Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

72 reviews

katbotelho's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

this book was captivating it was interesting reading from graces pov. thought it was very ironic how shes going around killing ppl bc theyre bad people while also being a super negative, narcissist and judgemental person herself. i feel like this book is comparable to yellowface in that both narrators in each novel are meant to be unlikeable/terrible people but the difference is in this book I didn’t want to gouge my eyeballs out every time the main character spoke.

i’ve seen a lot of people complain abt the ending but i kinda liked it and felt like there was something to be said abt

grace going thru all the trouble of killing her family to get back at an awful terrible privileged white man only to be screwed over in her ultimate goal by another privleged but slightly less awful white man

also i think its an acceptable ending bc did we expect a happy ending for someone who killed six people ?? no not really. 

i could maybe talk abt this book for hours but i’ll leave it there anyway would recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer and Infidelity

sadiaa's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

thebookaddict's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

Dit boek was niet wat ik had verwacht. Je leest het verhaal van Grace en hoe zij haar moorden heeft gepleegd en hoe ze uiteindelijk in de gevangenis beland. Ik vond het jammer dat je al wist dat ze al deze moorden gepleegd had, zo ging er toch iets van verhaallijn verloren. De moorden zelf waren heel goed uitgedacht en origineel. Ik heb ook nog niet eerder zoiets gelezen. Het is eng om te bedenken dat zoiets uit het brein van een auteur komt, de moorden paste zo goed bij de slachtoffers. De manier van schrijven was echt alsof je het dagboek las van iemand. Wel vond ik dat het einde nog ietsjes langer had gekund. Ik had haar reactie op "de brief" wel willen lezen en ik had willen weten hoe haar leven was na de gevangenis. De brief op het einde was ook een mooi origineel plot dat precies hij het verhaal paste. De puzzelstukjes vielen op hun plaats.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark funny 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

2.0

I could only finish this book because I continued reading it through audiobook. The Main character was okay, her motive for killing her family was if you see it from her point of few understandable. No one in this book is likable, that is okay a good book doesn’t need likable characters. At the End I had to read it with 2 x speed because I wanted to get it over with. I usually like these kind of books, but this didn’t do anything for me. Well the MC was funny at times. 


Even if I didn’t enjoy this book that much. I think it would be enjoyable for other readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

geerbeer's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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

3.75

Leuk om zo te lezen, maar niet heel vernieuwend voor iemand die ontzettend veel crime/horror/thriller films & series gezien heeft 🤷🏻‍♀️😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

that_awkwardbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective

4.5

This is a book about a young woman killing her family, so you absolutely get what the title states.

There  are  heavy and dark topics spoken about and in depth detailed murder. But it's done In a lovely way, there is a lightness to the book that makes it a very enjoyable read and makes you root for the murderer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

bowlsofpasta's review against another edition

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

0.75

Highly recommend if you’re in the mood to read hot garbage. 

If anyone tells you this book is the “darkest” and “most twisted” book of the year than it’s probably the only book they’ve read all year. I’ve read children’s books with more gore.

The author spends way too much time  rambling about shit no one cares about and less on focusing on the murders that are honestly pretty mundane. 

Also, I get that the point is that the main character is a bad person. She’s like those annoying “feminist” who hate the patriarchy but then shit on other women for wearing makeup. But damn, no character development? She doesn’t learn a thing?

And that ending? Had to be the worse ending I’ve ever read in my life. Even if the book was good the ending would still have ruined the whole thing. But I supposed mold onto an already rotting dish doesn’t make too much difference anyways. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming and Grief

stindex's review against another edition

lighthearted 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? It's complicated

1.0

The author makes me sad. They’ve apparently tried to push all the things they hate into this book and it just makes this feel like a boomer whining about basically everything. For a ”feminist” main character the mc sure spent a lot of time hating on women in a very pick me -girlish style. Body shaming was also very present whenever describing anyone else but the mc or their love interest. The premise was great but the book is an absolute train wreck from the start.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

esv_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis