Michelle Dsouza
Grace is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have encountered in recent memory, and I mean that as a compliment to Bella Mackie.
The premise is exactly what it sounds like. Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who never acknowledged her, decides to systematically kill off his entire family to claim what she believes is rightfully hers. She is intelligent, calculating, and absolutely insufferable in the best possible way. She has opinions about everything and everyone, all of them withering, most of them funny, and none of them particularly kind.
The wit is the book's greatest strength. Mackie writes Grace's internal monologue with a sharpness that had me laughing out loud repeatedly. The funniest moments come from Grace's absolute conviction in her own superiority and her complete inability to be impressed by anyone. At a party, a man confesses his kink for choking and traces it back, with great seriousness, to nearly drowning in the family pool as a child. Grace listens, looks pointedly at his wedding ring, and delivers: "Does your wife indulge? I assume she'd like to choke you occasionally." She means it completely. He laughs because men often laugh with surprise when they find women funny, as though it's a skill they're not expected to possess. Mackie gets two jokes out of one exchange and makes both land.
Where the book loses me is in the believability of the central conceit. Multiple deaths within one family, all written off as accidents, with no investigative thread pulling them together, strains credibility past the point of suspension of disbelief. The victims' families are largely absent as a concern. For a book this intelligent in its prose, the plot mechanics feel underdeveloped.
Grace's behavior at Jimmy's engagement was the moment her internal logic broke down in a way that felt like a writing inconsistency rather than a character flaw. She had just finished explaining how she kept him at arm's length because her mission came first. Her reaction to his engagement contradicts that entirely, and it stands out precisely because the rest of Grace's reasoning, however twisted, holds together.
The pacing also suffers from over-explanation in places. Grace has a tendency to over-narrate her own thinking, which slows the book down where momentum matters most.
The ending is unexpected, slightly over the top, and fits the book perfectly. Anticlimactic in a way that suits Grace exactly.
The case for why the cousin and uncle needed to die alongside Simon's immediate family never fully lands. It feels like the body count expanding for its own sake rather than because the story required it.
Funny, sharp, and occasionally its own worst enemy. Grace is a villain you laugh at rather than root for, which is exactly the right register for this book.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
Grace is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have encountered in recent memory, and I mean that as a compliment to Bella Mackie.
The premise is exactly what it sounds like. Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who never acknowledged her, decides to systematically kill off his entire family to claim what she believes is rightfully hers. She is intelligent, calculating, and absolutely insufferable in the best possible way. She has opinions about everything and everyone, all of them withering, most of them funny, and none of them particularly kind.
The wit is the book's greatest strength. Mackie writes Grace's internal monologue with a sharpness that had me laughing out loud repeatedly. The funniest moments come from Grace's absolute conviction in her own superiority and her complete inability to be impressed by anyone. At a party, a man confesses his kink for choking and traces it back, with great seriousness, to nearly drowning in the family pool as a child. Grace listens, looks pointedly at his wedding ring, and delivers: "Does your wife indulge? I assume she'd like to choke you occasionally." She means it completely. He laughs because men often laugh with surprise when they find women funny, as though it's a skill they're not expected to possess. Mackie gets two jokes out of one exchange and makes both land.
Where the book loses me is in the believability of the central conceit. Multiple deaths within one family, all written off as accidents, with no investigative thread pulling them together, strains credibility past the point of suspension of disbelief. The victims' families are largely absent as a concern. For a book this intelligent in its prose, the plot mechanics feel underdeveloped.
Grace's behavior at Jimmy's engagement was the moment her internal logic broke down in a way that felt like a writing inconsistency rather than a character flaw. She had just finished explaining how she kept him at arm's length because her mission came first. Her reaction to his engagement contradicts that entirely, and it stands out precisely because the rest of Grace's reasoning, however twisted, holds together.
The pacing also suffers from over-explanation in places. Grace has a tendency to over-narrate her own thinking, which slows the book down where momentum matters most.
The ending is unexpected, slightly over the top, and fits the book perfectly. Anticlimactic in a way that suits Grace exactly.
The case for why the cousin and uncle needed to die alongside Simon's immediate family never fully lands. It feels like the body count expanding for its own sake rather than because the story required it.
Funny, sharp, and occasionally its own worst enemy. Grace is a villain you laugh at rather than root for, which is exactly the right register for this book.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.