Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

14 reviews

aliciavalenski's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Vomit, Car accident, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Child death, Gore, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, and Infidelity

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 spent 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 bookish references  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 your typical locked room mystery with a bout of bad weather to boot, but it is also 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 mystery of who every Cunningham family member might have killed in the past. 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: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Grief, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infidelity, Abandonment, Confinement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship

mckinleyelle's review

adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Torture, Suicide, and Drug abuse

concon95's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent and Child death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Addiction, Gaslighting, Infertility, and Confinement

cianarae's review

medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Blood, Addiction, Infertility, Death of parent, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child death, Infertility, and Gaslighting

chocolate_pondue's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

This book is nothing like I expected but everything I appreciated. I first thought it was going to be a series of side stories but instead I got one cohesive, engaging, and captivating story. I love 4th wall mysteries because they are engaging and fun. The main character, Ernest, is enjoyable and even funny at some times. They say it's taboo to have a mystery in first person but Ernest tells within the first few pages that there would be no concealing, no embellishments, nothing but truths and facts as he knew them. Information is given to you like jumbled breadcrumbs but to create order in the chaos, the novel stops at certain points to recap and make sure you understand the facts and clues that you have been given. For mystery fans, that is what true mysteries are about. I've never felt more like I was working on the case myself than I did in this book. Though I was able to guess who the killer was, I didn't guess who the killer was, and the twist at the end was satisfying. I was engaged in the characters stories and motives, their actions and reactions, their emotions and suspicious behavior. All in all this book deserves 5/5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Vomit, Confinement, Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Addiction, Gore, Vomit, Blood, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death

Minor: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

The title of this book hooked me, but the humor and style of writing really sealed it, this was a great book! The narrator is an author of how to write mystery novels books. So he jumps in and out of the story explaining as the book goes on. So good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Police brutality, Suicide, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

tlholmes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Confinement, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment