I loved this sort of thriller, sort of mystery, sort of comment-on-modern -life-for-young-women. It was compelling, funny and dark, with an extraordinary ability to make me keep turning the page.

Grace is a damaged young woman- damaged by the experiences she had growing up, and damaged by her own mind. She is (clearly, to me) a psychopath, in the engaging and funny way that can only be portrayed on the page. She is an anti-hero in the truest sense. Abandoned by her father, Grace's childhood was one of never ending misery and trauma. Her mother dies and Grace focuses all her energy on becoming an adult and getting revenge on her millionaire father. How better than killing his entire family? The driving force for Grace to kill her family does require the reader to take some logic leaps, but given they have picked up and started reading a book called "How to Kill Your Family", I can forgive it.

The ending was great, too- bittersweet and the tone was pitched perfectly. Grace got what she wanted (but not all of it) and she got away with it (sort of), but she has to live with things not going exactly as she wanted and not achieving all she set out. The addition at the end (I hesitate to call it a twist) was very well done and added to the happy/not happy ending for Grace.

I adored this book! I have loved Bella's writing and really enjoyed her none fiction so was so excited when I heard she was released a fiction book and it was everything I wanted in a book!
I found the plot very engaging and I loved Grace's character, even thought she isn't very relatable, possibly one of my favourite characters ever created. The writing was easy to read and very humorous, which is always a positive after a long day at work and found myself really looking forward to read it every night!
I would really recommend it and can't wait to read more fiction from Bella!

I really enjoyed this book from the start. It’s dark and funny and brilliantly observed – just as I expected it to be based on Bella’s previous output.

It’s written from the point of view of Grace Bernard who is in prison for a murder she didn’t commit. However, there have been plenty of murders she did commit that she escaped justice for – and she decides to use the time in prison to write her memoir. The book flits between the present day in prison back to Grace’s childhood and then through the various murders. Grace is clearly a really dark character – capable of multiple murders – but despite that, you still really like her and are rooting for her! It did remind me of the TV series ‘Killing Eve’ and the film ‘Promising Young Woman’ in that way.

The descriptions of the murders are like mini films in their own right (perfect episodes of a TV series should any TV execs be reading this?!) and each setting is really well written and evokes the relevant atmosphere, be that the Costa del Sol / marshlands / Monaco / seedy sex clubs – it’s nothing if not varied. (I should point out I have no actual experience of seedy sex clubs when making this comment!)

Whilst I am no way claiming that Bella herself could be a serial killer – there are definitely elements of Grace that remind me of Bella, such as helping her mental health with running (although no mention of pausing her runs for window and door photos?) and a love of beautiful accessories.

The observations of different ‘types’ of people are spot on – be they the do gooder virtual signalling posh woman, to the business tycoon and his ‘new money’ family, to the petty criminal cell mate, to the braces wearing barrister – you will DEFINITELY recognise people you know (or have read about in celebrity magazines). It’s so clever and slick and sharp and bitchy – but in a fabulous way.

Now you know this book isn’t going to have a saccharine sweet fairy tale ending, with everyone living happily ever after – but I did not expect the massive twists of the last few chapters – it was brilliant and perfect for the book. I was actually really sad to finish the book – which is always the sign of a good read I guess.

‘How To Kill Your Family’ is out in July 2021 and I would highly recommend you pre order it now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Fiction for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a read!
Grace is the illegitimate daughter of Simon Artemis, a ridiculously rich businessman, who impregnated her mother and then had nothing else to do with them. Growing up poor in a tiny flat in London, Grace knows of her father and his mansion house that he shares with his wife and (legitimate) daughter. After Grace’s mother dies, leaving her alone in the worlds far as family is concerned, she comes up with a plan that will be the ultimate revenge - murdering her family members so that Simon is left alone in this he world, in the same way that she was, before killing him as the ultimate prize and staking a claim on his fortune.
The plan goes so well at the start….then Grace is sent to prison. For murder. A murder that she did not commit.can Grace prove her innocence and continue with her mission?
A darkly comic tale that kept me guessing and intrigued to the final page. Would highly recommend.

Also-bloody-lutely brilliant with an ending I did not see coming. I really don't know what to think now; should there be a sequel, or did the book end perfectly, leaving me wanting more?

I loved Grace, with her pithy assessment of (amongst many things) millennial culture, the nouveau riche and social media. I may not always have agreed with her caustic comments, but my God they are funny. She is a complex character, driven by a desire for revenge, but with the nous to acknowledge that this has been to the detriment of a happy life. She shoots from the hip, is driven, intelligent, single minded, and does not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise! I found myself under her spell, relishing reading about her ingenious murder methods, admiring her chutzpah and rooting for her to be exonerated from the charges against her.

I want to go and read it again now, to see if there is anything I missed on my first read.

My thanks go to the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It was slow at first, and my main criticism overall is that I think it could do with being a bit shorter, but generally I found the story really engaging and I liked Grace as a main character – she’s a sort of anti-villain, one of those that you know is bad (or at a minimum morally-grey) but you are meant to kind of like anyway. Her wry humour and social commentary really make this book, and it’s fun being in her head at times when she makes decisions that you just can’t believe anyone would make, whilst at the same time feeling sympathy for her while she works through her trauma.

Overall, would recommend giving this a go!

REVIEW - How to Kill Your Family by @mackie_bella

5 Stars ⭐️

I was lucky enough to be granted an early reader copy from NetGalley - although, I did eagerly pre-order this book back in early January because I was so keen to read Bella’s first novel but I couldn’t resist reading it early! (will probs re-read when I receive it in its hard copy because it’s just that good)

Grace Bernard begins a journey down memory lane when imprisoned for a murder, one of which, she did not commit. Grace has killed 6 members of her family, she is only 28 and has had a pretty normal upbringing – however, this doesn’t stop you from championing her crimes and here’s why:

Unlike anything I have ever read, you truly find yourself backing Grace and her criminal achievements. Bella’s ability to reverse standard thriller norms by setting aside the excite of solving a crime and catching a villain is brilliant. It is packed with humour and Grace’s direct and candid temperament is addictive as you find yourself calling her anti-hero exertions, heroic. It’s a very dark comedy but its right up my street – its my perfect read and I suddenly want a millions of books written in this style.

Its intelligently written, hilarious and although very early on you’re told what you will expect throughout the book, the last chapters are incredibly twisted and unexpected.

If you haven’t already, pre-order this because I want to discuss it immediately! By far one of my favourite books I’ve read this year. Its out next month so keep an eye out for it on the shelves!

Issy 📚

"Prep work for killing someone is an odd thing. I wish there was an online group where you could share tips and offer up advice to newbies...Mumsnet, but for murderers...It's a lonely business, and it involves a fair bit of trial and error."

Grace Bernard is furious. Brought up by her penniless and struggling single-mother, life has been hard. When she discovers her father is Simon Artemis, businessman and billionaire who was never prepared to support her and her, now late, mother, Grace plots revenge. Not only does she want rid of the Artemis family, who are a classless, money-grabbing bunch, but she wouldn't mind some of their money, to compensate for her mother's struggles. So how does she end up in prison for a crime she didn't commit?!

What follows is Grace's childhood, her time in prison and her journey tracking down her family and ending their lives in more and more ingenious, but not suspicious, ways. Each of the Artemis family is more awful than the last - privileged, ignorant selfish and mean - so it's not difficult to imagine Grace on a crusade. Grace is bright, determined and funny and her adventures into the Artemis's world are dark, entertaining and witty, despite the gruesome deaths.

I throughly enjoyed this laugh-out-loud funny, Killing Eve-esque romp, full of wicked observations, put-downs and home truths. But it is so much more than this, having plenty to say about men, women and society.

"The manicurist painted my nails a deep red, the same colour my sister was having. There's nothing frivolous about these small rituals that women all around the world indulge in - they're a brief escape from the labour we take on. A tiny respite from a society which forces us to carry the emotional labour and carve out a professional path, whilst showing that we're not too emotional. Nail varnish is not vapid. It's a lacquer, a protective layer."

Despite her murderous ways, Grace is just brilliant and makes for compulsive reading. There is a shocking twist to the tale, which I won't spoil. Suffice to say it's a good one!

It is fair to say that How to Kill Your Family is not an ironic title for this book. In Bella Mackie's story we meet Grace Bernard who sets out on a pilgrimage to kill the members of her family. All very Ronseal so far. It does what it says on the tin…or the book cover in this case.

Through the story we learn about Bella's past. About the struggles of her mother and the absentee father and we see where she gets he homicidal motivation.

How to Kill Your Family reminded me of the Sweetpea by CJ Skuse. Yet what made the Sweetpea series so interesting is that the protagonist didn't necessarily always justify her motivations which for me made the book more enjoyable and whilst I did really like How to Kill Your Family, Grace lacked the lackisdaisical and glib nature to make her a memorable serial killer.

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie is available now.

For more information regarding Bella Mackie (@bellamackie) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Harper Collins (@HarperCollinsUK) please visit their Twitter page.

A really great, if not slightly twisted, story. Enjoyed nearly all of it but would have liked an additional reaction at the end..

Grace has killed her family. However she’s in prison for another crime, one which she didn’t actually commit. She’s decided to recount all the murders she has carried out (well what else is there to do in prison?).

The writing style of the novel is conversational, it’s an easy read. Grace is an unpleasant character, she looks down on everyone and everything. As such this ever present disdain makes her a rather unpleasant narrator. There’s a vein of dark humour running through the story which was a plus for me. Whilst I liked the idea of the novel and I enjoyed parts of it (the last couple of chapters really picked up) I was a little disappointed with it.

This just didn't land with me unfortunately. I like Bella Mackie and have enjoyed her articles in the past so I was really excited to read this. But honestly it just felt like it was trying a little to hard to be like the other anti-heroine stuff that's been out in recent years. There are plenty of people who will love that and be in the market for the next Killing Eve/Gone Girl type story. But for me, the pace was too slow and the main character is too one-note for it to make me feel much. I was rooting for it but I couldnt go with it in the end.

What I will say is that it's an interesting concept, there's plenty of tense moment, and the writing style is strong. It's acerbic, with a good balance of humour thrown into what should be a pretty sombre tale of murder and trauma. People who like characters who are cutting will find a lot here. I'm not the person for it but I have no doubt it will find its audience easily.

When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge and sets about to kill every member of his family. Readers have a front-row seat as Grace picks off the family one by one.

This is a wickedly dark book about class, family, love and murder. It is outrageously funny, compulsive and subversive, perfect for fans of Killing Eve and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I have had my eyes on this exceptionally brilliant book for a while now and was lucky enough to have an advance copy to sink my teeth into! It completely surpassed my expectations! It is wildly funny in a dankly dry way, defecating on society's materialistic capitalism and our millennial ways (I say this as PEAK millennial, give me that pink, those avocados and a shitty salary to fund my relentless addiction to *brunch*!). There are so many sentences and quips that I highlighted throughout the book and I hope you do too!

Grace is a complex character with a penchant for assassinating her family but despite her murderous ways I couldn't help but root for her from the beginning! She is scathing and views the world with a contempt I can't but help admire with the same adoration the Beyhive give their queen (I am a member of said hive, the love runs deep!). On her quest to kill we meet an array of characters and begin to understand why she chose such a dark path. Would I be her friend? Absolutely not. Would I go for a drink with her? Probably, so long as I bought ALL of my drinks and they never left my sight. Would I read a follow up about her? Absofuckinglutely!

How to Kill Your Family will undoubtedly be an option for Brunch Book Club and I hope for you too! FIVE STARS!

Thank you NetGalley & Harper Collins UK for the early copy of this book in return of a review.
I have been looking forward to Bella Mackie’s debut fiction book, ever since she announced it.
I knew from the paring of Bella’s humour with the premise of the book that I would enjoy it.
Grace is an illegitimate daughter of notorious businessman Simon Artemis; he knew about her and chose not to know or support her or her mother in anyway. When Grace’s mother passes away, after years of working hard as a single mother, Grace makes a vow of revenge against the Artemis family and begins her plans on how best to do just that.
She kills 6 members of her family, all (successfully for Grace) ruled as accidents, yet she is charged for a murder she is actually innocent of!
Now, anything with a bit of mystery and crime will always have me interested, but the added twist of being caught for the wrong crime had me so intrigued.
I struggled to get going with this book - a combination of just going through a reading lull & the chapters being quite long, but I knew I’d be hooked once I got going & I did!
Grace is telling us her story which she wrote during her time at Limehouse prison. Flicking between her current experience as an inmate and back to each killing, detailing the who, what, when and how as she ticks of the family members on her kill list. Eventually, she gets to the who, what, when and how she came to be in prison too.
Grace is obviously a bad person, she has no remorse for the killings she has done, yet I still seemed to like her and was somewhat rooting for her as she retold the lengths of planning and work she’d put into creating the opportunities for each killing & also felt a bit for her when no one believed her innocence of the one she didn’t do!
Apart from the long chapters, I did really enjoy this book. I thought it was written well, darkly funny and enticing until the end. I won’t say too much, but that ending was so unexpected, deceiving and bloody brilliant - the plot twist you didn’t see coming or know you wanted.
Overall Mackie did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next as I know she signed a two-book deal!

The first 90% of this novel is pacy, well-executed and incredibly tense and had the novel finished in that vein I would have given it 5 stars. The main character Grace is fairly one note, but her singular focus makes perfect sense given her self-imposed life quest, and all the characters are pleasingly dreadful (that buff nightclub guy, the bitchy girlfriend and the guy who loves frogs, I have met all of them). However, the ending of the novel was disappointing, I thought it completely jumped the shark, and all the careful crafted realism for the previous 350 pages was blown away by something I thought was just totally ridiculous. Multiple people writing down evidence of their crimes at a (conveniently) crucial point, when previously making no mistakes is just not plausible. I also felt that the ending sucked all Grace's agency away, and yes that is a choice, but I didn't think it was the right one. That ending took the book from excellent down to okay, which is a massive shame.

What. A. Book. Huge thank you to @boroughpress and @netgalley for my copy! How to Kill Your Family is hilarious, dark, gripping - it is at some points completely batshit and it’s one of the best things I’ve read this year.

The novel follows Grace Bernard on a quest to get revenge against her father and her family - Grace is, frankly, so immediately unlikable and snobbish that I almost didn’t keep going past the first chapter. I’m glad I did though, because while Grace is, yes, unlikable, she’s also hilarious and smart and surprisingly talented at committing serious crimes. I talked in my review of The Penelopiad about why I think needing to immediately like the characters I’m reading about limits the reading I do, and How To Kill Your Family is another amazing example of how good it can be to push past that. Almost every character is infuriating, but that didn’t stop me from speeding through it and loving it.

I would say there are also two key twists in the novel - the first I prided myself on seeing beforehand, the second I audibly gasped at to the level where my boyfriend had to check I was alright. This is not a novel that gives away its plot easily, and that suspense and intrigue is deftly and beautifully executed the whole way through.

I can’t wait for this to come out in July - I’ll be picking up a copy, and then buying more to press into the hands of everyone I know.

I absolutely loved this! I have devoured it. The narrator's voice, even if her actions are so morally questionable, makes the reading go by quickly and even empathising with her. Such a dark but witty humour!

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie is a brilliant book and I really enjoyed it. It came closer to a crime thriller than I expected with it being classed as general fiction, but this is a great thing in my opinion! I've seen people comparing it to Killing Eve and I can completely understand why, the main character Grace is a very strong female lead and has committed several murders using somewhat unusual methods! That said, I'd argue this book has a stronger storyline and some excellent twists which I didn't see coming, so I'm probably doing it a disservice by comparing the two.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via NetGalley, and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Grace is in prison serving time for murder. A murder she didn’t commit. However she did murder six members of her family and got away with it .

I was sold on this book from its description. I love an unlikeable protagonist . As well as being a murderer Grace was a horrible person in day to day life too yet, I was rooting for her.

I felt the start of the book was a little slow but from about a third of the way in, I was engrossed and could not put this down.

The writing is razor sharp, dark, funny and clever. So many quotable lines within and so many quick astute observations on class, families, social media/ tech and love.

I don’t want to post a spoiler but I can see the ending being a dividing talking point and I’m firmly on the fence. Half of me felt it was satisfying, the other half of me was frustrated by it. A sign of a good book though when you’re left questioning how you feel and still thinking about the book days after finishing it.

A memorable , funny, original read. I’ll look forward to more from Bella Mackie..

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟