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How to Kill Your Family
I have killed several people (some brutally, others calmly) and yet I currently languish in jail for a murder I did not commit.
When I think about what I actually did, I feel somewhat sad that nobody will ever know about the complex operation that I undertook. Getting away with it is highly preferable, of course, but perhaps when I’m long gone, someone will open an old safe and find this confession. The public would reel. After all, almost nobody else in the world can possibly understand how someone, by the tender age of 28, can have calmly killed six members of her family. And then happily got on with the rest of her life, never to regret a thing.
When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge, and sets about to kill every member of his family. Readers have a front row seat as Grace picks off the family one by one – and the result is as and gruesome as it is entertaining in this wickedly dark romp about class, family, love… and murder.
But then Grace is imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit.
Outrageously funny, compulsive and subversive, perfect for fans of Killing Eve and My Sister, the Serial Killer.
When I think about what I actually did, I feel somewhat sad that nobody will ever know about the complex operation that I undertook. Getting away with it is highly preferable, of course, but perhaps when I’m long gone, someone will open an old safe and find this confession. The public would reel. After all, almost nobody else in the world can possibly understand how someone, by the tender age of 28, can have calmly killed six members of her family. And then happily got on with the rest of her life, never to regret a thing.
When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge, and sets about to kill every member of his family. Readers have a front row seat as Grace picks off the family one by one – and the result is as and gruesome as it is entertaining in this wickedly dark romp about class, family, love… and murder.
But then Grace is imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit.
Outrageously funny, compulsive and subversive, perfect for fans of Killing Eve and My Sister, the Serial Killer.
355 pages, Hardcover
First published June 10, 2021
About the author
Bella Mackie
14 books777 followersVogue columnist. Author of best-selling novel “How to Kill Your Family."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 14,498 reviews
January 26, 2024
this book was honestly me when i’m struggling to reach the word count on an essay.
i don’t have the energy to write out a full rant review, so here’s some ranty bullet points:
• the book had a strong premise and good start, which is what made me purchase the £15(!!!) hardback bc i read the sample of the first chapter and enjoyed it, but unfortunately from then on it went completely off track
• the entire book was FAR too long-winded, full of so many unnecessary details/stories of the protagonist rambling on. i wanted to print out the manuscript and cross out paragraphs/pages with a red pen.
• it was trying too hard to sound funny/witty - mostly with a lot of millennial humour, and constant snipes at influencers and internet-obsessed young people (ok boomer)
• i thought it was going to follow the protagonist plotting all the different murders - but that was barely focused on at all. instead of focusing on the story/plot, the protagonist goes on irrelevant rants about social/cultural observations which were clearly made by the author e.g. there was a big passage about the dangers of smart devices and smart homes. if the author wanted to write about these observations.......just write an essay collection???
• it was trying too hard to come across as feminist - but then it also wasn’t very feminist at the same time?? it had an air of a circa 2010 ‘pick me’ feminist who particularly hates women who get lip fillers
• one of the main themes of the book was about class, but it wasn’t really discussed in any profound or nuanced way, and it actually became quite trite after a while. basically the whole book involved snipes at the rich/the upper classes (which i’m usually here for bc i am for the people) but THEN i discovered that the author of this book is alan rusbridger’s daughter and her grandfather is a baron….so she clearly moves in some privileged social circles herself, not exactly a working class hero. after that little discovery, the constant digs at privileged white people prompted a few eye rolls from me
• i was attracted to this book bc of the anti-heroine promise as i love an unlikeable, morally grey female character - but grace as a character was far too muddled, and it was clear that the author still hadn’t fully fleshed her out. she was clearly meant to be a character in the vein of villanelle from ‘killing eve’, but she was nowhere near as interesting nor compelling
• the ‘twist’ ending was disappointing to me, and basically rendered the whole book pointless
i don’t have the energy to write out a full rant review, so here’s some ranty bullet points:
• the book had a strong premise and good start, which is what made me purchase the £15(!!!) hardback bc i read the sample of the first chapter and enjoyed it, but unfortunately from then on it went completely off track
• the entire book was FAR too long-winded, full of so many unnecessary details/stories of the protagonist rambling on. i wanted to print out the manuscript and cross out paragraphs/pages with a red pen.
• it was trying too hard to sound funny/witty - mostly with a lot of millennial humour, and constant snipes at influencers and internet-obsessed young people (ok boomer)
• i thought it was going to follow the protagonist plotting all the different murders - but that was barely focused on at all. instead of focusing on the story/plot, the protagonist goes on irrelevant rants about social/cultural observations which were clearly made by the author e.g. there was a big passage about the dangers of smart devices and smart homes. if the author wanted to write about these observations.......just write an essay collection???
• it was trying too hard to come across as feminist - but then it also wasn’t very feminist at the same time?? it had an air of a circa 2010 ‘pick me’ feminist who particularly hates women who get lip fillers
• one of the main themes of the book was about class, but it wasn’t really discussed in any profound or nuanced way, and it actually became quite trite after a while. basically the whole book involved snipes at the rich/the upper classes (which i’m usually here for bc i am for the people) but THEN i discovered that the author of this book is alan rusbridger’s daughter and her grandfather is a baron….so she clearly moves in some privileged social circles herself, not exactly a working class hero. after that little discovery, the constant digs at privileged white people prompted a few eye rolls from me
• i was attracted to this book bc of the anti-heroine promise as i love an unlikeable, morally grey female character - but grace as a character was far too muddled, and it was clear that the author still hadn’t fully fleshed her out. she was clearly meant to be a character in the vein of villanelle from ‘killing eve’, but she was nowhere near as interesting nor compelling
• the ‘twist’ ending was disappointing to me, and basically rendered the whole book pointless
March 14, 2023
groups that this hideous main character hates
- fat people
- women - bonus points for plastic surgery
- asian people
- old people
- people with dementia
- gay people
- people with eating disorders
- mentally ill people
- people who like frogs
- rich people
- also poor people
- teenagers
- people who struggle with addiction
- stupid people
- pret
- middle aged women
- people who take baths
- pansexual people
-people with chronic illnesses
-people who care about social issues
-influencers of any kind
- her mum
- one direction
- the reader
i may have given it one star but have it known that this is a 0/5 book in my heart
- fat people
- women - bonus points for plastic surgery
- asian people
- old people
- people with dementia
- gay people
- people with eating disorders
- mentally ill people
- people who like frogs
- rich people
- also poor people
- teenagers
- people who struggle with addiction
- stupid people
- pret
- middle aged women
- people who take baths
- pansexual people
-people with chronic illnesses
-people who care about social issues
-influencers of any kind
- her mum
- one direction
- the reader
i may have given it one star but have it known that this is a 0/5 book in my heart
March 1, 2024
- The beginning was intriguing, but it quickly deteriorated and never recovered.
Shelved as 'wishlist'
October 6, 2021Me reading this in the living room:
My family: O_O
My family: O_O
January 18, 2022
hell hath no fury like an overrated book
December 21, 2021
I want the last two days of my life back ban millennials propped up by generational wealth from writing books I swear to GOD
August 15, 2021
For a book about a ‘sharp’ young woman who murders multiple people in a calculated act of revenge, this book is disappointingly flat. Grace is in prison for a murder she did not commit, writing her life story about all the ones she did. As per the title, she’s been killing off her family.
I think we’re supposed to find Grace funny; something of a witty anti-hero. She’s just really, really unlikeable. Shallow, self-indulged; a mean snob- it’s hard to listen to 9 hours (audiobook) of someone you fundamentally dislike.
Her raison d’être is uninspired and although there’s a shoulder-shrug of a twist, the ending was anticlimactic. It’s neither a thriller nor really a domestic drama, but the diary of one very churlish individual littered with judgemental stereotypes. Unfortunately I’d hoped for a lot more from this book.
I think we’re supposed to find Grace funny; something of a witty anti-hero. She’s just really, really unlikeable. Shallow, self-indulged; a mean snob- it’s hard to listen to 9 hours (audiobook) of someone you fundamentally dislike.
Her raison d’être is uninspired and although there’s a shoulder-shrug of a twist, the ending was anticlimactic. It’s neither a thriller nor really a domestic drama, but the diary of one very churlish individual littered with judgemental stereotypes. Unfortunately I’d hoped for a lot more from this book.
March 1, 2022
a woman doing all the hard and dirty work herself and a white cishet man swooping in last second, claiming all the fruits of her labor, belittling her and boasting about "his" achievements - a classic
this was a 3-star read (entertaining but forgettable) until the third to last chapter that introduced a man i found even more unlikeable than Grace's initial rich family members and who managed to make everything about himself and was exuding so much male entitlement and audacity that it just ruined the entire book for me
this was a 3-star read (entertaining but forgettable) until the third to last chapter that introduced a man i found even more unlikeable than Grace's initial rich family members and who managed to make everything about himself and was exuding so much male entitlement and audacity that it just ruined the entire book for me
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2022
how do you write a book about a woman killing her entire family and still bore me to death
October 15, 2022
Rounded up from roughly 3.5 stars ⭐️
How To Kill Your Family follows Grace who is on a mission to get rid of the family who wronged her and take their fortune. However, she is currently serving time for a murder that she did not commit.
In all honesty, I picked this book up because of the title, I thought it was wonderfully brilliant. I will never forget the look on my mum’s face when I asked her to grab my reservation from the library. The book wasn’t quite what I had expected, I had expected a bored housewife, but that is my own fault for not reading the blurb first! I absolutely adored the witty humour and sarcasm. Often I found myself chuckling at a throw away comment from Grace that absolutely hit the nail on the head about real life.
My biggest issue with the book was the long chapters! Some of the chapters lengths were fine, which would lull me into a false sense of security! I can understand why the chapters were laid out as they were, but I really wish the longer ones had been broken up. A few times I had to put the book down halfway through a chapter which I really don’t like to do! That being said, I loved the characters and how different they all were. Although most of them were absolutely terrible people, they felt so vivid and I did want to know what happened to them. I can honestly say I’ve never read a book quite like this before.
I recommend this book to fans of thrillers with a touch of humour.
How To Kill Your Family follows Grace who is on a mission to get rid of the family who wronged her and take their fortune. However, she is currently serving time for a murder that she did not commit.
In all honesty, I picked this book up because of the title, I thought it was wonderfully brilliant. I will never forget the look on my mum’s face when I asked her to grab my reservation from the library. The book wasn’t quite what I had expected, I had expected a bored housewife, but that is my own fault for not reading the blurb first! I absolutely adored the witty humour and sarcasm. Often I found myself chuckling at a throw away comment from Grace that absolutely hit the nail on the head about real life.
My biggest issue with the book was the long chapters! Some of the chapters lengths were fine, which would lull me into a false sense of security! I can understand why the chapters were laid out as they were, but I really wish the longer ones had been broken up. A few times I had to put the book down halfway through a chapter which I really don’t like to do! That being said, I loved the characters and how different they all were. Although most of them were absolutely terrible people, they felt so vivid and I did want to know what happened to them. I can honestly say I’ve never read a book quite like this before.
I recommend this book to fans of thrillers with a touch of humour.
October 17, 2021
An insufferable toothless mess. Muddled structure, muddled characterisation, muddled tone, muddled class politics. 2012 Guardian opinion writer feminism (she's not like other girls! She hates the Kardashians and women with big lips!). An absolutely pathetic motivation and limp 'twist' ending.
Hated it.
Go read My Sister The Serial Killer instead.
Hated it.
Go read My Sister The Serial Killer instead.
September 6, 2021
A bodaciously bonkers book!
Can you imagine being locked up for a murder you didn’t commit? Just the thought brings me anxiety, and that’s the situation Grace Bernard is in.
That doesn’t mean she’s innocent.
Dear Grace has actually murdered six people...and she’s gotten away with it.
How unfair that she finds herself as a prisoner when nobody knows the crimes she actually committed...and why she killed those folks.
How To Kill Your Family is a dark, sometimes brutal, delight of a novel that had me giggling one moment and cringing the next. This is not a cozy story, but there is PLENTY of dark humor and snark, which I adore. Grace is not an angel, and this may sound terrible, but I really liked her and rooted for her the whole time.
This book was trending at 3.5 stars, but the ending is so deliciously wicked, twisted, and unexpected...that I just had to bump it up!
I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an original and sometimes outrageously entertaining story, but be advised this is definitely an ‘R’-rated read.
Shoutout to Ceecee for putting this book on my radar. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it after reading her enticing review. Another shoutout to my local library, who ordered a copy for me to devour after I suggested the title.
Now available.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
Can you imagine being locked up for a murder you didn’t commit? Just the thought brings me anxiety, and that’s the situation Grace Bernard is in.
That doesn’t mean she’s innocent.
Dear Grace has actually murdered six people...and she’s gotten away with it.
How unfair that she finds herself as a prisoner when nobody knows the crimes she actually committed...and why she killed those folks.
How To Kill Your Family is a dark, sometimes brutal, delight of a novel that had me giggling one moment and cringing the next. This is not a cozy story, but there is PLENTY of dark humor and snark, which I adore. Grace is not an angel, and this may sound terrible, but I really liked her and rooted for her the whole time.
This book was trending at 3.5 stars, but the ending is so deliciously wicked, twisted, and unexpected...that I just had to bump it up!
I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an original and sometimes outrageously entertaining story, but be advised this is definitely an ‘R’-rated read.
Shoutout to Ceecee for putting this book on my radar. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it after reading her enticing review. Another shoutout to my local library, who ordered a copy for me to devour after I suggested the title.
Now available.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
May 5, 2021
Grace Bernard is in Limehouse Prison serving a sentence for a crime she didn’t commit but that doesn’t mean to say she hasn’t committed some! To relieve the boredom and the inane chatter of cell mate Kelly she decides to write her astonishing story. This tell all explains exactly what she is guilty of! This is a novel about rejection and betrayal, revenge and retribution.
First of all, let’s deal with Grace. She’s definitely an awful person, she’s vengeful, superior, a snob and has her own very specific belief system which she doesn’t hesitate to share with us and her narrative is peppered with her judgements from the highest to the low! And yet, and yet .... I can’t help liking her and I know I shouldn’t as she’s done some truly awful things to some truly awful people. She’s very funny (it’s black humour of course) and I confess to liking her wry dark style and admiring her superb put down lines and wish I’d thought of them! What she tells you in her confession makes your jaw drop with her audacity. It’s devilishly delicious and deviously dastardly. The characterisation is extremely good and there’s a good mix of some to like, some to make your fists and teeth clench and some are so odiously unlikeable they deserve all they get. There are occasions in the narrative where you burst out laughing but it’s one of those laughs you know you shouldn’t release and so you check over your shoulder to check no one’s heard!!! The tell all journal works well although there’s a bit of repetition in some places and the occasional dip in pace. There are some good plot twists that you don’t see coming and some instances of irresistible irony.
Overall, this is very easy to read, it’s well written, I love the darkly wry style of the author who has acquired a new fan!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Harper Fiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
First of all, let’s deal with Grace. She’s definitely an awful person, she’s vengeful, superior, a snob and has her own very specific belief system which she doesn’t hesitate to share with us and her narrative is peppered with her judgements from the highest to the low! And yet, and yet .... I can’t help liking her and I know I shouldn’t as she’s done some truly awful things to some truly awful people. She’s very funny (it’s black humour of course) and I confess to liking her wry dark style and admiring her superb put down lines and wish I’d thought of them! What she tells you in her confession makes your jaw drop with her audacity. It’s devilishly delicious and deviously dastardly. The characterisation is extremely good and there’s a good mix of some to like, some to make your fists and teeth clench and some are so odiously unlikeable they deserve all they get. There are occasions in the narrative where you burst out laughing but it’s one of those laughs you know you shouldn’t release and so you check over your shoulder to check no one’s heard!!! The tell all journal works well although there’s a bit of repetition in some places and the occasional dip in pace. There are some good plot twists that you don’t see coming and some instances of irresistible irony.
Overall, this is very easy to read, it’s well written, I love the darkly wry style of the author who has acquired a new fan!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Harper Fiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
July 23, 2023
Miałam nadzieję, że to poradnik. Tytuł bardzo mnie zmylił :((
September 12, 2022
Dark, funny, vendetta story. Told in a chatty manner, it reads like the ramblings of your sarcastic friend who's a bit bitchy and tends to exaggerate. (You know who I mean, we've all got one of them!)
April 21, 2022
Bella Mackie's novel is a blackly humorous, witty and wildly entertaining read that just might have you rooting for a serial killer! An unhappy Grace Bernard is in Limehouse Prison after having been convicted for murder, and she has every reason to be upset, she is an innocent woman. The only thing is Grace is guilty, guilty of killing 6 members of her estranged family, murders she has got clean away with. Her wealthy father's rejection of her mother and her goes on to fuel an obsession for revenge that has her engaging in-depth meticulous research, identifying her targets, carefully planning and carrying out each murder, using a different method for each of her victims. With so much time on her hands in prison, Grace writes up a candid account of her murderous exploits in her journal, and if you are expecting her to express any sense of remorse, you are going to be disappointed.
This was a fabulously fun crime read, I just could not help liking Grace, my only gripe was with the final twists which come out of the blue and not how I would preferred to see the book end.
This was a fabulously fun crime read, I just could not help liking Grace, my only gripe was with the final twists which come out of the blue and not how I would preferred to see the book end.
February 2, 2023
Grace Bernard is in prison for a murder she did not commit, when she comes out of her fug and starts writing about that time she killed her family! A seemingly firmly tongue-in-cheek dark comedy that didn't really work for me at all, the composition and plotting were fine, but the core concept pf targeting an entire family for the deeds of one, just didn't sit that well for m, of for the protagonists in my most humble opinion.
As this is such a 'hot read' on multiple bestseller lists I felt kind of bad for my non popular view, only to see that the Goodreads rating is actually just 3.64 Stars at the time I write my review. So an OK concept, dark comedy that didn't work for me, but good writing and plotting sees me give this one a Two Star, 5 out of 12, for a book that I thought I would really like.
2023 read
As this is such a 'hot read' on multiple bestseller lists I felt kind of bad for my non popular view, only to see that the Goodreads rating is actually just 3.64 Stars at the time I write my review. So an OK concept, dark comedy that didn't work for me, but good writing and plotting sees me give this one a Two Star, 5 out of 12, for a book that I thought I would really like.
2023 read
November 29, 2022
How to Kill Your Family sounds more like How to Kill Your Will to Live to me.
One thing is when you expect something from a book and then you realize that's not going to happen, another story is when the book is also outrageously bad.
Grace has a plan in life: revenge. I'm not here to criticise that, her father is awful and her family are all assholes; you go, girl! But good revenge needs a smart way to be accomplished.
Now she's in jail for something she hasn't done and, the icing on the cake, she left evidence of what nobody else knows has happened. So fucking dumb from start to end.
Her biggest crime of all was wasting my time, tho.
The idea is promising, Grace is a likeable character and the first chapters really hook you, even if you don't understand everything. But from there on is just a bunch of facts of her life after another, casual things that happened to her, the only two people still in her life and that horrible cellmate she unfortunately has.
It's a big long description with few dialogues and too many sarcastic comments. It doesn't have a lot of pages, but if you cut all the craps there's basically nothing to be read.
The plague of these past years - if we exclude the pandemic, obviously - is the publishing industry’s obsession with creating a good-looking cover. Because you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but everybody does that ‘cause the cover is always a big deal!
If now I can't even trust a nice pink cover with a girl and a shovel, I don't know what I can trust anymore.
↠ 2 stars
One thing is when you expect something from a book and then you realize that's not going to happen, another story is when the book is also outrageously bad.
Grace has a plan in life: revenge. I'm not here to criticise that, her father is awful and her family are all assholes; you go, girl! But good revenge needs a smart way to be accomplished.
Now she's in jail for something she hasn't done and, the icing on the cake, she left evidence of what nobody else knows has happened. So fucking dumb from start to end.
Her biggest crime of all was wasting my time, tho.
The idea is promising, Grace is a likeable character and the first chapters really hook you, even if you don't understand everything. But from there on is just a bunch of facts of her life after another, casual things that happened to her, the only two people still in her life and that horrible cellmate she unfortunately has.
It's a big long description with few dialogues and too many sarcastic comments. It doesn't have a lot of pages, but if you cut all the craps there's basically nothing to be read.
The plague of these past years - if we exclude the pandemic, obviously - is the publishing industry’s obsession with creating a good-looking cover. Because you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but everybody does that ‘cause the cover is always a big deal!
If now I can't even trust a nice pink cover with a girl and a shovel, I don't know what I can trust anymore.
↠ 2 stars
July 6, 2022
4.5/5
i reeeally enjoyed this! thought it was so funny and clever.
i love me some true crime comedy podcasts, so this was right up my street :))
i reeeally enjoyed this! thought it was so funny and clever.
i love me some true crime comedy podcasts, so this was right up my street :))
March 28, 2022
Needless to say, this isn’t a cozy mystery. Not with that title. Grace is a psychopath. She may be in jail for a murder she didn’t commit, but that’s not to say she’s innocent. As she’s happy to recount to the reader in all the gory detail, she plotted and executed the murders of her father’s family.
Kudos to Mackie. Grace may not be a sympathetic character, but she was oddly relatable and I was happy to go along for the ride as she dispatched one victim after another. There’s a great dark, snarky humor to Grace that I loved.
The plot was a tad uneven and there were times I felt a better editing job might have helped. But that said, I desperately wanted to see how it would all play out. There was a great twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. This is great entertainment for those that aren’t squeamish.
Charlie Clive did a super job as Grace. She made the character come alive for me.
Kudos to Mackie. Grace may not be a sympathetic character, but she was oddly relatable and I was happy to go along for the ride as she dispatched one victim after another. There’s a great dark, snarky humor to Grace that I loved.
The plot was a tad uneven and there were times I felt a better editing job might have helped. But that said, I desperately wanted to see how it would all play out. There was a great twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. This is great entertainment for those that aren’t squeamish.
Charlie Clive did a super job as Grace. She made the character come alive for me.
January 29, 2022
When Grace Bernard discovered that her absentee millionaire father had rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge and sets about killing every member of his family.
She is quite proud of the fact that she got away with it-so when she ends up in jail, accused of a murder she didn’t commit-she decides to brag about the ones she is guilty of committing-by writing about them in a journal that she hopes someone will find locked in a safe, one day after she is dead and buried.
This is that story!
I expected to enjoy this one more than I did, but found there to be too much back story which seemed like unnecessary filler that slowed the pace down to a crawl! 400 pages was just too long.
I wanted the MURDERS to occur more rapidly than they did!!! 🙄
Still, Grace had to be the FUNNIEST, SNARKIEST most SARCASTIC character that I have EVER met, and I enjoyed her dark humor! I was laughing out loud, something I rarely do!! 🤪
Not sure what that says about me!
AVAILABLE NOW!
She is quite proud of the fact that she got away with it-so when she ends up in jail, accused of a murder she didn’t commit-she decides to brag about the ones she is guilty of committing-by writing about them in a journal that she hopes someone will find locked in a safe, one day after she is dead and buried.
This is that story!
I expected to enjoy this one more than I did, but found there to be too much back story which seemed like unnecessary filler that slowed the pace down to a crawl! 400 pages was just too long.
I wanted the MURDERS to occur more rapidly than they did!!! 🙄
Still, Grace had to be the FUNNIEST, SNARKIEST most SARCASTIC character that I have EVER met, and I enjoyed her dark humor! I was laughing out loud, something I rarely do!! 🤪
Not sure what that says about me!
AVAILABLE NOW!
September 9, 2021
When Grace discovers her bio dad, a millionaire, rejected her and her dying mother, she decides to enact her revenge by killing the entire family. Yet, in a strange twist of fate, she is convicted and sent to prison for the one murder she DIDN’T commit.
From prison she regales us with her story, and what a story it is. Filled with dark humor, snark (my fave!), and the juicy details of her life along with the creative offing of six members of her family, she had me laughing out loud. Kudos to the author for writing such an engaging villain.
If you like snark, irony, and dark humor, and are willing to not take the book too seriously this is fun and fresh. If you liked Dexter, and/or the humor of Joe in You, or Paul in Best Day Ever, then you will love Grace. The twist toward the end was the icing on the cake.
*The audiobook is narrated by Charly Clive, Paul Panting, who were excellent!
* A caveat: there is a political jab made early in the book, so I set it aside, but the positive reviews of Goodreads friends (Ceecee, Michael, and Jayne) led me to pick it up again. Thankfully, it was just the one instance. To be clear, I read to escape, and don’t want to see ANY political jabs from either side of aisle, even if their beliefs align with my own.
From prison she regales us with her story, and what a story it is. Filled with dark humor, snark (my fave!), and the juicy details of her life along with the creative offing of six members of her family, she had me laughing out loud. Kudos to the author for writing such an engaging villain.
If you like snark, irony, and dark humor, and are willing to not take the book too seriously this is fun and fresh. If you liked Dexter, and/or the humor of Joe in You, or Paul in Best Day Ever, then you will love Grace. The twist toward the end was the icing on the cake.
*The audiobook is narrated by Charly Clive, Paul Panting, who were excellent!
* A caveat: there is a political jab made early in the book, so I set it aside, but the positive reviews of Goodreads friends (Ceecee, Michael, and Jayne) led me to pick it up again. Thankfully, it was just the one instance. To be clear, I read to escape, and don’t want to see ANY political jabs from either side of aisle, even if their beliefs align with my own.
July 28, 2023
Niepokojąco wyborna.
August 29, 2021
Definitely my nomination for THE snarkiest,
darkest, funniest, juiciest, and most twisted read of 2021.
HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY takes the proverbial saying "Don't get mad, get even" to exciting new levels.
Yes, this book is truly in a league of its own. It's chilling and disturbing; yet, also LOL humorous.
SOME ADVICE: If reading a book entitled HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY deeply troubles you, close your eyes, hold your nose, snag this book.....and READ ON.
The book's villainous and enchanting protagonist is Grace Bernard - an emotionally detached yet upbeat woman who intentionally and happily "throttled" six members of her family as "payback" for her wealthy biological father's refusal to marry her mother and for family snubs.
Surprisingly, even though I was privy to all of the grisly details of Grace's horrific crimes, I never stopped rooting for her.
I admired Grace's ingenuity, creativity, planning skills, and her unwavering determination.
Yes, Grace was a woman with a mission and she was empowering.
The book is also a caustic commentary on the justice system.
Ironically, Grace was in jail for a murder she did not commit, yet she was never charged for the multiple murders that she did commit.
Grace's comments about her life in jail and fellow prisoners, BTW, were brilliant.
Overall, this compelling tale of calculated revenge was fast-paced, witty, and riveting, from beginning to end.
I especially loved the ending's brilliant twist.
ONE CRITICISM: The author included some political venom and BDSM mentions (in different parts of the book!) that could have been easily deleted without compromising the storyline.
I listened to the audiobook and the two narrators did an outstanding job.
This was author Bella Mackie's debut fiction book and I look forward to listening to this author's future titles.
darkest, funniest, juiciest, and most twisted read of 2021.
HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY takes the proverbial saying "Don't get mad, get even" to exciting new levels.
Yes, this book is truly in a league of its own. It's chilling and disturbing; yet, also LOL humorous.
SOME ADVICE: If reading a book entitled HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY deeply troubles you, close your eyes, hold your nose, snag this book.....and READ ON.
The book's villainous and enchanting protagonist is Grace Bernard - an emotionally detached yet upbeat woman who intentionally and happily "throttled" six members of her family as "payback" for her wealthy biological father's refusal to marry her mother and for family snubs.
Surprisingly, even though I was privy to all of the grisly details of Grace's horrific crimes, I never stopped rooting for her.
I admired Grace's ingenuity, creativity, planning skills, and her unwavering determination.
Yes, Grace was a woman with a mission and she was empowering.
The book is also a caustic commentary on the justice system.
Ironically, Grace was in jail for a murder she did not commit, yet she was never charged for the multiple murders that she did commit.
Grace's comments about her life in jail and fellow prisoners, BTW, were brilliant.
Overall, this compelling tale of calculated revenge was fast-paced, witty, and riveting, from beginning to end.
I especially loved the ending's brilliant twist.
ONE CRITICISM: The author included some political venom and BDSM mentions (in different parts of the book!) that could have been easily deleted without compromising the storyline.
I listened to the audiobook and the two narrators did an outstanding job.
This was author Bella Mackie's debut fiction book and I look forward to listening to this author's future titles.
September 1, 2022
I HATE writing bad reviews but this book.......... Stay away from it. Save your money, your e-reader space, everything. It promised everything and gave me nothing but despair and an extreme loss of time.
June 22, 2022
It started off with a good idea. A girl who wants revenge on her family and kills them all but ends up being put in jail for a murder she did not commit. The idea was there. The execution was not.
There is no real motive behind the revenge. She wants revenge on a bunch of random people she never met before just because her father didn’t acknowledge her and was never in her life to begin with, and he dared to be rich on top of it? How terribly awful. I want to shed a tear but I could not care less as her mother died of cancer and not from overworking or anything like that. So why blame the father for… for what exactly? Having a good and privileged life in some adoptive family who exposed her to enough good things in life for our main (Grace) to become an arrogant snob who juges others for ordering house wine instead of some big expensive bottle…?
Grow up, this is childish, hypocritical and snobbish. I would maybe understand her anger if she was 12. Not 26. And once again we have the trope of the girl that’s so “unique” and so “different” from everyone else by just being as basic, stereotypically millennial, snobbish and arrogant as any other with just a touch of deranged and vindictive psycho.
A lot of unnecessary interludes, discussing millennial issues and events. No, I do not care what her thoughts on the presidential elections are. There are so many details about side characters who appear only for a chapter that it becomes ridiculous how much time the author is wasting with “side stories”. The worst thing is that the author purposefully do so, and while writing the “diary” or emails, protagonists keep saying how “they’ve been going on unnecessary tangent” just to go on another one right after. So many unnecessary paragraphs that could be easily skipped. All this made the pacing very slow and managed to make murders and plot twists excruciatingly plain and boring.
All the chapters are so disconnected that it gives a feeling of a series of small murders with the most cliché scenarios possible taken from cheap thrillers pieced all together, being desperately glued together with vulgar humour. Shock value that is not remotely shocking and just gross is the lowest of ways to make something seem humours and dark. I love dark and witty humour. This is neither. It’s just in quite poor taste. And if you don’t believe me then let me just give you a little teaser of how much in poor taste it is: her uncle, sex club, choking. Did you manage to paint yourself a very cheap murder mystery scenario? Bravo, that’s what this book did too.
Needless to say, I did not enjoy this book, and only the very last 3 pages of this book made me give it an additional star for the sheer irony. I do not understand the hype. Not for me.
There is no real motive behind the revenge. She wants revenge on a bunch of random people she never met before just because her father didn’t acknowledge her and was never in her life to begin with, and he dared to be rich on top of it? How terribly awful. I want to shed a tear but I could not care less as her mother died of cancer and not from overworking or anything like that. So why blame the father for… for what exactly? Having a good and privileged life in some adoptive family who exposed her to enough good things in life for our main (Grace) to become an arrogant snob who juges others for ordering house wine instead of some big expensive bottle…?
Grow up, this is childish, hypocritical and snobbish. I would maybe understand her anger if she was 12. Not 26. And once again we have the trope of the girl that’s so “unique” and so “different” from everyone else by just being as basic, stereotypically millennial, snobbish and arrogant as any other with just a touch of deranged and vindictive psycho.
A lot of unnecessary interludes, discussing millennial issues and events. No, I do not care what her thoughts on the presidential elections are. There are so many details about side characters who appear only for a chapter that it becomes ridiculous how much time the author is wasting with “side stories”. The worst thing is that the author purposefully do so, and while writing the “diary” or emails, protagonists keep saying how “they’ve been going on unnecessary tangent” just to go on another one right after. So many unnecessary paragraphs that could be easily skipped. All this made the pacing very slow and managed to make murders and plot twists excruciatingly plain and boring.
All the chapters are so disconnected that it gives a feeling of a series of small murders with the most cliché scenarios possible taken from cheap thrillers pieced all together, being desperately glued together with vulgar humour. Shock value that is not remotely shocking and just gross is the lowest of ways to make something seem humours and dark. I love dark and witty humour. This is neither. It’s just in quite poor taste. And if you don’t believe me then let me just give you a little teaser of how much in poor taste it is: her uncle, sex club, choking. Did you manage to paint yourself a very cheap murder mystery scenario? Bravo, that’s what this book did too.
Needless to say, I did not enjoy this book, and only the very last 3 pages of this book made me give it an additional star for the sheer irony. I do not understand the hype. Not for me.
May 26, 2023
4.25/5
Okej, ALE ZAKOŃCZENIE TO MNIE ZDENERWOWAŁO! Jest dobre, ale chciałam, żeby było inaczej — wiecie o co chodzi!
Za to książka? Nie sądziłam, ze aż tak mi się spodoba i uważam, że to odrobine niepokojące 😂
Okej, ALE ZAKOŃCZENIE TO MNIE ZDENERWOWAŁO! Jest dobre, ale chciałam, żeby było inaczej — wiecie o co chodzi!
Za to książka? Nie sądziłam, ze aż tak mi się spodoba i uważam, że to odrobine niepokojące 😂
July 19, 2021
For a book about a woman who murders six people, How to Kill Your Family is surprisingly... Bloodless. It's a vague, flimsy thing which relies heavily on millennial stereotypes (heck, stereotypes full stop) and the slightly juvenile writing style does it few favours, either.
Mackie can't seem to decide whether protagonist Grace is a snobbish, bratty psychopath or a brave class warrior, and that's what makes her so, well, vague - all we know for sure is that she's pretty awful. The murders feel entirely distinct from one another, giving the overall feel of a bunch of short stories tacked together; it's disjointed and clumsy. The denouement is slightly more satisfying but the newcomer who suddenly pops up to deliver it is waif-like and thinly drawn - introducing a new voice at the very end of a tale to tie up loose ends neatly feels like something of a cop-out.
I was hoping for something along the lines of CJ Skuse's brilliant Rhiannon character from her Sweet Pea books - instead we're presented with a sort of cut price Fleabag with a talent contest tearjerker backstory and murderous intent. Which sounds a lot more interesting in theory than in reality, sadly.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Mackie can't seem to decide whether protagonist Grace is a snobbish, bratty psychopath or a brave class warrior, and that's what makes her so, well, vague - all we know for sure is that she's pretty awful. The murders feel entirely distinct from one another, giving the overall feel of a bunch of short stories tacked together; it's disjointed and clumsy. The denouement is slightly more satisfying but the newcomer who suddenly pops up to deliver it is waif-like and thinly drawn - introducing a new voice at the very end of a tale to tie up loose ends neatly feels like something of a cop-out.
I was hoping for something along the lines of CJ Skuse's brilliant Rhiannon character from her Sweet Pea books - instead we're presented with a sort of cut price Fleabag with a talent contest tearjerker backstory and murderous intent. Which sounds a lot more interesting in theory than in reality, sadly.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 22, 2023
I'm so annoyed that I spent £15 on this gorgeous looking hardcover with pink sprayed edges and it ended up being such a disappointment. I need to stop giving into hype with books like this.
I've been wanting to read a good anti-hero type story for a while, and though I've had my eye on the Sweetpea books, this one caught my eye due to the cover and the hype it received.
Grace Bernard confesses in the prologue to having killed six members of her own family and gotten away with it, yet is writing this from prison, where she is incarcerated for a murder she did not commit. This immediately loses any sense of suspense at what is to follow, as you know that she will be talking about seven murders, one of which she didn't do and six that she did. What follows is a diary format account of these murders, but they are not told in a straight-forward linear fashion. Instead, after one murder we jump back to the present, or back further in the past, as Grace decides to recount her life story along with the murders.
The format made this incredibly difficult to read, as it was very slow paced, quite disjointed, and involved a lot of telling. A diary format can sometimes work, when done well, but I really don't think that this was executed that well at all. The constant telling and lack of showing means you are left feeling somewhat distant from the story and can't really deduce things for yourself. It makes for dull reading, being told everything in such a boring fashion.
Grace is probably meant to be unlikeable and cold. I get it, but it meant that I didn't really get behind her as a character, and didn't care what happened to her. Also, revenge stories really do well when you sympathise with the character despite the horrible thing they are going to do for revenge. You root for them. I didn't root for Grace. I found her unlikeable, spoilt, contradictory, self-absorbed and cruel. She hates fat people, she hates instagrammers, she hates rich people, she hates men, she hates a lot of women for inane reasons, she hates everything, apparently. She also thinks that influencers make up mental illnesses for relatability and that her half-sister can't be pansexual because she has only dated men. She only wants her best friend Jimmy when she can't have him. She is brought up in a foster family who is rich and has a lot of opportunities in life, but she hates rich people. She's just awful, and I couldn't find a single thing to like about her.
Not only that, but the plot felt kind of weak. There were so many weak points in the murders she committed. Those who hated the ending are forgetting how ridiculously silly Grace was for not thinking of these things.
And a couple of other things: I KNOW that Grace is meant to be awful. I know. But I really hated that chapter, and felt incredibly uncomfortable reading it.
And her Well, it felt very forced and not really a great reason to kill anyone.
Okay, I'm sure there's more I didn't like about this book and this review it not as neat and clear and organised as I would like, but I had a lot to say and write out. Suffice to say that this is a one star read for me, because I hated the main character, thought the plot was weak, thought the pacing was slow, and the format led to too much telling and not enough showing. Also, the lack of dialogue didn't help either. Overall just a book that was not my cup of tea.
I've been wanting to read a good anti-hero type story for a while, and though I've had my eye on the Sweetpea books, this one caught my eye due to the cover and the hype it received.
Grace Bernard confesses in the prologue to having killed six members of her own family and gotten away with it, yet is writing this from prison, where she is incarcerated for a murder she did not commit. This immediately loses any sense of suspense at what is to follow, as you know that she will be talking about seven murders, one of which she didn't do and six that she did. What follows is a diary format account of these murders, but they are not told in a straight-forward linear fashion. Instead, after one murder we jump back to the present, or back further in the past, as Grace decides to recount her life story along with the murders.
The format made this incredibly difficult to read, as it was very slow paced, quite disjointed, and involved a lot of telling. A diary format can sometimes work, when done well, but I really don't think that this was executed that well at all. The constant telling and lack of showing means you are left feeling somewhat distant from the story and can't really deduce things for yourself. It makes for dull reading, being told everything in such a boring fashion.
Grace is probably meant to be unlikeable and cold. I get it, but it meant that I didn't really get behind her as a character, and didn't care what happened to her. Also, revenge stories really do well when you sympathise with the character despite the horrible thing they are going to do for revenge. You root for them. I didn't root for Grace. I found her unlikeable, spoilt, contradictory, self-absorbed and cruel. She hates fat people, she hates instagrammers, she hates rich people, she hates men, she hates a lot of women for inane reasons, she hates everything, apparently. She also thinks that influencers make up mental illnesses for relatability and that her half-sister can't be pansexual because she has only dated men. She only wants her best friend Jimmy when she can't have him. She is brought up in a foster family who is rich and has a lot of opportunities in life, but she hates rich people. She's just awful, and I couldn't find a single thing to like about her.
Not only that, but the plot felt kind of weak. There were so many weak points in the murders she committed. Those who hated the ending are forgetting how ridiculously silly Grace was for not thinking of these things.
And a couple of other things: I KNOW that Grace is meant to be awful. I know. But I really hated that chapter, and felt incredibly uncomfortable reading it.
And her Well, it felt very forced and not really a great reason to kill anyone.
Okay, I'm sure there's more I didn't like about this book and this review it not as neat and clear and organised as I would like, but I had a lot to say and write out. Suffice to say that this is a one star read for me, because I hated the main character, thought the plot was weak, thought the pacing was slow, and the format led to too much telling and not enough showing. Also, the lack of dialogue didn't help either. Overall just a book that was not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2023
Miałam nadzieję, że jest to poradnik, tytuł bardzo mnie zmylił :(
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