Reviews

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie: The book that got me into reading again.

Synopsis:

They say you can’t choose your family, but you can kill them.

Grace Bernard is a daughter, sister, and serial killer.

Grace has lost everything, and she will stop at nothing to get revenge.

Genre: Dark, Fiction, Thriller, Comedy and Humour.

Book Review:

If you enjoy dark humour, then this book is for you!

When Grace finds out that her millionaire father had ignored all of her dying mother’s requests for help, she sets out to get revenge on her remaining ‘family’. We learn more about Grace’s motivations for wanting to kill her family as we follow the story of her plans for doing so.

The Plot & Theme of the book:

This novel does a great job at blending the suspense and humour genres. Grace doesn’t seem to have a lot of family and has never met her father and grandparents. Grace finds out that her dad didn’t want anything to do with her which makes her hate him even more. This creates a persistent feeling of loneliness because of how Grace is portrayed throughout the book. While reading, I conjured up vivid images that made me feel as though I was experiencing the novel first-hand. I was drawn into the plot in every chapter as a reader. Each chapter was different but still managed to keep me engaged. The introduction of many different characters didn’t confuse me whilst following the storyline. The combination of elements from the past and present makes the plot flow seamlessly. There was always a back story behind each person she wanted to kill which was interesting as a reader to find out more about them. Considering this book has a dark theme to it, Bella portrays the humour very well to make some scenes less serious than they should be.

The front cover:

I thoroughly enjoy the artwork and front over of the book; it is very visually pleasing to me. The black bold writing really draws customers in when buying this book. The bold writing suggests a serious tone and really stands out against the pink background. I believe that the front cover of Bella’s book is simplistic but also bold within its meaning. A smart twist on the book’s overarching concept can be seen in the artwork towards the bottom. Therefore, the genres of the book are portrayed effectively on the front cover.

Overall opinion on the book:

I first read this book in the summer of 2022 after not reading for multiple years. This book got me excited to read again and now it’s a passion of mine. I do believe this kind of genre isn’t for everyone, however, the themes are portrayed positively throughout the book. I first heard about this book due to seeing a post about it, initially the title and the front cover drew me in. The blurb precise is and snappy by using short sentences which makes you want to read more to find out what happens. If you are interested in dark humour and thriller genres, then this book is for you!

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