Member Reviews
Was not able to finish this. Got a little bit halfway but the main character is just plain insufferable. I liked the plot, but I'm not really in the mood to suffer through a book where I just don't like the main character. It's quite funny though. Some stuff seemed way over the top and implausible, especially how Kitty got away with murder.
I like the idea of this book- a female Dexter as a MeToo era avenger of women. Kitty, an Instagram influencer by day and serial killer by night is a compelling character. Ultimately, the plot fell a bit flat. She didn’t seem to be a mastermind and I just kept thinking about her DNA at the scenes of the crime.
A modern take on the thriller. Very current with a lot of dark humour and a lot of killing. Despite what they get up to the main character is appealing and you cannot help yourself warming to her. Lots of issues are tackled and just when you think it is all finished there is twist at the end.
Well written, darkly funny, and thoroughly entertaining, this book is basically if Dexter was also a famous Instagram influencer. I really had no idea where the story was going at any given moment, but I definitely enjoyed the ride.
It was an interesting read. Very entertaining, amusing and thought provoking. Also pretty implausible, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. Definitely worth reading, and kept me entertained to the end.
This was not at all what I expected - in a fabulous way. From the cover and description, I was expecting black comedy - dark humor and snarky one liners and light but scathing commentary on the state of the world. Instead I found a rather scathing indictment of male privilege and female disempowerment.
I didn't mind this at all (in fact i rather liked it more than I expected as a result), but can see where someone going in expecting a lighter read could be severely surprised by the darkness here. It's fairly graphic in a number of places, and there's a lot of serious consideration of misogyny, predation, privilege, violence against women, and the aggressive backlash that could so easily develop from them. I worry that a lot of people who would find the story compelling and interesting for sociologic reasons will be turned off by the somewhat flippant cover - I hope they aren't, because there is a lot going on here and it's remarkably considerate in its treatment of the myriad issues presented.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and found a number of twisty things that I didn't expect buried in its pages. Brent is an author I will definitely be following.. It was a fabulous read on many levels and I will be recommending this one for a while.
Firstly thank you to NetGalley and Team HQ for sending me an e-ARC of this book!
I won't lie, it was the title that got me. What woman doesn't want to stick it to a man — with a knife — really?
This was a dark, gritty, gruesome and ok, murdering aside, very relatable story. We've all had our experiences with men who think they're "owed" something, and Kitty Collins is no different.
As a social media influencer she sees them all, taking what they want, when they want it, and well, she isn't going to stand for it.
This book was essentially a downward spiral for poor Kitty, even as she only "felt" more exuberant. The more she got away with, the higher she felt, but as the outside audience we see her spiral into the inevitable. I think it was a really good representation of how warped our own views on ourselves can be, that she always felt so stable and sane even when those around her could see she was not.
However, the overall theme of this book was dark and humorous. I warn everyone, only read this if you have a disturbed sense of humour, because it is gruesome and grisly (c'mon, she's a female dexter, what do you expect?) and the witty repartee is not for the easily offended. It's judgy and spirited, but I absolutely loved it.
The only downsides for me were the insta-lovey feel with the romantic interest, it felt a bit inauthentic. Not saying I didn't like him though, but boy was he gullible 👀
That twist at the ending though oh my goodness. I hadn't imagined the full extent of it. My only issue with it was it just felt a bit rushed, but then I can sort of understand why with the mental state of particular characters at the time.
Overall though, brilliant read. Fast-paced, funny and fierce — will definitely recommend to those who love the genre!
A great read if you are 50 years younger than me. I started reading the book and although I liked the tongue in cheek humour I'm of another generation. Unfairly I didn't finish the book though I would recommend it to my daughters and granddaughters. I've given it 4 stars as I feel it had potential just a wrong book choice by me.
I couldn’t put this down, Katy Brent definitely knows how to write a story that keeps you wanting more and more. The book was fast paced and fun, not the word you’d expect to use to describe a book about a serial killer right? Kitty was a great main character, she was well fleshed out and made very human, and she kills bad people - what isn’t to enjoy? There’s lots of dark humour, so be aware if you’re easily offended. An all round great read!
Kitty Collins is a bad ass with a mission. She is a Dexter-esque vigilante who makes Tinder her hunting grounds. And she’s also a well known influencer - so keeping up appearances is a must!
This debut novel takes us along for the ride as we experience Kitty’s internal struggles, friendships, and relationships. More and more unfolds with each new chapter. We slowly find out how killing comes so easily while also seeing a romance blossom - two things that don’t seem like they’d go together, but they do in this book!
I will say, I was not fully expecting the twist that occurred at the end. My mind had crafted an alternate ending, but I was pleasantly surprised! (I won’t spoil it, of course)
I definitely recommend this one for those who love mystery/crime type novels and for those who love giving new authors a go!
This was a fun, fast-paced read. It was a quick read for me, and I enjoyed the main character's journey.
This book gave me all the female Dexter vibes!
It was a really easy read and I couldn’t put this book down! The author had me guessing until the last page.
Read if you like Dexter, killing eve and juicy murder with lots of twists!
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review. This review is wholly my own.
My first though upon reading the synopsis was Finlay Donovan meets The Collective. And that alone hooked me into wanting to read it, so I was ecstatic to get this arc!
Turns out, Kitty is not Finlay at all! Whereas Finlay was all accidental and clueless, Kitty, once she realized how easy it was to get away with, was 100% intentional in her killings and not ashamed of it!
This was a quick read full of action from start to finish. Katy Brent's writing was superb. The story flowed and kept your interested and was full of dark humor.
In a way, this was more like The Collective than Finlay Donovan in that Kitty felt she was ridding the world of bad people, sexual predators. (The Collective was a group of mothers who lost their children at the hands of someone else who never got punished - so they punished them).
It was a fabulous read and I highly recommend it. It doesn't let us do half stars, but this is a sold 4.5 stars from me.
How far would you go when justice isn't served?! The cover is already a big hint on what this book is going to be about.
Unfortunately we still live in world where men take advantage of women, Katy Brent in her novel "How to kill men and get away with it" has brought to our taste buds a story where one woman decides to take the matters in her own hands and let's say.. "clean up the world and make it a better place" and get rid of the worst men and, yes, it goes in every single detail on how she did it. I mean, it is absolutely brilliant if someone asks me!
We all know that nasty angry feeling within us when we hear some terrible news associated with rape so this story will make you think on where you stand on terms of justice. I dare you to read it!
Secondly, has anyone often found themselves scrolling through their Instagram feed and thinking to themselves on how pointless some of these posts often are? If the answer is yes, then this book is going to make you laugh - big time. Instagram nowadays can take a big part of one's life. Katy Brent managed to describe all the insta-madness in the most hilarious way. I found myself cackling a lot during this book. #dont_trust_processed_meat pun intended - if you know, you know!
What can I say, Katy Brent is absolutely
#killingIt and big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Are you tired of all the headlines that scream about women being abducted, raped, trafficed or otherwise attacked? Tired of being scared just walking to your car at night? So mad that every time you turn on a true crime show, it's another woman being murdered, raped, stalked or otherwise harmed? Then, this is the book for you!
Kitty is pretty tired of all that too. She's a late 20's, gorgeous influencer that is just so, so tired of making men feel more comfortable. Honestly, she likes the money but she'd rather hang out with her girlfriends and enjoy drinks, club, shop together without worrying about safety. She doesn't want to have to worry anymore or wait for that "safe" text when everyone gets through their front door to lock it.
So on a night when she's just done and heads home and a guy follows her? Well, it's nice when karma takes care of everything for her. And she suddenly has an idea. Maybe she can make the world a better place, with one less abuser on the planet. It's a great concept and I loved Kitty's wit, sass and her utter Zero F's given. I had to suspend disbelief and just roll with the story but, honestly, I'm so frustrated and angry too that I just reveled in all her justice.
But I also love where the story went. With all the silly in there, it does get serious. It shows both sides of the equation, gives you a peek in to the ripple affect of death and that, sometimes, our vigilante justice isn't all it's cracked up to be. I laughed, and cheered and I got completely wrapped up in the story. I loved this one.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
This was amazing! I was captivated by the Title and the blurb but the story was even more amazing. It was like nothing I've ever read before. As a Killing Eve and even Dexter fan, I loved this. It was a bit graphic and gruesome in some places, but that's just my opinion. Overall, the entire story was witty, fun and entertaining!!
Holy freaking smokes! This book! I found it so incredibly hard to rate a book where the MC is beyond problematic and you hate so many things about her, but the story itself made it so so difficult to put down. I FLEW through this book. The prologue had me hooked and it only got better from there. I wasn’t expecting this book to be so dark and heavy, but boy was I wrong. Our MC, Kitty, needs some serious therapy. While I liked her agenda to rid the world of trash human beings, I didn’t enjoy how she assumed all men were horrible and objectified everyone. There were some scenes where I was not so patiently wait for her reaction (one in particular), but didn’t get one. There were a few things she said and did through the book that made her so unlikable (feel free to reach out for specifics) that I feel like displayed the opposite of her agenda. She often felt so emotionless, but I was completely staring wide eyed at the screen, unable to put it down. I felt so many emotions while reading this- good and bad, but the story had me hooked. The writing was amazing, the plot was amazing, the twists (even though I’d already figured it out) was amazing. I do wish we would have followed the cases more of the men she’d killed and saw a little more humane side of her in the end, but it was still fantastic. So glad I got to read this one!
⚠️TW: murder, stalking, eating disorders, depression, skinny shaming, mention of slaughterhouses, rape, lies about having a miscarriage when she wasn’t pregnant, brief thoughts of suicide, heavy drug/alcohol use
Great read! When I started reading How to kill men and get away with it, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really enjoyed this book. It’s kind of “Made in Chelsea” meets “Influencer” meets “Promising young women” and that’s totally fine. It’s fun, got a good message behind it (not the killing obviously, more could men stop attacking women like it’s part of acceptable culture) and all the while you’re rooting for Kitty. Plus the trust identity of her stalker was genius!! Read this book, it’s a hoot!
This book was witty, satirical and funny. The wicked storyline did not hold back, and there were some moments when I actually gasped. I enjoyed it but definitely felt like the ending was abrupt. Will we get a sequel?
(2.5, maybe?)
I think I'm in the minority here because I just didn't really click with this book. I found the writing to be mediocre but I think that's mostly because I didn't care for the characters at all. I found Kitty (our main character) to be almost insufferable. She has this air about her related to her friends being only concerned with social media and makes jokes about them being vapid airheads and wishing she didn't have to be friends with them but then in her internal monologues we also see her only caring about social media or there's little quips about her designer clothes. Example: (view spoiler)
I also had a problem with the pacing of the story. Each chapter break has a different setting at the beginning but there's no time frames. It just feels like we're going at Mach speed throughout the story while at the same time it almost drags on. Some of the scenes just felt unnecessarily too long and it felt like nothing was happening for a while, plot-wise.
The story almost seems to get lost about a third of the way through. The pitch of this book is all about this woman who does revenge killings for bad men (which sounds interesting!) and then there's a stalker thrown in the mix (oooh! what will happen!) but then the stalker kind of fizzles out and there's hardly any interaction with the stalker until like 70% of the way in? It just feels like I was pitched on a book that sounded promising and then I did not get that book.
People seem to enjoy this book so I would give it a go if you think it sounds interesting but sadly, it just wasn't the book for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.