I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

”The world would be so much gentler if it was run by women."
-A Man Who Never Opened A History Book



In She Kills Me, Jennifer Wright attempts to tell stories of female killers in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek way. This book is peppered with wry comments and sly observations. At times she hits the mark. She also includes queens, warriors, spies and aviators instead of just murderers, which brings historical women to light many readers may not be familiar with. Unfortunately, the book is basically a snarky feminist stab at (what else?) the patriarchy. Bad women kill because of it. Heroic women kill in spite of it.

Ms. Wright's book operates under the premise that if some of these women had access to divorce or careers or the rights to their own bodies they would not be killers. The patriarchy makes women kill, not their homicidal urges or their bloodlust or their meanness. This, in and of itself, causes some cognitive dissonance. If women have always been just as capable as men, just as smart, just as intrepid and adventurous (as history bears out) haven't they always been just as capable of violence? And of desiring, even enjoying murder? There is every likelihood a woman who poisoned husbands would still poison even if divorce was easy to obtain because she feels justified in killing those who wrong her. A woman who murders because she is bored would still murder even if she had a career because she sees murder as entertainment. Not because she hates being a housewife. The most egregious argument says that not allowing women full autonomy over their bodies means you don't see them as human. In the case of rape that is absolutely true. But in other areas that argument gets sketchy. It's almost as if, by presenting all these killer women, she is saying "If you don't let women do what we want, when we want we will kill you."

The individual stories are interesting. Some of them are downright cool, and inspiring. The author did make me chuckle a few times, and knows how to write cleanly and with style. Each case is meticulously researched with links to the sources. But the tone got on my last nerve. in addition to the above mentioned offenses she insinuates that the boss who rubs your shoulders when looking at your computer screen is the same as the 18th century mysoginist who sees all women as a source of evil.. Men haven't really changed.

Personally, I am heartily sick of women whining about mansplaining and manspreading and ”microaggressions" abd all the other petty complaints offered up as acts of oppression. We have more rights, more freedom, and more income than at any point in history. If your idea of oppression is a man sitting with his knees apart, or being called, "Dear" by your coworker, you need to look back , see how far we have come and show a little gratitude instead of inventing ways to be a victim.
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If you can't do that, buy this book. You will probably enjoy it

She Kills Me is a book about women who have killed for a myriad of reasons. We have our more psychopathic killers, those who poison, some that are just done with having a family to fool with (both blood and by marriage), women scorned, and just about every other kind of killer.

I think it’s way nifty how there are trigger warnings before each section/killer. This will be helpful to those who aren’t exactly comfortable with the subject matter discussed. The stories themselves are interesting, though it did feel like there was a certain something missing. All in all, She Kills Me was an interesting read that I would recommend to those interested. It’s 3 stars from me.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Abrams Image, and Jennifer Wright for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: September 14, 2021
“She Kills Me: The True Stories of History’s Deadliest Women” by non-fiction author Jennifer Wright is a short collection of stories focused on women who kill. Divided into nine sections, Wright discusses; legit psychopaths, poisoners, female cult leaders, partner murderers, scorned women, mercenaries, killer Queens, female warriors and avenging angels. Each section comes with a subheading (ex. “rape”, or “juvenile murder”) as a trigger warning for those who want to avoid certain subject areas. I found this was a really smart move on her part, although I chose to read every section willingly. Each section, too, works in chronological order, starting with the earliest, and leading up to the most modern.
Although there are legitimate “serial killers” in this novel (especially in the first half), Wright covers other killers as well, including those women who killed in battle. A lot of the women discussed were new to me, and I enjoyed hearing about their rise (and subsequent fall) into infamy.
This novel is geared toward women readers. It isn’t “man bashing”, but it is difficult to discuss the role of women in history without portraying the misogynistic tone of society at the time. From female slaves, to “kept” women, each with their own motivation to kill, Wright highlights the specific struggle for women in their era, while at the same time not condoning their actions.
Wright’s writing is witty and casual, and I enjoyed the short sections. I found this novel to be informative and entertaining, and at just 176 pages, it was certainly a quick read (but well worth it!).

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's clearly well researched, but it doesn't just throw facts at you like many killer related books do. The author's voice is very clear throughout the stories. I can't quote anything right now, but she has some fantastic comments!
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she includes serial killers, soldiers, and other notable deadly women. I went in to this book only expecting serial killers, but Wright went above and beyond.

Another thing I admired is the content warnings! Some people like to avoid certain types of gore and the warnings allow for you to skip over anything that might make you uncomfortable.

I think one of my favorite parts of this book is the little illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. The artist's interpretation of each woman was beautiful.

If you want to learn about deadly women, this book is for you!

Although the subject of the book is interesting I was let down by the strange brand of humor and the lack of research (e.g. the Nazis didn't rise to power in 1939). Not my cuppa tea.

Women who kill. Fascinating but gruesome!

I don’t often read non fiction, so this was a real change for me, despite the topic!

Well written, with short, to the point chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this.

First I want to thank Netgalley for providing me the opportunity to read this book for free in return for an honest opinion...

I hate when I can't give a great review.

Honestly...I love true crime...I find it fascinating...and I have read many true crime books...but right away I could tell this was not going to be one of my faves...there was a picture drawn at the beginning of the most of the stories...these was sorta juvenile...at least to me...The crimes committed...well...I did like that I had not heard of many of these killers...so the stories were new to me...but they seemed to be written more like a review....a snarky review...of the crime...instead of just reporting the crime...just give me the facts and I will form my own opinion ...give me the facts...and I will respond... the snarky remarks that were made ...I am pretty sure they were supposed to be funny...but didn't really strike me that way...There were some very interesting stories but most would have been better if the author just didn't try to editorialize. Over all...not a great read...it took longer than it should have but I could only read so much before just was tired of it. ...Wish I could be more positive...but not a book I enjoyed.

I loved this one so much! It was not only informative but super fun to read too!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was an interesting little tome full of badass women, many of whom I had never heard of before. I enjoyed the conversational tone of the author, which was a refreshing contrast to the violence & gore depicted in each mini biography.

A quick must-read for history buffs and feminists alike :)

As soon as I read the title of this book, I was drawn to it –being a fan of true crime and serial killers, I am always looking out to new books on the subject. She Kills Me promised to offer this plus the interesting fact that it would focus on women who were serial killers. I was immediately hooked because just as the author points out, history has denied or failed to recognize that women can also express their rage by killing. Unfortunately, the read was a bit disappointing: the book is a compilation of many women who have committed heinous crimes but I felt it lacked depth and detail into the lives of these characters. While I recognize the author’s work in actually finding out about these women (I was very unfamiliar with many of the names listed here, particularly those from antiquity or from Africa), I felt each chapter was too short and did not reveal a lot on these women’s context, which would have been interesting to explore in more detail, to truly make us understand –or even feel more scared– about their behavior. I felt the descriptions where very superficial and in some of the women’s stories, it was not even clear where the murders occurred as we have a wide range of nationalities represented here. I believe the book might work for those who are getting started on true crime as it is an easy read; however, for me there was no complexity depicted from each of these women which is a shame, as they no doubt are fascinating in their own, twisted way.

Thanks NetGalley for the read! This was a fast paced one for me. Initially I thought there would be a bit more detail for each of the women serial killers but once I got halfway into reading, the amount of content was perfect. I thought the chapter breakdowns were clever. I enjoyed the humor and frankness the author provides in her descriptions. Most of all I enjoyed the artwork on my digital copy at the beginning of each chapter. I love aesthetics!

I have pretty mixed feelings about this particular book. It didn't go into detail about the women almost at all. Then sometimes the author would state rumors and then contradict themselves by saying things happened. It made for a confusing read. I did enjoy the humor. Most of the stories, at least, made me chuckle. I can also appreciate that there are trigger warnings before each chapter. I have never seen this done before. Overall, this just felt juvenile and I was looking for something more. This would be a good read if you've ever read books lie "Women in Science" by Rachel Ignotofsky.

I found the book to be organized but lacking in individuality. It was more taking a list of female murderess' from history and putting a bunch in categories with a quick history lesson with a few quick points.

She Kills Me is a compilation of crime stories of women who have murdered throughout history. The stories span centuries and situations to provide insights on often lesser-known female killers.

This was an interesting collection for true crime fanatics. The stories were historical with a few more recent, and I thought they offered a good quick overview to introduce people to the cases.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book based on the title alone. Unfortunately it's nothing more than blubs & excerpts and a few cute personal insights & quips from the author. I felt like I was reading a compilation of Wikipedia articles. All the information in this book was stuff I could easily find online. I was hoping for more interesting information that isn't readily known.

Jennifer Wright’s “She Kills Me” is a great quick read for any true crime fan. I recommend it to fans of Tori Telfer’s “Lady Killers” as a complimentary read. Some of the women Wright writes about were mentioned in Telfer’s novel, and she even quotes Telfer in one chapter. Having been a fan of “Lady Killers,” I loved the way Wright’s hard fact approach to crime reporting interacted with Telfer’s story telling. I have been interested in true crime as long as I can recall, and even so, Wright brought to my attention the crimes of some women I have never researched.

Wright covers a lot of territory for such a short read, but it doesn’t feel rushed. She gives the facts straight up with a side of wit, making for the perfect crash course on some of history’s female killers. Readers will appreciate the content warnings Wright gives along with the murderess’ name at the beginning of each part, as she quips that even if we all want to read about true crime doesn’t necessarily mean we all want to read about cannibalism.

I enjoyed the illustrations paired with each case (credited to illustrator Eva Bee), and the straight forward way Wright tells each story. This book is for any true crime fan who always wondered why there has never been any female serial killers. Spoiler alert: there has.

A very interesting account of some of the most famous female murderers in history. The stories are a quick read and the author does a great job in relating not only the crime, but the reasons behind it. This book really held my attention. A must read for the true crime enthusiast!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is great for any true crime fan. It breaks down female killers in nine different sections. They range from psychos, women scorned, and avenging angels to name a few. Each woman was given her own page or pages with her name, date of birth and date of death. Each story about the woman was well written and very informative. There are several people that I had read about previously but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of women in the book that I had not heard of before.

She Kills Me is a book with 40 stories of women who have killed people in the past. It is about people in the 1500s, but also in the 1800s and even some from present day. The book is divided into section. Every section has a different theme of murders, like murders with poison or queens who murdered. Every story has an illustration at the beginning that suits the story. The book has 176 pages and it's written by Jennifer Wright.

I really enjoyed this book. I am very interested in history and true crime, so this is a perfect combination for me. Also, you usually hear a lot more about men who kill people, but you almost never hear about women killing people. I think it's really important that we don't forget that only men can take someone elses life, but women can too. My native language isn't English, so I usually read a bit slower when I'm reading a book in English, but that certainly was not the case with She Kills Me. I read this really fast, because there weren't a lot of difficult words used. Over all, I really enjoyed this book. If you're interested in history and true crime, I think you should give this one a try.

I read this book on NetGalley. NetGalley is a website where you can read books before te release date for free. The only thing they ask in return is an honest review about the book. I think this is a great website if you like to read.

This book will be released on September 14th 2021.

A collection of crime stories where the murders are women. If you listen to podcasts or watch any true crime you may recognize some of the names.