I laughed and was charmed and related to this author in a way that now scares me but I refuse to be all high brow and nay say the happenings. they all be like, oh auto fiction, how could it be, she has gone too far, the cat talks, o dear! and I say, oh what difference does it make anyway.

I received an e-arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up. This book starts strong & has an intriguing premise, but begins to fall a bit flat a few chapters in. A bit too navel-gazey, from an unreliable narrator. I was curious enough to keep going, but ultimately didn’t care too much.

📚 E-ARC BOOK REVIEW 📚

If You Love It, Let It Kill You
By Hannah Pittard
Publication Date: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company & NetGalley for this gifted e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

📚MY REVIEW:

If You Love It, Let It Kill You was an auto-fiction book that truly embodied and embraced a "stream of consciousness" writing style. In reading this book, I learned what auto-fiction is (a genre that blends autobiography and fiction), and I now know that it may not be a genre I enjoy.

Throughout this book, I really struggled because the story jumped all over the place without one fluid storyline. One minute, the author was sharing her inner monologue, the next she was sharing a flashback to another time in her life, the next minute she was in conversation with her boyfriend-husband, and then she'd be sharing a text message conversation with a family member. I often felt like I was playing a game of mental pinball in a labyrinth maze as I tried to follow along, repeatedly asking aloud "huh?" and "wait, what?" as I read.

At one point, I finally stopped reading the book to go read the synopsis, because I had no idea what was supposed to be happening in this read. The synopsis helped a little bit, but I gotta be honest: I never fully picked up what that synopsis was laying down. The book's lack of cohesive and fluid storytelling just didn't work for me. There were too many tabs open in the browser and I felt as if I had NO idea what questions were asked of Google to produce these results.

The book was messy, self indulgent, disjointed, all over the place. I kept trying desperately to discover the hook and connect with it. But then the main character essentially kidnapped (cat-napped?) someone else's injured cat and began having conversations with it. And with that, I knew that any hope of connection between this book and myself was over.

I guess I like my reads to have a start, middle, and an end, with a cohesive story -- and I didn't get that here. While I appreciated the online backstory about this book's genesis, the book itself fell short for me. Others may enjoy its introspective musings, as I saw plenty of reviewers who really seemed to enjoy the main character's raw and unfiltered thoughts. So maybe I'm just not the target audience for this one. 🤷 If you're a fan of auto-fiction, this book might be for you.

#IfYouLoveItLetItKillYou #HannahPittard #HenryHoltAndCompany #autofiction #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #bookreviews #bookrecs #booklover #bookaddict

Ok so honestly this wasn’t my favorite litfic book ever but it was fun and hilarious and messy and I really hate Hannah Pittard’s ex husband so for that alone I loved it lol. I just love the drama and the tea that’s around why she wrote this so good for her. TBH both parties are kind of awful but the ex husband is worse.

Read the title and said yeah that sounds perfect. THIS WAS SO GOOD. The writing style is witty, dark, and messy and I love that. Lots of hard truths talked about in this book but the writing style just made it so entertaining and like “well that’s show business baby” but about life. I couldn’t wait to have time to pick this back up every time I had to put it down. As always, thank you Henry Holt & Company for the earc

Recommended Summer Reading according to The New York Times, Elle, Zibby Owens, and the Minnesota Star Tribune

“A dishy work of autofiction that everyone will be talking about.”
—The New York Times

I was initially drawn to this book by the cover art and title. Once I read the summary, I figured there was something here...

And I was not let down!

IYLILIKY turned out to be just my cup of tea when it comes to unhinged, female main character weirdness. I didn't catch on until about midway through that it's actually considered a work of "autofiction" based on author Hannah Pittard's real life (I was unfamiliar with her until now, but apparently her and her ex are battling it out in their publications).

The story opens with our narrator, Hana (notice that?), learning that her ex-husband has written a novel that includes an unflattering character version of herself. Hana's life spirals from there as she grapples with this discovery.

I was surprised by how multi-dimensional this book turned out to be. I was genuinely laughing out loud at its silliness (the Dead Body Game), but it's also sprinkled with moments of darkness (particularly relating to a shadowy affair), and even incorporates a dash of magical realism (a hilarious talking cat that makes it into a few chapters). The quirky family dynamics reminded me in some ways of my own sisters and father which also led me to feel an unexpected and quiet tenderness upon the book's conclusion.

Truthfully, I don't think the enjoyment of Pittard's book hinges on knowing any background context (but it sure adds an interesting layer). For me, it was an amusing piece of creative writing filled with chaotic prose about odd mid-life crisis-esque behavior & internal dialogue. It was one unpredictably fun journey.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!! Happy belated pub-day!

(Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC.) When I started If You Love It, Let It Kill You, I didn’t realize that it was auto-fiction – fiction loosely based on the author’s real life. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan. It had a super interesting premise – when a woman learns her ex-husband his written her into his new book, she has a mid-life crisis of sorts, and starts taking direction from a talking cat she finds in her garage. I love slightly weird, slightly magical things like this – but unfortunately, the cat was only in a very short part of the book. The rest of it felt somewhat unfinished, like it would’ve benefited from another year or two of hindsight. I do think we need more stories about women in middle age, though, so I appreciated that part of it.

"The professor said to write what you know
Lookin' backwards might be the only way to move forward"
- Taylor Swift, The Manuscript

"You throw it all away and invent from what you know. I should have said that sooner. That’s all there is to writing."
- Ernest Hemingway, The Art of the Short Story

In If You Love It, Let It Kill You by Hannah Pittard, narrator, Hana P., teaches a creative writing class. I am not a fan of Ernest Hemingway, but the scene in which the class discusses one of his short stories was one of my favorite scenes in the book. The classroom conversations are actually my favorite parts of the book altogether. At times, the students act as a sort of Greek chorus, and I would have loved to have more of that. I would read a whole book just about Hana P.’s teaching experiences.

This book is autofiction, which is like a memoir, but with more imagination. Part of the readers' fun is guessing what parts are true and which are not. And who among us wouldn’t want to add a talking cat to their narrative?

When I first picked the book up, I didn’t realize there was a whole web of domestic and literary drama behind it. I didn't go far down that rabbit hole, but I did take a quick peek online at the ex-husband’s book. The synopsis is exactly what I would suspect, and after having read Hannah's book, the reviews are hilarious.

If You Love It, Let It Kill You is a chaotic slice of privileged life, and I loved every minute of it. The narrator doesn't beg the reader for sympathy, and this isn’t a revenge story. We may accrue some biased opinions of her ex-husband, but she doesn’t go out of her way to put him down or make him a villain. She spends more time dissecting herself than she does other people. Her family is dysfunctional, and you can begin to see how the narrator became who she is, but she doesn’t blame them or apologize for them. There are heavy moments, but we don't linger there. The biggest emotions come from what she doesn't say.

For me, this book is a great example of how compelling no plot, just vibes can be. It is the perfect blend of funny, messy, weird, and heartwarming in a messy and weird sort of way.

Thank you Henry Holt Books for the eARC to read and review.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. I did not get this one. The tone did not work for me and I was confused by it seemingly being about the author without just being about her. Ultimately I DNFed

I am not certain whether it is the genre (autofiction) or the author's story itself, but If You Love It, Let It Kill You was just not my cup of tea. I can appreciate the writing and the creativity, but the novel felt like a chaotic, jumbled mess of disjointed ramblings. If you enjoy autofiction or have read Pittard's memoir, you may enjoy this one, it was just not for me.

People are going to be split on this. It's not traditional fiction, it's something more modern. Autofiction. Pittard is about to create a powerful story that's the future of how we talk about fiction.

Thank to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn’t read Pittard’s We Are Too Many. Although this is fiction and that was a memoir, this felt a bit exhausting and like it was treading much of the same territory without saying anything new.

This book just wasn’t for me and that’s okay. Starting from the beginning this book made me feel crazy and unsure which is may be a bigger commentary on the female experience lol. I had so many questions and just never felt connected to the plot.

Two writers, divorced from each other for years, write about their marriage and breakup. Hers is a memoir, his is fiction, where the wife is killed by a homeless person. She decides to go back to explore that minefield and write about it again, this time in "fiction", and the result is "If You Love It, Let It Kill You".

Autofiction: a literary genre that blends elements of autobiography and fiction. It involves a writer using their own life experiences as a foundation for a fictional narrative, often blurring the lines between what is real and what is invented. The author may appear as a character in the story, sometimes with their own name, but the events and details are not necessarily presented as strictly factual. [Thanks, Google!]

This is a very funny take on the situation. The Hana in Pittard's novel is reeling from the news that her ex is about to publish a book about their messy life together and subsequent divorce after his affair with her "dear friend". We're in her head as she goes through all the emotions. She's in a relationship, she calls her partner "Bruce" because that's what her ex has named him. She includes siblings and her (divorced) parents and Bruce's elven-year-old daughter in the narrative.

Hana is a lot of things. She's not very nice (there's a whole tangent about a missing cat), she's deranged. She's also very caring towards her elderly father. She's all over the place! She's entertaining, taking us along for the ride.

My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the Advance Reader Copy. (pub. date 07/15/2025)

3.75 ⭐️
This booked surprised me and I will definitely be checking out more books by Pittard.

I know this book isn’t getting great reviews but I really enjoyed it. I found it witty, funny, slightly disturbing, charming, and even a bit heartwarming. There is really no “point” to the book. It’s mostly about a slightly unhinged writer/teacher going through somewhat of a “mid-life” crisis. I think I enjoyed it so much because I like almost all of the characters and found most of them fascinating. Bruce was definitely a favorite and I love the relationship she had with her friend Jane. Overall Hana is very strange and quirky and doesn’t really try to hide it and I related to that so much and I admired her. Additionally this felt somewhat autobiographical which piqued my curiosity more as I was reading it.

This also wasn’t a long book. And the chapters were short for the most part which I always appreciate and makes me want to read more.

I would definitely recommend this to certain people who I know would appreciate the uniqueness of this book (and who don’t mind the lack of a plot…or direction…or a point). Really this was entertaining with a cast of characters that I really enjoyed getting to know.

***Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Pittard, and Henry Holt & Company for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.***

See full review on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website:

Truth and Fiction Blend in Latest Account of a Literary Marriage Gone Bad

"Hannah Pittard is a novelist and creative writing professor at the University of Kentucky who advises her students to “tell the truth but make it up.” That approach has served her well, both in her fiction and her 2023 memoir “We Are Too Many” — a speculative exposé told in conversation that interrogates how an affair between her husband and best friend led to the disillusionment of her marriage.

Perhaps Pittard’s ex-husband and fellow creative-writing professor Andrew Ewell used the same philosophy to craft his 2024 debut novel. Published as fiction but received by critics as autofiction, “Set for Life” tells the tale of an unnamed professor who has an affair with his author wife’s best friend — and they both aim to publish books about the fallout...."

https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainment/2025/07/truth-and-fiction-blend-in-latest-account-of-a-literary-marriage-gone-bad/

This is the book I needed this summer! If You Love It, Let It Kill You is full of wit and is utterly compelling.

thank you Henry Holt for the uniquely delightful If you love it let it kill you!

I don't have a lot of experience read auto fiction but this was a treat, funny and edgy (to me anyway. I loved the academic settings, very relatable), I absolutely loved If You Love It, Let It Kill You—it’s witty, messy, and completely unpredictable in the best way. This book follows Hana as she navigates her life after discovering her ex-husband has written a novel portraying her poorly, and while it could’ve leaned into revenge, it becomes something deeper and more reflective. Hannah Pittard’s writing is sharp and quirky, blending humor with serious themes about love, family, and identity. I felt like I was reading Hana’s personal diary—funny, self-aware, and painfully honest—which made the messiness feel real and relatable. While the tone is playful, the emotional depth sneaks up on you, making this both an entertaining and thoughtful read. Fans of character-driven, slightly chaotic stories will eat this one up!

PIttard's latest is a kaleidoscopic reflection on writing, truth, family, and what it means to love something and feel conflicted about it. A beautiful, meditative read that will make you laugh and punch you in the gut in subsequent beats.