Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

140 reviews

fierygecko's review against another edition

funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was actually just so much fun to read. I think Ernest is hilarious, and he makes a really clever narrator. The Cunningham family is a hot mess of characters that fill out the story; I kept oscillating between rooting for them and excitedly waiting for their potential deaths. The way this story is written reminds me of the Knives Out movies with a more comedic tone and that was all I could have asked for. It's also not very dark even though it's a murder mystery, which I liked. The plot twist wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped but it still shocked me because I absolutely didn't see it coming. I wish I could read it again for the first time, but a reread in the future will have to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent

maryconney's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Vomit, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

whalls_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

ilkjen's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

Am I still confused about what exactly happened and why? Yes. Yes I am. But I was just so happy to be along for the ride that I don’t care. Ern has a dry sorta humor and lived him as the “reliable narrator.”

I’ll likely reread this again someday to have more context while I’m going through it to hopefully catch all of the things that were laid out along the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Torture, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, and Kidnapping

amandab0514's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Infidelity, and Vomit

voraciousreader10's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Death of parent

gemloukay's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A bit of a different take on a murder mystery here and clearly pulling from lots of golden age mysteries as well. Ernie’s family have all killed someone and he’s narrating his book that he’s supposedly writing and we’re meant to be reading with his comments between narration, as to how and why each person killed. He breaks the 4th wall repeatedly, telling us what is and isn’t important whilst repeatedly telling us he’s a reliable narrator because he’s following the rules set out by murder mystery writers of days gone by. 

I can’t tell you much about the story that wouldn’t be a major spoiler, but it’s a whodunnit mystery set in the mountains around Sydney, where the Cunningham family are having a reunion. But before the first morning has come around, there’s already a body. And they keep on falling! 

It’s got elements of And Then There Were None, pulls inspiration from The Mousetrap and uses Sherlock Holmes’ deductive reasoning to tell the tale through Ernie’s eyes. Is he reliable really? And can any of them actually be trusted? 

Yes it takes a bit to get into that meta author voice, but just like watching Fleabag, when you get into it, it’s fun.  Earnest is witty and fun to listen to and the plot is well constructed enough to not guess all the twists. A solid 4.5/

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, and Suicide

themdash's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dkamada's review

challenging funny informative lighthearted mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

alex_conners's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This is really a 3.75 for me. I like the narrator voice. The characters are interesting. I don't have any real issues with the book beyond it being a bit rambling at times (which the book seems to acknowledge with an email excerpt). It's a very meta take on genre, and I like it. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery. It's just didn't quite 'wow' me enough for a four or a five.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol