A refreshing and bizarre read! A witty dystopian cli-fi thriller that is totally unique. I enjoyed reading this - something totally different.

Climate crisis books seem to be en vogue this year, understandably. She’s a Killer is a good one.

Alice is an almost genius working a nothing job with a friend that doesn’t like her much, a frosty relationship with her mother, a grotty flat and not much else going on.

Alice meets a HOT wealthugee (they’re billionaires displaced by the climate crisis) and they hook up. Unbeknownst to her, she’s caught up in a scheme and her life is about to get a whole lot more interesting…

I really enjoyed this book. Alice was an enjoyable (albeit frustrating) character and the humour in this book made it a delight to pick up.

I would recommend this for book clubs, commuters and to take on holiday. Themes rich, pacy and full of intrigue.

Pick this book up if: you’re looking for a zippy and witty thriller or a dystopian with lols

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A climate change thriller? Yes, please!! The satire was absolutely dripping and lapped every ounce up. SO GOOD.

I recently read the book She’s A Killer by Kirsten McDougall. I was given an advance copy by NetGalley.

There is so much to like in this book. It is dark, often funny, thoughtful whilst being a dystopian view of a future New Zealand; one of the few still habitable countries left.

Resources are limited and demand for the basic essentials is high. It features Alice, an almost genius with an IQ of 159, who has a huge potential but has achieved little. Unable to cope with any form of rejection she reaches her 30’s and has drifted through life working temporary admin jobs.

The book is beautifully written and it’s easy to drift along with it.

However, after she become involves with a wealthugee family her life spirals out of control. No spoilers from me regarding the second half of the novel.

I find it difficult to rate this book. In terms of the writing, the descriptive narrative, the characters and the environment they inhabit the book is worth 4 stars. However, I couldn’t get into the changed storyline in the second half of this book.

I’m giving it 3 stars as worth reading and better than average but simply not to my taste!

#ShesAKiller #NetGalley

I tried to get into it but I just couldn’t. I was really excited to read this but unfortunately it is just not for me. I think it’s more the writing style. I just couldn’t get with it. Unfortunately this didn’t work out for me.

There’s the almost illegible, pretty inscrutable MC: why has she let her flat go to wrack and ruin? With a little thingy sprouting out of the kitchen counter? Why does she spill sauerkraut on purpose on a stranger on the bus? Why is she such a weird and creepy friend? And if she’s a genius (and she is, almost), why isn’t she doing more with it? A good book is like great theatre: the mom appears on the scene in the middle, and it explains (almost) everything. (For the record, I don’t know if that’s good theatre.)

There are some good themes in here: climate change, and an invasion of wealthy climate refugees, or “wealthugees” (New Zealand is a very small country). Bunkers. Mental health. How to live when nothing matters anymore, because the world is ending (—will you still go to work? Make art?). How far is too far when you’re dealing with the people who have ruined everything for everyone else?

I confess I saw parallels between this book and the other great NZ book I read this year, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood—but I think most of that has to do with what’s happening down there, with the billionaires and the bunkers. And with climate anxiety. Reality inevitably bleeds into fiction; fiction imitates life. McDougall’s characters are wonderful, and very memorable, and this excellent novel is both funny and sad. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Gallic Books for the ARC.

I think the imaginary friend was what first caught my eye. I had imaginary friends when I was a kid. This made me wonder when I stopped. Then I realised that my pets are probably the real life substitutes. Hang on, this makes me sound weird. In fact I began to think I might have a lot in common with Alice.

Alice does some bizarre things. Maybe she should not be so open about them. But then again, you start to wonder whether, in fact, you can believe her. How much of this is in her head? Unreliable narrators can be very tricky beasts. But it turns out that whilst she has her own take on things, and acts in ways that most of us wouldn't, she has every reason to do so.

The most important question I found myself mulliing over, as the suspense built, was ... just who is the She of the She's a Killer?

This is a bizarre, brilliant book. It'll definitely take your mind off things!

Alice is *almost* a genius, living an apathetic life in a mundane admin job at the local university. The world is in crisis due to the increasing impact of climate change with New Zealand seemingly having been impacted least, sees an influx of wealthugees taking over, not that Alice cares. However, the arrival of Pablo and Erica draw her in to the fight against them.

Alice is deeply dislikable as are most of the characters in She's a killer but makes an excellent protagonist. Alice is dry, and witty, and her already self-destructive nature is intensified by the return of her childhood imaginary friend "Simp". The interactions between Alice and Erica are entertaining and they both have truly met their match in each other.

I didn't know what to expect starting this but it is an enjoyable early dystopian/thriller. The middle third loses pace a bit but over all an intense but entertaining read.

A great novel with an unlikeable main character. I like the fact that main character is not "like most girls" I also liked the social commentary this book provided. Thanks for me giving me an advanced copy.

Alice lives in New Zealand after the climate crisis has destroyed most of the rest of the world. Alice has dysfunctional relationships with her Mum, her work colleagues, and best friend Amy. Alice meets wealthugee Pablo, and his daughter Erika. This starts off a crazy chain of events, with a bunch of characters who are angry, bitchy and very funny. Fresh writing with an interesting plot. Recommended.

"SHE'S A KILLER" by Kirsten McDougall

Is it a thriller? Or a techno-climate-eco thriller? Is it dystopian? A satire? Perhaps a dark humor (very dark...remember that *killer* title!) satirical comedy? Speculative ficton? Science fiction of the near (very near) future kind? Maybe even a twisted sort of coming-of-age kind of thing??

Yes!😁 No.🤨 Maybe?😏 YES!😊

I'm not really sure, but I am certain that I loved this genre blending novel by the New Zealand author Kirsten McDougall!

While I acknowledge that this novel might not be for every reader, every reader with a sense of bookish adventure and a willingness to go along for a wild story ride won't complain!

A happy reader thank you goes out to the author for crafting such an engaging story with thoroughly unlikely and (more than a little bit) unlikeable characters that still manage to make a powerful connection to the reader. To the publisher and NetGalley, thanks for the advanced copy of this book! I offer this honest review in exchange. This novel will have a U.S. release on October 5, 2023.

#ShesAKiller
#KristenMcDougall
#NetGalley
#genreblendingbooks

There are some interesting ideas in this cli-fi from Kirsten McDougall. As the climate crisis spirals out of control New Zealand, not yet feeling the very worst of its ravages, is overrun by wealthugees, the uber-rich fleeing their homes and using their money to buy their way into one of the last inhabitable places. Alongside them are New Zealanders struggling to survive through rampant unemployment and strict water rationing.

Alice, whose main characteristic is a near-genius level IQ that is mentioned far too often, although occupying a future dystopia is very much cast in the mold of the female millennial protagonist. She's never realised her potential, has a penchant for self-sabotage, it terrible at maintaining relationships and is largely crippled by ennui. She lives with her mother who occupies the first floor of their ramshackle subdivided house and they communicate only through Morse code.

Alice meets a man, a wealthugee who offers to pay her to watch his teenage daughter Erika (she's not his daughter) and mayhem ensues. It's packed full of quirk until you're sick of it and the 400+ pagecount is far too long to be sustained by Alice's voice which is soon dull and grating as she struggles to raise any kind of emotion to react to the bonkers events unfolding around her. Despite the insistence that Alice and Erika are geniuses there's no real evidence for this, though Erika has some impressive skills. Their brand of snark and banter lacks the real humour or bite to power through and the story soon becomes a slog, with little investment in any of the characters.

She's A Killer is an interesting take on climate fiction, it mixes thriller and contemporary fiction. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but this is a read that makes you think about our future and how activism might change to become something much darker.

The setting was interesting, its obviously not our world but its what it could be if we keep on the path we are on. A lot of the world is not in a great state and many people move to New Zealand because its not quite as bad. Of course this then leads to rich people moving here, pretending everything is normal and not changing how they act at all. Of course these people also take land away from the locals which causes issues.

Alice is an interesting character and this story is more about her and choices she has made. She is very smart but she lacks empathy and is very lazy. I don't think she is a very good person and she doesn't treat others well. She lives her life as if she cares about nothing but it becomes clear that this is not the case she is just kind of in denial. Until Erika turns her life upside down and takes it out of her control and also forces her into confronting the issues with her relationships particularly with her mother and best friend Amy.

The ending was explosive and leaves us wanting to know if anything they did made a difference to the world. Its definitely a book that explores how differnet people might act when the world is essentially ending. I found it a very well written book with a good setting and some interesting morally gray characters.

Thank you netgalley for the e-arc of this novel!

Let me start by saying this, and I’m not too proud, but it was the cover that sold me. Now let me follow that up with this, give this a chance. I was so delighted. I highly recommend.

"I'm a fan of unhappy endings. They're more honest."

A snarky genius, mother issues, murderous rage, feminism and the end of the world. Put them all together and you’ve got the recipe for She’s A Killer. Satirical, bizarre, unexpected and macabre, this deliciously dark debut is dripping with black humour from start to finish.

30-something Alice has an IQ of 159 but is stuck in a dead-end job, struggling to make ends meet, and only communicates with her mother through morse code. Though she’s almost a genius, Alice has always struggled to empathise with others, isn’t interested in friends or relationships, and is totally unbothered about things that seem to worry others such as climate change and the wealthy immigrants flooding into New Zealand. She’s more worried about why her imaginary friend has come back.
But when Alice meets fifteen-year-old Erika - the daughter of a hot ‘wealthugee’ she has a thing for - everything changes and she soon finds herself caught up in extreme actions that could have devastating consequences…

Well, this book was quite the trip! As soon as I read the tagline describing it as ‘Eleanor Oliphant meets Killing Eve’ I knew I had to read it. From the opening pages it was clear this wasn’t going to be like anything else I’ve read, but I was sure I had an idea where it was going. I was wrong. This book turned me upside down, twisted me round, and then shook me up for good measure. It was an unpredictable thrill-ride of crazy twists and turns I never saw coming. Kristen McDougall is a new author to watch. Her writing is witty and sharp, engaging the reader with her characters whilst also heightening the tension and keeping them guessing. And while it’s entertaining, the story also feels timely and urgent; like a warning or a call to arms. It’s quite the show. And McDougall pulls it off with finesse.

Vexatious, snarky, intelligent, and darkly funny, Alice is the sort of unlikeable protagonist I love. She’s a bitch to everyone, including her imaginary best friend, and I got totally sucked into her world. After all, who doesn’t enjoy watching a ‘bad girl’ do or say things that you’d never dream of doing. I’m fascinated by people who are highly intelligent yet have little common sense or understanding of others, and that certainly applied to Alice. She thought she was superior because of her intellect but she missed so much because she was all IQ and no EQ. Her conversations with Simp, her imaginary best friend, had me laughing out loud and I’d sometimes forget it was herself she was talking to. The secondary characters were all fun to read but it was Erika who stole that show and really challenged Alice. She is bright, fierce, self-assured, and quite frankly, intimidating. I loved the banter between her and Alice, especially as they had totally different values, outlooks and goals that often caused them to clash. You could tell that Alice isn’t used to being around people who are more intelligent than she is and it was quite funny to watch her be so unnerved by this unusual teenage girl.

Quirky, original, thought-provoking and gloriously unhinged, She’s A Killer is a debut that will make you laugh while your heart is also pounding with tension. Highly recommended.

Really enjoyed this - laugh out loud funny (in the first half especially) before Alice, our main character (1 point of genius level IQ) is drawn into climate action. Asks (and maybe answers) big questions, whilst also being eminently readable.

I didn’t feel an immediate connection with this book, however I felt intrigued by what it was about. This definitely isn’t a standard thriller, it is warped with post apocalyptic vibes and survival - all the end of the world vibes.
It was well written and took me on a journey, although a depressing one, to feel more enlightened at the end.
I loved that this book was based in New Zealand and referenced Māori language, I always enjoy reading books based in the southern hemisphere.

To be honest I didn’t think there were any likable characters with exception of Brian and maybe Alan.

Definitely a slow burner, but an enjoyable read - especially if the end of the world vibe is up your alley!

One of the most deliciously satirical books I've read in a VERY long time. There's just something about McDougall's premise of satire, the end of the world, and somewhat feminist leanings... I never quite knew if we were talking about now or the not-so-distant fate of the planet? After all... most people are only a day away from absolute calamity due to shortages and pestilence.

THOUGHTS:
- I read something somewhere that said that people who are highly intelligent are intelligent enough to know how intelligent they aren't. This, in turn, affects their relationship with their inner selves and how they perceive the outside world. It made me want to know the inner thoughts of those people and our unlikely heroine, Alice (with an incredibly high IQ), has become one of my favorite characters of 2023!!! I loved living this story through her eyes and seeing the world from her perspective. Her snarky commentary with her imaginary best friend gave me LIFE when I was feeling burnt out from other reads!

She's A Killer was refreshing, and all I can think now is: GIVE ME MORE UNLIKEABLE, YET DARKLY AMUSING HEROINES!!!

- I won't ruin the story for you because I desperately think you need to read it for yourself.. but if ever there was a macabre Charlotte's Web... I feel that it would illicit much the same feelings as McDougall's work. Being around people who are more intelligent than you is fascinating. You never quite know what they're thinking, and I found myself sucked in so many times trying to figure out different character's motivations!

NOTES:
- 🌶️/5 - Some s3xual elements - but not romantic in almost any way.
CWs: Some of the characters are a bit unnerving, but overall I didn't feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

**Thank you to Gallic Books & NetGalley for my advanced reader copies. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

For me there were hints of Miranda July in elements of this book (the relationship between Alice and Erica) and I found the themes topical and interesting to consider in the context of the climate and refugee crisis.

The main character of Alice and her imaginary friend Simp really engaged me. I would say I tend to like rather macabre books and this certainly delivers in buckets. And I must confess I laughed a lot which I wasn't expecting from the title!

I was into this in the first have but ultimately felt the lag, almost an after school special with the amount of issues being addressed. Also the bitchy lead wore me out some. Maybe just not in the right headspace at the moment for this read.