⭐️⭐️ sorry people this one was not for me.

I found the writing to be stuttered, basic and disjointed. I could not gel with any of the characters and found myself plodding through this wondering when it would ‘kick in’

This must be a marmite book however because there are so many 4 and 5 star reviews.

Maybe it’s me.

This story centres around Mike. At the beginning of the book we find him in a prison cell. He decides to write down his side of the story and we get to find out what led to him being arrested. This story is about love, sex and obsession. I am reluctant to reveal anymore because it would be very easy to spoil the story.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little bit different to most of the other psychological thrillers that I have read before. I would like to point out I was a little put off this book by the title. I was worried that it might be a bit too graphic in its content but it was absolutely fine.

Mike loves his ex-girlfriend Verity - and he’s very certain that she still loves him, even though she has not only left him but is now getting married to someone else.

But that’s all just a more elaborate, extreme version of their private game - isn’t it? A sexual game they called the Crave, in which they would go out separately-but-together, Verity would wait for a man to make a move on her, and at a prearranged signal Mike would step in to send him on his way. Apparently, this would give them both a thrill. A bit strange, but basically fairly harmless.

Mike’s confident that whatever Verity says, her marriage to the eligible Angus is all a part of the game - a new version of the Crave. He just needs to understand the rules and figure out what Verity expects him to do next.

This story is narrated by Mike, once a bitterly neglected child taken into care at the age of ten, who has grown into a very successful adult with a highly paid job in the City and a beautiful house (in which he fully expects Verity soon to be living with him). Because he knows her better than anybody, and he knows that however often she says she doesn’t want to be with him, she doesn’t really mean it. Her signals and coded messages prove that. Mike and Verity are different from other people, their love is more important than anything else and it’s worth any sacrifice.

It often feels like Mike’s running only on obsession and barely suppressed violence. And inevitably, it’s going to erupt at some point.

Our Kind of Cruelty is a fascinating read, as we inhabit the mind of Mike, who’s frequently terrifying, but not a bad person; he is motivated entirely by love. He’s flawed - but so is his beloved Verity, his idealised woman. And he’s deeply vulnerable.

As the story progresses it becomes a courtroom drama and a trial by media; suddenly, other people are privy to the details of Mike and Verity’s relationship - and standing in judgement. And not only on Mike. (I loved, if that’s the right word, the feature from what was obviously the Daily Mail, with its unhealthy obsessions with how much people earn, what their houses are worth, and the numerous ways in which women fail to live up to arbitrary standards.)

How complicit is Verity in what has happened? Where does guilt lie - and how is that decided?

Really putting the psychological into psychological thriller, this was a brilliant read which is highly recommended.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This is a tale of totally obsessive love. It is dark, psychological, unsettling and I was unable to put it down. Mike has emerged from foster care to build a successful life for himself as a banker. At university he met the enigmatic Verity, who he refers to a V throughout the novel. They have an interesting relationship which crumbles when he admits to a one night stand in New York.

Mike cannot accept that their relationship is over and much of the narrative concerns him trying to interpret V's messages of rejection as coded positives of their special connection. Even after V marries someone else he deludes himself that this is still part of The Crave: the way is which they define their lives.

After the death of V's husband we read an account of the trial of Mike and Verity. This is very well crafted and we see how evidence can be twisted particularly when a woman is involved. We are left asking if women are more harshly judged than men?

There are some fundamental messages in this novel about abandoned children, the need for approval and the treatment of women. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Wow, our kind of cruelty really is a dark, twisted thriller, filled with lies, lust, obsession and passion.
Although I didn’t find the main character very likeable it worked, let’s face it you can’t like everyone and when you have such a manipulative character you don’t want them to be liked. This story grabbed my attention and held it for the entire book. Well done for giving me another sleepless night.

This was a difficult read . How much was fact or fiction in the main characters mind,was he twisting things to fit his own ideals or was she just as guilty?

A compelling story of obsessive love which engages you from the start..The deeply disturbing storyline will draw you in and keep you hooked to the end.
Mike and Verity are deeply in love, They don’t have to communicate to know what the other is thinking. Mike has made a mistake though and V is going to make him pay - she is getting married to Angus. It’s all part of the elaborate sexual game they play “The Crave” so Mike knows everything will work out for them in the end.. As his obsession increases Mike takes a disastrous course of action for them both. The book highlights the way men’s and women’s actions are both perceived and treated differently and how one person can interrupt another persons actions in a completely different way - I was addicted.

Lots of publisher blurbs tout a book as being a psychological thriller but it's usually just buzz. This book fits that description and MORE!

Mike Hayes had a hardscrabble life growing up. His mother was a neglectful alcoholic who consorted with abusive men. He was placed in protective care at the age of ten. He meets a gorgeous woman named Verity who changes his life in college. Verity helps him understand social conventions and changes him. They date for many years, and Mike is deeply in love with her. Some events happen and they end up breaking up. This book chronicles what happens in the aftermath. Without giving too much away, Mike is obsessed with getting Verity back. He proceeds in his life with every intention of reconciling. Verity's perspective on these attempts to reconcile is very different! (Stalking, assault)

Since the book is told from Mike's perspective. It really shows what is going on in his mind and that is where the psychological thriller comes in. Disturbing and terrifying.

A crime is committed in the second half of the book and the courtroom portions are fascinating as we are exposed to the opinions and stories that contradict or explain some of the things Mike tells us. The ending is chilling!

The roles of different characters in this book could be interpreted several ways and it would lead to some interesting book club discussions.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for giving me the chance to read and honestly review the best thriller I've read this year!

Thanks to the publisher for my ARC of Our Kind of Cruelty. Sadly I just couldn’t get on with this one. I didn’t like the main characters, if I’m honest, so I couldn’t get invested in the outcome of the book. I can see how this one will be a biggie for fans of Gillian Flynn et al, but it just wasn’t for me!

What a disturbing read. What a disturbing mind to be thrown in to. Mike is an unlikeable character who keeps you on your toes the whole time.

What a brilliant, absolutely unputdownable book! Even though I don't normally like psychological thrillers at all, this had me hooked from page one and kept me enthralled to the sinister end. This is definitely not for fainthearted ladies, much too close to some real-life relationship outcomes...

Mike had a troubled childhood which he thinks he has escaped and recovered from but his relationship with Verity proves him wrong. A gripping psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what Mike is going to do before the end of the book.

Our Kind of Cruelty is nothing like the kind of book I usually read. However, I am so glad I gave it a try as I found this psychological drama very compelling, and once I started reading I found I couldn't put it down. It's very hard to write a review without spoilers for this story. Both main characters, Mike and Verity, are unlikeable yet fascinating. Despite Mike's obvious level of delusion, I still wasn't sure until the very end who was telling the truth or what was going to happen to them. This was definitely a very twisted love story, and I think it will be a big hit when it is released.

I really enjoyed this book - it was dark and gripping. It kept me guessing right to the end as to how it was going to turn out, and it was a really original idea. Thoroughly recommended.

You know how some books just have "IT"--it starts off as a good blurb, then the book picks up steam, and when you start reading, it totally exceeds expectations? Yeah, this was one of those books. Talk about a twisty, unique tale-it was brilliant! Highly recommended. Five stars.

This is a convincing psychological thriller which involves the reader in every step of the plot. The main character is obsessional and that is exceedingly well communicated. It is hard to believe he is just an obsessed loner, he seems so much deeper a character than that. The object of his love is not able to see this in him. The court scenes are particularly well drawn. It is hard not to believe this is a true story. It is so well written, it easily could be.

Thank you to Netgalley, Araminta Hall and Cornerstone for my ARC of Our Kind of Cruelty.

Summary

Mike is shocked when he returns from a job in New York, to find his girlfriend Verity has got engaged to another man. But Mike is convinced this is all part of the game he and Verity play; The Crave. Mike is determined to win Verity round and get things back on track, no matter the consequences. A dark, twisting novel about desire, deceit and mental health.

Review

I found this novel frankly enthralling. Mike is such a great character and as the author herself attests, a rare character, a flawed and damaged male character. A male character dealing with the abuse he suffered as a child and the personality traits this has given him as a grown man. It's cleverly written from Mike's perspective, his thoughts and feelings about Verity, his perspective on his work and the things that have happened like the 'American incident' and the reason it is so clever is that even though the story is told from Mike's perspective, it is clear to the reader (and everyone except Mike) that what is really happening is not what Mike thinks is happening.

Mike's spiral out of control is a slow burn nightmare that takes the reader along a fearsome journey, every moment waiting for the bomb to go off. But it's not that straight forward, in the end I was left feeling that maybe Mike wasn't so mad after all...

Our a kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall is a dark psychological thriller about obsession, jealousy and lies. When Mike and Verity's relationship comes to an end, Mike is in denial and thinks that this is just one of Verity's games. He feels he has to keep tabs on her waiting for the sign from her that their relationship will resume. This story was a disturbing read. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a psychological drama rather than a thriller, in the style of Patricia Highsmith, with a very believable portrait of a manipulative sociopath – and the influences behind his behaviour. The reader soon realises that Mike, the narrator, is not so much unreliable as damaged and delusional. He is prone to misreading his interactions with other people due to a lack of social skills resulting from a deprived early childhood. So it's not surprising that his passionate relationship with Verity, involving dangerous sex games, soon gets out of hand. Because we are only given Mike’s version of events, a great deal of the novel’s appeal is trying to decide whether his obsession for Verity is reciprocated and which of the pair is most implicated in the tragic outcome. The ensuing courtroom denouement offers a chilling reminder about the sexual double standard still pertaining between men and women in the eyes of the Law.

our kind of cruelty by Araminta Hall.
Mike knows that most of us travel through the world as one half of a whole, desperately searching for that missing person to make us complete.
But he and Verity are different. They have found each other and nothing and no one will tear them apart.
It doesn't matter that Verity is marrying another man.
You see, Verity and Mike play a game together, a secret game they call 'the crave', the aim being to demonstrate what they both know: that Verity needs Mike, and only Mike.
Verity's upcoming marriage is the biggest game she and Mike have ever played. And it's for the highest stakes.
Except this time in order for Mike and Verity to be together someone has to die ...
an absolutely fantastic read. I loved the story and the characters. I hope there is more to come as I feel the story hadn't finished. especially for Mike. 5*. Highly recommended.