Interesting premise that fell a little flat for me due to the very unlikely and far fetched possibility. Gah.

This is an incredible debut! Cyra infiltrates a serial killer support group to try to find the one responsible for her sister's murder. Things quickly do not go as planned, of course. Thrillers are my genre, and SKSG stands out with its totally unique plot line. I had no idea where the story was going to take me at times, and it's so refreshing to read a book that gets away from the formulas and uses tropes in clever new ways.

I can see how some may consider socially awkward, introverted Cyra unlikeable, but I loved her. She's been through hell and uses her pain to get stronger. She's cunning and has a dark sense of humor. I love a female revenge story, and I got what I signed up for! I enjoyed the backstories of the serial killers woven through the plot. It's always unnerving to see human qualities in your villains. There are a couple great twists in the story, one of which I figured out but one I did not! You definitely have to suspend a little disbelief for this one, but that's what makes it fun. Highly recommended, particularly if you enjoy Grady Hendrix, Riley Sager, or Robyn Harding.

After Cyra Griffin's sister is murdered by a serial killer, she takes matters into her own hands as she infiltrates a support group for serial killers to find the person responsible. As she delves deeper into this dark world, Cyra must navigate dangerous men and the loss of her own humanity in her pursuit of vengeance.

This book had a touch of comedy woven throughout its pages, adding a delightful layer to the story (or that was just my feeling?). I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and was surprised to find that it isn't receiving the attention it deserves. It was a captivating blend of darkness, humor, and suspense that kept me engaged until the very end. The plot twists were unexpected, leaving me pleasantly surprised.

The main character was incredibly likable, and I admired her unique style. While I anticipated one of the twists, the others caught me off guard, adding to the excitement of the story. The fast-paced narrative made it difficult to set the book down, and the writing was impeccable.

In my opinion, this book is underrated. I believe more readers should discover and appreciate its clever and refreshing take on storytelling. It offers something entirely different from the typical releases of the year. This debut novel skillfully delves into women's grievances and explores the hidden monsters that may lurk among us.

Thank you, Crooked Lane Books for the ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to love this book. The premise hooked me right away—someone infiltrating a support group for serial killers to avenge their sister? It sounded wild, unique, and full of potential. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.

The characters were the biggest letdown. Cyra, the protagonist, was hard to like. I get that she’s meant to be complex, but she just came off as closed off and naive. I wanted to root for her—she’s the grieving sister, after all—but I couldn’t connect with her. The serial killers weren’t much better. They were so one-dimensional that they didn’t feel menacing at all, which killed a lot of the tension.

The pacing didn’t help, either. The chapters felt endless, and the plot moved in such predictable ways that I found myself losing interest. Some of the twists were so convenient that it was hard to suspend disbelief.

I’ll admit, there were a few moments early on where I thought the story might pick up, but it just never did. It’s disappointing because the concept had so much promise, but it ended up feeling bland and uninspired. I wish I could have liked it more, but this one just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Great thriller! I loved the unique plot and chat development throughout.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for granting me an ARC!

Serial Killer Support Group is just very, very silly. It's a silly premise that could be more fun if the characters were more fun. It could be darker if the characters were darker.

You have to suspend some disbelief, and then you have to just go along with it all. All the characters were just one dimensional, and then the most interesting chapters were the ones of the serial killers.

It was also really repetitive. It's repeated over and over Cyra wanting to feel something, her relationship with Mira, etc. It almost jumped into the main plot too soon because then the background information on her relationship with Mira wasn't interesting. Also, the twists were just... oh. They would have been better if they were introduced sooner, I think. Her descent / ascent into Mistletoe should have had me rooting for Cyra, but I just wanted to get through it and move on.

3.5 stars, rounded up. This book was ridiculous in a fun and twisted way. If you are looking for Silence of the Lambs level seriousness, delving into the psyche of serial killers and the experience of the experts who catch them, this isn’t that book. If the title doesn’t clue you in, you’ve got to suspend disbelief and let your imagination go here…

Cyra is desperate to figure out who killed her sister, Mira. She feels responsible, and is frustrated by the lack of progress made by the police. Fortunately for her, her sister’s best friend’s boyfriend has a low-level job in records at the police department that enables him access to stuff he doesn’t have a need to know, and he shares that knowledge with Cyra. Cue the Serial Killer Support Group.

Cyra decides to infiltrate this group because she is convinced Mira’s killer must be a member. By leaning on her unlikeable, dead-inside persona and pretending to be a serial killer. These guys have strict rules and non-serial killer hitman who will uphold the rules through murder as necessary. She passes the tests, she gains their trust, and she is in! Chaos ensues. Utter chaos. No way this girl can hold her own in this environment chaos. But our girl is not giving up.

I won’t spoil it, but this is fun even though you know that girl would’ve been killed as soon as she started the initiation process… but that’s the fun of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I made it through…..this book, the plot, the characters…was all a bit of a mess-not in a good way. This didn’t seem like a plausible scenario, and there are literally books with dragons that I consider plausible. This book was not enjoyable in any way unfortunately.

This book has several twists and turns that I didn't see coming. The premise is what drew me in. You often have survivor support groups but nothing from the killers POV. I liked that the author gave back stories for each serial killer even though it left some things unresolved.

The main protagonist is not the most likeable character but it makes her transformation more believable.

In the end, Cyra becomes the thing she most hated but maybe she was one all along.

I’m having a really hard time writing this review, because while I didn’t hate the book overall, I also didn’t enjoy it. The first issue was 10% in, the author describes the Black man’s skin color as “wet soil” which is …. a (racist) choice. Extra icky since literally no other character was described in a similar way. I don’t care that they spent the rest of the book making “woke” remarks, those just seemed gimmicky. I didn’t really like any of the main characters, and really really didn’t like Cyra. Probably would have DNF’d if not for receiving and advanced copy

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC In exchange for an honest review

This book had twists, turns, and surprises even the most veteran thriller readers like myself couldn’t have seen coming! The juxtaposition of having an unreliable narrator while also feeling bad for feeling the narrator was unreliable. I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author.

a GENIUS idea with some very DARK main characters in some really fun ways. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I love horror and thrillers, especially when they're campy. This book was compared to a Grady Hendrix novel, which was why I requested it. I was pretty disappointed to find that it wasn't satirical or campy at all. The author took this very silly premise way too seriously, and I rolled my eyes through the whole thing. I'm offended on Grady Hendrix's behalf.

I do think this could have been a fun book, and maybe as Schaefer grows as a writer, she'll find her niche. This book had too many plot holes to be so serious. If she wants to write serious thrillers, they need to be more tightly written. If she wants to write camp, then can she please make it a little more fun!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I was super hooked with the storyline and I just couldn’t put it down. I loved watching the character development as well as trying to work out the twists and turns as they were occurring. I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading more by the author

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

The premise of this sounded so good, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. It wasn't a standout for me, unfortunately! I just didn't connect to the characters and while I WANTED to love the idea of a serial killer support group, I wish it had gone for a funnier dark angle rather than where it led. Still an entertaining read!

Thank you to crooked lane and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely not for me.
The premise sounded so interesting.
The actual book made me eye roll so many times in such a short amount of time.

You will definitely enjoy this if you have a great capacity to suspend your disbelief. As a person that can't do this, this book is not at the level at which I would expect with a premise like that.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I love myself some unreliable narrators. A psychological horror about just how far we’re willing to go for the ones we love. My only complaint is I wish we got to spend a little more time with our amazing main character at the beginning of the book.

Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer is a thrill a minute.

This book is exactly what it purports to be.

Cyra is desperate to find out who killer her sister Mira. REALLY desperate.

She joins a serial killer support group with the hopes that one of the members is the person that killed her sister.

I LOVED this book. Cyra takes on the personality of Mistletoe, a serial killer herself.

There were lots of twists and turns that I was not expecting.

I very much enjoyed this book!

This was a thrilling read from start to finish! This is for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer. I can definitely see this as the new BookTok book when it comes out. I was surprised by how many twists there were that I didn't see coming at all.