One of the best books I’ve read all year. It kept me guessing until the very end. Be gay, do crimes — or does she??

𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars)

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

Ambition can be intoxicating and dangerous, and Killer Potential leans all the way into that. From the opening chapter, you can feel the sharp edges of this world where success comes at a cost and no one is as trustworthy as they seem. Hannah Deitch delivers a tense, character-driven thriller that is as much about personal stakes as it is about high-stakes plotting.

The story follows a young woman navigating a cutthroat environment where pressure mounts with every decision she makes. What starts as determination and drive slowly spirals into obsession, betrayal, and a chilling question of how far someone will go to win. I loved how Deitch wove moral ambiguity through every layer of the narrative. There were moments I was not sure whether to root for or fear the characters, and I mean that as a compliment.

It is not just a thriller, it is a character study wrapped in razor wire, smart, unsettling, and impossible to put down once it sinks its teeth in.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Hannah Deitch for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Killer Potential is available now.

I enjoyed this book. I really liked the storyline and the ending was unexpected. I would definitely read other books by this author.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

Oh this was bad. Very bad indeed. I did not like the stilted writing or the dumb “twist” bye. I won’t read more from this author.

From the first chapter, I thought: holy shit, this author can write. The prose is artful, layered, and sharp in all the right places. It’s also genuinely funny. I laughed out loud more than once. And this is a debut novel?!

The plot holds up just as well. It’s a cross-country fugitive road trip where two strangers slowly get to know each other while evading the police. It’s what those fast-paced “dude books” wish they could be. I spent about 85% of the book feeling anxious because I knew they were on the brink of discovery. I kept yelling at the page, wondering why they’d ever let their guard down. But people do, don’t they? That is the human condition. We can’t always stay in survival mode.

I didn’t see the twists coming. Maybe I could have if I was trying, but I was too focused on where the author was leading me. I was completely drawn in.

Other thoughts:
The main character being from Western North Carolina was a fun surprise. I just wish the author had captured more of the region’s beauty, which felt like a missed opportunity.

The “gifted and talented kid” angle in the book description is more about the main character’s mindset than a truly central plot point.

Some readers might find the ending quiet, but I loved how the story slowly dwindled instead of exploding. It starts with emotional intensity and gradually moves toward stillness. I don’t think many authors could pull that pacing off

This one will stick with me. Beautiful writing, solid plot, and, unexpectedly, a deeply human story.

I wish I had read this book sooner! It was an unexpected enjoyable read. Thelma and Louise for the modern murdery crowd.

This was an absolutely fantastic debut! I was sucked in right from the get-go, and if it weren't for life getting in the way (because of course), I probably would've read it in one sitting, or at least within a twenty-four-hour period. I just did not want to put it down! The writing is so well done, the story is awesome, and once it gets going, it just doesn't let you go. I will absolutely read whatever this author comes out with next, and I'm anxiously awaiting what that will be.

4.75 stars rounded up because I need more from this author!

**I received an advance review copy from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

This book was a lot of fun. I loved the characters and the setting. From page one I was intrigued. The pages turned quickly and I read this in less than a day. Suspenseful and an air of Thelma and Louise!

Evie shows up at her clients house to tutor their daughter for her SATs. When she arrives at the Beverly Hills Mansion she finds the owners dead and a girl locked in a closet under the stairs. Evie standing over the bodies was presumed guilty and the story goes on from there as the two women embark on a 4 week run from the cops.

The writing was witty and the premise was original. The SAT tutor was a bit of an off for me but I suppose it wasn't that integral to the plot.. All the gifted kid stuff was a bit cliché, I'm not a fan of that trope.

Past that, I loved the chemistry the two main characters had. The mental imagery created by the author was truly superb when it came to the cast.

The ending was decent. I was kinda hoping for a little something different but overall I was satisfied. I'm not entirely sure the "twist," at the end was a surprise? I see quite a few people mentioning they were blown away and now I'm going to go back and see if I missed something as the plot twist I'm thinking of- was not a surprise. I actually didn't think it as meant to be. I kinda assumed that all along, especially in the beginning. Throughout the middle I thought I could be wrong but no. I just assumed the book wanted to focus more on the relationship between the two main characters. I also agree that the ending felt a little rushed. Anticlimactic after the lead up of being on the run for that long.

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a copy of this title. All my reviews are unbiased.

This book gave me so many feelings that I had to take a business day to scream about the plot twist to everyone I know. I consider myself pretty good at guessing twists, but this book does such a good job of making you think you understand what’s going on, relies on each of the characters not knowing all the details themselves, and throws tiny new tidbits of information at you so fast that you miss them. I really loved doing the mental gymnastics that I was forced to do to get through this novel, and it kept me guessing each chapter! Highly recommend, 4⭐

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Really really good for what it was. I was totally blindsided. I think the common flaw of any book with a runaway plot is just the disbelieving fact that you’d willingly choose to be on the run the rest of your life.

But, this was a pretty enjoyable journey. The ending felt very fitting and providing a little more closure than I was expecting.

This was the most fun, engaging thriller I've read all year! Killer Potential is unlike anything else I've read in a long while, and I find myself lingering on the characters long after putting it down. Much like the main characters, I truly never knew where the adventure was headed next!

The pacing of this story allowed for both the frantic, scattershot dynamic of being on the run as well as the boring, monotonous stretches of being in hiding.

Evie is a well written, complex main character. Sometimes she pushes you away with her pretentiousness, but other times she pulls you in with her deep insecurities and her love for her family.

The theme of 'potential' is such an engaging, deeply threaded theme in this book. As you watch Evie fall 'through the rabbit hole' of the crazy circumstance, you can't help but wonder - does anyone ever live up to their full potential? Does everyone have the potential to kill?

This book is a juicy thriller, road trip log, and love story all wrapped into one! Perfect for the summertime or a book club. I'd love to see on on screen adaptation one day!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book! I will certainly be on the lookout for Hannah Deitch’s books in the future.

I was super excited for Killer Potential, but was disappointed. The book started out strong, but bored me fairly quickly once the two main characters went on the run. I didn't quite expect the ending, but I wasn't surprised by it. Unfortunately, it just fell flat for me.

She was once a murderess who dispatched a wealthy family, according to some.
Evie Gordon is an SAT tutor who concentrates on math and English.
Serena Victor is her student for two hours a week. Evie, though not a teacher, has the skills to prepare students for the SATs.
Today is different. When Evie gets to the house, nobody responds to her; not Serena, her mom, or her father. Evie finds them dispatched from this world. She hears a faint voice coming from a locked space under the stairs. The woman is tied up and hidden under the stairs.
Evie's life is about to take a radical turn. Will she escape with her life and will that life still be intact?
I liked this book a lot and read it at every available moment. I also liked the author's style and pacing and would read her next book readily. There were lots of surprises.
Thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC. All opinions are strictly my own.

There wasn't really anything wrong with this - it was just mostly forgettable to me. I will give Deitch credit - I didn't see the big twist coming, but I'm also not sure I was invested enough in Evie's story enough to care about the betrayal.

4 stars for the ending (!) but overall a 3.

Some parts dragged, but it was a solid read. The dynamic between Evie and Jay was well written and definitely added depth to the story.

This was fine! The characterization was the most interesting part, and the plot was enough to propel me through.

This one was pleasantly surprising!! I knew a bit of the plot going in, so I wasn't entirely surprised by where we went, but the reveal did really get me! I think this was really atmospheric and gritty and I loved that. It did take me a bit to get through, but that may have been more me than the book though.

Evie is a SAT tutor to some very wealthy kids in California. One day as she arrives to a tutoring session, she finds the parents dead, a woman locked in a closet, is interrupted by the daughter whom Evie clobbers with a vase, and the daughter's boyfriend walks in on this craziness. Everyone thinks Evie has gone on a killing spree and she's now on the run with the woman who was locked in the closet. Things aren't what they seem and Evie's and the strange woman's life spiral further out of control before the eventual resolutions. Overall an interesting premise, with a few things sort of jammed in to the storyline but an engaging read none the less.

This was a really fun, wild ride of a book. The ending was a bit of a let down with a not so twisty twist and a sort of non-ending feeling, but the story as a whole was really entertaining - especially once I stopped trying to decide how realistic the action was. It was the kind of book that grabbed my attention from the start and kept me wondering exactly where it was going. The destination may have ultimately been lackluster, but the journey was well worth the ride.

I read an ARC of NetGalley. All comments are my own.