Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

108 reviews

bugferbrains's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Twist after twist after beautiful twist! Benjamin Stevenson does an awesome job subverting your expectations even when setting all the pieces up in front of you. There were a few shocking moments that made me pause and laugh in surprise. The misdirection is fantastic. 
I’m used to reading more fantasy/sci-fi fiction, so it took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but once it roped me in it was hard to put down! I really enjoyed the meta writing. If there’s one nitpick I have, it was how Ernest, who had stated to be not much of a detective, completely nailed all the motives and the truth in the end, with some of his deductions being guesswork that happens to be correct. Am I too hung up on this though? No. This was a good ass book, and I am very eager to read the next one. The back of the book says it will be turned into an HBO series too, so I’ll have to watch that.
One final thought, a thank you to the author for suggesting the reader to pick up more Aussie crime fiction in the Acknowledgements section. I am DEFINITELY going to do that. Would’ve liked a few suggested authors though lmao. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gore, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Emotional abuse and Vomit

eviethebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

samchase112's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I think I've officially determined I'm not a mystery/thriller person — they just don't do it for me. This was objectively a good time, with a really fun, interesting story and fantastic characters, but I simply didn't care for the first half of it. The end definitely made up for it, but not enough to discount the fact that I seriously considered giving up halfway in simply for the fact that it wasn't for me. I'm glad I've made up my mind, though, because it means I can stop trying to force it with mysteries — the rest of you can have at it though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

melaschnie's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer and Vomit

dogearedbooks's review against another edition

mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

bishop_504's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

4.5

The title is slightly misleading, but so is most of the book. I’ve never read a book where I felt so lied to while only reading the truth. It’s a hilarious dark comedy mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

alynnhays's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense 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

4.75

P L O T
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone follows Ernest "Ernie" Cunningham as he attends his unconventional family reunion. Ernie is a reliable narrator explaining his family dynamic a piece at a time by revealing information about each family member. Because of this, the plot felt twisty in the best way. 

T H E   G O O D
The character development was very strong. I cared for Ernie, he made me laugh, I knew his internal monologue, and I empathized with his emotional and moral struggles. The author helped me understand the motives of characters that I had originally disliked. No character was one-dimensional, and I really appreciated the effort it took to create a story I was invested in.

I felt like I actually had a chance at solving the mystery and was able to figure out one key clue which felt exciting. Still, the ending left me shocked! By no means was this book predictable!

T H E   B A D
My one and only criticism happened in the epilogue. One final detail lacked clarity. I ended up Googling to see if others felt the same and found some discussion that helped clarify my confusion.

R A T I N G
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wish I could experience it for the first time again - it's an absolute gem that left me spellbound and eager to share with everyone!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Suicide, and Death of parent

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

puddleshoes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, and Drug abuse

Minor: Gun violence and Abandonment