WTH did I just read! I think there will be mix reactions to this story, but I loved it and thought it was genius. It was different, engaging and so entertaining. Hell, yes it was crazy, but I have never read anything like it before, it was creative, and the character development was perfect. I kind of guessed where it was going but it didn't matter there was so many twists. All thumbs up to Coryell for this thrilling ride, that I almost feel there could be a sequel. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Hannah becomes almost obsessed with man (William) on trial as an accused seral killer, she starts to write him letters. but then he is acquitted and decides to move in with him and investigate what really happen to these women. She has lost all friends and finds a community in a true-crime forum that mean mission is to solve the murders of the four women. Her and William start living in relationship bliss, and she starts investigating him herself or waiting for to die herself. Things start to get really crazy at this point so without giving to much away, you will have to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

You would think that this would be one that I flew through, but I honestly thought about DNFing several times. It drug on, mainly because the main character is unrelatable, unlikeable, and honestly unbearable. She clearly didn’t see things that were right in front of her face, and the big twist at the end was not a surprise at all. I dunno. It just missed the mark for me.

TL;DR: If you enjoyed Amy Tintera’s LISTEN FOR THE LIE or Eliza Jane Brazier’s GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES or Emma Rosenblum’s BAD SUMMER PEOPLE, you’re really going to like Tasha Coryell’s LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER. A darkly comedic thriller and satire that takes on our cultural obsession with true crime and serial killers, the book is centered around a young woman who finds a community within an unsolved murder message board, only to find herself actually falling for one of the men implicated in a string of killings. It’s a lot of fun, not to mention twisty and twisted. Readers seem to agree, with early reviews calling it “[a] delightfully dark and deranged romp” and “[d]eeply disturbing pals up with darkly comic to create one heck of a morbid ride.”

I recently mentioned that I haven’t really been reading thrillers lately. I notice that I tend to read a lot of ‘em in late July/August as the dog days of summer creep in and I’m in the mood for a dose of fall.

The first thriller of this summer came a bit earlier for me, perhaps because it’s been so hot out that I would actually maybe be in the mood for a snow storm (?). That being said, LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER isn’t your average thriller.

Hannah is essentially the definition of aimless: she’s trapped in a boring job, her friends are all settling down and just got ghosted. In order to combat her loneliness, she begins participating in true crime forums on a mission to solve a slew of murders in Atlanta. When William, a well-to-do lawyer is shockingly arrested for the crimes, Hannah begins writing letters to him. What she doesn’t expect is that William would write back. As her curiosity grows into an obsession, Hannah’s life begins imploding around her, leaving her no choice but to head to Atlanta to dive even deeper into the case. When another woman is killed while William is on trial, he’s found not guilty and strikes up a relationship with Hannah, who is secretly still investigating him for murder.

YEAH—this is not your run of the mill thriller. It’s voice-y and fun and borders on the line of a satirical character study, while also making some fascinating points about true crime obsession. Don’t let the pink cover fool you: there are parts of this book that are rather messed up (kind of reminded me of BUTCHER AND BLACKBIRD in that aspect in that it’s not afraid to get a little deranged all in the name of PLOT, baby).

Both Hannah and William are fascinating characters, with Hannah’s characterization being especially compelling. You don’t know whether to root for her or wring her neck for her horrific decision-making, which lends to the madcap feel of the novel.

While this wasn’t a perfect book (parts are rather predictable), I found it to be a breath of fresh air compared to so many of today’s thrillers that feel rote and same-same.

This book is a wild ride. It's such an interesting commentary on how obsessed our culture is with serial killers. Hannah is lost in her life. She's single, not really happy in her job, with dating, or with her home. She writes a biting letter to a lawyer turned suspected killer. She keeps writing to him and it helps to ease some of her anxiety, but he writes back. His case consumes her entire being. She loses her job. She leaves her home. She goes to Georgia to attend his trial. This story is deeply disturbing and darkly comedic. I recommend it, but be prepared to feel uncomfortable!

Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Alright so I really wanted to like this book, but it was just too much. I figured out who the murderer was immediately so the plot twist wasn't extremely shocking. There weren't enough characters for you not to deduce. It's like in Scooby Doo and you only get shown 3-4 possible suspects so you kind of know that's the limited number of people that could be your bad guy.

I also really disliked the main character. She needed real psychological help and probably needed to be on medication. Her obsession with wanting to be with a serial killer was just so weird. They even referenced Ted Bundy's wife he married and had a child with in the book so the character knew what she was doing and kept saying she wasn't "one of those women", while totally being one of those women. So she had the opportunity to stop, but lacked the self-respect to do so. It was gross.

It was interesting to see her just absolutely spiral and felt like a train wreck that you just had to finish watching out of your own gross morbid curiosity, which makes the reader almost no better than the main character. And maybe that's the entire point, but I finished the book feeling icky and I didn't like it.

I could see people really liking how unique this book is and I'd definitely recommend if this is something you're interested in. If you don't like feeling icky though, don't read it.

This book was insane. I'm having so much trouble putting my thoughts into words but all I can say is the FMC was cuckoo bananas delulu and I seriously couldn't get enough of it. It was like a train crash you can't look away from. Honestly I don't know what else to say haha but the fact that there are women out there like this both intrigue me and terrify me at the same time. I do recommend this one with the caveat that you have to know you are gonna think the FMC is insane the whole time. Enjoy!

A woman working in a dead-end job that she hates, can't keep relationship going, and losing her only friend left becomes obsessed with man accused of being a serial killer. Then become pen pals and she finds herself falling in love with him.

This book was a fast, engaging read. Hooray for something fun and different.

This was definitely an interesting read! Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book! I’m not much of a thriller girly but I highly enjoyed this book and didn’t guess the twist at all. The author did exceptionally well keeping me guessing the whole time and narrating this story in a way that it was so unreliable that I had no clue what was going to happen. Now, don’t be fooled by the pretty pink cover. 3.5 stars for me

Actual Rating: 3.5

Considering how popular true crime media is now, I felt like this was an extremely timely book and I was excited for the perspective it might offer through the eyes of someone who is obsessed with serial killers.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer follows Hannah, an aimless woman. She’s recently been ghosted by her ex-boyfriend who’s now seeing someone else, she’s stuck at her dead end job, and all her friends are moving on with their lives. And then she finds out about William Thompson, recently arrested for the murder of four women. It starts with a simple letter. But then William actually writes back, and the two begin their regular correspondence. Before she knows it, Hannah and William are in a relationship and she finds herself traveling to Georgia to support him during the trial — and meet him for the first time.

I think that my favorite thing about this book is that it establishes an unreliable narrator and utterly commits to it. Hannah is never going to become my favorite character or even be relatable, but her flaws and obsessiveness made her extremely compelling. For the same reason people enjoy watching the craziness of true crime stories, there’s something very captivating about Hannah’s downward spiral that makes it impossible to look away. And so, the book is mostly character-driven.

The story is at its best when it focuses on Hannah and when everything is sort of in this state of limbo and uncertainty. When it does switch its focus to the actual murder plot, it loses the feeling of unease and becomes more of a common mystery. It’s a little too predictable and wraps up too neatly, and while I understand why the book chose to complete this arc for literary reasons, I felt like it didn’t actually have to.

The book did reclaim the right tone by the end though, and I did enjoy how it was wrapped up. Ultimately, I think this was a great read for me. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but it was right up my alley.

I was slightly worried going into this that it would be romanticizing violence, however that wasn't the case. This would be a good read for those who like true crime books, shows or podcasts. The FMC is a little nutty, but honestly we all are to a degree so I didn't dislike her.

Unhinged, fun and twisted! For me, Love Letters to a Serial Killer hit a little too close to home during some parts (not the writing to a serial killer part...). Plus the cover is one of my favorites.

I, myself, am a true crime buff of sorts which is what drew me to this book in the first place. I wish I liked it more but I had a hard time aligning myself in any way with the main character. That being said, i did find myself laughing, mostly in disbelief at Hannah throughout the book which i think was partially the point. I found Hannah to be the most delusional of everyone in the story which, once you've read it, is saying a whole lot.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book.

This is such a fun quick read! I listened to this one in one sitting because the FMC Hannah is completely bonkers and the narrator did such a wonderful job!

Hannah is sick of bad dates and getting ghosted. She quickly becomes obsessed with a case in Georgia where a handsome lawyer is accused of killing four women. While her real-life friends are getting married and moving on, Hannah finds solace and a sense of community from an online forum filled with people just as consumed with the case as she is. On a whim, Hannah decides to send letters to the accused killer, William, in prison. Surprisingly, he writes her back and Hannah is thrust into a whirlwind romance she never expected. Once William is acquitted of the crimes, Hannah is his first call. They quickly fall in love and make a life together. But can everything be this easy when she’s still secretly investigating William for murder?

- Hannah is a messy main character and I love that. She has self-esteem issues which is how she got into the mess she’s in. I wanted to hug her and tell her she’s perfect as she is.

- Rich people behaving badly is one of my favorite thriller tropes!

- There are a few twists that make you say “wtf”

- The audiobook is so well done. Andi gives Hannah confidence. She may be making a terrible decision but she is 100% positive in the choice she’s making.

This one is perfect to read poolside or with your book club buddies!

Genre : Thriller/Romance
Rating : 3.2/5

Have you, like me, ever been curious or wondered about all these women we read about or have heard about who obsess over criminals/murderers convicted in prison - to the point that they think they're in love?? I heard a similar story recently from a lawyer who was emphasizing on how many fans (and girlfriends) one of the convicts has, to the point that they are willing to do anything to support that convict.

As the book title suggests (pretty obviously), this centers around sending love letters to an accused serial killer. It gives an insight into one such person, and her perspective into how she goes from despising the serial killer honestly to obsessing over him excessively to the point that she visits him in prison. It is also rather fascinating how she envisions having a happy life together despite him being accused of killing several women.

The book is entirely in her perspective - as the book starts, we empathize with 30-something Hannah as she gets ghosted in her relationships and decides to devote herself to a true-crime forum dedicated into solving the brutal murders of 4 women and the accused person - William - behind it. The obsession escalates as she loses her job, and instead of looking for a new one, shifts to Georgia to be involved in the trials of William.

The twist in the book isn't anything crazy or mind-blowing - I'm not a great crime mystery guesser, and yet I figured it out way early on. None of the characters are likeable (as you can probably tell from the blurb), but that's the charm of this book. It wasn't supposed to produce likeable characters.

This is definitely one of those books that made me go WTF multiple times.
A super-quick read, I won't say it is a fantastic true crime thriller, but it gives an interesting perspective into prison obsession we read so much about.

Read if you enjoy :
True-crime thrillers
Fast-paced read
Books with letters

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an eARC review copy in exchange for an honest review!

#loveletterstoaserialkiller #tashacoryell #bookreview #arcs #giveaways #netgalleyarc

This is definitely a unique premise for a thriller, but it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the main characters and it just fell flat. Sorry.

From the description, I thought I knew what I was getting into with this book. As I read it, I realized this wasn't the kind of mystery/love story I expected. That isn't a bad thing because I actually think I enjoyed it more for what it was. Hannah did drive me crazy, but in a good way? She's so unhinged and she would do or say things that made me realize it all over again. I did feel like the minor characters were a bit weak, which kept me guessing sometimes about whether it was intentional or not. This book was very entertaining, though, and such a good option for a quick, fun read.

I just finished Love Letters to a serial killer by Tasha Coryell and here are my thoughts.

What do you do when you are ghosted by all your friends? Obviously you start exchanging letters with a man on trial for being a serial killer.

I loved the vibe of the book. I thought the storyline was really quirky and was a nice fictional setting of how women end up falling for serial killers. It’s a weird phenomenon but it happens and I felt like this kinda low key poked fun at it and I thought it was great!

I loved the underlying thriller and how plot twisty it was. It was clever and really well written. I wasn’t a fan of Hannah. She was really odd but I actually found the letters going back and forth were pretty funny and I can kind of see why she got drawn in.

I also liked that she had this desire to get justice for the women who died even if that meant he really did kill them. It was quite the ride!

I wouldn’t take this as a serious thriller but it had the elements for a really entertaining read.

I have really started to get into books that break the mold and this one was a real winner.

4.5 stars

Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for my gifted copy! OUT NOWWWWW

Run, don't walk!

#loveletterstoaserialkiller #tashacoryell #thriller #thrillerreader #berkley #bookinfluencer #imback #netgalley #kindle #kindlereader #bookreview

This book was really a lot of fun! I will definitely keep an eye out for books from Tasha Coryell in the future! Will be recommending this to any thriller fans I know :)

This was a really interesting, unique book, I'm not sure how much I actually enjoyed it because it was so hard to read at times. Our main girl Hannah is lost in life, she hates her job, all her friends are getting married, and after getting ghosted again by a fuck buddy she starts diving into the True Crime forum and becomes obsessed with a case of serial murder in Atlanta. When a man is arrested for the murders, a very handsome man, she starts writing him letters, first of an accusatory nature but then he writes back and they pretty much become boyfriend/girlfriend right away. She is a horrible employee and rightly gets fired then goes to watch his trial, another girl gets murder so he's let go and they basically move in together and get engaged but she still investigates him cause she thinks he's guilty. Hannah's thoughts were hella cringey a lot of the time which made it hard to read but I think that's the point. It's an interesting mystery that I would recommend, you just have to be in the right mood for!