Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone

“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.

Content Warnings

losthought323's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I picked this book up on a whim from my library's digital collection while waiting for some other books I had on hold. In a world where alcoholic police officers usually solve crimes with tragic backstories, it was a refreshing change of pace to have a sarcastic mystery author trying to figure it all out. The final reveal of the killer and the motives of everyone felt very complicated (maybe even a little convoluted), and I didn't quite follow who did it until the murderer unmasked at the very end--though this might just be the fact that I just don't read these books that often.

I also really enjoyed the character evolution of the narrator to the innocent bystander in the end of Chapter 1 to the mirror of his brother Chapter 41. </spoiler.>

Content Warnings

daniellekat's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

This was so fun and exciting. The pacing moved well and I liked the unique structure of the having the "author" speak directly to the reader. There were times where the plot got a bit confusing, but I think it helped that I read this over a very short period of time. The writing was witty and easy to follow but

the whole bit with Ernest's hand made no sense. There is no way he would have be able to do as much as he did given how much damage there was.

Overall, I was invested in this from the start and while the big reveal didn't shock me there were points that had me guessing throughout.

Content Warnings

ashmak06's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

kirstym25's review

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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? Yes

4.5

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