Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

16 reviews

chocolate_pondue's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

This book is nothing like I expected but everything I appreciated. I first thought it was going to be a series of side stories but instead I got one cohesive, engaging, and captivating story. I love 4th wall mysteries because they are engaging and fun. The main character, Ernest, is enjoyable and even funny at some times. They say it's taboo to have a mystery in first person but Ernest tells within the first few pages that there would be no concealing, no embellishments, nothing but truths and facts as he knew them. Information is given to you like jumbled breadcrumbs but to create order in the chaos, the novel stops at certain points to recap and make sure you understand the facts and clues that you have been given. For mystery fans, that is what true mysteries are about. I've never felt more like I was working on the case myself than I did in this book. Though I was able to guess who the killer was, I didn't guess who the killer was, and the twist at the end was satisfying. I was engaged in the characters stories and motives, their actions and reactions, their emotions and suspicious behavior. All in all this book deserves 5/5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Vomit, Confinement, Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

random_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Child death, Death, Violence, Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Drug abuse, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, and Infidelity

emilywemily6's review

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this book! Though the humor is definitely more slapstick/punchline than my personal humor. This book is also extremely self aware (the narrator is one of the family members telling the story) and refers to the editor, specific word choices as the writer, etc. There were also lots of page numbers mentioned (to foreshadow when people die or when certain cryptic events happen, to look back on previous happenings and add more clarity to them, etc.) which was fun and different. I kept flipping back and forth to double check things and to see when the next mention of death was. So this was a fun read, even if the style was not the perfect fit for me and took a little bit to really get into it. My biggest gripes are that some of the evidence reveals were really hard to understand even if I kept rereading them, and the flow of information was sometimes hard to follow as a result of all the time hopping. The narrator told the truth as he knew it to be at the time things happened, but he didn’t have a perfect knowledge and that muddied the waters too. The plot twist at the very end of the book did me in and left me with more questions than the original plot of the story unfortunately. But I enjoyed this book and I liked how different it was from other books I’ve read. The subtle commentary on killing versus murder was an interesting aside as well (because as the readers we are also biased by how we read into words). I will look forward to reading other things by this author.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Addiction, and Kidnapping

Minor: Car accident, Vomit, Blood, Medical content, and Alcohol

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

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

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

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.

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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

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

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