Review [English Version]: How to Kill Your Family

    by: Nabila Rhapsodios 

PRODUCT INFO

Title: How to Kill Your Family

Author(s): Bella Mackie

Publisher: The Borough Press

Language: English

Year Published: 2022

Page(s) Number: 368

PROLOGUE

Bella Mackie

The title How to Kill Your Family halted me at the bookstore—its cutting directness radiated menace, promising one of 2022’s darkest, snarkiest thrillers.

How to Kill Your Family tracks Grace Bernard, a 28-year-old imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit—though she deserved charges for slaughtering her paternal family. Outfoxing police with her ruthless planning for a long time, at last, Grace boldly confesses. 

MY IMPRESSION

Here are the things that I like about How to Kill Your Family:

1. Bella Mackie's debut is compulsively addictive. Razor-sharp and witty, it made me laugh and nod at its scathing societal insights. Grace, narrating revenge from her cell, dazzles with acidic disdain for class divides and her father’s vile family. I admire Grace Bernard for her cutting complexity and narrative voice—not her crimes.
2. Bella’s prose whips seamlessly between past and present, splicing Grace’s prison life with her cold, calculated vendetta. Snippets from Grace’s youth sting—some warm, most aching. Even as Grace recounts appalling deeds with chilling calm, I rooted for her arc—not the bloodshed. These victims are detestable, but it’s the razor wit and cool style that truly hooked me.

A list of the things that I don’t like about How to Kill Your Family:

1. The novel’s chief flaw: a jarring, implausible finale. A previously invisible character springs in at the climax, cheapening the intricate plot and sabotaging Grace’s hard-earned arc. It’s a contrivance that left me bristling, expecting a payoff worthy of the book’s brilliance.

Closing Statement:

Despite one flaw, the fun, unique premise and cleverly crafted chapters make this book worthy of bestseller status, and I’m giving it 9.5/10 stars.

Anya Taylor-Joy to Star as Grace Bernard in How to Kill Your Family Series Adaptation

Looking ahead, How to Kill Your Family is being adapted into an eight-episode Netflix series starring Anya Taylor-Joy, with Bella Mackie as executive producer. The release date has not been announced.

I can’t wait to see the series channel Grace’s venomous wit and jet-black humor. The Netflix adaptation must snare the book’s snap, edge, and wild, twisted pulse—or it risks missing the mark.

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