Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

8 reviews

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Sexual harassment

jennabird06's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Blood

emperorluzco's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.0

The murders are interesting.
The twist at the end came out of nowhere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

m4rtt4'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? No

3.5

The premise was very promising, and I was quite hooked on the story despite it not being as funny as it was said to be. Yes, it was funny at times, but oftentimes the 'humour' relied on (internalized) misogyny and/or fatphobia and/or belittling mental health issues and eating disorders — this is also why I found the book's feminist takes to be quite hypocritical. I hated Grace as a character, she was so insufferable, annoying, petty and too bitter over the smallest of things, but I stuck up with her because — well — you can't quite love a serial killer anyways. I liked the ending, it was justified and fit perfectly with my dislike on Grace, though I also must say that such a plot twist should have been foreshadowed better. A murder mystery is no fun if it doesn't make you feel dumb for not realising the answer earlier; it shouldn't come so out of the blue (as in this case) that it feels literally impossible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Violence

anxieteaandbiscuits12's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.5

I enjoyed the plot of the book and I was not expecting the ending but I didn’t feel like it was well written or executed, sometimes I felt like I was struggling through chapters, for example the email at the end was unexpected but was a bit of a slog to get through, especially so close to the end of the book. It also didn’t help that the book was told through a narrator who was unlikable and thought they were better than those they interacted with (the book did give a lot of indication that Grace was a narcissistic sociopath)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexism, and Grief

celina_2604's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

matthiasreads's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

bloopyfloopy's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Stalking, and Car accident

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury