Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

23 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.25

Book Rating: 2.25 stars

   I found this book hard to enjoy because I hated almost every character! They were all just dripping in privilege and entitlement. It made me honestly just scream at them and burn down our current inheritance policies. 

   Catherine was particularly unlikeable, as she didn't seem to have any redeeming qualities, she and Dan were the worst of the bunch. Dan was simply creepy AF. 

   The main mystery of the story wasn't too hard to solve by about halfway through the book. It was pretty obvious it was one of the kids. I honestly wish the author had gone another route as to who was the killer. I think Jenna's boyfriend would have been a good one to go with. But that's just me! 

   It wasn't terrible, but not nearly as good as I'd hoped with the hype. 

Narrator Rating: 2.0 stars

  This book just begged for a full cast audio, but instead, they just had one narrator which made it confusing, even in a 3rd person narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Abandonment

shaleen64's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

An upper class whodunit that encourages you to guess the murder from an unlikable and limited pool of suspects.

Whilst the multiple points of view meant the flow of the book was well paced the content was not, nor could it be described as thrilling. It read more like a crime drama and based on this book I can’t say I’d buy more by the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

cmbohn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I love these juicy family dramas, and this one was pretty solid. It kept me guessing until almost the end. One thing I didn't love was the narrator. She did an okay job with the characters, but her narration was pretty flat. I think I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

I liked this one, even though I had a suspicion about the ending

because there just wasn't enough info about the character who ended up being the perpetrator. They just seemed too absent from the narrative.

But this was very intense, and I really like Ms. Lapena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infertility, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Infertility

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

This was entertaining, but I’ll never think of it again. It had a lot of reveals throughout which I didn’t see coming and I wanted to know what happened. As for who did it,it didn’t shock me. This was fine, if you like this author or if this sounds good pick it up, but if not your not missing anything amazing in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility and Infidelity

readers_sea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

OH MY TWISTS!

The family drama was amazing. All the pov's were very well done. The story kept me on my toes.

When everyone has a motive, you never really know where the story is going to go, and while I had some theories, I still had no clue where this book was going to end up. I was so engaged in this book, I finished it really quickly because I just kept wanting to know what would happen next! The short chapters and rotating pov's also made it so easy to stay engaged in the story.

The ending was honestly so satisfying that I screamed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Infertility

bookedbymadeline's review

dark mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is the 5th book I’ve read from Lapena and I think it’s my new favorite from her! I love Lapena’s books and she’s definitely cemented herself as my one of my favorite thriller writers. 

I was immediately pulled in and I couldn’t put it down, finishing in 3 days! There were jaw dropping plot twists I didn’t see coming. Never guessed what happened, the storytelling was incredibly done making everybody seem guilty.

The characters were complex and well written! The pacing was well done, holding my attention the entire way through. I also thought the ending was perfect, leaving the story somewhat open ended which worked well for this novel. Highly recommend for anyone who loves thrillers and psychological family dramas!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity

kaylinvm94's review against another edition

mysterious 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Stalking

Minor: Infertility