What a Way to Go

Best for:
People who don’t mind reading about horrible people, and who like a bit of schadenfreude.

In a nutshell:
Anthony - a very rich finance dude - dies at his 60th birthday gala. Was he murdered? Did he take his own life? Is something else going on?

Worth quoting:
“He’d always thought I was an idiot. It’s a mistake men often make, thinking their wives are stupid when they’re actually just full of rage.”

“Who are these people who walk through the world with such little interest in what’s really going on?”

Why I chose it:
I enjoyed her previous book “How to Kill Your Family.”

Review:
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Really no one in this book is super-likeable. Even the character we are probably meant to relate to most - ‘the show more sleuth’ trying to solve the possible murder of Anthony - is somewhat annoying and kinda unremarkable. But I still enjoyed it once I realized I wasn’t actually rooting for anyone. To use a sports analogy: you know when both the teams playing each other are teams you don’t like and you’re like ugh, why can’t they both lose? Well, that’s sort of how this book goes - everyone loses!

The minor spoiler here is that while Anthony dies at the start of the book, we still get his perspective because he goes to purgatory to try to remember how he died. In this version of reality, people who die go to a holding center where they need to recall their death before they move on to whatever comes next. And while there, they can actually watch their family members. Wild, eh? So while we only get point of view chapters from three characters, we still can see what others are doing if they are family members.

Anthony’s wife Olivia is another vile character. Anthony and Olivia actually quite deserve each other - they’re both genuinely horrible people who delight in the misery of those who don’t have their wealth or status, playing games with peoples lives. Gross, right? They feel like caricatures but for some reason, for me at least, it totally works. Anthony and Olivia also have four kids, ranging in age from 17-28, and there are various partners and other side characters we follow along as well to try to sort out why Anthony died.

I know the world is an absolute dumpster fire right now, and sometimes to offset that I look for a book that really explores how complex the world is, and how people can be so good. But sometimes I also just want to lean into it and hate on the super wealthy. This book scratches that itch, show less

Anthony is a rich financier, newly turned 60 and now newly dead. Unfortunately he can't pass on until he can recall the exact manner of his death and ,whilst he watches his nearest and dearest (from the South Gloucestershire Processing Centre), he contemplates his demise. The problem is that Anthony was actually a swindler on a grand scale and now his family have to deal with the fallout, a fallout that also includes a zealous true crime blogger, whom Anthony assaulted a couple of years ago.
I was surprised by how much a loved this book. It's original enough to pique interest at the start but then develops into a 'knowing' black comedy that keeps giving. There are lots of sideswipes and the idle rich kept wives and children who live off show more trust funds and have no idea of reall work. I also loves the scarcely vieled pastiches of true crime podcasters! show less

Often when you see a book title and cover, you think you know the direction the story will take. It will be predictable, and within that formulaic storyline, you will find entertainment and relaxation. And then comes a book like this where your assumptions fall flat after a few plot twists and you are left satisfied at having being proven wrong.

Story:

Grace Bernard has been in prison since 14 months. And she’s quite irritated about it. Why, you ask? Is she innocent? Au contraire! She has killed six people. The problem is that she got away with all those murders, and is in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. The irony! What follows is a heartfelt and humorous confession of sorts with Grace revealing what made her kill her family

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members and how she “executed” her plans.

A major chunk of the story comes to us via a journal that Grace is writing in prison to divulge her outrage at having being unfairly imprisoned. This journal broadly contains three elements: Grace’s background about why her family became her target, her modus operandi behind the crimes, and her life in prison. Each of these is interestingly written with a great deal of sarcasm and practicality. The book goes by very fast because of her candid approach about her offences.

Grace is such an interesting character. As most of the book is in the first person perspective of Grace, you will enjoy being in her mind as she unveils her life story. For one, it was refreshing to see a lead character acknowledge that she was attractive, such a refreshing change from all those beauties who seem unaware of their appeal until a man convinces them otherwise. Grace is also meticulous in planning out her tasks. The sincerity with which she plans out her targeted murders is simultaneously admirable and scary. She actually delights in her crimes, but she isn’t a psychopath. She is judgemental but justifies her critiques with a solid reasoning. This is one confusing character who will still make a mark on your heart.

The story is dark and gruesome but Grace’s macabre deeds are overshadowed by her wittiness. The humour in the book is quite acerbic and tongue-in-cheek. I especially enjoyed those barbs at SM influencers in the Briony section. Couldn’t stop myself laughing at Grace’s hashtags!

Overall, this is an easy-going book that seems predictable until you see that it is not quite as you thought. Pick it up when you want some light-hearted humour with dark twists.

Trigger Alert: (Some of the content contains details of BDSM, so if that gets your goat, consider yourself warned.)

I heard the audiobook but I don’t want to talk directly about the narrator as it will end up revealing a spoiler. All I will say is, I enjoyed the narration immensely and the almost eleven hours audiobook simply whizzed by!

The one thing I wish I could change about the book: its cover. That bland salmon pink cover just doesn’t do justice to this story. I would have preferred it bolder and darker.

A 4.25 from me.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Yes, this is a book about a rich family, something it seems to be criticised for? Yet the whole point of the book is that it's satirical; we're basically laughing at the ridiculousness of these rich people, who even in death, they feel as though they're above everyone else.
I found it to be witty and comical, making me chuckle regularly with some truly memorable sentences. I liked the perspective of the afterlife, watching the family through the monitors and dealing with the rude staff. A fun read!

Anthony is found dead in the lake at his (spectacular and expensive) 60th birthday party. The mystery of how he came to die is gradually (and only gradually) revealed in the three-stranded narrative. There are sections from the perspective of Anthony himself, held in a sort of interim afterlife until he can remember how he died, a set up which worked well, even if it made no real sense if you thought about it hard. There are chapters from the perspective of Olivia, his widow, who is not mourning him particularly hard, and finally from the perspective of Jade, a true crime enthusiast and vlogger, who is also a carer for her mother. Jade's voice was well done and clearly distinct from Anthony and Olivia who were both into conspicuous show more consumption, and scorning every one else including their children. Everyone in it was appalling in different ways, but the humour was appealing to me.

This started out well, but it began to drag and feel a bit repetitive, and the ending was a disappointment - I had expected more of a twist. show less

Wat een einde. Door: Bella Mackie.

Ik werd aangetrokken door de cover én de titel van Mackies eerste boek Hoe vermoord ik mijn familie? Ik las het en genoot van elke pagina, vooral doordat er een heerlijke Killing Eve-vibe doorheen het boek waaide; maar het einde was een teleurstelling. En afgaande op de online recensies was ik niet de enige die hier zo over dacht.

Ik denk dat Mackie de recensies ook gelezen heeft want Wat een einde heeft wél een geweldig einde. En wederom een prachtige cover. Ik zit thuis, met een barstje in mijn bekken, maar verveelde me geen seconde door dit meeslepende verhaal. Dit keer met een The White Lotus-vibe. Wat beide boeken gemeen hebben is een dode man, veel humor en door geld geobsedeerde mensen. Rijk show more zijn is niet iets om naar te streven als je de boeken van Mackie leest.

Anthony wordt dood aangetroffen op zijn verjaardagsfeest. Hij is rijk, althans, hij was dat… Na zijn plotse dood komt het één en ander aan het licht dat niet zo koosjer is. ‘De detective’, een online true crime-vlogger ruikt onraad en gaat op zoek naar de moordenaar. Kandidaten genoeg…

Vanuit het hiernamaals heeft Anthony zicht op zijn familie, dat doet een beetje denken aan Het gefluister achter de deur (TJ Klune). Het verhaal wordt afwisselend verteld vanuit het standpunt van Anthony, zijn vrouw Olivia én ‘De detective’ wat het extra smeuïg en spannend maakt.

Mackie heeft een heel eigen stijl, die al snel een gimmick kan worden maar met dit tweede boek bewijst ze wat ze in haar mars heeft. Wat een einde heeft het Mackie-keurmerk maar is helemaal anders dan diens vorige boek. Zo veel zin in nog meer van haar! show less