I recently finished reading How I'll Kill You by Ren DeStefano, and I can confidently say it was one of the most thrilling books I've ever read. From the very first page, I was hooked. Ren DeStefano has crafted an intense and gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I had a hard time getting into it. I think the beginning of a mystery is just as important as the end and needs to suck you in right away. I wanted to like it and maybe I’ll try again another time but for now I’m marking it as DNF. I just didn’t feel like picking it up after putting it down.

The drama builds slowly to a blistering end, much like a soft breeze can blow across the Arizona desert and create a sandstorm.

On many levels this is not an easy book to read. The sisters, identical triplets who never had a normal life and were constantly torn apart by the foster care system after being found abandoned as toddlers at a rest stop, are deeply wounded.

They never knew their mother or father. Never knew why they had been abandoned. But abandonment and trauma through childhood does horrible things to a person, and so we have this trio of young female killers, who at first seem totally heartless

Sissy, known as Jade to everyone in the small Arizona town where they have settled for a few months so she can fulfill her promise to go through with her first kill, has somewhat of a child-like innocence about her even though she's done horrible things - dismembering bodies and cleaning up blood and helping her sisters cover up the murders throughout their six-year spree of finding victims and killing them.

The story opens with the three young women near Phoenix, far away from their last kill in Montana. The reader meets Jade as she sits in a diner, checking out the other patrons so she can choose the man who will be her first kill.

The rules of this deadly game the sisters play have them taking turns finding a victim, then spending time making the man fall in love with them before killing them. In their twisted thinking, this is a way that they can have control over love. They will leave the lover; the lover will not leave them like their parents did.

Not rational, but not much about the three sisters is. And, trust me, it works in this story.

In the acknowledgments, the author states that the writing of How I'll Kill You took almost eight years, and it's evident that much care was put into every aspect of the story. The plot, the characters, the pacing, the surprises: Things are not completely what they seem to be, and the people are not completely who they seem to be.

When I read a novel, I do so as much for enjoying the craft as well as the actual story, and this author doesn't miss a beat. The last line in the story is so perfect and so satisfying.

We writers often struggle to find just the right words. Just the right amount of words - no more, no less. And I could tell that Ms. DeStefano agonized over her last line as much as so many of us have, perhaps writing ten different "last lines" before finally finding the one that is just right. She did it!

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book because I don't care for stories that put a serial killer center stage, asking us to somehow relate to him or her. I couldn't do that with the popular Hannibal series, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that with this book either. However, I did connect with Jade, and Edison, and Dara, and Sadie, and some of he other members of the superb cast. Even the two other sisters, Moody and Iris, were almost likable at times. There was an undercurrent of goodness in all of the characters that pulled me in.

Add to that, the turmoil that Jade went through as she realized that she truly did love this man, Edison, but did she love him more than her sisters? That was the question that I wanted to find the answer to. Even though she fantasized about how she would kill him, she just wasn't sure she could do it, and there was an internal struggle between Sissy and Jade that was wonderfully compelling.

If you like a taut thriller with wonderful undercurrents, I highly recommend How I'll Kill You.

Totally unique & devious, Ren DeStefano’s How I’ll Kill You was one of the best books I’ve read as of late. I have been in need of a thriller to stand out from the others and this one truly did that. A story of identical triplets with an unconventional upbringing has them finding men, luring them in and killing them. I couldn’t turn the pages of this fast enough and I can’t wait to read more from DeStefano in the future!

Thank you to Berkley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a different book than I was expecting. The premise was intriguing so I went about reading this book about triplets who kill. I was not expecting the strong love bonds or the romantic side of this. It was thrilling enough to keep me turning the page and for someone who really does not read rom-coms it’s saying enough that I finished this. There are some parts I truly had a hard time believing but overall I would recommend this book.

Ren DeStefano's debut novel, HOW I'LL KILL YOU has a very interesting premise, three identical sisters who are serial killers preying on vulnerable men. For some reason, I immediately get vibes from the movie Devil's Rejects, but this book involves a lot more romance. Starting right off, we find out that the three sisters—Iris, Moody, and our main protagonist Sissy—raised in foster care and ready to seek out revenge—all have a gameplan in motion. Trick the man into falling for you and then killing him in cold blood when he's at his most vulnerable. Sissy is planning for her first kill, what could go wrong?

This book was fun, but suffers from the struggle of what genre are you playing towards. It's a mystery/thriller at its core, but the romance plays a very big secondary role. I figured out what was going to happen early on, but it doesn't mean that I didn't have fun. If you need a fun and fast popcorn thriller, this book will entertain you.

A smart, sharp thriller that is both suspenseful and also surprisingly heartbreaking. The relationship between the three sisters is riveting. Once you're done, you'll be begging for more. I'm going to need a spin-off right about now!

This was just SO fun to read. I honestly wasn't too invested in the characters and had a difficult time connecting with them, but I really enjoyed the concept of triplet sisters committed to their mission together. I love books that elevate women no matter how wild and obscene their actions are -- it's all fiction fun anyway! Though not a deep dive by any means, I appreciated the touches on child abandonment and trauma and how they've influenced the sisters' actions in murdering their boyfriends. I work in the anti-carceral state field and have a background in clinical and social psychology, and so I was especially intrigued by this aspect of the story and it was enough to successfully trap me into the story.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!!

Man, this was a really fantastic read! I've loved her books under the name Lauren DeStefano, so when I saw this was by her, I had to pick it up! And I absolutely loved it, it was dark and I had to know what was going to happen next!

Sissy is the one that cleans up, she's the detail oriented one, the one to make sure that they don't get caught. And she's the only one of the triplets who hasn't killed her first love, and this is the story of her choosing him, falling in love-and being pressured to kill him.

On the one hand, these three sisters were extremely close. They would do anything for one another. But on the other, they maybe took it too far, because murder is extreme. If you don't want to be be hurt, maybe break things off before it gets to far?

It was interesting, because Sissy does have a hardness that comes from her life, being in foster care, separated from her sisters, and how they're killers. There's her developing love for Edison, and how she is softer then Iris and Moody. But oh, that ending and how everything went down? That was a bit sad, but it was fitting. It was a really great ending!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Ren DeStefano, under either name!

I really wanted to like this one because it's such an intriguing idea: identical triplets who take turns murdering people and masquerading as each other.

However, somehow the short sentences and writing style just did not work for me. How in the world could a ridiculous rom com of a book bore me? The writing just isn't good. Feels like a first draft of a book you'd write in highschool and think was super good, but now it's just embarrassing.

If you want your murder with a side of romance and sister issues this miiight work for you. Just don't expect quality shit.

Such a fascinating story! Was very keen in the way it progressed. Wish the ending gave a little more, but overall it was satisfying. Love femme fatales!

*Thank you to the Publisher, the author and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of " How I'll Kill You" in exchange for an honest review *

This was a unique premise. I liked reading it, and I feel like it was really thrilling.

AMAZING. Seriously.
At first, this story of identical triplets living an…unusual lifestyle moved kind of slowly for me. I was confused as to WHY they were doing what they were doing, and having a hard time connecting with any of them. Let me back up.
Identical triplets Sissy, Moody, and Iris have not had the easiest life. They were abandoned as babies and grew up separately (but never far from each other) in foster care. Their traumatic upbringing has left them with some…urges that they satisfy by making men fall in love and then killing them before the relationship has a chance to sour.
Romantic, right?
Well, Sissy has never had her chance and now it’s her turn. Though she can dismember a body and hide crime scene evidence like a champ, she’s less adept at the whole murder thing. But rules are rules and Sissy would do anything for her sisters, so she finds her mark. Enter Edison. Beautiful, broken, complicated Edison. Sissy falls hard and fast and soon starts to question everything, including her previously unshakable devotion to her sisters.
Though I initially had a hard time connecting with Sissy, she eventually won me over. There’s a point not too far into the story where everything started to click for me and I genuinely started feeling bad for these women, despite how awful their actions were. The ending seemed a tad rushed and everything wrapped up *slightly* too tidily for me, but this was still a 5 star read. Cannot wait for the author’s next book!

Absolutely loved this book. The premise sold me from the start, and it delivered exactly what I hoped it would. There's definitely a huge focus on the romance compared to other thrillers, but I really enjoyed that aspect.

The plot of this book was so darn interesting. I love stuff with twins or triplets so this was right up my alley. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I really needed to understand their motivation for killing from the beginning, because I just didn't get it for the first half of the book. The romance was tepid for me and I was not into that aspect. I wish I could have gotten more into this one.

Fast-paced and fun - this is an easy next read for fans Oyinkan Braithwaite. A recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

Co-dependence takes on a new meaning in this story of triplets who have made a pact to help each other kill. Victims are carefully chosen and the kills are carefully planned. When one of the sisters falls in love with her mark, things go terribly wrong, leaving her looking for redemption. Interesting premise, well written.

How I'll Kill You is my first book by author Ren DeStefano. I was really looking forward to this book, based on the synopsis and talk I had heard of it from some of my blogging buddies. However I just couldn't connect with the story or characters. I ended up putting it down before I even made it to 50%

Ooh La La, this is such a great book. A 50% thriller a 50% mystery. This book has all the elements of a great plot.

DNF @ 53%. I had such high hopes for this one! Serial killer triplets and that intriguing title? I was 100% on board. I just don't know how such a great concept could be so incredibly boring? I never got invested in Sissy, the main character, or her sisters. Their motivation for why they did the things they did seem ill-formed. The romance was super bland, as well. It was just a lot of boring, every day tasks and a lot of Sissy fantasizing about stuff. I kept holding out that it would get better for me, but when I got to the scene where the boyfriend fingers Sissy in the middle of a church service, I decided I had enough.