Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

12 reviews

priscillarobock's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

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mollyb13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

I was excited about the unique format of Murder in the Family, but feel that it wasn't used to the full extent that it could have been. I found it a bit hard to distinguish the experts from one another during the first 2/3 of the book as none of their personalities seemed to differ much. However, the last third of the book definitely picked up and made the read worth it in the end!. 

This book also reminded me why I'm not a True Crime fan - while this book was fiction, it definitely highlighted a number of reasons why true crime media (books, podcasts, documentaries) feel exploitive and icky to me.
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warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

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

3.75

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. 
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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.
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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

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leebeeloves's review against another edition

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challenging 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

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readingtotravel's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? No

4.5

A fun and wild ride. Shopping twists and turns from beginning to end. 
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staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-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

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mimo_'s review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i
well
ok

mid.

it wasn't giving what i thought it was gonna give which is unfortunate. no i can't solve the case before they do because they didn't give us anything to work with rgnjgdfnjfdnj
there were a lot of words but no meaning! the format was funky fresh tho i did like that its smn new but like the second half of the book had me ????? what like not shocked about whats happening but because i had not a single clue what was going on
why did we spend so much time talking about not one but two (2) stolen identities and how everyones been connected to the case and yet somehow all of that meant nothing because the ending was rushed and not even about any one of those people
but i did like how nick was being haha funny about revealing everything he was so 🤭about it ,,, how wonderful i bet hes an aries
 
also what the fuck was that ending lmao ???? like i guessed who it was but that was very rushed and anticlimactic and we hadnt even heard from him for the last 50 pages so he was kinda already gone ig

anyway i mean it was fine i guess
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hmetwade'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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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