I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t. It had some good dark humor but then I just got irritated with the main character and her obsessive revenge. The author did a create job with details, but it was not for me.

Given how intriguing the plot of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" is, I'm surprised there aren't more adaptations of the story, especially with how almost universally well-received this book has been! While keeping many of the main story beats as the musical it's loosely based on, "How to Kill Your Family" successfully retells the story of Montague D'Ysquith Navarro in modern-day Britain, and translating the comedy and social commentary of the musical to their modern equivalents exceptionally well.

The main divergence of the two stories comes from the ending, which I think is where this book falls somewhat short. Where Monty successfully evades prison, finds love, and becomes the undisputed ninth Earl of High Hearst, Grace spends over a year in prison, just barely reconnects with Jimmy, and comes home to find that the thing she's spent over a decade working towards (and risked her life several times to accomplish) has been ripped out from under her by someone who should be on her side.

I do get that it's part of the social commentary aspect of the book for something like this--and Bella Mackie does create an interesting storyline about how even in similar circumstances, wealth can lead very similar people to different goals and values--I think it undermines the point of the story. Part of Grace coming forward as Simon's daughter was a way to humiliate him and the family, as well as shed light on a lot of the awful things the Artemises had done, and as revealing something like that would inevitably lead to contact with Lara, Grace is denied the money that is rightfully hers, and contact with the few people who knows what she's gone through her entire life because of the Artemis family.

The audience is completely on Grace's side at this point, seeing how the Artemis family rejecting her and her mother impacted their lives, knowing how terrible most of the family was, seeing her play out these murders (however deserved each reader may think they are); all of that makes us want her to get away with it, see her mother avenged, and know Grace gets what she was denied, and in taking that from her, it's also taking it from the reader, and we don't really get any kind of emotional resolution for the entire ordeal--especially since the book ends without us seeing Grace's reaction to the email from Harry or the letter from Kelly.

Although the ending leaves a little to be desired, the rest of the book is well-written, with pretty insightful commentary, clever humor, and very put-together murders that have a good deal of suspense to each, even though we already know she gets away with them. I also thought the Caroline sub-plot was really interesting, and it was a good idea to not reveal whose murder Grace was wrongfully imprisoned for (and it was a clever departure from the musical to have it not only be someone that wasn't killed by someone who knew Grace, but also a person not even connected to the Artemises).

Entertaining, but not quite for me. The tone of the book is set in the prologue and continues (relentlessly) throughout. Just too snarky for me to really get into.

Oh, revenge. A dish best served cold... or one to gnaw over in jail, waiting to be released for something you didn't do. Of course, despite all the clever planning and execution, the low-paying jobs and the scheming, Grace makes a rookie mistake: committing her history to paper. What is it with evil people just needing to confess? It never ends well.

But while we're waiting for whatever justice will inevitably occur, we're treated to tales from the jail (great sketches of the various people incarcerated with Grace) and the stories of the murders she did, in fact, commit. There are some very clever scenarios, and it's plausible that she'll actually get away with it all. The action at the end feels much faster than the rest of the book, which made me wonder if the author was running out of ideas or it was a bad editing.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

This was a thoroughly unenjoyable book for me. I really couldn't get into it, which is a shame because it sounded so good.

I loved this book! Grace was unlikeable obviously but I couldn’t get myself to hate her either. The way it was written was deliberate, honest, sassy, and witty! I smiled often throughout this read. I’ve read that many people weren’t a fan of the ending but I really enjoyed it, it felt right. I would recommend this to anyone!

Grace Bernard discovered her father is a billionaire, and that he refused to help with her dying mother’s treatment, so she vows revenge. She’s going to kill his whole family. She methodically carries out her plan and recounts it all for us while in prison for a murder she actually didn’t commit.

I couldn’t put this one down. Grace is such an interesting character, and her single-minded pursuit of her self-centered father’s family is so intriguing. The story moves quickly, and the plot develops like a solid thriller without some of the stress that puts me off of typical books in the genre. The audiobook is great, too, if that’s your preferred media.

It’s out wherever you get you books and is the perfect beach read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of How to Kill Your Family.

I love revenge stories so this was right up my alley. Also, the title is pretty eye-catching!

Grace Bernard is no ordinary young woman. She is possessed with revenge on behalf of her deceased mother, when she discovers her father was a womanizing, though very wealthy, very famous scoundrel.

Ironically imprisoned for a crime she did not commit, Grace details the crimes she did commit; how she waited and planned the deaths of six people, it wasn't easy and it took a lot of work.

And that's the crux of the narrative; Grace recounting how she found each person on her hit list, what their place in the family hierarchy was, their vapid personality and snobbery.

I'm all for exposition but so much of the story read as filler.

I didn't need 10 pages on what her bratty, spoiled, half sister did as an Influencer and some of the background information could have been edited and condensed.

There was no drama, no urgency, and I had no connection with any of the characters.

I did like Grace; her wry comments and blunt humor sounds a lot like me. She tells it like it is and pulls no punches.

I did like the twist but I'm not sure all the pages before it was worth the payoff.

Although the premise is very original I couldn’t stay interested in this book. I found myself skimming pages until the end.I liked the authors writing, and don’t know why I couldn’t connect with this book.

What an excellent book! Very original, with a fresh voice that comes across through the main character, Grace, along with a crazy twist at the end. The plot is great and I wanted to keep reading to find out how Grace gets away with killing six different members of her family.

Would have been five stars, but just a little too long, drawn out.

Our dear psychopath protagonist, Grace, is languishing in Limestone Prison, for a crime (murder!) she did not commit!

However, Grace did, in fact, kill several members of her family, as she attests to in her diary, which she writes with flourish, from her prison cell.

Oh Grace, dear girl, began life in a very Dickensian fashion: the illegitimate heir to a billionaire playboy, Simon, via a short lived extramarital affair with her mother, Marie. Simon completely and totally rejected Grace from the get go. She and her mother lived in absolute squalor. (Dickensian indeed). Marie’s dying request, when Grace was still a child, was that Simon see and acknowledge their child. He steadfastly refused; a profoundly heartbreaking rejection.

Thus Grace determined, at a very early age, that her vendetta to wipe out the entire family would be her primary life goal. Revenge served cold, indeed.

Our gutsy Grace has a opinion on everyone; nearly always caustic, judgmental, hateful, certainly cynical and satirical. She has only one true, life long friend, and even that is massively complicated. Yet, you just can’t help but rather like (root for?) this rather uniquely odd creature.

Written with very dark humor and wit - think Killing Eve meets Dexter. Grace is tenacious, sly, calculating, and adept at getting what she wants.

The end is a major curve ball, which I actually rather like. In fact, the author could really use this as a cliffhanger, leading to another book - wouldn’t that be nice?

HTKYF is a campy romp, not meant to be taken too seriously, but enjoyed immensely.

Highly recommended.

My sincere gratitude to NetGalley, Bella Mackie, and the publisher, Abrams, for the delightful eARC in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion.

A creative thriller that had me laughing at some parts. Told in the future as our main killer is in prison and her descriptions of fellow inmates are a riot and in the past as she creatively and methodically kills members of both her immediate and extended family. A great read!