Reviews with content warning for Cancer - How to Kill Your Family

There were aspects of this books I loved and others I wasn’t a fan of. Despite literally being a book literally about murder it was quite light hearted and quirky. I enjoyed how the story was told and I did like the character of Grace, even though she is flawed, i like her in a “good for her” type way. One of the major issues I took from it was that I feel like her motive could have been flushed out more. Like I was just under the cup of really supporting her… I needed the reasoning to just be a bit more. I actually enjoyed the ending, I thought it left it really open ended which is how this needs to be because there really was no good way to wrap it up.

okay so now the big issues I have, other then motivation. For someone SO SMART AND CALCULATED with her murders …. How did she write down her murders in a notebook in prison and not expect Kelly to read it?? She literally talks about reading Kelly’s and how Kelly is so nosey so this just was such a gap in logic and left a bad taste in my mouth. The entire time I was thinking that it was stupid she was doing that and hoping I just misunderstood and she was mentally journaling her story but no… she physically wrote it down. Yeah I just really hated that. Other then that it would’ve been 4 stars but that aspect brought it down the 3.75

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hanghuhn's review against another edition

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zieht sich viel zu sehr in die Länge. Ich weiß auch nicht, was ich von – wie heißt die Protagonistin noch mal? Grace? – halten soll. So'n bisschen psychopathisch ist sie ja schon. Kann verstehen, dass sie sauer auf die Familie ihres Vaters ist. Aber direkt die ganze Familie der väterlichen Seite umbringen? Und sie scheint auch keine Reue zu haben, aber immerhin lässt sie die Frau ihres Onkels leben.

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lcplynn's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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ashlislibrary's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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luxxltyd's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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billub's review

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slow-paced

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

1.25

(This review has no spoilers, but do not read it if you want to go into the book completely blind.)

Not to be rude but I am convinced the only people that have enjoyed this book either agree with Grace's terrible views or are so boring that any rude comment made in a book is the funniest thing they have ever read. But let's make one thing clear; this is not a "good for her" revenge story or even complex criticism of the current state of society. This book reads like an insecure teen making crude and edgy jokes to fit in with the cool kids and fails miserably even in that attempt.

I understand people that overlook the main character's many flaws because she is meant to be unlikeable and a murderer. I love a complex narrative with unlikable characters, but not if it means I have to subject myself to reading a self-centered, self-righteous asshole be rude and bigotted for 300 pages. And the book tries so hard to make us root for her, which is really painful to read.

In the worst way possible, this book reminds me of Fight Club (the book). I can't call rude statements made by a main character with a superiority complex good criticism of society.

As a young, painfully queer feminist, I am definitely not the target audience. Good for you if you are and if you enjoyed the book.

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agirlnamedellie's review

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book but I wasn't as excited to read it as I thought I would be. I read the first half at a relatively slow pace - there were parts that I was more drawn to that others. The second half of the book was much better and I read the second half at a much faster pace than the first half. Although I didn't want to like the main character - I actually found myself liking her dry wit and actually felt like I was sympathising with her (which is strange considering what happens in the book!!!). I also liked the ending - unexpected and I didn't end up guessing the ending before I got there which is a great sign!

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