Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

101 reviews

alynnhays's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

P L O T
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone follows Ernest "Ernie" Cunningham as he attends his unconventional family reunion. Ernie is a reliable narrator explaining his family dynamic a piece at a time by revealing information about each family member. Because of this, the plot felt twisty in the best way. 

T H E   G O O D
The character development was very strong. I cared for Ernie, he made me laugh, I knew his internal monologue, and I empathized with his emotional and moral struggles. The author helped me understand the motives of characters that I had originally disliked. No character was one-dimensional, and I really appreciated the effort it took to create a story I was invested in.

I felt like I actually had a chance at solving the mystery and was able to figure out one key clue which felt exciting. Still, the ending left me shocked! By no means was this book predictable!

T H E   B A D
My one and only criticism happened in the epilogue. One final detail lacked clarity. I ended up Googling to see if others felt the same and found some discussion that helped clarify my confusion.

R A T I N G
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wish I could experience it for the first time again - it's an absolute gem that left me spellbound and eager to share with everyone!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Torture, Murder, Violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide

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

cerysl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Infertility

kimberleyw12's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction

puddleshoes's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Murder, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Confinement

Minor: Gun violence and Abandonment

lollymac's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Medical trauma, Blood, Death of parent, Car accident, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Grief, Child death, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

sareidle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

This book has a different vibe than I was expecting from the title and cover art. There were moments of humor, but the conspiracy surrounding the Cunningham family dominated the tone of the majority of the story. The plot itself was convoluted without all of the bait and switch from the narrator, so it was confusing to figure out what the "truth" was. I enjoyed the concept of applying Golden Age Mystery rules to a contemporary setting, but feel that it was better executed in the sequel, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol and Death of parent

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

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, and Infertility

theiagrace's review

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.