Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

17 reviews

arkwen452's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Dark, witty, challenging and compelling. I co-read with the audiobook and at times I found the audiobook made things too confusing with all the details, comments and side notes the author includes in the narrative. Likewise, Ern can become annoying if you read this book in a short sitting like I did. 

With that said, I found the story interesting and compelling enough to power through. And I would be interested in reading the second book in this series. Being familiar with a number of  how to write a mystery rules, there were a few things I could pick up on and guess. But it was nice to know that even if I guessed correctly about some of those things, it did not ruin the book or the overall mystery for me. 

This book holds a lot of humor and it was darker than I believe I was anticipating. The big twists in the narrative were shocking but not so shocking that they were unbelievable or too superfluous. It would take a  member of this crazy family to stick through all this nonsense because if it were me, I would have gracefully bowed out.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

bessadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Car accident

aliciavalenski's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Finished reading: May 5th 2024

“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it's who you'd spill it for.”

 There has been a lot of hype around this title, and this is probably the main reason why it has taken me this long to finally pick up Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. I'm definitely kicking myself now though! I knew that I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw that eye-catching title, and the story itself ended up being everything I hoped it would be and more. This is such an unique and quirky thriller, and while it can go both ways depending on how you react to the writing style, I personally knew this was going to be a 5 star read for me almost straight away. There was just something about the writing style, tone and humor that was simply spot on for me, and I loved every single minute spent with this book. We see everything through the eyes of the main character Ernest, who basically narrates the story for us. This means random observations, quirks and humor incorporated along the way, and his voice was SO easy to warm up to. I loved the many bookish references  and the whole 'how to write thrillers' part, which only added to the unique feel of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. This story might seem your typical locked room mystery with a bout of bad weather to boot, but it is also nothing like I've encountered before at the same time. The plot structure works really well and only adds to the suspense; the plot twists are well handled. I also loved how we not only have the present mystery, but also the mystery of who every Cunningham family member might have killed in the past. I can guarantee that Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone will appear on my list of 2024 favorites, and I already can't wait to read the sequel. Locked room trope, serial killer crime, bad weather, lots of bookish elements and references, humor... This story has it all and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mckinleyelle's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Torture

concon95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

cianarae's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

chocolate_pondue's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

This book is nothing like I expected but everything I appreciated. I first thought it was going to be a series of side stories but instead I got one cohesive, engaging, and captivating story. I love 4th wall mysteries because they are engaging and fun. The main character, Ernest, is enjoyable and even funny at some times. They say it's taboo to have a mystery in first person but Ernest tells within the first few pages that there would be no concealing, no embellishments, nothing but truths and facts as he knew them. Information is given to you like jumbled breadcrumbs but to create order in the chaos, the novel stops at certain points to recap and make sure you understand the facts and clues that you have been given. For mystery fans, that is what true mysteries are about. I've never felt more like I was working on the case myself than I did in this book. Though I was able to guess who the killer was, I didn't guess who the killer was, and the twist at the end was satisfying. I was engaged in the characters stories and motives, their actions and reactions, their emotions and suspicious behavior. All in all this book deserves 5/5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Alcohol