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jstilts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Basically I was surprised to find I didn't really enjoy this murder mystery book, as it seems to have become an absolute phenomenon, with TV adaptations and multiple sequels and rave reviews with the general public! For me I didn't find the light tone particularly funny, there were a few too many similar main characters (I could never get Erin, Katherine and Lucy straight in my head), the mystery-of-the-past being unravelled was incredibly labyrinthine and itself prone to unnecessary twists (even up to the final page post-solution) and frankly I didn't really care enough about it compared to the present-day murders (which, unfortunately for me, were obviously intrinsically linked). I mean kudos to the author for working this all out but I needed a whole wall with red string connecting people and times and places and motivations and how they changed.
The book makes a big deal out of following a set of rules and deconstructing and mocking the genre - which is fine, it's more than ripe for it - but somehow this peek-behind-the-curtain wasn't very interesting to me and kind of took the fun out of what was left while not even really sticking to the *spirit* of the rules anyway. Probably if the rules were not constantly referred to this wouldn't have bugged me so much - it was like it was trying to be clever at the expense of being engaging.
Bad sign: when the murderer's identity was revealed I actually physically rolled my eyes (there should be a LOL'd equivalent for that - RME's?). Looking back it's probably the smartest thing about the book (and I reckon it'll play GREAT on the television adaptation) but with the rest of the plot being so hard to chart I was all out of patience for another wrinkle. Considering the whole book is about interpersonal dramatics and this is a big moment, I can't believe the rest of the characters were so blasé about it! Surely now is the time for extreme emotions and OTT reactions! It's one of the few times I can confidently say the book made a genuine mistake rather than just being not for me.
Possibly this book may have been on a hiding to nothing with me because I'm not really interested in family dramas (had too much of that in real-life thanks) - and this is ALL family drama ALL the time. If I were to write a positive review I'd call it "a juicy family murder mystery where secrets of the past must be unravelled before something something something".
On the positive side: it eventually grabbed me enough to make me see it through, there was one GUT PUNCH of a memory of a death about halfway through that brought a tear to my eye, and I did laugh occasionally. I don't buy the last minute romance though, but I was amused the most by their interactions throughout the book.
So my two star rating might be a little harsh, but honestly if I didn't have to read it for an interview I might have given up early. Sorry Ben!
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Vomit and Abandonment
kasialipa's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
kim_ng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
j_squaredd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
kiki_15's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
24carrotgay's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
tashtasher's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
chronic_listener's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Alcohol
arkwen452's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
With that said, I found the story interesting and compelling enough to power through. And I would be interested in reading the second book in this series. Being familiar with a number of how to write a mystery rules, there were a few things I could pick up on and guess. But it was nice to know that even if I guessed correctly about some of those things, it did not ruin the book or the overall mystery for me.
This book holds a lot of humor and it was darker than I believe I was anticipating. The big twists in the narrative were shocking but not so shocking that they were unbelievable or too superfluous. It would take a member of this crazy family to stick through all this nonsense because if it were me, I would have gracefully bowed out.
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
tabea1409's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail