Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

A Novel

No cover

Benjamin Stevenson: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (2024, HarperCollins Publishers)

English language

Published 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-327903-2
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4 stars (14 reviews)

10 editions

Mystery and Meta

No rating

There's a solid mystery underlying this novel, and as the title betrays, it also indulges in a meta-narrative that is delivered by the narrator of the story. The mystery/thriller that is the core of this book would work really well on its own with plenty of twists, turns, revelations, and clues sprinkled in so that the savvy can start to put together the picture, and yet it adds in more with interesting narrative choices, such as telling you near the beginning what chapters people die in and acknowledging the novel as an already completed, written work. There was a good deal more going on in this story than I had expected at the start, and by the end, I was really enjoying it.

Fun little journey!

5 stars

I listened to the audiobook, and the 4th wall was broken a lot throughout and I'm not sure if that happens in the book as well because the breaking was all referencing listening to the audiobook. This is fully presented as an active telling of the story by the "author" Ernest. I really enjoyed this presentation of the story!

I kept putting this one off because of the hype, and I'm a little sad that I did, because I found this to be such a fun read! The comedic timing, the dry and dark humor, just everything was chef's kiss. I don't even know what else to say about it, I absolutely loved it and will be getting a copy to keep on my shelf.

Read it!

Follows the Rules

4 stars

It was a good mystery. The journey was better than the destination.

I enjoyed the meta elements and the author abided by the rules from the Golden Age as promised. I guessed the whodunnit pretty early, but couldn’t figure the why at all, or the other big reveal about them. It’s probably all there, woven in throughout the narrative, but honestly, I’m not here for picking apart clues from detailed accounts of fictional characters. This book taught me that while I do enjoy a good whodunnit, I much prefer the cozy subgenre just for all of the coziness, with a bit of mystery solving tacked on.

The motives for why the whodunnit did it felt pretty flat to me, probably the biggest disappointment. It would have cost more stars had I not been so entertained throughout to just let the payoff fizzle like that. I guess it’s probably harder to …

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