Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

195 reviews

bookwitchva's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Had a couple twists I didn’t see coming, and while the main character is difficult to like, she drags you along and you HAVE to keep reading. The writing is smart and richly detailed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

ecaps's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I am not going to talk a lot about the summary of this book but just to give a very small brief; We have a female protagonist who has set out to take revenge from her family for what happened to her mother. 

1. The book is written in first person POV and it’s amazing. IDK how the author has managed to get into the head of a person that is reserved, is controlled while showing or feeling any kind of emotion. It takes a good author to keep this crazy amount of balance between revealing just the right amount of information yet maintaining the consistency in character of the protagonist. 
2. Does anyone else like it when other authors are name dropped in books? Like the 4th wall shattering, awesome.
3. I also love it when other book suggestions are given as a part of the plot. 
4. Each chapter keeps you hooked. The female lead makes you wanna keep walking with her while she’s taking these really calculated steps and executing her plans to perfection.

Now, that was all the Yays about the book. Onto the Naahs now. 

1. The protagonist is toxic in some ways where she tries to push away a possible love interest because she wanted to act on this revenge before she focused on her love life and expected that person to be available when she's all done. And it kinda got on my nerves a bit because like why are you expecting a person to wait for you for an indefinite amount of time when they don't even know why they're waiting.
2. The last 20% of the book was a whole weird 360 degree, a plot twist that was just… IDK it made me go Whaaa!!! and the last three chapters felt oddly structured. I mean, the events were out of place and that’s one of the reasons I have taken away 3 points. 
3. Going to take away 7 points because I didn’t like the way the book ended. I don’t wanna give a reason yet because it's a spoiler.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, and Death

1. She said she was not stupid enough to keep a diary at home documenting her crimes and somehow starts one in prison like the stupidity is baffling 2. Inconsistent writing when the MC says she'll take souvenirs from all her kills but doesn't take anything from her uncle, Janine or Bryony 3. I hated the way the book ended. Again, a man shopping in and taking away the spoils of a woman's hard earned work. And she doesn't even get anything in return after being wronged her whole life by her father. It sucks

geerbeer's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Leuk om zo te lezen, maar niet heel vernieuwend voor iemand die ontzettend veel crime/horror/thriller films & series gezien heeft 🤷🏻‍♀️😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Car accident, Death, Stalking, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Gore

that_awkwardpart's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective

4.5

This is a book about a young woman killing her family, so you absolutely get what the title states.

There  are  heavy and dark topics spoken about and in depth detailed murder. But it's done In a lovely way, there is a lightness to the book that makes it a very enjoyable read and makes you root for the murderer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Abandonment, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

bowlsofpasta's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

0.75

Highly recommend if you’re in the mood to read hot garbage. 

If anyone tells you this book is the “darkest” and “most twisted” book of the year than it’s probably the only book they’ve read all year. I’ve read children’s books with more gore.

The author spends way too much time  rambling about shit no one cares about and less on focusing on the murders that are honestly pretty mundane. 

Also, I get that the point is that the main character is a bad person. She’s like those annoying “feminist” who hate the patriarchy but then shit on other women for wearing makeup. But damn, no character development? She doesn’t learn a thing?

And that ending? Had to be the worse ending I’ve ever read in my life. Even if the book was good the ending would still have ruined the whole thing. But I supposed mold onto an already rotting dish doesn’t make too much difference anyways. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, Cancer, Murder, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Grief and Body shaming

stindex's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.0

The author makes me sad. They’ve apparently tried to push all the things they hate into this book and it just makes this feel like a boomer whining about basically everything. For a ”feminist” main character the mc sure spent a lot of time hating on women in a very pick me -girlish style. Body shaming was also very present whenever describing anyone else but the mc or their love interest. The premise was great but the book is an absolute train wreck from the start.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Stalking, Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexism, Misogyny, Death of parent, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Torture, Confinement, Car accident, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Terminal illness

bkyng313's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Suicide, Car accident, Alcohol, Classism, Death, and Sexual content

pil4r's review against another edition

funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

Me resulta un poco complejo ubicar el género de esta novela. How to kill your family no responde ni se acerca a los canones de la ficción literaria pero tampoco termina de convencerme como thriller y está muy lejos del universo de la literatura juvenil.
Su historia sigue a Grace quien, desde que empieza este relato, nos cuenta que ha cumplido la meta autoimpuesta de asesinar a miembros de su familia. Mientras nos cuenta cómo, esta protagonista intenta -y algunas veces logra- ser astuta, rencorosa, inteligente y sarcástica; siendo, principalmente, su tono el que sostiene lo gracioso y entretenido de este recorrido.
Sin embargo, considero que esta novela se encuentra con varios problemas a lo largo de su desarrollo. Es un texto bastante largo de más y es esa extensión la que produce que el suspenso ensayado se diluya y, por momentos, tanto la trama como la protagonista pierdan mucho sentido -y ni hablar de verosimilitud-.
La idea central es interesante, aunque realmente esperaba encontrarme con una historia o bastante más entretenida o una tanto más profunda.
Por todo esto, no se me ocurre bien a quien recomendarle este libro. Por otro lado, si buscan obras de ficción que se centren en mujeres complejas cometiendo grandes errores -por no decir crimenes- les recomiendo chusmearse novelas como Big Swiss (del mundo de lo bizarro y lo LGBT), Boy Parts (de lo artístico y oscuro) y Hasta que mueras (de lo argentino y furioso). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Murder

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Grief, Sexual content, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Alcohol, Blood, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, and Drug use

esv_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Murder, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Cursing, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Blood

Minor: Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Sexism, Suicide, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Incest, and Mental illness