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I'm choosing to think this book is satirical so I can give this a "higher" rating. Otherwise, this does not work for me at all, coming from someone who loves to read about unhinged, murderous women. This book is like what if Joe Goldberg was an older woman and lived in the UK. Not a bad idea, necessarily, but the execution did not deliver. I think it was intentionally supposed to be cringey but it was still really difficult to get through. The absolute horror and secondhand embarrassment at some of the things Julie does was off the charts. I think what's difficult about these "You" kind of books is the main character doesn't really go on any kind of a journey, they just are who they are for x amount of pages and I think the attempt to make such a book humorous on top of everything else detracts from the story overall. I also think once you know a little of Julie's backstory it just kind of bums you out. I know this was a debut novel and I think the author would be very successful writing books with humor, it just didn't work for me in this case but I know other people thought this was hilarious so I think I'm in the minority with my opinion. If anything I said sparks your interest, try your luck and read it, it just didn't work for me. Maybe my outlook is a little more sour because I had an ex that acted like Julie and frankly, it was terrifying.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I'm not usually a huge fan of humorous mystery/thrillers but stuck with this one...just to see what crazy things Julie could get up to. And she def is a psychopath (or something?!?!). I assume that's not a spoiler!

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Julie Tudor is most definitely a psychopath!! 😅

As a connoisseur of dark humor, I did find myself chuckling at times. Yet while the FMC is definitely unhinged, she’s almost over the top unhinged and delusional. We seem to miss (or maybe I just did) the big why - what made her this way? 🤔 For those who enjoy dark humor, you just might want to check this one out!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the physical copy as well as NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

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Julie Tudor Is Not a Psychopath is a very unique, and somewhat uncomfortable, read. Julie Tudor is a middle-aged woman with a successful career at a finance company, a beautiful house, and lofty goals. The story is told through Julie's POV and over varying timelines. The book begins in the present and then takes the reader on a wild ride on how Julie got to the position she finds herself in at the start of the book. It is definitely dark! And a quick trigger warning - there are some references to animal cruelty; however, none are depicted on page. The book is very well-written and thought-provoking. It's hard to say I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was so dark. Yet, I think readers could definitely have some fascinating conversations after finishing this book.

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This one had potential but was just a bit too dark for me. I think the FMC is just a psycho who has not lightness. It’s well written but the FMC killed my love for this one

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Thank you @bookmarked and #netgalley for the e-ARC.

Very obvious, but spoiler alert - Julie Tudor is a psychopath. She needs therapy. This is a mystery/thriller with a heavy dose of humor. Satirical, if you will.

Julie Tudor has not had a lot of luck in the love department. She’s 49 with a great job, and a lovely home in an excellent neighborhood. She’s also met the man of her dreams. Unfortunately he’s in love with someone else. Lucky for Julie this has happened before and she knows exactly what to do. No, Julie Tudor is definitely not a serial killer.

I laughed, I cringed, I repeatedly told Julie this was a bad idea. Julie is not a likeable character at all. But she’s super entertaining. It’s a train wreck and you can’t look away. I read this in two days because she caused me anxiety and I needed to know what happened.

This is a debut! I love a good debut, and I would definitely read this author again. Also, this is another cover I love.

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Not funny but cringy. This is a tour through the mind of a mentally ill woman obsessed with a younger man. It had great potential but unfortunately, I was unable to find anything I liked about Julie. She's just awful. So much sympathy for Sean and everyone else in her orbit. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This wasn't for me.

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Well that wasn’t what I was expecting and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it! On one hand I was propelled to keep reading on the other hand how awful can a human being be?

I think the cover and the description of the book made me feel like the book was going to be a bit more lighthearted. And it certainly tried to bring a quirky humor and general levity to the goings on inside the FMCs head but it wasn’t fully effective as it got too “serious dark”. All that is to say is that the FMC truly does have deep seated mental illness and sociopathy.

Over all the book was well written and fast paced. There was some repetition that made it feel a bit bogged down at points but it was quick to get back on track.

But overall I was intrigued and enjoyed watching most of it unfold. I was disappointed in the ending though as it wrapped up so quickly that it felt like I was missing something.

The. lol comes out June 24th 2025 if you want to take a stab at it! I will say that I think this book would be very effective in audio format so I may check it out once published.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Sourcebooks- Landmark through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

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What a wildly entertaining ride! Julie Tudor Is Not a Psychopath delivers a fast-paced, wickedly funny, and deeply unsettling story that had me grinning, gasping, and flipping pages like I was chasing down the truth myself. I devoured it in a single day, giggling at Julie’s antics while low-key wondering if I should be concerned about how much I enjoyed them.

Julie is a complicated and deeply delusional character, but also oddly relatable in her raw reflections on loneliness, feeling different, and the ache of being misunderstood. Beneath the chaos and crime lies a character whose inner world feels painfully human… even if she expresses it by, say, plotting the demise of her romantic rivals.

As an unreliable narrator, Julie absolutely shines. Her obsessive thoughts, unfiltered declarations, and increasingly questionable decisions make her both horrifying and hilarious. Her twisted pursuit of love takes “unhinged” to a whole new level—but it’s done in a way that’s both emotionally layered and darkly comedic.

This book is for anyone who loves a narrator you can’t trust, a story you can’t predict, and a heroine(?) who’s just one red flag short of a parade. Julie Tudor Is Not a Psychopath is a perfect blend of dark, funny, sad, and shockingly endearing. A must-read for fans of messed-up minds and morally gray mischief.

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Adored this! Julie Tudor is amazing and I could not stop reading! I was shocked that this is a debut! She writes so well and the characters leap off the page.

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I was so hopeful for this book, the title really caught my attention, but unfortunately this one’s a No for me. The main character is not very likable, just a psychopath, which I’ve “liked” unlikable characters before so that didn’t deter me at first. But instead of going into why she’s like this the plot just kind of becomes redundant with her escapades.

I did find the main characters perspective unique and intriguing in how she can totally misread situations to benefit her…but that too became repetitive. I almost DNF’d but decided to stick it out, hoping it would all be brought together but overall, unfortunately, it just fell flat.

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Jennifer Holdich's debut novel, introduces readers to a darkly comedic and unsettling protagonist, Julie Todor. At 49, July appears to have it all- a meticulous job, a beautiful home, and a seemingly perfect list. However, beneath her composed exterior lies a woman who will go to extreme lengths to secure the affection of Sean, a 25-year-old man who believes he's in love with someone else. Julie insists she's "not a psychopath," but her actions suggest otherwise.

This book blends humor with suspense, crafting a narrative that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. The novel's tone is reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine meets How to Kill Your Family, offering readers a glimpse into the mind of an unreliable narrator whose charm masks her darker tendencies. The story explores themes of obsession, loneliness, and the lengths one might go to in the name of love.

Sharp Wit, Character Development and Compelling! 3.5 stars

Thanks Netgalley for the advance copy! This book will be released 6/24/25.

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Oh Julie Tudor, you most certainly are a psychopath! What a fast, fun read this book was. It is dark but funny, it was sad but so entertaining. I flew through this in a day, giggling along with her antics.

Now at times it did get a bit uncomfortable and there are a few hints at animal cruelty as well. But you can’t help but get drawn into Julie’s version of the world, the one where everyone loves her and she can do no wrong. She is 49, has a good job that she has been doing forever after her previous career path didn’t quite work out. She has a lovely home and is in a loving relationship with a younger man, Sean. Problem is, Sean has no idea and is in love with someone else, Julie is an unhinged woman and won’t let that stand in her way.

For me this was a hit, just the kind of book that I needed. She was a terrible person that hard to sympathise with , but you just had to keep reading. I loved her introduction to the Facebook!

Thanks so much to Sourcebooks Landmark on NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on June 24th.

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So I was really hoping to love this book but I am very disappointed in some of these. Animal cruelty really turned me off. Also the main character really was unhinged so it was very hard to root for her.

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I read a story very similar to this one just recently (without the age gap "romance") and so I really enjoyed this one. An unreliable narrator that is INDEED a psychopath. It's dark and funny and I can see how it won't be for everyone, but if you have a pretty open minded sense of humor you might enjoy it.

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Thank you Sourcebook Landmark and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Julie is a 49 year old whose in love with a 25 year old. She is living in a land of Delulu where she thinks he is also in love with her. When she starts to realize thats not the case some interesting things start to go down.


This one did not resonate with me. I had a hard time getting into the story and didn’t really connect with the characters. There were parts that were funny, and the premise was good just not what I was looking for.

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3.5 stars

I feel like I need to clarify a few things about this one: this is normally a read I would really enjoy. It’s dry humor look inside of the mind of an absolutely deranged person. Unfortunately, for those of books, you really have to be in the right frame of mind to find the humor. And when I was reading this one, I was not in the right frame of mind at all.

Julie Tudor is not only a psychopath, but she’s also totally delusional. This book jumps around multiple timelines cataloging Julie’s previous love interests and how she dealt with “the competition”. While most of the book is written with a humorous tone, there are parts that are sad: her interactions during her first relationship when she was 16, the way she totally misses the fact when people are making fun of her, etc.

I also read a few reviews of this one after I finished and there were a few that talked about animal cruelty. That’s normally a hard line for me and I will DNF a book for it. However, in this one animal cruelty is alluded to but not described in any detail. Also, the author apologizes in the note for even alluding to it. The actions do make sense with Julie’s character, but do be aware that it is there.

Again, I really think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if I’d been in the right headspace. So many others did.

⚠️ TW: on-page murder/assault, alcoholism, animal cruelty, mental instability, sexual assault ⚠️

This one releases on 24 June 2025. A big thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Julie Tudor is in her late forties and has been working for her company for over twenty years. She loves being the one people turn to when the spreadsheets need fixing. She has a beautiful home with slightly nosey neighbors and she's in a loving relationship with her co-worker, Sean. There's just one small problem, Sean doesn't have a clue that he is in a relationship with her. In fact, he's in a relationship with someone else. Julie has found herself in this situation before, with Sean in fact, and she knows how to make problems disappear. It's possible that Julie Tudor is not just a psychopath, but a serial killer too. Julie's sordid tale is told by going back and forth in time all the way back to her childhood. An enjoyable read for crime story lovers.

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The cover of this book is deceiving. With a title like "Julie Tudor is Not a Psychopath" and a pink dress and a Birkin-like handbag, one would think this is a cozy, fun mystery. NOPE.

Julie Tudor IS a psychopath. She's 49 and in love with a 25-year old man...who is in love with someone else. It's very clear that Julie's got ... something going on, and this story goes back and forth from Julie's past and current timeline. This is someone in dire need of medical intervention and it seems like no one in her life is around even to suggest just that.

I feel like Jennifer Holdich wants this to be a dark humor sort of book but I just found it dark. Eh...not everything is for everyone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Many people are saying this one's perfect for fans of "Finlay Donovan" or "Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies," but for me? It gave "Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder" energy. It's got that same mix of dark humor and psychological thriller that keeps you slightly off balance but intrigued the whole time.

I really liked Julie as a character. She's quirky, unpredictable, and honestly pretty iconic. Think rizzem with the tism and just a sprinkle of a mild Joe Goldberg. You definitely get those stalker, morally grey vibes that make you wonder if you should be rooting for her.

The book started strong. I was hooked right away by the voice and the sharp wit. But the middle did slow down a bit for me. The pacing dipped, and I found myself wishing it would pick up again. Still, it was entertaining, and the originality of the characters kept me going.

If you like your stories with unhinged protagonists, stalker energy, dark humor, an age-gap romance gone slightly sideways, and that deliciously morally questionable edge... this one is for you. 3.5 stars from me.

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