*The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage* by Asia Mackay is a witty, darkly funny thriller that takes an unconventional look at both crime and relationships. The story follows Lex Tyler, a hitwoman trying to balance her deadly career with her role as a wife and mother. Mackay combines sharp humor with suspense, crafting a fast-paced, twisty plot that keeps you hooked from start to finish. Lex’s witty inner monologue adds depth to her character, and while the book has its moments of dark absurdity, it also explores themes of loyalty, love, and identity in a unique way. If you’re into a blend of crime, humor, and a touch of chaos, this is a book you won’t want to miss.

70/100 or 3.5 stars

I think this book gave me exactly what I was expecting, and I had a good time with this story!
Even though there are parts of this that were predictable, I still felt engaged with the story and invested in how the author was going to end it (no pun intended). The characters were complicated and interesting enough to keep me invested. It is for sure possible to make this into a series. I would probably give the second book a try, as there are so many fun ways the author could take a series with the world they have created! (I also think this story would be fine as a standalone book too.)

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay is a darkly humorous and thrilling novel that blends crime, suspense, and witty commentary on relationships. The story follows a female assassin who balances her dangerous profession with the challenges of married life and motherhood. Mackay’s writing is sharp, with a perfect mix of dark comedy and action, as the protagonist navigates her unusual lifestyle while trying to maintain her personal life. The book is fast-paced, engaging, and filled with clever twists, making it an enjoyable read for those who like their thrillers with a touch of humor and complexity.

When you bond over murder, what do you do when the white picket fence goes up? A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia MacKay is a commentary of how a some couples drift apart as their life evolves to be about the 9-5 job, marriage, and kids. It just so happens to also be about two former serial killers struggling with adjusting to life in the suburbs. Overall, a well-written read! I felt like I was able to understand where Haze and Fox were coming from even though I obviously haven’t gone down the serial killing path. ;)

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of this fabulous book in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED this book. I think I may have scared my husband by telling him how much I enjoyed this book about two serial killers who fall in love and then try to go straight for the kids.

Reminiscent of shows like Dexter and You, this is one of those stories where the main character is absolutely a “bad guy,” but you love them anyhow. It always amazes me when an author manages to make a murderer into a sympathetic character. I found myself rooting for the killers to not get caught, for them to save their marriage, and for them to succeed for the sake of their adorable daughter.

My only negative comment is something that I hope was just an editing issue that will be fixed by the time it is officially released - the excessive and distracting use of all caps for a partial sentence at the beginning of each chapter and randomly in the middle of the chapter. One time they even changed from all caps to lowercase in the middle of a word. It really felt completely random, and I found myself asking WHY?! after the first few chapters.

Luckily, the story was so good that I couldn’t put it down, and eventually stopped noticing the weird choice of capitalization.

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who involves a good murdery thriller.

This book was a hilarious and quick read! I am appreciative of the opportunity to receive an advance reader copy from the author and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Per the title, it involves two (former) serial killers who are married, and their adventures while raising a young toddler in suburbia. To add to the premise and depth of the book, there is a cat and mouse chase threatening to undermine their current lives, all tied to their past. Overall, the book was a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5 for me, and while it was great (especially the humor in the writing), the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book. I would certainly like to read more adventures by the author featuring the couple in the book, as the premise leaves many opportunities for future reads. For similar content and humor, the Findlay Donovan is Killing It series by Elle Cosimano is on par with similar humor, and for books featuring serial killers, those by Brynne Weaver in the Ruinous Love Trilogy (including Butcher & Blackbird, Leather & Lark) resonate, but do have a darker humor undertone/romance than the current read.

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the publisher, Random House Publishing-Ballantine/Bantam, for the eGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Dark, scandalous, twisted, messy, wild, you name it- this one had a lot of the "guilty pleasure" style qualities with a great story to go along with. Hazel and Fox's alternating perspectives built the plot and kept the pages turning for me. I enjoyed reading this while traveling- it was a book that demanded your attention and helped reality fall away.

The ending was also very creative and fun, you will be guessing until the final page! Looking forward to reading more by Asia Mackay in the future.

This was an absolutely spectacular book! This story follows Haze and Fox who have found in each other a common hobby which happens to be ridding the world of the worst kind of men. Throw marriage, a baby, and life in suburbia into the mix and their lives get a little messier.
I was hooked from the first chapter and read the entire book in one day, as I couldn’t wait to continue exploring their relationships. I absolutely adored this book and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author!

I was excited to read this book, but after trying to get engaged and returning to it many times, I could not finish. The writing style starts off dynamic and thought-provoking, but then the story gets mired down with minutiae, and/or the plot gets lost. losing steam. I expected more after 70% but it just didn't deliver. Great cover and premise, didn't get there

Have you ever wished that Dexter's wife, Rita, was also a serial killer? If so, this is the book for you!

It's the classic story of a husband and wife having a baby leading to them giving up their passions (killing bad men) and subsequently leading to marital problems. A tale as old as time lol

The story is full of righteous female rage and could have been a winner for me if the format was different. You get both Haze's and Fox's POVs and there are time jumps and there are newspaper clippings and there are text messages and and and and.... Because of choppy formatting, this one took me much longer to read than I anticipated. I enjoyed the content enough that it still sits at a 4 (3.5 rounded, honestly).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

Thank you for the opportunity ton read this arc!

I went in thinking I would love this book. The premise was so good but unfortunately as I began to read it I just seemed to fall flat. I wasn't really a fan of either of the main characters and really had to push through to complete the book.

This book gave me more of an action packed movie vibe vs. a suspenseful thriller. I am not a huge fan of action movies so this book was just alright for me. It kept me reading though but didn’t keep me up late at night needing to know asap what was happening next.

Thank you netgalley for an early release!

I got really close to putting this one down around the 25% mark. I wasn’t really jiving with either of the main characters. In the end, I didn’t love how the story was told. I wish that we’d either just had Hazel’s narration or that we got a true narration from Fox. Characters would enter his narration without explanation and it made me feel like I hadn’t been reading carefully enough. We weren’t privy to everything that Fox knew and that took some of the enjoyment out of the book for me as his POV is half the book.

Overall, I thought the author used the plight of these characters to make an interesting commentary on marriage in general, but then I thought the conclusion lacked…a conclusion. Perhaps she wasn’t trying to make a commentary on marriage? Because all the end of the book did was wrap up the surface level plot, but did nothing to address the deeper themes of marriage that I felt she was toying with the rest of the book.

Note: Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Haze and Fox were couple goals. They were rich, beautiful, fun, and madly in love. While they came from very different backgrounds - Fox a trust fund baby; Haz a foster child - they shared a hobby of killing bad men. When Haze got pregnant, they traded in their serial killer lifestyle for a generic suburban family one. Now, with a young daughter, Fox seems to adapting well while Haz is bored and uninspired. With Fox's encouragement, Haze makes friends with another mom and starts to think she can scratch her itch by helping her new friend stick it to her ex. When she kills without Fox and his parents reenter his life, the secrets between the couple keep piling up and resentments grow.

I absolutely loved this book! The chapters were short, which was really bad for the cycle of "just one more" before bed. Haze and Fox were both really captivating characters and I love vigilante justice stories. It is told from both of their POVs in both past and present tense so you get a feel for their history, both together and apart. It was a lot more humorous than I had been expecting and managed to brush over most of the disturbing details of what the bad men had done. Fox's narration did keep more secrets from the readers, but that actually added some suspense to the story and it worked really well when the whole truth came out. I highly recommend this read!

I was expecting this book to be more Mr. and Mrs. Smith but the reality is that it was a little more slow burn than I was expecting. Her need to kill is very fun as was how they met. However, I really wanted more.

4.25 rounded down to 4.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for an advanced copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage is an interesting take on what happens when two serial killers meet, get married, and have a child. It was relatable in the sense that it seems when people are married for a long time, they grow and change, and the people in the marriage need to grow and change together for the marriage to last. Throw a child into the mix, and your marriage seems to be even more work, because you're constantly caring and worrying about the livelihood of the little one. Even without adding a child, sometimes people lose themselves and need to rediscover who they are, and I thought that message was very well done. I also liked the dual POVs between Hazel and Fox - although I would have liked more from Fox's perspective, because even though we got his side of things, I felt like we were still kept in the dark along with Hazel, as to what he was doing while we were hearing from Hazel's perspective. The ending was a bit far-fetched, but it was cute, and I liked the message that we don't need to change who we are once we have children.

The only issue I had was the fact that multiple parts felt a bit repetitive - and a lot of the details about how Hazel was feeling in her marriage, how Fox was feeling - even the parts with his family, and how they knew about his "hobbies" - it was just beat to death over and over again, and it kind of took me out of the story. We know they were frustrated and not communicating - but it seemed to be mentioned every single chapter. It might have been different if there was more "showing" than just "telling" about it, but once I looked past those parts the story was cute and relatable (minus the serial killing).

I thought this was an interesting take on serial killers, because we don't really see what happens to them once they settle down and get married. Overall, I got through this one pretty quickly and found it rather enjoyable.

3.75 / 5 🌟

first, i just wanted to say thank you to bantam books and netgalley for this arc!! 🥰

what a fun take on a marriage of two people that have a deep dark desire that could land them in prison for life.

overall, i enjoyed this book! i think the plot for me lagged at times and that definitely affected my rating more than anything. another thing that i couldn’t get on with was the likability of both halves of this couple. there was a large percentage of the book where i didn’t like either partner!! however, i think the way everything spiraled out of control make this book a fun read because you didn’t know how it was going to end or if there was going to be a happily ever after. i enjoyed the author’s writing in this book, and i found the chapter lengths’ very digestible. i would recommend!

again, thank you to bantam books and netgalley for this arc!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

*3.5 stars ✨

A fun domestic thriller. Two people who meet, fall in love, & have a desire to kill people. A fine romance. However, they only kill men who deserve it. When domestic life threatens to overwhelm them, how will they get that spark back? The first half was just ok, but the second half I enjoyed a lot more. I became humorous and a little more fast paced. All in all, it was entertaining.

I loved how a majority of the story was going. Their relationship was complex and interesting from how they met to the Marraige and baby. I enjoyed mot of their showdown. The ending just did not work for me. It felt like they were trying to hard to have a happily ever after.

Thank you to Netgalley and Asia Mackay for the ARC of this book. Haze & Fox felt very Mr & Mrs Smith, they had a dark and deadly past that they hid in their "boring" suburban lifestyles whilst fitting in with their neighbours and the locals.