Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

13 reviews

preciouslittleingenue's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

SUCH a compelling, captivating read. It was actually very cool to read this kind of mystery after finishing Meddling Kids, because though they’re both mystery, they are VASTLY different. And yet, I giggled nearly as much reading both. This is a DARK story. Lots of death. Including

Spoiler

child death.

Yet the author is so clever in how chooses to use the meta narrative, how he addresses his audience, and how he delivers information that it’s impossible not to giggle. Not to mention some of the dialogue was KILLING me (no pun intended). Like, I went from feeling sick to my stomach when

Spoiler

Ernie found Michael and absolutely lost it, the poor baby,

to LAUGHING not a minute later because the author had a character crack a joke about the death that JUST HAPPENED. Insane. How does he do that??

And the mystery itself! It truly just kept me guessing. The title obviously immediately makes one curious, and you spend the whole book wondering under what circumstances EVERYONE killed someone. And each reveal had me going either “OHHHHHH DUH” or “*gasp* oh my god”. Seriously, the reveal that Audrey killed

Spoiler

Jeremy by LOCKING HIM IN A CAR IN THE SUMMER ON TOP OF A PARKING GARAGE seriously made me feel so ill. But then!!! As soon as they revealed he was kidnapped after all, I KNEW HE WAS ALIVE! But I did NOT see it coming that he was in the cop all along! That was awesome!

 

And every little thing was important, as Ernie said it would be. I don’t know why I didn’t believe him right away when he said every little detail would matter but I should have! Also, I knew I didn’t trust

Spoiler

poor Rebecca’s parents…what a motherfucker her father is.

ANYWAY, just heard this will be a series and I CANT WAIT FOR MORE. Only reason it’s not a full 5/5 is just because I’m a little slow and a lot of the final explanations I kind of just went “well, okay, yes I guess that’s what happened” because I forgot/couldn’t follow wtf he was talking about lol. Also, I went from “oh another story where everyone is a horrible, irredeemable person, and I just get to wait and see who the worst of them all is” to “wow…I…actually feel very sorry for these people and I’m kind of sad so many of them died.” THAT is impressive. I am very difficult to sway on how I feel about people. Even fictional ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

bubblehead_1994's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicide

missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition

4.75

A fast paced, thrilling murder mystery with elements of humor and humanity at every turn. I absolutely loved this book despite some gross details and on-the-nose narration. I did not predict the killer or the ending at all, and the two (!) plot twists truly surprised me. Un-put-downable in every sense. A few points knocked off for some of the reveals and information/clues being convoluted and confusing.

☀️8/20

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Addiction, Car accident, Confinement, Infertility, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

bekah1210's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Addiction

Minor: Stalking, Infidelity, and Gun violence

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Medical content, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Addiction, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Drug abuse, Death, and Body horror

Minor: Alcohol

jessiereads98's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A super fun read. It’s not quite a Christie but it’s very close. I appreciated the unique and refreshing narration which was able to seamlessly weave the backstory and present, stating all the facts without obscuring anything while not making the ending obvious. The book reads like the author had fun writing it while still being meticulously crafted. My one complaint is that the ending twist does feel a little like cheating, but only a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Infidelity, Suicide, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Kidnapping

75ayla's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Spoiler

More like 3.5/5. But I always round up if I like how the author wrote the story line.

I very much enjoyed the satirical way the author wrote this. You won’t guess the twist at end in a way I’m not sure felt entirely satisfying but in a way that gave a very dramatic ending. 

I would say if you’re looking for a comical take on a thriller this is probably the way for you to so.

That being said check your trigger warnings before you get started, especially is child death is on that list for you. Not positive if this would be considered a big spoiler so I marked it just to be safe.

Spoiler

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Body horror, Death, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Blood

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

That was a ride! I switched between reading and listening to this one. The audiobook is excellent and definitely captures the narrator's tone. I loved the narrator voice (both in the book and the audio), the cheeky metafictional deconstruction of mystery books, the setting and family dynamics, and the sheer bananas complicated and clever plot. The bit that could've gone better for me was the monologuing wrap-up/reveal. By that point, I was expecting something more deft than such a long spiel. It might not have lost me in print but I was listening to the audio at the time and felt like I wasn't quite getting all of it. Still — it was a fun read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Addiction, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense 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

2.75

Ordinarily I'd rate this 2/5 stars. However, because I was dragged kicking and screaming through this audiobook for my work's book club, I don't think it's fair to take that out on the book. So fuck it: 2.75/5 stars.

This was a pretty solid locked-room murder mystery set in an Australian ski resort and concerning the Cunningham family who, by the narrator's own admission, have all killed people one way or another. The manner in which these family members have killed people is actually pretty anticlimactic and dull, but it makes for an interesting premise, and I was drawn into the story nonetheless, albeit against my will.

The thing that makes this book stand out from other books of its ilk is the narrator, who breaks the fourth wall continually, even going so far as to sometimes spoil the events of later chapters. He tells you the "rules" of how a murder mystery novel should work, and then doesn't break a single one of those rules, meaning he is knowingly not really subverting anything. And yet, despite spelling everything out so clearly and explicitly, this book still managed to surprise me in terms of who the culprit actually was, and why.

That being said, the mystery itself is not all that interesting, and things did get a bit convoluted in places. I struggled a little bit to keep up sometimes. It definitely didn't help that I was already uninterested in what was going on (because of aforementioned having to read it for work book club), but I can see reading other reviews that I'm not the only one who thought this, so I'm not blaming it entirely on that.

If you enjoy murder mysteries and want something that's told in a slightly different way than what you're used to, definitely give this one a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Child death, Kidnapping, Cursing, and Torture

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Addiction

mince's review against another edition

challenging funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Gore, Stalking, Confinement, Alcohol, Car accident, Suicide, Drug use, and Blood