Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter

14 reviews

theinfamousj's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

This is the second novel I have read by Cara Hunter, so you can say that I am a fan of her twists and turns. I notice that consistently, she has a nanny character who ends up in a relationship with the father who employed said nanny, with the mother who employed said nanny being dead. As a professional nanny, I am not a fan of this trope. If anything, a nanny who sees the inside of the home and sees what kind of a husband the dad employer makes is absolutely LESS likely to abscond with said man, than a woman who can imagine him to be more consistent about picking up his dirty socks and putting down the video game controller.

That said, I am glad that my guess of some of the worst of human behavior and family dynamics weren't at play in this book. If anything, it ended up being a relief to learn why the deceased was unalived.

For those who did not realize, as I did not realize, the book is written as a series of television scripts for episodes of a reality television show which apparently has a panel of homicide experts solving cold case murders. This particular season that we are reading in this novel is season three or later. And, luckily, there is a lot of exposition for the non-British audience who might be watching/reading.

The cast of characters in the television show have the appearance of diversity of race, gender, nationality, and even sexual orientation, however I found myself unable to distinguish between them were not their names listed with their dialogue. It seems that Cara Hunter only wrote one character, but gave that character many names if you follow my meaning. For this, minus half a star.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

chrissyz's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

hematthews's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Abortion, and Pregnancy

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

If I was rating Murder in the Family based on the mystery.  It would be 4 stars.  A reality TV series delving into the 20-year-old case of who killed Luke Ryder.  The producer of the show is the murder victim's step‐ son who'd been 10 at the time of the murder.  The panel of experts brought in to dig into the case include a reporter, a retired NYPD police officer, a retired Metropolitan Police member, a criminal attorney, a crime scene investigator, and a forensic psychologist.  There are tons of plot twists.  The ending was unexpected.

The reason I only rated it 3 stars was the unconventional format.  Murder in the Family does not read like a normal story.  Each "chapter" is a transcription of a broadcast of the show "Infamous- Who Killed Luke Ryder?" There are also e-mails between people involved on the show, voice-mail message transcriptions, screenshots of a reddit group discussing each episode, and text messages.  

I read books for all of the stuff that goes on between the dialogue.  For the point of view that allows insight into thoughts, feelings, observations, and memories.  This book didn't have that.  You were forced to read between the lines.  Cara Hunter did a great job with this chosen format, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Recommended for people who like true crime and people who don't mind the unconventional format.

My content warnings include - cursing, murder, and graphic detail of the body.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

k_shimer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Mental illness, and Car accident

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Dementia, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

thebiblioboo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hollynyew's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

There were so many big reveals at the end of each chapter it was hard to keep up with everything. I did however love the formatting and the storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Mental illness

monarcadelibros's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

At first, I thought I'd really like this book and fly through it. While the story is fun, the formatting really distracted me and the arguments going in circles really prevented me from finding any motivation to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

martinkid45419's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

priscillarobock's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder