How I’ll Kill You is not a hyperbolic title for this nerve-wracking thriller from new author Ren DeStefano. I did not hit the brakes once from the first to the last page, reading through into the wee hours of the morning. Sissy, the narrator is one of identical triplets who were separated into different foster homes during their childhood, though coming together frequently enough that they always identified as a triad. They were a bit of a cause célèbre when they were left as children so they have plenty of money to live on as they travel the country killing people. Well, so far, her seconds older sisters Iris and Moody have been killing and Sissy has been cleaning up. But this time, it’s her turn.

She identifies her target, Edison, a widowed man. It complicates the matter for Sissy when his stepdaughter showed up. To follow the plan, Sissy should be distant and not form an attachment to her, but Sissy makes the mistake of caring. With Edison, she narrates how she would kill him, she imagines it and it’s fascinating, but with him, things get complicated as well. Very complicated.



How I’ll Kill You is a completely original thriller. Yes, there have been murderous narrators before, but few have spoken so dispassionately about murder. She’s excited to be taking her turn. You can see how the triad formed by the sisters’ separation and coming together. Sissy was lucky enough to have a loving foster family, a source of guilt and obligation to her less lucky sisters. It’s fascinating to see how they came to be and how disciplined they are at the art of murder. Imagine that applied to more wholesome pursuits.

How I’ll Kill You at Berkley | Penguin Random House
Ren DeStefano on Instagram

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC of How I’ll Kill You in exchange for my honest review.

This was an impressive debut (I’ll be honest I was surprised it was a debut!!). The plot was extremely clever and well planned out. It wasn’t super shocking, but it didn’t pull its punches as it moved along. There are some similarities to The Kind Worth Killing, but that’s one of my favorite books so I had a LOT of excitement with this one. I love a good morally grey character and this had quite a few.

Best to go in blind and not look at reviews or too deeply at the synopsis! A wonderful page turner, well worth a read!

Short synopsis: Sissy and her 2 sisters are triplets with a tragic childhood. They’ve learned to only stick together, and have a strange pact to kill off their boyfriends. Sissy’s always been the one to clean up, but this time it’s her turn to fall in love, and leave her man dead.

My thoughts: Wow this was twisty, unlike anything I’ve read before, and completely insane. Such a great psychological thriller that leaves you questioning whether to root for the killer, or to wish they’d get caught.

I enjoyed the relationship between the 3 sisters, and how different they were. Watching their history unravel, and their dedication to each other strengthen was quite the experience.

I did wonder whether it was strange that I enjoyed this so much. It gets graphic at moments, and definitely deaths with death and planning murder. There’s something about it that had me flipping pages and wanting to know what they sisters got up to next, and what happened in their pasts to make them the way they are.

Read if you love:
- Twisty thrillers
- Bonds of sisters
- Arizona heat
- Slow burn thriller
- True crime

Identical triplets, separated in the foster system, have now become a team. A team of serial killers. Sissy has always handled the clean up but now she has been given her own target. And she has chosen Edison. But, Sissy begins to get too close and the other sisters are not letting her forget her mission!

I think my problem with this book is I absolutely hated all of the characters. There was absolutely nothing at all which interested me. I also found them and the story very predictable. That being said, there was still something that kept me reading. The sisters interactions and the intensity of their plan is pretty extreme.

Need a good tale with murder ever present in the characters’ minds…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkeley Publishing for the ARC of this book.

This is My Sister, the Serial Killer times3. Nah just kidding, although it is about sister's killing their boyfriends and the sister who cleans up. Their is Moody, Iris, and Sissy. Triplets. Two of them deadly and cunning. They make men fall in love with them, then kill them and now it's Sissy's turn.

But Sissy falls in love with a widower, Edmond. He is quiet and Sissy is supposed to make Edmond fall in love and then kill him.

As Sissy is the narrator, we get her view on her feelings about her sisters,, how she's the one who cleans up after her sisters, and how they are pressuring her to kill a man she loves. They often work 2gether so nobody knows there are 3 of them. They often pretend they grew up as a single child, and often pretend they are the other sister!

Will Sissy kill Edmond?

This book was pure fun and the storytelling was really great! I highly recommend this book. It just came out in mid (ish) March! 4 stars!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

To be completely honest, I wasn't sure about this book when I started, and I'll tell you why. It reads a bit like a romance, but then there will be something thrown in that is like "WHOA, what?! Oh yea, this is a thriller".

And also, to be completely honest? I kind of loved that.

Sissy, Moody, and Iris are identical triplets with a deadly pact. They take turns finding men, establishing a romantic relationship with them, and then kill them. It's now Sissy's turn for her first kill, and she finds the perfect man. She reels him in, but the more she gets to know - and love - him, the more she ( and her sisters) start questioning if she will really be able to kill him as intended.

The whole time I read this I a) wondered the same thing and b) thought there was more to the story than the author was letting on. The end got very twisty and by the time I finished I was both disturbed and relieved.

I will definitely read more from this author. Well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Pub for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one unique thriller. Truly unlike any other thriller I've EVER read! Sissy, Iris, and Moody had very interesting (and creepy!) personalities. The plot --- perfection! This book was so addictive and couldn't put it down. Very impressive debut! Can't wait to see what Ren DeStefano comes up with next!

So I’m in the middle of reading this novel now and it’s crazy twisted and I’m having a hard time putting it down!! It’s well-written and fast-moving, but it’s also one of those books that once you start reading it, you just can’t stop thinking about it!

A big thanks to Berkeley Books for sending this my way!


ABOUT THE BOOK

Your next stay-up-all-night thriller, about identical triplets who have a nasty habit of killing their boyfriends, and what happens when the youngest commits their worst crime yet: falling in love with her mark.

Make him want you.
Make him love you.
Make him dead.

Sissy has an…interesting family. Always the careful one, always the cautious one, she has handled the cleanup while her serial killer sisters have carved a path of carnage across the U.S. Now, as they arrive in the Arizona heat, Sissy must step up and embrace the family pastime of making a man fall in love and then murdering him. Her first target? A young widower named Edison—and their mutual attraction is instant. While their relationship progresses, and most couples would be thinking about picking out china patterns and moving in together, Sissy’s family is reminding her to think about picking out burial sites and moving on.

But then something happens that Sissy never anticipated: She begins to feel protective of Edison, and then, before she can help it, she’s fallen in love. But the clock is ticking, and her sisters are growing restless. It becomes clear that the gravesite she chooses will hide a body no matter what happens; but if she betrays her family, will it be hers?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ren DeStefano lives in Connecticut, where she was born and raised. When she’s not writing thrillers, she’s listening to true crime podcasts and crocheting way too many blankets. Learn more at: https://laurendestefano.com.

In this psychological thriller, three identical sisters engage in some rather disturbing crimes -- they stalk men for sex and killing. It's quite disturbing and yet I found myself going back for more. There were times that I didn't want to read any more and times I was compelled to take a look inside these serial killers heads.

Sissy tells their story. it gets complicated when she falls for her first kill. The look inside her head is just fascinating and was the thing that kept me coming back to this rather disturbing book. No doubt about it, this is not a story for everyone.

In spite of the interesting characterizations, I did find the pace a bit slow and the content disturbing which kept me from devouring the pages. I could only read a bit at a time. But the writing was terrific and I would definitely check out another time from this first-time-to-me author.

This is one dark and twisted book. Sissy, our main character, is a triplet, and her two sisters are serial killers. Now they are insisting Sissy join them, find her own man to love her who she can kill. The only problem is Sissy finds herself falling in love.



This was such a tense book. The way the story is set up makes you feel like you’re racing along to a terrifying finish line. I was very impressed with how the author played with my expectations to keep me engaged, especially with the ending. I would recommend this book.

This was an unputdownable thriller read for me. It follows three triplets as they are now serial killers who make men fall in love with them and then kill them. I feel with most thriller reads the less you know going in, the better. But I will tell you to buckle up for this wild ride full, with manipulation at it finest.

Thank you to the publishers at Berkley and Netgalley for this e-ARC of How I’ll Kill You!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
👯‍♀️ are a triplet
🏜️ live in Arizona
🤫 have a lot of secrets
🩸 would do anything for family

• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

When Jade arrives in Arizona, she doesn’t realize the price she’ll pay for her first kill.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Jade is a triplet, one of three girls who was abandoned as an infant. Left to grow up in foster care without her sisters, the three women find one another again in adulthood and form a pact to kill their lovers and help one another clean up the messes. Now it’s Jade’s turn, and she’s set her sights on a man named Edison, but when things start feeling too real, her sister’s step in and get involved, changing the course of everything.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was such an amazing read. I loved Jade’s character so much and I was really rooting for her the entire book. I wanted to see one outcome only and I was thrilled to see it happen! Even though some of the chapters are quite long, the author does such a great job of pulling you into the story that they feel shorter. I almost felt that I was with Jade as she explored this small desert town. I would love to see this made into a movie or mini series!

How I’ll Kill You by Ren DeStefano is an extremely interesting & one of its’ kind wild ride of a mystery book. This novel revolves around identical triplets that just so happen to have a habit of offing their boyfriends. But what happens when the one triplet infamous for being responsible for cleanup sets her eyes upon her own mark?!

Wow is the best word I can come up with to describe this book. This is unlike anything else I’ve read. My eyebrows rose from the very first page & I don’t think they or I relaxed until it was over. I want to keep this review vague because I think this is the type of book that is best enjoyed with as little information known possible.

I think the author did an incredible job of creating an intriguing & thrilling story that will captivate one from the beginning. Even though they were identical triplets, they were very much their own well-developed people with distinct personalities.

If anyone is looking for a captivating & intriguing reMARKable of a thriller, then I would recommend How I’ll Kill You!




Massive thanks to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the free book, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.


Trigger Warnings: Thos book mentions &/or contains murder, gore, violence & kidnapping of a child.

Wow! This book was a wild ride! Having triplet sisters fall in love with someone only to kill him six months later was a unique and genius way to tell a serial killer story. Sissy is the youngest of the triplets and it’s finally time for her to find a mark. She meets Edison in Arizona and decides he’ll be her first. The problem is that she actually starts to fall in love with him and begins having doubts about what her and her sisters have been doing.

It’s hard to say too much about this book without giving anything away. I found it super impressive that this was Ren DeStefano’s debut novel. She obviously did her research and came up with such an original way to write a story like this. My husband listened with me, and said, “how does the author know so many intricate details about cleaning up a murder?”. Honestly, I was wondering that too.

I listened all to the audiobook while reading my eARC. I thought narrator, Karissa Vacker was perfect for this book. She has a tendency to whisper a lot when she narrates, but it worked really well for this story.

It was so interesting getting into the mind of a serial killer having doubts. I’m really excited to see what DeStefano comes up with next.

Thank you Berkley Publishing, PRH Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

Identical triplets abandoned at a rest stop as infants, Sissy, Iris, and Moody were separated and shifted among foster houses and group homes the one constant was each other.

Now in their twenties, they have perfected a macabre bonding ritual: target a man, make him fall in love, then kill him. Sissy’s expertise in crime scene clean up has kept them undetected, but she hasn’t killed anyone herself, and now it’s her turn.

They roll into a small Arizona town and when Sissy spots Edison at a local diner, she immediately knows he’s the one. After they officially meet, she carefully orchestrates their relationship so that Edison falls in love with her. However, she encounters a problem: she falls for him, too. Her sisters prod her to close the deal while she tries to hide her feelings until she is forced to betray someone she loves.

I struggled with the first half of the book which was mostly Sissy’s thoughts—primarily murderous fantasies. While these do contribute to her characterization, I personally didn’t enjoy them. I may be getting more sensitive! The unapologetic and lethal control will in fact appeal to some readers.

About midway, the book shifts from a focus on Sissy’s thoughts to external action and the surprises and revelations hit one after another. I couldn’t read fast enough to find out what happened! The dynamics among the triplets was very fascinating and complex, as was Sissy’s arc. Readers who like books with villainous female protagonists should check this out!

I couldn’t put How I’ll Kill You by Ren DeStefano down, and I’m so grateful to @berkleypub for an advanced e-copy.

I’m not sure how much to say about this one. We’ve got serial killer triplets abandoned at birth who—in a twisted show of loyalty to each other—have decided to pick marks, fall in love, and then murder them. They take turns, and this will be sister Sissy’s first kill. She picks Edison, a man she scopes out in a diner who feels like the right man, then she constructs a version of herself she thinks he will fall in love with.

Have I said too much? I don’t know. But I’ll end the synopsis bit there and just say that this one read more like a character piece than a thriller, which is not to say I wasn’t thrilled. It was like watching Dexter without the code or, frankly, reason for the kills. I never quite understood the set up. I kept waiting for it to click, for me to get why anyone would want to do this, and I honestly never did. Maybe you have to be a larger percent psychopath than I am? But I was completely riveted throughout the book and had to know how it was going to end.

The book explores themes of family in a way that was fascinating and there was so much to dig into around the way family can betray you and control you and also be the only people who really get you. And then there was the concept of love. What makes it real? How easy is it to manipulate someone into believing you’re the person they want? And what does it mean when you get that wrong?

The audio narrator was fabulous and completely immersed me in the story, pulling me into the mounting dread and excitement around the upcoming kill. I listened to it in a day because I needed to know what was going to happen.

I would recommend this one to fans of My Lovely Wife by Samanatha Downing, and probably Dexter, although it had a really different feel for me, and anyone looking for a super unique serial killer story with a strange amount of romance.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Shelf Awareness, Berkley, and Ren DeStefano for an ARC of this book!**

Can murder REALLY run in the family?

Sissy is about to discover whether or not she has what it takes to TRULY run with her sisters. As the third in command (so to speak), up until now her role in the trio has been clean-up artist after her murderous sisters Moody and Iris take out their lovers, moving from town to town and leaving no evidence behind. The group arrives in Arizona, and now it's finally Sissy's turn to step up to the plate and claim her first kill. She finds her mark in Edison, a handsome church goer who is still grieving the loss of his wife...but has an opening in his heart perfect for Sissy...or as he knows her, Jade.

As her perfectly curated romance blossoms, Sissy is surprised when images of exactly HOW she'll murder Edison, and WHERE she'll bury his body are replaced with dreamy romantic fantasies about running away together and leaving her sisters to their own deadly devices. But with this 'blood debt' owed and so many secrets between the three of them, can Sissy abandon 'Jade' AND the sisters who have always had her back to show Edison her TRUE self? Or will the mere threat of betrayal cause Sissy's sisters to take 'Jade' out...for good?

This book has been marketed as an 'up all night thriller', so I'd put it aside hoping for the sort of deliciously devilish narrator found in some of my favorite serial killer thrillers (You, My Lovely Wife) and a page-a-minute read that would hook me from the beginning.and leave me exhilarated.

Well...this book is simply not that.

In fact, it's a classic case of an instance where the author tried to write three different books and cram them into one. This is part suspense (I wouldn't call it a thriller), part family drama, and a HEAVY dose of romance...so much so that at times I felt like I was entirely reading a romance novel. A little bizarre for a book that is supposedly a serial killer story.

The other half of this problem is that I had such a hard time buying the characters' motivations, especially Sissy herself. I couldn't understand WHY she wouldn't have just abandoned ship after falling for Edison. Being a witness to ALL of her sisters' murders, but not having taken part in them (and based on details in the book, it would be iffy to even consider her an accessory after the thorough cleanups involved) would have given her more than enough leverage to leave that life behind and put them in jail, if she really felt like it. And yet she feels she owes them somehow? The "backstory" provided was muddled at best, and I had a hard time buying the characters based on the little bit of description they received. This is an instance where having multiple narrators COULD have significantly bettered the narrative, but we are stuck with Sissy's perspective from page one till the bitter (and I MEAN bitter) end.

DeStefano also had the option to go down the humorous route and I was at least hoping if this book wouldn't be thrilling, that there would be traces of this in the overall tone, but no such luck. This book is not dark enough to be scary, and not light enough to be satirical, and I feel this is where it suffered the most. There is also just enough overly scientific description of just how you hack up a body and clean up the parts, etc. etc. to demonstrate that DeStefano did her research, but instead of this detail feeling eerie, I felt like I was reading a dry and dusty forensic pathology textbook.

In every tug of war, there is push and pull until one side wins. And in this book, rather than romance or suspense "winning" the day...I think the rope just snapped.

3 stars

How I'll Kill You by Ren Destefano @laurendestefanoauthor

Thank you to @berkleypub for my #gifted copy.

How I’ll Kill You is wild and down right addictive! Identical triplets Sissy, Moody, & Iris take you along as they find lovers and work a plan how they will kill them. It’s crazy to be in Sissy’s head as her sisters demand she go for her first and how things don’t always go to plan. I enjoyed the mix of romance and Psychological thriller with all the entanglements of emotions good and horrible. The triplets were so well developed each with such strong personalities and skills, you felt like you knew them. The last half of the book is none stop action as it all twists and turns together

This was such a perfect beach read! I loved this fast paced page turner from start to finish, and was so intrigued by the premise of sisters who make it their mission to kill off their boyfriends.

The pacing was great and I found myself a fan of these likeable sisters once I found out their backstory and motives.

*many thanks to Berkley for the gifted copy for review

How I'll Kill You is the tale of identical triplet sisters who were abandoned as babies and grew up in foster care, sometimes separated and sometimes two of them together. Sissy, Iris, and Moody had difficult lives and had to become scrappy and wise to get by. At some point, this took a turn towards murder. Thus far, Iris and Moody have been the ones to commit the murders and Sissy is the clean-up person. Now, it's Sissy's turn for her first kill, and the rule is that they can only kill their boyfriends/lovers. She takes on the identity of Jade, and she meets Edison. But she never anticipated that she would have real feelings for him. Can she go through with it or will she go along with her sisters, the only stable relationships she has ever had?

This is certainly a unique storyline, and I honestly didn't have buy in about it until the end. I was really puzzled about the motivation throughout, although that becomes a bit clearer as the story progresses. Some of the characters are well developed and intriguing, I was rooting for Sissy/Jade and only wanted things to work out well for her. Yet I never really got a good feel for her sisters, who just popped in and out at will and seemed more like caricatures than real people. . There's definitely the murder/killing aspect, but there's also some pretty steamy romance, as well as a lot of family drama. It's quite darker than I was initially expecting based on the description and the cover.

Overall, this is an intriguing debut, fairly fast-paced, but despite its outlandish premise, I'm not sure I'll remember much of it for long.