I was intrigued by the title and the fact that Gillian Flynn said it was nasty and disturbing. Unfortunately this one did not live up to the hype for me. I didn't find it nasty or disturbing. Parts of it were compelling and enjoyable but other parts felt drawn out and repetitive.

I love a good thriller and was thrilled when I was sent a copy of Araminta Hall's newest novel, "Our Kind of Cruelty". 

It's a strange book featuring characters you sort of empathize with but also do not quite like or understand. The plot is twisted, but not particularly filled with the kind of shocking plot twists expected from thrillers.

"Our Kind of Cruelty" is the story of Mike Hayes, who recently returned to London after two years of working in America. When the book opens, he is settling into his new house and making it perfect for Verity - or V as he calls her - the woman he loves. 

Here's the problem: sitting on his mantelpiece is an invitation to Verity's wedding. Mike is not the groom.

Flashbacks of their relationship reveal that Mike and Verity had a messed up relationship. They were obsessed with each other. They played cruel and kinky sex games they called the Crave. During this game, they would separate in a public place. Inevitably, another man would try to pick up Verity. She would flirt with the man, getting Mike's juices flowing and send her boyfriend a secret signal when she wanted to be rescued. Mike would come over, threaten the man and "rescue" Verity. They would then have sex - sometimes at home, but often in a dark corner of the club or bar. 

They were obsessed with retiring by 45 and so both worked hard to make money. This drive sent Mike to Manhattan for finance work for two years. It was during this time of separation that their relationship fell apart. How and why exactly is revealed over the course of the book. 

The first part of the novel focuses on Mike's preparations for getting back together with Verity, which he pursues with single-minded focus, even as her wedding quickly approaches. 

Mike plans every aspect of his life around Verity's wants and desires. His house is designed to be exactly the sort she would love to live in. He works hard for the sole purpose of retiring at 45. Everything he does is based on what she would want. 

And yet, he still finds himself at her wedding to another man.

Despite seeing the ceremony, he can't believe that Verity isn't coming back to him. He is still convinced that this is part of an elaborate game that they are playing, that any day now, he will see her touch the eagle necklace she wears as a sign to him to rescue her. 

Is Mike deeply unstable? Does Verity really want him back? Is this all part of a disturbingly elaborate game?

The book is told in three parts, all told from Mike's perspective. We never hear Verity's side of the story and so are left guessing what her thoughts are about Mike and the tragic situation the former couple finds themselves in midway through the book.

Like many of the best thriller characters, Mike is an unreliable narrator. How much of their relationship was in his head? How much of his personality/obsession was created by Verity herself? Verity is clearly a woman who loves sex - the kinkier the better - or is that just how Mike sees her? 

I liked "Our Kind of Cruelty". I can't say I really liked the characters though. I also wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel: empathy for Mike for being so twisted by Verity or disgust at his obsessive behavior?

I would have really liked to see their relationship from Verity's perspective and was disappointed that the narrative never switched. 

The author, Araminta Hall, wrote a note in the back of the book about how this novel came from her disgust over men who never hear the word "no", who think that everything is about them and can't understand women who reject them. 

I was a bit puzzled by this. Telling the entire novel from Mike's perspective really made me unsure how to feel about him and to be honest, I felt some sympathy at how twisted and deluded his life was because of Verity. But then I read that note and felt like I completely missed the point of the book. Did anyone else feel this way?

"Our Kind of Cruelty" will definitely keep you turning pages late into the night to find out what happens to this crazy former couple.

Our Kind of Cruelty is a stalker novel with zero heat. There is no sense of danger or fear at all. It has no allure. I may have doomed my experience with this by reading it so close on the heels of Caroline Kepnes’ You, which is a stalker novel with a high high HIGH level of crazy. While Cruelty’s Mike is delusional, his obsession is more sad and whiney than bat crazy bonkers. The cover is definitely the most dramatic thing about this book.

I definitely need a break from 1st person unreliable narrators, because more often than not we just do not get along.

Thank you to FSG/MCD and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy for my honest review. Pub date - 5/8

This started out as a page turner. When I got to part two and was bored with the once voice narrative. Especially when the one voice was certifiably crazy. This book really would have been a 4 star or higher for me if it had been told from two view points. One crazy person rambling kind of wore on my patience. Thank you NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Mike and his girlfriend Verity are in love, just no one else seems to realize it, including Verity. For some reason Verity has broken up with him, gotten engaged to someone else, changed her phone number and wont respond to Mike's emails. Oh well, Mike will just have to make her realize how much he loves her and is devoted her. Just like the games they use to like to play when they were a couple he will succeed in this larger game and in the end they will be together forever, whatever it takes. I thought that this was a an interesting novel. Overall the story tone in my opinion was more of a slow burn, even when events took the turn that they did I wasn't overly shocked and thought that it was an expected outcome. It took me a while to get in to the story, but once I did I was engaged and read through the rest quickly. I liked seeing how the same event cant be interpreted so differently by all of the individuals involved. I thought that the author did a good job expressing Mike's reasoning and justification behind his actions, even if they could be considered delusional. I feel that the author did a decent job trying to demonstrate her point regarding the negative view society as a whole can have regarding women's sexual liberation and that there is often the double standard of boys will be boys v.s. the demonization of women for having the same sexual appetites. I didn't overly like either character of Mike or Verity which made me feel somewhat eh about the ending of the story when I feel like potentially it was meant for the reader to have more sympathy/outrage regarding how it all turned out. Overall though it was an engaging, entertaining read and I would recommend it to others who enjoy skewed, potentially unreliable narrators and more of a character based, thought provoking story compared to non-stop action.

Loved this one till the very last line. One of the best, most disturbing thrillers yet. Definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller. Couldn't put it down

Thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Araminta Hall for the opportunity to read this book - 3.5 stars rounded up!

We are told in the beginning that the subject of the book, Mike, is writing the book for his lawyer as a way to tell his story - so the book is entirely from his perspective. Mike had a tough childhood though he eventually ended up in a wonderful foster care home with parents that wanted only the best for him. Despite the demons from his childhood, he went on to university and became a very successful banker. In university, he met Verity (also known as V) and became totally obsessed with her. Their relationship included playing a game they called the Crave - basically they would go to a bar, a guy would hit on V, and Mike would swoop in, exciting them both. As the relationship comes to an end, Mike continues to feel all V's actions are just part of the Crave with terrible consequences.

A good thriller about obsession, danger and women's sexuality in today's world.

"And what that means is that sometimes two people need each other so much it is worth sacrificing others to make sure they end up together."

A chilling lesson Mike draws from a film he has seen about two people who keep narrowly missing meeting each other until, at the end of the film, they meet when they are the sole survivors of an accident at sea. The book is written entirely from Mike's POV. Mike is a man who essentially defines himself by his love for Verity (whom he thinks of always as "V"). After they break up, he learns that she is engaged to another man, but he does not see this as the end to their relationship.
He instead believes that it is part of a game they are playing so that he can "prove" his love to her.
It's scary to think that there might be people out there who think in such disturbing ways and are so completely certain they are right despite everyone else explicitly informing them that they are wrong.

Fun beach read, although it did get a bit repetitive. And I didn’t realize the significant social political commentary aspect of it when I started reading, but it was quite thought provoking.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a well-written novel about an obsessed man who is incapable of correctly interpreting social cues and a woman whose niceness and sexuality are used against her.

Mike had a rough youth with an alcoholic mother who couldn’t take care of herself, let alone a child or a house. He often went without food and his mother’s boyfriends’ fists led to bruises he did his best to hide. At ten years old, he’s taken away by Social Services. After two years bouncing around in the system, he was taking in by a loving couple who saw his intelligence and potential and nurtured it.

It was at university that he met Verity. They played a game where she’d go up to the bar alone and wait for a man to hit on her and Mike would break it up, something that turned them both on. When V breaks things off with him, he feels certain this is just another part of a game. Same thing when she tells him she is going to get married. He doesn’t believe she really loves this new man. Mike thinks it’s part of the game. He is clearly delusional to everyone but himself.

Thanks to NetGalley and MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to review this book, which releases on MAY 8, 2018.

Verity (V) and Mike met at university in Bristol and became inseparable from then on. This suspense novel is about the young couple's seven-year relationship, narrated by Mike. The story is about obsessive romance, sex games, and a bubble that V and Mike lived in until he took a job with a firm in New York. Mike's reasoning to make the job move was so that he could make a lot of money quickly, working toward their goal of retirement at forty-five. The couple did not want to waste their lives working. They envisioned a life of travel and adventure. Their dreams were limitless.

It all came tumbling down when Mike revealed an indiscretion in New York on his second Christmas trip back to London. V was not happy and told him that she thought they should break up. Mike returned to New York, thinking that V just needed some time to forgive him. He was sure that everything would be fine. Mike decided to return to London. He had enough money for the time being and was sure he could get a good job in London.

When Mike returns to London, he buys a house and begins to prepare for a life with V. It is here where I started to think that something was not right and slowly began to suspect that Mike had some serious issues with reality. The novel is written so well that it could be read in one sitting if you have the time. I didn't want to put it down; it continually brings up questions and made me question what Mike and V thought when they said and did things to each other.

I've read enough suspense novels to know an excellent one, and this will be on my 'best of list' for suspense novels of the year!

Thank you to NetGalley and MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I hardly know how to begin this review. Our Kind of Cruelty is a strange book, but that is not to say it is bad. It's a page turner with lots of twists and turns and creepy characters. The author is really good at creating a tense atmosphere, making you want to keep reading and reading until you finally come to the conclusion. I did feel there were a number of gratuitous scenes, which put me off sometimes, but overall, it was an engaging thriller.

Wow. This book went places I had no idea it would go - I didn't think it would do a certain thing, but then it did a 180 and absolutely "went there." This book is not for people with weak stomachs or insecure constitutions - what it IS for is for people who like their domestic thrillers dirty and raw, with unflinching truth and honesty that only certain books can provide. If you like thinking about what makes humanity tick, and what really pushes our buttons, give this one a look next Tuesday - just don't eat while you're reading it.

Yikes... this book made my skin crawl from the first page to the last. I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to end and loved the buildup and confusion it caused internally until the last page.

A great read!

While I really liked the premise of this book, I found myself getting bored as it continued. Nothing seemed to happen and the MC's thoughts became so repetitive I ended up skimming the second half. However, I can see others really enjoying this disturbed voice and the repetition is suited to the character. I already have someone in mind to recommend this book to--the style just wasn't for me.

★  ☆ Off The Press is currently hosting a giveaway for ARC copies of this title on Instagram & Twitter ★  ☆


This is a love story. Mike’s love story.

Mike Hayes fought his way out of a brutal childhood and into a quiet, if lonely life, before he met Verity Metcalf. V taught him about love, and in return, Mike has dedicated his life to making her happy. He’s found the perfect home, the perfect job, he’s sculpted himself into the physical ideal V has always wanted. He knows they’ll be blissfully happy together.

It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t been returning his emails or phone calls.
It doesn’t matter that she says she’s marrying Angus.

It’s all just part of the secret game they used to play. If Mike watches V closely, he’ll see the signs. If he keeps track of her every move he’ll know just when to come to her rescue…

★  ☆  ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆ ★  ☆

This is really one of my favorite types of novels. I love when, as readers, we are able to get 'inside the minds' of characters who are largely unreliable and just have a lot going on psychologically. Mike is so that type of character. We get to experience Mike's own personal reality that he 100% believes--but we (hopefully) all have the social skills and perceptual skills to recognize that things are not as they seem (or more so.. how they seem to him). And boy is his character genuine.... I felt like I knew Mike... And with a career in the field of emotional behavioral disabilities, I found myself unintentionally trying to 'diagnose' Mike throughout the novel!

I read a Q&A with Araminta Hall and she stated that it was actually quite easy to get into the voice of Mike (because she had developed him as a character so well prior to fleshing out the novel) that she 'wasn't quite sure what that says about her'. And that was so funny to me, because I actually always think that when I am reading a novel in which the author gets into the head of someone with psychopathic tendencies or characteristics.

One thing that I want to be clear is that Hall has some more-than-meets-the-eye themes in store for readers. The book did not end in the epic twist I was expecting (just from my experience/knowledge of psychological thrillers). his novel has a different purpose, other than shock-value. The third part of this book turns into a courtroom drama that has a lot of political undertones and some gender equality undertones that were very interesting to think about and reflect on my perceptions of the plot thus far.

Overall--this was a fantastic read. It was not what I was expecting and that was one of the things that I really enjoyed about it. It made me think instead of just giving me a shock. After you read the novel, I would definitely recommend reading the Q&A (I will link it here when I can find a link--I have a paper copy of the interview) that Araminta Hall completed. Several of the things I have seen people list as 'cons' of this book (things they didn't like)... were totally intentional and really do serve an impacting purpose.



Trigger Warning(s): Physical Violence, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse



Thank you to Araminta Hall & MCD/FSG for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Hm.

I think I really expected this book to be more of a true thriller, with a greater sense of tension running throughout. Readers know early on what Mike has done, but the who, why, and how are revealed through the story, which overall tends to be a bit slowly paced. I appreciated the author's note at the end which clarifies a bit what the author was trying to accomplish in this story, and I think she does a decent job getting readers into the distorted mind of a stalker. I think the hardest thing for me as a reader is I felt that the story was left a little incomplete- we get some holes filled in about the gaps in Mike's story, but I felt like there was just a lot that was still left out. It's definitely a little creepy, and may work well for readers who typically find psychological thrillers too intense.

I really thought I would like this one.... I suppose that has been happening to me a lot lately. These blurbs sound so intriguing and then the book is just not what I thought it would be! This book is unique... I love unique. A stalker book but from the stalker's point of view? How fascinating!! Obviously the book is going to be dark.. but I guess I wasn't expecting this twisted. I enjoyed it enough to finish it anyway, but it just wasn't GREAT! I was hoping for more. I think it this premise could have been utilized differently.

I finished 'Our Kind of Cruelty' last night right before bed so figured I would take the night to consider what I had read before formulating my review. Here I am, the next morning, still trying to wrap my head around this book. Firstly, what a unique way of telling this story. Unique and impactful. Mike Hayes, our MC, and narrator of this story is unhinged and you get a front row seat to obsession. Verity, the object of focus, is a young lady you struggle throughout the book to understand; at least I did. Mike and V were involved in a long-term relationship which began while they were in college and eventually ended. This story follows that break-up and relives pieces of it through the mind of Mike.

How much of his thoughts are reality and how much are fantasy. The author did a phenomenal job of keeping you guessing. Is Mike as crazy as he seems? Is he creating a fantasy or she is feeding into his behaviors somehow. I absolutely loved the format of this book and how the author never let Mike slip from character. You are full force in this 'love story' from start to finish gaining insight into his infatuation with this young lady.

The culmination of the tale takes place in a courtroom where we see side characters, as well as both Verity and Mike, be questioned by attorneys regarding the exact nature and events of their relationship. I will admit even I was questioning Verity and her honesty at that point - which to me is humorous - an extension of how women can be blamed or treated with suspicion when it comes to a man's behaviors in regards to her. Questioning the victim, blaming the victim, shaming the victim - these are all prevalent occurrences in our society - and I myself was guilty of it. I didn't trust V, the whole way, even though I was witness to Mike's mental fixation with her. I questioned what she was doing to fuel that fire. I continually questioned her choices: why didn't she tell someone, her husband, the police? Why did she continue to correspond with him?

This was an incredibly intricate, mind-shaking story that gave me chills on the regular. I applaud the author for this effort - it is a truly distinct book for the thriller genre. I would highly recommend it. I hope my thoughts on this make some sort of sense - I am still boggled by this one. Thank you so much to Farrar, Straus & Giroux for providing me with the opportunity to read this book early and to provide my opinion. I cannot wait to see what other readers take from this one!

It's hard to review the plot for this because of spoilers- but it's not a spoiler to state that the trial is more interesting than Mike's written statement which comprises the first portion of the book. Mike is obsessive about Verity, who has left him for another man. He stalks, he observes, he obsesses. You won't be entirely sure why since Verity is not a nice person. Their sex game, however, is probably at the core of some of it. The ending, well, the ending was not satisfying to me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is well written and carefully plotted and might be the thriller for you.

Mike's relationship with Verity has come to an end. She's in fact getting married to someone else. But Mike knows deep down this is all part of a game they used to play and he needs to come up with something big to rescue her and prove his love to her. Or does he? Is he being manipulated? Or is he one of the most disturbed individuals ever?

The entire story is refreshingly entirely told from Mike's point of view. Coming from a horrible childhood, it's hard not to sympathise with him but throughout the storyline, you can't help but wonder if he's a reliable narrator or just plain delusional. Obviously, the reader's opinion of the plot is based on one side of the truth and since we never really get Verity's version, I suspect the conclusions that are drawn will be incredibly different from one reader to the next. To this end, this is the perfect novel for a book club discussion.

Our Kind of Cruelty is an intensely gripping, dark and chilling story about obsession, love and perception. How often do we misinterpret things? How often do we see signs that aren't really there? How well do we ever truly know someone? I found myself completely absorbed in Mike's telling of the tale and while at some points I would have liked to have had Verity's perspective, I'm pleased the author decided not to offer one. 

This isn't quite like any other psychological thriller I've read before and I dare say it will divide opinions. It is perfectly paced, incredibly tense and disturbing and I absolutely loved every single minute of it. I know this is one of those novels that will stay with me for quite a while, as I keep going over things in my head, mulling them over, twisting them this way and that and still be left hanging with a multitude of questions. Personally, I feel those are the best kind of books.