Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

40 reviews

jessiereads98's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

A super fun read. It’s not quite a Christie but it’s very close. I appreciated the unique and refreshing narration which was able to seamlessly weave the backstory and present, stating all the facts without obscuring anything while not making the ending obvious. The book reads like the author had fun writing it while still being meticulously crafted. My one complaint is that the ending twist does feel a little like cheating, but only a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Infidelity, Suicide, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Kidnapping

75ayla's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

More like 3.5/5. But I always round up if I like how the author wrote the story line.

I very much enjoyed the satirical way the author wrote this. You won’t guess the twist at end in a way I’m not sure felt entirely satisfying but in a way that gave a very dramatic ending. 

I would say if you’re looking for a comical take on a thriller this is probably the way for you to so.

That being said check your trigger warnings before you get started, especially is child death is on that list for you. Not positive if this would be considered a big spoiler so I marked it just to be safe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Body horror, Death, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Blood

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

That was a ride! I switched between reading and listening to this one. The audiobook is excellent and definitely captures the narrator's tone. I loved the narrator voice (both in the book and the audio), the cheeky metafictional deconstruction of mystery books, the setting and family dynamics, and the sheer bananas complicated and clever plot. The bit that could've gone better for me was the monologuing wrap-up/reveal. By that point, I was expecting something more deft than such a long spiel. It might not have lost me in print but I was listening to the audio at the time and felt like I wasn't quite getting all of it. Still — it was a fun read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Addiction, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

mince's review against another edition

challenging funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Gore, Stalking, Confinement, Alcohol, Car accident, Suicide, Drug use, and Blood

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What a fun, humorous take on a murder mystery! The narrators voice takes some getting used to but I grew to like and appreciate it. Dark and self-deprecating humor are some of my favorite things, mixed with what is written to feel like true crime is a match made in heaven. And, even though the narrator makes a point to tell you exactly what’s coming and when it’s coming, the surprise twist at the ending still got me. All that said, there’s still just something missing here. I can quite put my finger on what it is, but something. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Police brutality, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, and Drug use

toffishay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I had a lot of fun reading this. It's very meta in a way that was engaging and put me in the mindset of like Clue the movie in a weird way. It does a great job of grabbing you right away and introducing our cast of characters in a way that is natural and engaging. The plot took some turns that I wasn't expected and honestly got a little heavier than I thought it would. Some of the plot points didn't work as well for me and things do get really crazy at the end in way that kind of lost me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Infidelity

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, Drug use, Car accident, Alcohol, Addiction, and Confinement

mtnest's review against another edition

funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Infertility, Infidelity, Addiction, and Violence

Minor: War and Alcohol

pookiee's review against another edition

funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

this was really fun! quite unique and interesting style. i ate it up in a day, but it’s def not for those who don’t like self-referential humor—the page #s where someone dies are literally given in the prologue.

some of the gangland plot was lost on me despite pausing to reread those parts a bunch 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Vomit, Infertility, and Alcohol

m_a_r_i_a_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Child death, and Death

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Addiction, Car accident, Suicide, Infertility, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Alcoholism

rowanhill's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

As soon as I read the prologue of this book, I knew I was in for a good time. Reliable narrator Ernest Cunningham (Ern) fully delivers in the dark humor and the promised body count. Despite Ern’s honesty as he recalls his family reunion turned murder mystery, this story has many twists that will keep you guessing. With so many characters to keep track of, things can get a little convoluted at times. However, if you like complicated family drama in the vein of Knives Out, this is definitely a book for you.

Three years after the fateful night that landed Ern Cunningham’s brother Michael in jail, the family has decided to have a reunion at a cold, isolated mountain resort in Australia to celebrate Michael’s release. Despite Ern’s ostracization from the family for testifying against Michael, he is required to attend in order to mend fences. But there is a whole lot more to that night than either Michael or Ern has let on to the family or each other. To make matters worse, a local man is found dead on the resort property. With nobody but a bumbling local police officer to investigate, the task of discovering the killer falls on Ern, the self-published author of guides on writing crime novels. Being part of an infamous family full of secrets, the killer could be anyone. 

As Ern informs us from the very beginning, he is a reliable narrator and expert in how to write murder mysteries. He proves both to be true as he tells the tale of his family reunion gone awry and delivers on the promise of the title. I love his dark humor and, though honest, Ern finds many ways to surprise you and keep you guessing. Every person in his large, blended family carries their own baggage and secrets, more than even Ern knows when he arrives at the isolated mountain retreat. Though figuring out who committed the murder at the retreat is at the center of this story, the real fun was in learning about the different characters and slowly unravelling their secrets, even Ern’s. 

Though the characters really make this story shine, there are definitely a lot of them. Additionally, Ern tends to break the fourth wall and jump back and forth in time. Where a lot of this works really well, it can get a little confusing at times given the amount of characters and storylines. I found some of the fourth wall breaking a little tedious as well, but this is only a minor complaint. 

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder

Minor: Car accident