Some dark humor and a lot of blood 🩸
Disclaimer: I’ve received an advanced reader copy via NetGalley, this doesn’t influence my opinion or review. Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with a reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Personal Experience:
Quote:
“I blame Hollywood for this. There’s still some notion that continually trying to win over a woman who has quite clearly expressed having no interest in you is romantic.”
Who should read it? Fans of Dexter, dark humor, and revenge plots.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but be informed of the trigger warnings.
Possible Triggers (source): Assault, blood, emotional abuse, murder, physical abuse, rape, sexual abuse, sexism, torture, violence.
Tropes:
** What is this book about? You can check below first **
Kitty Collins isn’t an easy character to like. But when she stands up for her friends and women she knows, even in the most extreme ways, she becomes an anti-hero (or anti-villain?) of some sort. After all, if justice isn’t protecting us, where’s the hope for us? There were times I hated Kitty *the Instagram star*, but then in other situations, all I wanted to say was: “Kitty, teach them a lesson!”
I had so many expectations for this book, and while it was a bit different than what I had imagined, I still ended up enjoying it. It was such an easy and fast read, and it even got me out of a reading slump, so despite my initial indecision, it definitely deserved that extra star.
Here are some things I LOVED about the book:
🧡 Lessons are learned…but with (dark) humor
While this book talks about serious topics, and a sad harsh reality that, unfortunately, is part of our society, it does it in a satirical format. This means that if you take Kitty’s actions too literally, you’ll be in for a shock. Indeed, there are many female Dexter moments, lots of blood, and shocking murders. Sometimes, you’ll wonder, despite the book’s title, how did Kitty even get away with it? The beauty of this book is that that’s not the point. This is not a typical thriller. The purpose is not to find the killer or dig deeper into accurate police investigations. The more I read, the more I understood that this is a satire of our society. The blood, though very much present, is the reflection of the ugliness of those who need to (but are unable to) defend against those who harm them. In a world where victims are judged — even if they aren’t killers. Even if they aren’t Kitty.
🧡 Kitty as a not-very-likable character
You might wonder why I am adding this to the things I loved about this book. Could the protagonist have been more relatable? Maybe someone we could even empathize with, from the beginning? It could. But I don’t think it would be the same. Unlikable and gray characters are not a bad thing. In this case, I thought it worked really well, and it added to the whole dark humor vibe of the book. I mean, our killer is busy being a social media influencer and ensuring her beverages are dairy free. At the same time, she’s also getting rid of bodies. You might not love Kitty, but she’s the perfect vigilante for this story.
How about the things I didn’t love? Well…
🌧️ The whole stalker plot / sub-plot
I understood that we were trying to add some suspense to the narrative, but I just couldn’t feel invested in this plot. At some point, I was convinced it was the main plot of this story, to the point it even distracted me from the actual character-driven story. However, throughout most of the book, there’s not much going on in that aspect. There’s an interesting twist at the end, but I was still not a major fan of how this one was developed.
🌧️ Gruesome details
This one is on me! I know it’s weird to say I didn’t like the fact that a book about a murderer was gruesome. I mean, what were you expecting, right?
Rooting for a social media influencer who’s a part-time murderer sometimes can feel a bit too much (even if her victims REALLY are the worst).
Overall, How to Kill Men and Get Away With It was a surprisingly addictive read that I still enjoyed it and would recommend to fans of this genre.
