Castle and Isabelle and was hoping they were popping in more, but they weren’t family, so they only showed up during the end. I love the LGBT relationships in these, and I wanted to hug them all.
I would have loved for this book to be bigger to get the full back story on some of these members, I was forgetting some of them because they were forgettable. I managed to guess the killer quickly but I'm putting that down to me reading a lot of thriller and mystery books. I would have loved this book to be multiple POV to see what everyone else was thinking. I wasn’t thrilled with the pregnancy aspect either, but I just don’t like pregnancy in books.
Overall this was an intense Christmas mystery and would recommend it to anyone who likes the game Clue or Knives Out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Incest, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content, Biphobia, and Alcoholism
readingtotravel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The book had a slow start and I felt like there was an overuse of similes in the beginning. However, it picked up by page 60, and from then on, Alexandra Benedict was IN HER BAG.
The mystery and story were well written and plotted out, and I love that there were games for the readers to okay along with.
I do wish we got a short epilogue or time jump to see what Lily did with Endgame and what became of the family that was left. I also wish we got to delve into the Mom's murder more at the end. We did get the why but the why felt kind if surface level.
The mystery and story were well written and plotted out, and I love that there were games for the readers to okay along with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death of parent, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
cassie7e's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content, Incest, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
apalershadeofwhite's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
(Note: take a shot every time I used the word 'sometimes' lmao.)
Overall, this book was so freaking good! I loved the premise, the characters, the execution... but there was one thing that didn't make this a 5-star read which is pretty petty of me, to be honest, but I think it's still valid lmao.
There were some really stunning sentences, metaphors, and similes throughout this entire book. Absolutely beautiful. I did sometimes feel like there were too many in a small space, though. Some of them felt a bit forced and included to try and be beautiful and thought-provoking, but sometimes simplicity is more telling. For example, on one page there were three similes/metaphors all of birds. They were each individually pretty, but there were so many in such a condensed space that it sometimes felt unneeded, unnecessary, etc. Some of the sentences didn't even need a linguistic technique and would have been just as good without them. A specific example being: the sentence "[a]n image of her mum making pastry for mince pies smacks into Lily's head like a robin into a plate glass". In my opinion, you don't need the simile; the word 'smack' is evocative and symbolic enough to insinuate painful or unwanted memories. Also, all of the metaphors and similes were Christmas or winter themed. Kudos to the dedication, but sometimes they didn't make as much sense as they could have if they weren't constrained to a theme.
Regarding characters, I loved Ronnie! He was the cause for a lot of the humour within the novel, which I think was a good choice to offset the darkness of the murder and death lol. I also loved Mrs Castle for her biting nature because she just did not give a shit, which also made for some funny lines.
The author is so good, based on this book, and I will probably read more of their stuff.
(POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD)
When it came to the plot twist (which in a sucker for), the hints were perfectly placed. I started to get suspicious of Tom because he was very attached physically to Lily while also constantly verbalising how emotionally attached to her he was. It happened so much that it started to feel like a diversion, but he was also the first who was attacked and did not succumb to his injuries, which was interesting. The other plot twist, about Sara and Tom made me a bit uncomfortable though, but it is DEFINITELY shocking and a twist, so I guess it works lol.
Overall, this book was so freaking good! I loved the premise, the characters, the execution... but there was one thing that didn't make this a 5-star read which is pretty petty of me, to be honest, but I think it's still valid lmao.
There were some really stunning sentences, metaphors, and similes throughout this entire book. Absolutely beautiful. I did sometimes feel like there were too many in a small space, though. Some of them felt a bit forced and included to try and be beautiful and thought-provoking, but sometimes simplicity is more telling. For example, on one page there were three similes/metaphors all of birds. They were each individually pretty, but there were so many in such a condensed space that it sometimes felt unneeded, unnecessary, etc. Some of the sentences didn't even need a linguistic technique and would have been just as good without them. A specific example being: the sentence "[a]n image of her mum making pastry for mince pies smacks into Lily's head like a robin into a plate glass". In my opinion, you don't need the simile; the word 'smack' is evocative and symbolic enough to insinuate painful or unwanted memories. Also, all of the metaphors and similes were Christmas or winter themed. Kudos to the dedication, but sometimes they didn't make as much sense as they could have if they weren't constrained to a theme.
Regarding characters, I loved Ronnie! He was the cause for a lot of the humour within the novel, which I think was a good choice to offset the darkness of the murder and death lol. I also loved Mrs Castle for her biting nature because she just did not give a shit, which also made for some funny lines.
The author is so good, based on this book, and I will probably read more of their stuff.
(POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD)
When it came to the plot twist (which in a sucker for), the hints were perfectly placed. I started to get suspicious of Tom because he was very attached physically to Lily while also constantly verbalising how emotionally attached to her he was. It happened so much that it started to feel like a diversion, but he was also the first who was attacked and did not succumb to his injuries, which was interesting. The other plot twist, about Sara and Tom made me a bit uncomfortable though, but it is DEFINITELY shocking and a twist, so I guess it works lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Gore, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Self harm
Minor: Biphobia, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Homophobia
lydias1's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I don’t like present tense writing :(
I couldn’t place the tone. It was an odd combination of intelligent and precise metaphors (albeit they were excessively used), and rather obvious and unclever ways of revealing plot information (“remember when you found your dead mum in the centre of the maze?”).
The characters were rather flat.
The pace was odd, because it was so drawn out over 12 days. 12 clues, except they were all the same - fancy sonnets that the reader had no chance of solving so it was pointless to try.
Overall, the plot is just bizarre and I finished the book out of spite. Wouldn’t recommened. A bonus star given because it had good bisexual representation which was nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Biphobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism
hauntedtesty's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I initially felt bad for comparing this to And Then There Were None, but I'm glad to see other reviews picking the same issues.
Good points - I liked the riddle aspect, a twelve days at christmas hunt with tension is a good plot idea! I actually really enjoyed -no spoilers - the part where someone would list everything they loved about a person.
Everything else - I couldn't get on with the characters, the culprit was noticeable but I couldn't even enjoy the protag working it out. Each character has one real trait and this will be repeated often in the hopes it gives them flesh. The tension wobbled a lot as I was really bewildered by the attitudes to certain events, the end just collapsed on itself.
Good points - I liked the riddle aspect, a twelve days at christmas hunt with tension is a good plot idea! I actually really enjoyed -no spoilers - the part where someone would list everything they loved about a person.
Everything else - I couldn't get on with the characters, the culprit was noticeable but I couldn't even enjoy the protag working it out. Each character has one real trait and this will be repeated often in the hopes it gives them flesh. The tension wobbled a lot as I was really bewildered by the attitudes to certain events, the end just collapsed on itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Biphobia and Incest
Minor: Alcoholism
tuhkasirius's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Death, and Grief
Minor: Biphobia and Incest
purplepenning's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
A classic, tense, atmospheric whodunit with a dysfunctional family and a rising body count during a snowed-in, country-mansion inheritance game full of clues, puzzles, and the weight of the past, present, and future. Not entirely my cup of tea (I like my Christmas murder mysteries to have at least a little Christmas warmth and cheer 😆) but a good one for word-puzzlers who like to play along at home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Cursing, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Violence, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Gun violence
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