Reviews tagging 'Blood'

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

52 reviews

criticalbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Grief, and Murder

sib_reads's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Car accident, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, and Drug use

coconut_'s review against another edition

dark funny 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

3.25

I expected to enjoy this book more  than i did. This book was too long with many unnecessary back story. The plot twist was a bit disappointing to me. 
But i enjoyed the sarcasm and the way she planned her murders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Torture, Abandonment, Car accident, and Eating disorder

onthelam's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.5

I found myself rooting for a murderer.

I was unsatisfied at the end when she didnt receive the money and felt as if she has been further wronged.

Interesting but i felt it could have been more..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Hate crime, Sexism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abandonment

Minor: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, and Toxic friendship

bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Blood, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Stalking, Suicide, Eating disorder, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

lunagirl_alice's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

2.0

I'd like to preface this by saying i didn't hate this book by any means (more just it was not right for me and i didn't enjoy it), i don't have any major issues with it, however i just found it aggressively average. When i first started reading the book i took issue with a few phrases in regards to weight and fat characters, i felt as though in parts it was a little insensitive but i'm aware a book that's told from the point of view of a serial killer isn't exactly going to be a heart-warming tale.

Comments on weight aside, i really disliked the main character, again i'm aware serial killer who is murdering her family isn't a fun and loveable character, but i still just really disliked her, i was not in any way rooting for her and found her constant complaining and excessive judgement of everyone incredibly irritating. I felt bad for her unfair start in life but i still was not on her side at any point of the story.

I will say i love the idea and whole concept of murdering and getting away with it only to be caught and arrested for a crime you are completely innocent of committing. But for me i found the main character's personality and attitude ruined my enjoyment of the book. 

It is not a "bad" book by any means, it's just very much not for me, which is a shame as i was really looking forward to reading and enjoying this book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Drug use, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Minor: Drug abuse and Fatphobia

beca_reads's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

This was an interesting read. I struggled at first to get into it, I found that it is quite similar in nature to killing eve. I definitely feel that Mackie was inspired by killing eve when writing this book. Personally I found it hard to keep a track of the different characters and there connection to Grace the female protagonist. I did find myself laughing out loud at points and the book was fairly well written. I do however, feel that the ending could have been more precise and condensed down.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Eating disorder

leduyhxxng's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The story of murder is obscenely uplifting... until it's not—it was a mistake for me to go through the ending sober (if you're underaged, wait until you can legally booze up because it's mind-bogglingly insane). The read was so good; I can listen to Grace trashing the patriarchy and working out murder plots any day.

While I hoped to see her face some tough challenges while carrying out the plans, there wasn't much or any that feels important anyway, to the detriment of character development. And it became a little toilsome after a good seven chapters or so. There are many strong instances of wonderful writing, yet the storytelling aspect could need some trimmings here and there, such as mentions of irrelevant passers-by (which feature a lot but barely contribute to the story nor the main character).

Overall, it was such a ride. Wickedly funny. And fucking maddening (fuck the patriarchy). I hope there will be a sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexism, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Drug use

Minor: Eating disorder, Blood, and Cursing

lydiaailis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I was gripped in the first half but found this plateaued. Was a bit laborious keeping up with events at times but did enjoy the plots and progression of the murders. Did find Grace relatable and funny but think the descriptions of the wealthy lifestyle were over the top at times. Slightly underwhelmed by the end but a good read regardless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Grief, Gore, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, and Alcohol

dalmavatai's review against another edition

This book... ah. The premise was super interesting but it ultimately didn't work for me. Grace's commentary is funny, dark, and socially critical, but after a while it's just a bit claustrophobic to be inside her head, especially because she's difficult to empathize with or connect to due to her refusing to show any humanity or vulnerability. The other thing is more just a me thing in that I prefer mystery thrillers where there's a mystery central to the plot that we're trying to solve, as opposed to straight thrillers which are just supposed to be a fun, fast-paced ride. I also think the characters apart from Grace were pretty flat and uninteresting, though that is partly due to her cynical depiction of them. Ultimately, I feel like a protagonist as cynical as Grace just gets a bit annoying after a while, especially if you get a near-constant monologue of why she hates absolutely everything and everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Stalking, and Violence