Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

31 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Finished reading: May 5th 2024

“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it's who you'd spill it for.”

There has been a lot of hype around this title, and this is probably the main reason why it has taken me this long to finally pick up Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. I'm definitely kicking myself now though! I knew that I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw that eye-catching title, and the story itself ended up being everything I hoped it would be and more. This is such an unique and quirky thriller, and while it can go both ways depending on how you react to the writing style, I personally knew this was going to be a 5 star read for me almost straight away. There was just something about the writing style, tone and humor that was simply spot on for me, and I loved every single minute with this book. We see everything through the eyes of the main character Ernest, who basically narrates the story for us. This means random observations, quirks and humor incorporated along the way, and his voice was SO easy to warm up to. I loved the many references to other books and the whole 'how to write thrillers' part, which only added to the unique feel of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. This story might seem a typical locked room mystery with a bout of bad weather to boot, but it is nothing like I've encountered before at the same time. The plot structure works really well and only adds to the suspense; the plot twists are well handled. I also loved how we not only have the present mystery, but also the question who every Cunningham family member might have killed in the past to answer. I can guarantee that Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone will appear on my list of 2024 favorites, and I already can't wait to read the sequel. Locked room trope, serial killer crime, bad weather, lots of bookish elements and references, humor... This story has it all and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child death, Vomit, Drug use, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and Gun violence

theiagrace's review against another edition

funny mysterious 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

4.5

This is the first fiction book I've actually finished in years. The preface would catch you off guard and the break in the fourth wall stopped me multiple times to check if I've been actually paying attention. It was a fun read. Every single character is flawed and slowly built up into a fiery reveal. However, I don't know how I feel about the biggest twist at the end, I haven't decided yet. But that doesn't take away from how much a good time this book is.

P.S. I've experienced needing to rent snow chains from Jindabyne and run a sedan up the snowy mountains on turtle pace and because of that I've decided early on that I like Ernest, from shared trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Gore, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Suicide

Themes sprinkled in are very heavy but treated lightheartedly

as that is how the narrator deals with difficult things.

inirac's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Addiction, Murder, Body horror, Confinement, Abandonment, and Car accident

Moderate: Police brutality, Vomit, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

cascadienne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think I would have been able to follow this more easily in an ebook or print format? Lots happening, and lots of rewinding to make sure I caught everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Infertility, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, and Child death

ecstarr's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Vomit, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, Addiction, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Murder, and Self harm

the_monicabaker's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, and Death

emilykre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment

stephliljazz's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective slow-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? No

2.75

This was my first step into crime fiction. it is kind of hard to follow for me. I think it's just me though because the story was good. Crime mystery with twists and turns and lots of family drama with a very slow pace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

A unique murder mystery with a dark humor twist. I highly enjoyed the melancholy narrator's tone as he uncoiled the web of knotted lies that started out as a standard family reunion.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Grief, Child death, Police brutality, Death of parent, Cursing, and Death

beepbeep101's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.” 

Fantastic. Twists all the way to the last page. The extra .25 is for the last quarter of the book or so, as so much happened right after each other that beautifully brought everything together and turned things on their head. I loved the narrative voice of Ern (who isn’t a crime writer but instead is a how-to-be-a-crime-writer writer), who recounts the book’s events with a sense of humor about the writing process. He even gives the page numbers at the beginning on which every death in the book will occur - something which sounds like it would spoil a great deal, but things often happen differently than you expect them to. 

A great read, though definitely check the content warnings, as it wasn’t quite as light as I expected it to be from word of mouth recommendations. It gets into revenge, PTSD, infidelity, infertility, and addiction, and descriptions of trauma and injuries were a bit heavier than I expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Infertility, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Car accident