Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone

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Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

145 reviews

j9theshort's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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jstilts's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious sad slow-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

2.0

Well, this is embarrassing as I'm interviewing the author soon - I'm going to read at least three more of his books before then so pray for me! Hopefully, as a comedian, he'll see the funny side in this.

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!

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kasialipa's review against another edition

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dark 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

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kim_ng's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Loved it!

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j_squaredd's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

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24carrotgay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

The brilliance of this book took me by surprise! I went into it knowing next to nothing about the plot. The author’s voice is distinctive, hilarious, and charming. That is why the depth of the plot, the moral exploration of killing versus murder, and the dynamic characters took me by surprise— I grossly underestimated the author’s ability to make light of an intriguing, dark, and morally grey mystery. All of the little pieces of this puzzle came together in one of the most satisfying denouements I have ever read!! Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone kept surprising me until literally the last few minutes. I cannot wait to continue reading Benjamin Stevenson’s work, and I hope that Barton Welch continues narrating!!

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