Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Murder in the Family

I have mixed feelings about certain things in this book but it was a wild ride. The concept of it being written as a teleplay was really cool and I thought the inclusion of articles and social media posts was fun too. Overall, I thought it was really engaging, like I didn’t want to put it down, which is what I want from a crime thriller. I thought the last third of the book was a little convoluted. The author uses cliffhangers and partial reveals to propel the story and it definitely worked sometimes, I thought it was too much at the end. She kept trying to fake us out about who the killer was, which again can be done effectively, but way too many characters got accused for me, like she was trying too hard with the shock value so the reveal of the killer wasn’t all that shocking because we eliminated everyone else. I also kind of guessed who the killer was before all this, not because of any clues but bc I was like wouldn’t it be funny/ironic if it was this character and then I was right. There were also certain things with the plot that I felt weren’t developed or explored all the way. Mainly, I think the part where

Nick, the producer, reveals that everything was orchestrated that all the cast members have a connection to the case somehow and some of the details just thrown out there but it was never really reflected on. I was at least expecting more information on how Nick was able to do all this investigative work before calling on any of the experts that were on the show, and he mentioned some mysterious backers that he was doing all this for and it was never really revealed who it was. I know Bill was working for that one family but it was not clear who Nick was working for. The final thing I’ll bring up is Mitch’s whole storyline was so 🥴🥴🥴 to me. Like not necessarily the fact that he had a relationship with Maura while she was very underage, while it’s still icky it could have been explored in a certain way that didn’t excuse it. His whole thing about how he was just a “kid” and didn’t know better like no you’re 21 you’re an adult. The whole thing was grooming of a young girl but no they were “in love”. While I’m not the one to definitively speak on this, I felt that certain parts of his character and plotline played into some racial biases, but I can’t say for sure.

My rant aside, I did have fun with this book and if you’re looking for a quick thriller to get out of a slump this is your book.

Content Warnings

bootrat's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Crime novels aren't usually my type of thing, but I really enjoyed this one! I thought the format was really unique and gripping, it really felt like I was watching a TV show.

I liked the way we were presented with the evidence at the same time as the investigators, and could have a go at being detectives too. The mixed media element of the novel really added to my enjoyment of it too.

Content Warnings

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I was hoping I'd like this as much as The Appeal by Janice Hallett because of its mixed media format. I didn't enjoy it quite as much but it was still very entertaining. It's a very clever concept and I was gripped throughout. It was overly dramatic but that made sense considering its reality TV show premise. I didn't solve the case before the characters though, I think I figured it out about two pages before it was explained.

Content Warnings

kaitspen13's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy crap!!! First of all I love this unique format of the book and all the side information we get. This story was so unique and full of twists and turns just like you get in a real true crime show. I think this is a great book to buddy read and share your theories with. I was equally impressed with how much I guessed right and how much I was surprised by. The ending was a little far fetched but also maybe totally realistic in a way. There's definitely a solid conclusion but an opening for a sequel that I'm hoping we will get!!

Content Warnings

minyoonhwi's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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as1424's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

xapoptosisx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Ok so I knew right away who had done it but it was still really cool to see the characters figure and I was shocked by other things definitely. Very much enjoyed the language that is also used in criminal minds. But that last page fucking confused me. But yes good book.

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