Excellent read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this title in exchange for my feedback.

Feminist serial killer books have become hugely popular in recent years and Eve Kellman has added another to the pile with How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways.

As with many others in this genre HTKAGITW centres around a deplorable yet somehow likeable female lead character who takes pleasure in killing not so wholesome men.

Does it work? Yes and no. It has plenty of those deeply dark yet hilarious gallows humour moments however it does run away with itself leading to a few eye rolls at the end.

I switched between kindle and audiobook and found the audiobook definitely increased my enjoyment. The narrators characterisation really brought the female lead to life.

Overall, an enjoyable pacey book which was let down slightly by its ending.

Many thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK Audio and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Millie Masters is a photo framer (I think that is the term for her job) by the day and a vigilante saving girls and women in the city through an anonymous phoneline service from MEN (obviously not bears, guys come on!!). So while on one such mission to save a girl from a night out gone wrong (thanks to a pervy man - do you see the pattern?) she accidentally murders the MAN in question. Once her fear of being caught is soothed, Millie realises it is really not that hard to get rid of these loathsome perverts and assaulters and clean up the roads while getting some much needed justice for all the women and girls out there. With the main intention of finding and erasing the rapist that destroyed her sister's and in turn her life, Millie goes on a murder spree with each one getting more and more creative, her getting more and more bold. Will Millie be able to avenge her sister before she gets caught? Will she become addicted to the way she is getting her justice?

Thus book was so fast paced and gripping while dripping with dark humour, sarcasm and Cynicism, a.k.a. the best kind of thriller. I kind of guessed most of the twists but the ending was very satisfying. Millie was funny in a not funny haha way but funny weird way, well funny never the less. Also people getting annoyed about the man and bear debate, let them men cry about not being picked, you go and read this book and have fun lol. The narrator was brilliant especially with accents and voices and made it fun listening to Millie's inner most thoughts.

I will recommend this book to everybody who enjoyed How to Kill Your Family .

TW: Murder (obviously), blood, gore (a tiny bit), Sexual Assault, Creepy men aka stalkers, cheaters, rapists, betrayers' and all the other kind of pervs.

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways by Eve Kellman
Narrated by Elisabeth Hopper

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Avon and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right?

Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?

Worried you’re being followed home?

Message M.

After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M.

But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next…

And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist.

Because M can also stand for murder…

My Opinion

I finished this book hours ago and I am still not really sure how I feel about it. I know that it was well-written and a great psychological thriller, but some of the events just didn't work for me. Whilst I enjoyed the premise, I do think that in places the story was ruined by the repetitiveness. I have toyed with idea of marking this book down to a three star, but I do think that the writing deserves better.

Rating 4/5

I enjoyed this one and look forward to more by this author. I picked it mainly for the title. Witty and humorous in places, this was a good listen. The narrators were great and I would recommend to those who like this particular genre. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers.

First off, what a fun title! How could you not be intrigued?

I’m always up for a revenge plot and this female vigilante and serial killer triller was so deliciously clever, darkly funny and just full of wildly entertaining rage!

The premise is totally Dexter-esque and I absolutely relished in Millie as a protagonist as Kellman was able to write her with such enjoyable wit and charisma! Who doesn’t love some murder with a side of laughs?

While a bit dark at times and certainly full of trigger warnings, I really appreciated this fun twist on the serial killer trope!

Millie Masters is a woman on a mission and she does not disappoint! After vowing to protect the vulnerable women who call her anonymous hotline, one incident leads her to accidentally commit murder. Discovering that it is not as difficult as crime shows make it out to be, she begins to seek justice for women and targets the local loathsome men who have and would continue to cause harm to others if given the chance. Spurred on by the need to avenge her beloved younger sister, following a violent rape, Millie goes on a murder spree and becomes increasingly creative at disposing of the men she encounters! But as the bodies pile up around her, she has to race against the clock to find her sister's abuser and enact her revenge, before her true identity is discovered.

Whilst I predicted a few of the plot twists in this book, the overall story was engaging and I raced my way through it! How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways is a gripping and addictive thriller with dark humour throughout. The audiobook was particularly enjoyable, especially with Millie's Bristolian accent and it really felt like we were in her head!

This book is darkly witty at times and I liked the concept of a vigilante killer taking bad men off the street (not that the concept is entirely original, but it has been handled differently) so in that respect it was entertaining. However my problem with the book is that Millie is so entirely unlikeable - even if I have some sympathy for her at times, it's impossible to back her as a character when she radiates scorn for literally everyone around her as if everyone but herself is stupid. It's hard to listen to on the audiobook because the narrator does a great job of putting that scorn across, and it's so draining to listen to, like a twelve hour sulky teenage rant. The number of stupid things Millie does throughout this book rather puts the lie to her superiority complex, which makes it even more frustrating, and I can't understand why any of the people around her would feel any loyalty towards this really quite awful person. For me, the ending was really unsatisfying.

The narration of this audiobook was great - really helped me get into the story. The story was dark, and emotional but also funny and twisty. I'd definitely recommend.

Not the best listen I have had and not an original storyline either
Think low key Dexter killing people for the safety of women and getting away with it ??? Very tongue in cheek and not my usual listen so probably a bit of a biased review
Mediocre

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and really enjoyed it. An easy listen with a light-hearted irreverent tone but covering dark material so be sure to check the trigger warnings. There were times when it was a bit too unbelievable but good twists and turns.

I loved this book!

This was probably my biggest surprise of the month as I hadn’t seen much about it, but it ended up being a five star read for me - it was just so funny, smart and exciting, and exactly what I was in the mood for. It’s also pretty emotional, so do check TW’s as there’s quite a lot about r*pe and sexual assault in there, but given the vengeance our main character gets, it’s oddly satisfying. (Not saying I’m going to go on a vigilante mission, but I do hope all these books about women kicking ass and bumping off bad men might make them think twice about being d*cks)!

Basically, if you loved How To Kill Men & Get Away With It or Bad Men, you will love this one! I listened to this one and definitely recommend the audio as the narrator is just fantastic.

As a fan of female serial killer thrillers, especially with a healthy dose of dark humour, my expectations for this cleverly titled book were pretty high - but this read didn’t quite hit the mark for me. What I really loved was the premise: a female vigilante killer wreaking vengeance on men who would otherwise get away with their crimes. Millie’s character also made some interesting and troubling observations about women’s safety - or lack thereof - in society (especially the sinister location tracking features on running apps). Nina’s character also deserves a shoutout, as arguably the most rounded and believable character in the story - I actually wish it had been written from Nina’s perspective! What was missing for me was a bit more originality and depth to Millie’s character - up against the likes of Villanelle she wasn’t quite as scary as her nor as funny as Kitty in How to Kill Men and Get Away With It. Sometimes it felt like her character was more of a parody of a serial killer, at times a bit too dislikable for the comedy side of the book but a bit too naive to inspire more fear in the reader. The plot was a bit too predictable and the pace of the story was also rather slow for a thriller, though it did pick up again at the end. If it’s your first serial killer thriller, you may well enjoy it and it’s an easy read for a day at the beach if you’re not looking for something too serious. The narrator did a great job too for the audiobook. Huge thanks to the author, Eve Kellman, and publisher, Avon, for this advance review copy. Views my own. 3.5 rounded up to 4*

Couldn’t resist this with that play on a Rom com title and these easy read feminist vibe thrillers are always fun. The blurb was giving female Dexter and I thought the narrative was likely to be engaging.

Whilst the narrative was a really easy listen and I did fly through this, I thought overall it was just ok. It started with some promise, but it all just got a bit wild and over the top. It was a fun and quick read, but it lacked some levels of realism that would make it truly great.

I really enjoyed this story.
While covering the hard topic of horror woman face, the wit of the main character lightened it from being too dark a read.
The main character was very fun and her love for her sister and best friend warmed me to her.
The plot is face paced and kept me hooked from start to finish.
I would definitely recommend this book/audiobook.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this audio arc from the publisher via netgalley but this has in no way influenced my opinion or review.

I loved this book!

*MILD SPOILERS BUT IF THEY REALLY ARE SPOILERS TO YOU, YOU NEED TO REREAD THE TITLE*

When you're rooting for the serial killer for 90% of the book you need to sit back and question whether you should be reading something like this in the first place, though it's been great for ideas!

Joking, joking... meh!

Men are s*!t and I love the rage this book holds. I also love that Millie is a loveable character and I totally get all of the relationships and dynamics that were in this, they all made sense and flowed wonderfully.

Nina is the real boss of the whole show though and anyone that disagrees is just simply wrong.

This book is set in Bristol!! Woop woop! Though I (obviously) hold no bias I can confirm that absolutely was the best option location-wise.

Also, audiobook was really great!

5 ⭐️'s, would k!ll for this book 🤫🔪🩸

His high quality audio deals with highly sensitive complex harrowing issues including date rape and Murder. Its told by the main character in a clever manner which provides and prokes emotion despite the tongue in cheek dialogue . Its powerful and sadly the events are true to the world we live in. I cared about what happened to the main character and the men was just not worthy.
Thank you so much for this s highly entertaining and enjoyable listen. Loved every monute. Due it to its subject nature it might be good to have a warning.
Thank you netgallery and publisher and author and narrator. This is a 5 star listen.

I’ve really been enjoying this genre of books and so I was looking forward to reading this and it started off really great i was immediately hooked and was somready for the unhinged behaviour. And while I enjoyed it for the most part I thought the romance was a little off. Even though I was initially excited about it because it would have been so interesting to see their dynamic of a detective and serial killer that he’s looking for. But I just didn’t feel like the romance aspect worked.
Especially with the ending i felt some of it was great, especially the female friendship where she came through in having each other’s back, but other parts just didn’t work when it came to the detective.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this title; intriguing blurb and I requested the Audio version. Narration is very good, well balanced and easy to listen to. However, I really struggled to fall in to the story. The premise sounded ok but in the end, it seemed to fall between two stools; humour and semi thriller. For me, neither worked. I didn’t find it uproariously funny and neither was it thrilling as it turned into a vigilante murderous killing spree. I understand the motivation behind the storyline; women at the mercy of predatory males is an ever present threat, but for me it bordered on farcical at times. I don’t think that was the intention, so it doesn’t really work. There are some memorable characters and I’m disappointed that this book, although well written misses the mark. It’s a rather generous 3 stars

The plot of this book is quite good and the MC I absolutely loved even though she has some major flaws. The first part of this book was a little slow for my personal liking but definitely speeds up in the second half. Definitely a book I would recommend and definitely an author I would purchase another book from.