This book wasn't really for me. I just couldn't get into, which is a real shame because it sounded like it was right up my street.

Oh my Mike is obsessed. He’s the ex who won’t let go. That dangerous sort of ex you see in the movies or in the horrifying headlines about a stalker. He’s delusional!! Such an unreliable narrator!! The further I got into the book, the more unhinged and obsessive he became.

This offering from Hall is disturbing. Her creation of Mike was so real, I could picture this being a jilted lover unable to accept the end of a relationship. Told entirely from within Mike’s head, I was unnerved throughout.

It’s the sort of book I should have put down because I felt so disturbed but I was compelled to see this to the end. To see how far Mike would go to get Verity. Would he win her back?!

Hall’s written a very unnerving but believable story about a love obsession. A love so encompassing that it exceeds reality and common sense. It’s tense, it’s unsettling but it’s addictive and I couldn’t get enough of Mike’s obsession with Verity.

With thanks to netgalley and the author for allowing me to review this book.

I really enjoyed this book, an very good thriller that had me hooked from the first page.

OH MY GOD! What a book!! I think I need a shower after reading that, it was so dark. So twisted. So, oh I don’t even know what the word is that I want to say but it was fantastic!!

Although I feel like Mike is just a little bit batshit crazy, when you get to the third part of the book you do wonder how much of it was in Mike’s head. But then you also wonder how much was real. Also, how much of it could be real? I love the fact that it was never very clear. The lines have been drawn and blurred all at the same time. There was just so much that makes me question what was actually going on. I mean, there’s just so much that I loved about this book.

I listened to the audiobook. The guy in the book was just fantastic. He was enough to send shivers down your spine when you read certain elements of the book. Even though you’re reading the story, you know that it’s not right. You know, the actions of some of the characters are not right. Yet, you can’t tear yourself away from the pages in front of you. You can’t take yourself away from the story that you find enveloping you and unfolding in front of you. It was mesmerising at the same time. You feel like you’re intruding on something that you probably shouldn’t be.

Mike, was just a little bit different. A little bit not quite right. He made the best unreliable narrator. However, the final scenes of this book showed how messed up he really is. They sent chills, they are some of the most horrifying and yet exciting things I read. Just this book needs to be read by everybody. It was so cleverly done. It’s all through Mike’s eyes and you have to kind of wonder what the heck is going on!!

I mean, Jesus, I just I don’t know what words to tell you about this book. I mean, oh my god, just read it. It just had everything I loved in a book.

One thing I didn’t really get was the game that was described by these two characters that they played, the crave. But at the same time, I felt like I didn’t need to. We only needed to really understand the relationship between Mike and Verity was wrong. It was toxic. It was dark. There was a bit of malevolence. And it was really, really unhealthy.

As I say the story is told by Mike and then it’s only when you get to the court scenes at the end of the book, you see another side to him. It makes you wonder what else was in his head and what else was true. I love that fine line. You’re never quite sure whether Mike was truly delusional or whether Verity was just a really skillful manipulator. I hope this isn’t too much spoilery I don’t think it is.

The way the book finishes was cold and chilling. On a hot summer’s day, that sent shivers down my spine. I’ve never read anything by Aramtina before but that is definitely changing. She has written a book that I’m going to be obsessed with now. I’ve already told quite a few people to read it. I just think there was something so fantastic about this book and it’s hard to put my finger on it.

It was such a great book in the way it made you feel uncomfortable. You feel like you’re intruding on something that you shouldn’t be as I’ve already mentioned, and this makes me feel like I need to go and have a shower and cleanse myself and cleanse my palate and cleanse everything. It was disturbing. It was chilling. It was just everything I needed to read and it was a fab book. It’s one I definitely recommend to everybody. I loved every bit of the book. Every single minute every page, every word, and it was just the perfect, obsessive love story that I needed. Although I didn’t know I needed but now I do. Absolutely fantastic.

Wow just wow. This book is a wild ride. Mike loves Verity but does Verity love Mike as much as Mike thinks she does. Is this just a part of a game they play The Crave or has Verity moved on as she says.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me gripped all the way through trying to work out if Mike was mad or if it was all part of their game.

The only issue I have with this is that the ending doesnt give you the info you want and keeps tyou guessing. Part 2 please.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

Premise was very interesting. The book was a good read, flew quite quickly. I love a good dark and gritty thriller so this was right up my alley.
recommended

Intriguing and nail biting. Truly brilliant. I adored this by Hall. Absolutely excellent book and a brilliant read. Recommend!

It had me gripped from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down! A unique thriller that is disturbing and unsettling in equal measure.

I didn't quite know what to expect with with this book. It is very cleverly written ,in that ,the end was unexpected. It makes you realise that you never quite understand exactly what's going on in a person's mind.

Really enjoyed this booked had never read this author before and will not be the last time. now looking for more by this author

This was disturbing, thrilling and thought provoking. It wasn’t always easy to read but I’m glad I persevered to the end.

Mike and Verity.
Verity and Mike.

All the way through this story I was hooked.
I listened to this on audio and just couldn’t stop listening.

Mike loves Verity. They’ve known each other for years.
Mike comes from a not so good background.
He’s got one objective in his life......making Verity happy.

But alas. He strays, leaving a relationship in tatters.

But it’s ok. It’s the games they play.

Playing games with each other seems to be a regular in their relationship especially where sex is involved. Verity likes to play out her fantasies in one way or the other.

Just who is at fault here you just won’t find out......not yet.

Whose playing who?

This is sinister, chilling, obsession, greed and much more.

It’s a very dark book that kept my 100% interest.

I’m so very glad I got to this.

This is one mind blowing, heart stopping, adrenaline pumping read that leaves you gasping for more. I loved the twistiness of it and the way it is written adds to the sheer perfection of it.

This dark and spellbinding book follows Mike Hayes. He has fought hard to get where he is today after surviving a brutal childhood. He was living a quiet yet lonely life until he met Verity. This book is dark and oh so good - it is about love and obsession that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Told from Mike's POV as he becomes more obsessed with Verity and the outcomes that he faces. You don't know what is true and what is false. The book is split into two parts, the first being slow and building up for second half which races off at break neck speed. The characters were so well written as well as the storyline I just couldn't put it down.

If you want to read a book that will have your heart pumping then this is for you.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

When I first saw this psychological thriller on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it. A dark and deadly love triangle fuelled by obsession and murder? I was so excited when I was accepted for it.

Mike and Verity love to Crave. Verity flirts with an unsuspecting stranger while Mike watches from a distance. When she’s ready, Verity will touch the delicate silver eagle hanging from her neck and Mike will swoop in and save her from the situation before reclaiming her as his own through reckless passionate sex. Now Verity says she is marrying popular, successful Angus but Mike knows this is all part of the Crave. He knows that she is playing an elongated, intricate Crave to punish him and she will need to be saved at some point. Because only he and Verity truly understand the Crave and it’s simply impossible that she and Mike won’t end up together, isn’t it?

I think the line ‘I read a story once about a Russian man who ate his lovers and I sort of understand why he did it’ sums up Mike pretty well. He is an exceptionally unique and fascinating character to read through. I absolutely adore that the entirety of the book is from his viewpoint because his head is a complete mess of a place but there is so much there. He is violently and completely consumed by his obsession with Verity to the point where literally nothing and no one else matters. I’d never read from this headspace for such a prolonged period of time before but I was undeniably addicted to him.

He is delusional and dangerous, of course. However, at several points in the last 20% of the book, I began to think that perhaps he isn’t quite as delusional as his graphic unstable mind suggests. As Verity becomes more present, doubts began to creep in and I wonder whether she is perhaps playing a game with both Mike and her new husband Angus. Is Mike, in fact, right about the situation and is Verity staging a manipulative, cold-hearted operation? The way that Hall constantly had me guessing and changing my mind kept me on tenterhooks throughout.

With a character as messed up as Mike, his background story is of utmost importance when trying to gain any kind of empathy or understanding for him. Mike was largely raised by a loving supportive foster couple, Elaine and Barry, after years of abuse and neglect at the hands of his alcoholic mother and her numerous boyfriends. Reading the chapters where he talks about his few memories of his time with his mum, it’s easy to map out his journey to a damaged and illogical mind. By this point in the book, I had already spent so much time in Mike’s head that I felt like I knew him pretty well but was still struggling to relate. Delving into his tragically dark past gave so much clarity as to the reasons why and shed some light on why he is in complete denial about the end of his and Verity’s relationship -yet another rejection that he is refusing to accept.

As a narrative written entirely from the mindset of an incredibly unreliable character, Our Kind Of Cruelty is possibly the most intrinsically intense psychological thriller I’ve ever read. Although the action reaches a brutal dramatic climax and the aftermath saw a comeuppance, I wouldn’t say that all was resolved at the end. I can’t shake the feeling that Mike’s fantasies aren’t completely self-concocted. I don’t feel that Verity really handles it in the best way and some of her behaviour still doesn’t quite make sense to me. Every time she and Mike have some form of contact, he misconstrues her words and forces them to fit with his ideal. It’s so overwhelmingly frustrating but his unwavering confidence that he understands some kind of hidden meaning in her words makes me question my own understanding. Mike is so utterly convincing that I simply have to question Verity and wonder whether he has actually got something right.

The whole idea of truth is something that haunts the whole second half of the book and it continues to linger after you’ve closed it. What were the real reasons behind this tragic state of affairs? Was it simply a case of an unhinged ex-lover, consumed by jealousy and denial, hell-bent on having his girlfriend back? Or was it the most-involved, devastating, selfish sex game ever created?

Many readers will argue that all good books require a major shift in the protagonist’s life or outlook over the course of the narrative. Our Kind Of Cruelty doesn’t have this. On the last page, Mike is still madly in love with Verity and he still fervently believes that she is Craving. He is still making plans for them to be together as he was at the beginning. He is still the same Mike and yet that’s ok. Personally, I would have found it quite jarring for a guy like him, considering his background, to have suddenly seen the light. It wouldn’t have been believable if such a twisted, dented character had veered into an abrupt denounciation of his obsession or even if he’d reached a stage of acceptance. I think it’s the first book I’ve ever read where the shift wasn’t needed because the whole thing was about the thrill of the chase. That thrill was so great that it sufficed.

I cannot recommend Our Kind Of Cruelty enough to anyone who is looking for a dangerous, head-spinning ride. If you love thorough red-hot explorations of dark, cold, vicious minds, solving mysteries with only the words of an unreliable narrator or love stories like no other, let me introduce you to Mike Hayes.

He said, she said. When you strip away the rest of the story, yes - that's what's left. But why would you strip away such an excellent book?

Gillian Flynn blurbed this book, and it's only too fitting - since Gone Girl,, we've all seen the novels suddenly fountain out - novels with their "Girl" or "Woman" titles, novels where these women wrap helpless bystanders around their little fingers and twist their lives into mockeries of their former state. Our Kind of Cruelty would like those books to know that we live in a world that is only too willing to believe women hold that kind of mystical power, the power to level your life with a single world. And what do people do to things they fear?

It's a masterful book, this. Written from the view of the other player in their games, unreliable narration is taken to new heights, and if you want to, you can ignore the author's note at the end and read this as a straightforward tale. Trust Mike - it's still entertaining after all. But instead, I read the author's note and went back, and re-read the whole thing. It's a completely different story through that lens, and when you are provoked into examining your own prejudice, it's not always a comfortable thing. It was genuinely disturbing how easy it was to slip into it, and that, to me, is the real genius of this book. Others may find some of the message ham-fisted, especially the legal scenes, but to do so is to miss the real point of the exercise. It's all about the reader here, and that made this book a little piece of genius.

Araminta Hall, you are a clever writer, and I cannot wait to see what you do next..

Our Kind Of Cruelty is a tense, taught yarn that follows one single fiber of an idea: what goes on in the mind of a stalker? Here, the author nails the personality and voice spot-on; Mike is everything you would expect a stalker to be. He’s obsessive, single-minded, relentless, creepy, annoying.

Mike had a thing with V. She moved on. He never could. He refuses to believe it’s over. And in reading Our Kind Of Cruelty, we are privy to the inner voice of someone troubled and damaged and dangerous.

The novel unfolds slowly, tension building yet it doesn’t ever release. There aren’t surprises. Just a jaw-dropping that arrives fairly early and happens several times.

This was a weirdly odd book, and dealt with some uncomfortable topics. It was a good solid read, and recommended.