Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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.
Sometimes you just stumble across a book that you cannot help but pick up. How to Kill Your Family is just that book. The title drew me in at first because I immediately knew that it was going to be an intriguing story and then the synopsis drew me in even more. The concept of this book sounded extraordinary and it is executed (no pun intended) incredibly.
I had previously heard a lot of good things about Bella Mackie’s writing, so when I saw that she would be writing a fiction novel I had to give it a read. Her writing takes us on a wild, unforgettable and thrilling journey that is difficult to put down. I read this book in just two sittings and even when I was not reading it I was thinking about it.
Grace, our main character, is an absolutely terrible person. She is an awful person, a snob and to be honest quite unlikable. She doesn’t hesitate to share with us all her judgements on people no matter how harsh and terrible. Despite all of this though, I could not help but like her which I know I should not do given what horrendous things she has done. Grace has a dark and dry sense of humour which I found hilarious and thoroughly enjoyed. Your jaw drops whenever she confesses to something and it drops even more with the dry and straightforward way in which she confesses.
I love the variety of characters that Bella Mackie has created in this book. There are some to like, some that make you want to throw the book across the room and there are some that deserve absolutely everything that they get.
I enjoyed the format that this book is written in, a tell all journal by Grace. It grips you right away as you find out all the horrible things she has done and why she is in prison for a crime she did not commit. The book also have a few plot twists which shocked me and had me wanting to not put the book down.
Overall, How to Kill Your Family, is a thrilling, dark, yet humorous read that I would highly recommend. I will certainly be reading more books by Bella Mackie in the future. If you are a fan of Killing Eve or My Sister, the Serial Killer I would highly recommend you give this a read.
Loisreadsbooks 