Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

18 reviews

heather_harrison's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

 "I've never heard of someone witnessing a murder and having to wait for a McMuffin"

This is a book where the narrator is telling you a murder mystery while also writing a book about how to write a murder mystery - and it gives the murder mystery a nice spin. 

The Cunninghams are spending a weekend at a ski resort as a family reunion. But it's sure to be an interesting reunion as our protagonist Ernie hasn't seen his big brother since he testified to have him put in jail. They all have a pretty colourful past and the further you delve into the mystery the more you start to learn about those skeletons in closest. 

This is almost like a combination of Knives Out and Underbelly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Violence, Grief, Suicide, Gun violence, and Drug abuse

jessgj's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Okay, so for anyone who looked at this and thought "FAMILY OF ASSASSINS!", sorry, this isn't that book. Instead, the book starts off with the eventful encounter when our protagonist and narrator Ern gets a call from his brother in the middle of the night, needing his help to dispose of a body. That's the start of the book but definitely not the start of their story. Slowly, we get around to how in fact, everyone in Ernest's family has killed someone, although "Killed" has some looser means than we initially think. 

The book took a little while to really get started for me. Fortunately, I was listening to the audiobook and I quite liked the narrator, both the voice actor and Ernest. Ernest breaks the fourth wall quite often but not in an obnoxious way that I've seen other people do and I appreciate his efforts to be honest to the readers. It's definitely a book that rewards its reader for paying attention as I was able to keep up with the big reveal and didn't feel cheated. 4.5 stars for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Police brutality

Moderate: Child death, Abandonment, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Infertility, Blood, and Infidelity

Minor: Kidnapping and Vomit

saramoser's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

A new take on golden age thrillers, classic whodunnit murder mysteries, and an ode to the “10 commandments of detective fiction” by Ronald Knox. This was a fun, witty read that kept me on my toes, never expecting what the next twist might be, and definitely unable to guess the ending. 

Listened on audiobook, the narrator was easy to understand and fun to listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Drug use, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

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

cartridgepink's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Great book. I was having so much fun I stopped trying to work out the mystery and just enjoyed reading instead. (I did work it out anyway but that's not the point.) Funny, layered without being overly convoluted, great characters, and a satisfying mystery to boot.

Last year I went to a Melb Writers Festival event where Ben was a speaker. I hadn't read the book but was a fan of him + his brother's musical comedy. Panel goes well, Ben cracks jokes all the way through, then they open it up to Q&A and an elderly lady in the front row says, "Are you actually a comedian?" Honestly as brutal as some of the murders in the book. Gotta respect it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Medical content, and Infertility

Minor: Pregnancy and Emotional abuse

mylargirl'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I love Benjamin Stevenson's wit and the clever, tongue-in-cheek meta narrative style of this murder mystery narrated by a protagonist who knows he's in a murder mystery. 

What didn't work as well for me was the third act. I found that the carefully constructed plot structure was a bit too engineered and fell apart upon scrutiny. There were glaring plot holes (despite the the narrator's sly claim that there would only be one), and the culprit was obvious from early on. Why weren't the other characters, most of them bright, highly suspicious people more suspicious of this person? It was irritating and disappointing, given how clever the rest of the book was. 

That said, I enjoyed Stevenson's writing style and I can recommend this as a good, fun, holiday read. Especially if you're on a ski holiday. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Suicide, Gun violence, and Child death

kayleejanes's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicide, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Violence

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

bex7dier's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Torture, Infertility, Child death, and Gun violence

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