Interesting concept, just felt the delivery was a little show and drawn out. I kept thinking how Evie was just adding to her own problems and could have avoided almost all of what happened to her. The ending picked up some, semi predictable twist but still over all a good and enjoyable read!

I requested this one based on the cover--it's so pretty and unique. I enjoyed the book but felt a little slow for me. Thanks so much for the gifted copy!

What it lacked in pacing, it made up for in a unique genre-blending story. However, I didn't like any of the characters, many aspects of the storyline were incredibly unbelievable, and the ending was dumb as hell. The big twist was predictable and it turns out that the genre-blend of thriller and weird unbelievable romance is not for me.

Evie’s story is a wild ride of twist and turns and this was so hard to put down . I loved how the story is told from her point of view but as the story progresses no one can be trusted. A total mash up of Thelma and Louise for modern times.

This one’s tough to review. I really wanted to love it. The concept had killer potential (pun fully intended), but the execution just didn’t work for me.

As someone who reads a lot of thrillers and mysteries, I guessed the twist early on, which is always a bit of a letdown. But what really pulled me out of the story was the main character’s behavior at the beginning. Rather than adding tension, it just felt like she kept making things worse on purpose. I kept thinking that she didn’t need more problems.

The irony is that the main character is obsessed with her own “potential,” which is kind of how I felt about the book. So, so much potential, but it never quite landed. I did finish it, mostly because I loved the idea of a Bonnie and Clyde vibe with a modern thriller twist. But the ending didn’t stick the landing for me.

The prose itself is great, no complaints there. But strong writing can’t always carry a plot that feels predictable or frustrating. If you’re new to thrillers, you might enjoy the ride. For seasoned readers of the genre, it might fall short.

I inhaled this story in just a couple of sittings. I loved the characters and the build of the external and internal tension between and around them. Great twists and a good mix of character development and plot kept the story moving. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great mystery/thriller combined with a look at what forces drive us to act in any given situation.

Dnf:/ this book just didn’t have as much momentum as I expected. I have a lot of books that are from highly anticipated authors to read next, and this just didn’t not grab my attention enough to continue, unfortunately. I may give it another try in the future when I have more time.

I believe I am in the minority here but I really did not enjoy this. I hate every character and all their choices, the writing is not bad just seems unnecessarily complicated and it was a slog to get through. That being said, I do think this will end up on a lot of bestselling and critically acclaimed lists, just not for me

an incredibly fun little romp through forgotten corners of the country for two kinda-innocent women. i was agnostic on the twist but evie gordon is a wonderfully thought out character and her charisma really bleeds through and papers over some of the other storytelling choices, which weren't bad per se but also not to My Taste. NetGalley doesn't do spoiler tags so you'll have to find my commentary on the twist over at goodreads.

Wow, this was one helluva debut. I loved how immediately engaging the prose was; genre wise this author is melding line level literary fiction with sapphic thriller and even a bit of horror. There were elements of this that verged on so creepy it gave me intrusive thoughts. The larger critiques on class structure and social hierarchy perpetuated by higher education were uniquely woven into the lives of the dual MCs, and provided really good discussion for our book club. Thanks to William Morrow for the digital arc.

I really enjoyed this! It was very engaging and fast-paced, and I found myself relating to and rooting for these two protagonists, unsure how they would get out of the mess they found themselves in. The plot twist caught me by surprise (in a good way). I think there were some interesting discussions about class, privilege, the education system, and true crime fanaticism strewn throughout the book which were definitely relevant and added additional layers to this sapphic thriller. I’m rating 4/5 stars because although I really liked it, I think there were some parts that could have been cut that were a bit repetitive or seemed to drag longer than needed, and I also wish that the discussions surrounding class went a bit deeper. All in all a great read. Thank you NetGalley for my electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either and like the title suggests, there was a potential for this to work out, but I think the characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked.

This was a wild ride from the first chapters! Evie shows up for her normal tutoring time slot and finds the parents of her student murdered in the garden. She flees the scene with a seemingly mute young woman and tries to figure out life on the run. They cross state lines, commit crimes to stay alive and attempt to navigate their own complicated feelings about life, morality and each other. Thank you William Morrow for the advanced copy and the wild ride of this story.

From straight As to murder. This book has lots of twist and turns just like stated in the blurb. The beginning was incredibly interesting but hit a lull in the middle. Read content warnings before reading.

CW: Corpses; Wounds; Sexual and Physical Abuse; Stalking/Someone Living in Walls; Drowning; Gaslighting; Manipulation

I think this book was more interesting in its ideas than in its execution. In theory, Evie’s story of being on-the-run for murders she did not commit, and her unhealthy relationship with Jae, who she rescued on the scene, was interesting. I thought the relationship aspect between Evie and Jae was the strongest part of the book, not just for their romance, but also for their co-dependence and forced trust as companions on this get away journey. Being mostly in Evie’s point of view, with a bit of Jae later, was done fine and helped with the twist (which I saw coming but other readers might not).

There were a few things that kept this book from being engaging for me. First, Evie’s reactions from the beginning were just… off. Even after finding Jae, there was no reason for her NOT to call the police and make her statement. There would have been no evidence of her committing the crimes, particularly since she had an alibi. That she considered these and STILL acted out with throwing a vase and apparently not being able to take a pulse was just eye rolling. I know this part had to happen for the rest of the book to happen – but that’s the problem. There were other ways to make Evie flee with Jae that wouldn’t have felt like our main character was an overreactive idiot.

Second, that Evie and Jae could avoid capture for so long felt unrealistic. Crossing state and international lines certainly helped, but it was all too easy. Fake IDs work too smoothly, the use of cash in a mostly paperless society was never remarked upon, they were always able to get a car or a place to stay and it was just all too convenient, particularly given that Evie is a privileged, non-criminal.

Finally, I didn’t like Evie or Jae. I didn’t want them to succeed, and I wasn’t invested in them. Even if I think their relationship were the strongest part of the book, there are other issues with how each one of them was written individually that put me off.

SAT tutor Evie finds herself in a nightmare situation when she finds her pupil's parents murdered. Even more shockingly, she finds a woman held captive beneath the family's staircase. When her pupil arrives, and assumes they have killed her parents, she strikes Evie with a lamp. Acting in self-defense, Evie hits her student with a vase, rendering her unconscious. Shocked that her student might be dead, Evie and the unnamed woman escape the house, and go on "the run."

The plot of this story has much potential, as Evie and the unnamed woman travel across the country to evade police. Many moments felt like slightly too much exposition, and those parts were hard to get through. There is a lot of social commentary.

Evie and the woman- later named Jae- form a relationship. This is an open-door romance. Evie's student turns out to be alive but in a coma. When Evie realizes that she has not killed anyone, she contemplates turning herself in to the police. However, the pair find themselves in many difficult situations throughout their journey, making it harder and harder to come clean about the initial murder.

There is a shocking plot twist, and the end isn't exactly what you would expect.

I enjoyed the character development, premise, and plot. The writing was a bit cumbersome and at points hard to get through, making this novel a 3.25/5 read.

Pre-Read Notes

This is another arc that got away, but I'm glad I caught it!

"All things are livable, with enough imagination. When you don’t have money, your imagination is forced to expand beyond the limits of what’s tolerable to rich people, who don’t need imagination at all. When you are rich, the opposite happens: the world shrinks to particularities and patterns. I can drink water only at this temperature. I can sleep on beds only with this thread count, this mattress height. ... The imagination folds in on itself. Space crystallizes and becomes intractable, opaque. When you are poor, space does the inverse: it hollows out. Anything can be a door. Anything can be a place to rest." p230-231

Final Review

This is a book about two young women, fugitives on the run from the law, and that's what it's about. But it's also not about that at all. It's about sexism and how the media treated female villains. It's about the social contract women are forced to make with society that they will remain small, both physically and intellectually. It's about family and friendship, poverty and obscene wealth, how justice isn't uniform and the world isn't accessible for everyone. It's a read that made me think very hard and reread passages out of curiosity and desire to learn more. It's a truly excellent book with a message I fear is about to get lost in the politics of that day.

For me, the subtext is where it's at with this book. This definitely isn't a plot-driven story, which is what I normally go for, but it is story-heavy and that's just as good. Also, Deitch has great style.

This book is a bingeably readable execution of stream of consciousness, which is a style choice that can go awry easily. But Deitch keeps a handle on the story progression while also delivering brilliantly intomate passages of internal landscape or dialogue. The rare change in POV is easily discernable since Deitch takes care to make the voices distinctive and use strong transitions.

I recommend this for fans of fugitive stories, reluctant murderers, and coming of age stories of the dark variety.

My 3 Favorite Things:

✔️ Now when I think about the day I arrived to tutor Serena Victor and discovered her father cradled in sea kelp in the koi pond, blue and bloated and unquestionably dead, I can almost imagine it as a film I watched. When I stumble upon the bloody, bashed-in sinkhole of her mother’s face, I’m like a ghost encountering a crime scene. I have no material form. I touch nothing, removed from the universe of ripple effects and entropy. I’m just a passenger. p10 This is just some fantastic writing. Also I love stories that wonder about time and humanity's place in it. Here, a brilliant description of dissociation, where one separates from one's objective self. Also, yay for presenting a common symptom of mental illness without stigmatizing it or the people who experience it!

✔️ I'm enjoying the story honestly-- I think it's a clever use of unreliable narrator in first person. I really want to know what's going to happen. But part of the suspense for me here comes from whether I will discover stigma or not in the book. The whole concept hinges on a common ableist trope-- the secondary protagonist who the story suggests may be a figment of the primary protagonist 's imagination. Writers who depict complicated health issues have a duty to get the details right and avoid stigmatizing conditions and those who have them. So far, this story is great and ableism hasn't come on the scene, but I'm sort of expecting it. I'll add an edit later.

✔️ It's sort of rare, so I didn't know this until now, but I love the reluctant murderer trope that *isn't* staged as some kind of comedy. This story feels so gritty and authentic and just so real to me!

✔️ Wow! What a book! The final third of the book, from the twist through the denouement, is just such excellent storytelling. The final scene was perfect to wrap up conflicts and suggest that the story goes on after the last page.

Notes:

1. Content warnings: murder, crime scenes, abduction and captivity, claustrophobic situations

2. This novel contains open door sex scenes, which I think are out of place here. This isn't exactly a romance-- the vibes are all wrong for an open door scene. Which is probably why it's so rushed and unpleasant.

3. This is billed as dark humor, but I didn't find it funny. Clever, though.

Thank you to the author Hannah Deitch publishers William Morrow Books, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of KILLER POTENTIAL. All views are mine.

My download was unsuccessful and I didn't realize until after the title was archived - unfortunately will not be able to read for review.

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch wasn't quite the book I thought I was picking up. I went in expecting a zippy, fun-on-the-run summer thriller, but what I got was something much darker, slower, and more literary in tone. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—it’s just a very different ride than the cover and title suggest.

While I appreciated the book's mood and the themes it explores (avoiding spoilers here), I struggled with the premise. The reasons for the main character being on the run never fully landed for me, making it hard to suspend disbelief. A thoughtful read, for sure—but one I wish I’d approached with different expectations.

Starts out rather slow, but makes up for it further in. A fascinating take on the potential for homicidal tendencies. Lots of intriguing scenarios.