Review – How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

Digital Review Copy Details.

• Title: How to Kill Your Family
• Author: Bella Mackie
• Narrator: Charly Clive; Paul Panting
• Genre: Adult Fiction, Humour, Murder
• Source: NetGalley
• Publication Date: 22 July 2021
• Format: audiobook
• Duration: 10 hours and 49 minutes

How To Kill Your Family is a lovely fantasy where truly awful people eventually get their comeuppance and don’t live a charmed life, skating by on superficial charm and privilege.

Our narrator Grace has been hard done by, there is no ifs nor buts about that. Which means it’s easy to support her actions, even though she’s killing seniors and teenagers alike. You’re not cheering her on per se, but your moral compass has shifted because, Grace has had a hard life for no real reason about from inconsideration from those around her. Also, it’s easy to like Grace because she’s confident with sarcastic quips and often is saying what we’re thinking but are too reserved to say ourselves.

I found How To Kill Your Family a satisfying read for this distinction and the inventive murders.

When it got to the twist in the tale at the end, I was surprised for a moment and then thought ‘well that explains it (audiobook narration)’. Then felt like an ignoramus due to the probability given the nature of the characters in question.

Once anything seemed possible, the further twists were not surprising and in fact made it a depressing finish.

I have more to say but it’s all spoilerish, so I’ll leave it for the blog and a spoiler button.

Despite it all, I was very entertained and thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook. When a voice can confidently convey attitude and inflection of numerous characters, you know that you’re in for a treat.