Recommended to me from by a very trusted source, How to Kill Your Family had so much promise. It’s not my usual read but the premise was intriguing and, from flicking through, I thought the writing would be entertaining … maybe even funny. 

Nope. For a book about revenge and murder it was utterly lifeless. The main character, Grace, who you are supposed to sympathise with was just so unpleasant … and not because she killed multiple people! She despised being condescended to and looked down upon and yet that’s all she did. This felt like a diatribe against anyone or anything  that Grace felt was below her; ie. everything - social media, the internet, women (strange considering her motivations), teenagers, takeaway coffee, people with interests she didn’t care, people with money, people without money, people who were trying to strike out on their own ….
The murders which were the most interesting part and should have been the central parts of the book felt secondary to societal observations that, while they did tie in (just!), felt like a way for Bella Mackie to get some things of her chest. It’s a shame because the central theme to this book was class but anything meaningful was lost in passages that were too long and delivered in a really alienating way. 
Ultimately this book tried way too hard to be clever and funny; to say something. And, in doing so it hugely misses the mark. 

After reading Detransition, Baby I was keen to read more books about perspectives on motherhood. So, when I spotted this on a table display in Waterstones, I thought I’d found the perfect read. 
I hasten to make very clear that I am not a mother, I am not pregnant, and, whilst I would like to be in the future, I am not at a stage where I even need to be considering these things. Therefore, it may be that I just couldn’t bond with this book in the way that someone more attuned and familiar with these feelings, thoughts, and concerns might be. 

That acknowledged, Loved and Wanted just didn’t do it for me. The first 25 pages or so were incredibly impactful and really engaging. However, I felt that it quickly lost that. The timeline was non-linear (for the most part) and the narrative felt tangential which created a distance between me and the events in Christi Parravani’s life. 
It always feels weird rating a memoir … ultimately I think that her writing style and I didn’t gel, and that’s okay.