Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

6 reviews

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.  

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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.

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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 against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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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

alicia_th's review

mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

purplepenning's review

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.

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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