1/5 stars: This is Roth's stand-alone which is a Mystery Thriller that follows a British woman in New York City who finds herself swindled by a total dreamboat who just so happened to be a liar and conman. After discovering she's not the only victim, she's set on taking revenge. With a group of wronged women behind her, she sets out to make his life a living nightmare and while murder isn’t on the agenda just yet she's not crossing it off as a possibility. Roth's writing and character work are well done. Unfortunately, this just wasn't a book for me; leading me to DNF it at 8%.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK | Avon in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

This book is quite sad and dark, focussing on each woman's story of domestic violence, sexual assault and financial exploitation. Sally's story as a child was incredibly sad. With that being said, it is also a light hearted story of revenge; women coming together to shame and harm the awful men in their lives.

This book was simply okay. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. Some parts were slightly far fetched and it seemed a bit absurd that they were getting away with everything that they did. I also didn't love the narration at the beginning of the book - I usually prefer first person narration but I found Sally a bit cringey, especially in the parts when she was talking to the reader. This seemed to get a bit better as the book went on though.

I didn't expect the ending for both Priya and Sally, that was shocking. I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters, that could definitely have been made stronger with perhaps chapters for each womans perspective. I don't think Sally was a strong enough character. I did enjoy this book for the most part, and love the vengeful female rage genre that seems to be growing, but definitely not the best.

"Self-defence is a necessity in this world. Attack, well, that's recreational."

A dark and delightfully vengeful addition to the women's revenge genre that has taken my heart by storm! This book is an all too realistic tale of misogyny and the fear all women must endure in a world controlled by men. But Some Women won't be controlled. Sally is one of those women and she has work to do.

The blurb;
This is the story of how I killed Harry Collins. Destined to be the great love of my life – until one day I wake up in the Big Apple with the world's worst hangover, an empty bank account, and the sinking feeling that my life just nosedived. How it happened is a blur, but one thing is clear: I’ve been swindled and I’m not happy about it. ​ When I discover I’m not the only victim, I decide it’s only right I take my revenge. And with a group of wronged women behind me, murder isn’t on the agenda yet because Harry’s in for a nightmare and I’m only just getting started…​

My thoughts;
This book is perfect for fans of Katy Brent’s HTKMAGAWI and IBYLGIAC- Sally reminded me a little of Kitty Collins and I enjoyed the similarities in the books themes and the support group.

The book is medium paced, and told from Sally’s pov. As the story evolves, we get little glimmers of Sally’s mysterious past and the trauma that she faced.

I liked Sally, she is strong and determined and a great support to the new found friends around her. She was quite fixated on Harry throughout the book, but this book was about Sally and Harry so it made sense.

I really enjoyed this one, and hope to read more from this author in the future. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon books for the advance copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are my own. 4.5⭐️

The female rage, ‘good for her’ genre of books seems to be everywhere at the moment and whilst some are great, this unfortunately wasn’t - in my opinion.

What makes these books work is having strong female characters lead the story but Sally just wasn’t that for me. I was expecting so much more but this just fell flat for me.

This book has such a catchy title and the premise is so intriguing that I was drawn in by that. Unfortunately, the story itself fell flat. The characters were two-dimensional, predictable, and defined by their relationships only. The main character Sally was honestly infuriating. Based on the title, I was expecting these characters to bare some resemblance to the famous Harry and Sally from the film, but these characters may as well have been called Claire and Steve for their similarities.

This was a really well done thriller novel, it had that element that I was looking for and was engaged with what was happening. The characters had that element that I was wanting and was invested in what was happening. Lucy Roth has a strong writing style and was glad I was able to read this.

✨3 stars ✨

If you enjoyed books by either Katy Brent or CJ Skuse, then I think you would enjoy this one because the themes of female rage and obviously murder appear in both.

This was fast-paced and perhaps slightly over the top yet I absolutely flew through this!

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The comps of The Tinder Swindler meets Sweetpea instantly had my attention, and this book lived up to all of my expectations! This is a brilliant exploration of the hazards of dating in a digital world packaged in a unputdownable revenge thriller. Smart, timely, and poignant. Come for the title, stay for the vengeance!

I wanted to like When Sally Killer Harry more than I did. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t particularly stand out for me and fell a little bit flat on places.

The plot felt predictable and no big surprises for me. I feel like it was just the FMCs voice I didn’t particularly connect with.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins publishers for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this story missed the mark for me. I was expecting more romance and more comedy but wasn't satisfied with either. As it was marked as a 'rom-com gone rouge' I was looking for more of both.
I did like the characters and the twist on the classic When Harry Met Sally story, but I don't think this story lived up to its potential.

Sally is no stranger to being on the receiving end of or witnessing abuse at the hand of men, but it gets to a point where she needs to take action, for her own ‘sanity’. Her flat mate is trying to encourage her taking a chance on not branding all men as the same and embracing life, and sets a challenge where she needs to embark on dating less sceptically and self sabotaging any potential relationship. Not afraid of a challenge, she does so and meets Harry, who is too good to be true, literally. But Sally is done with being a victim and enacts a campaign to get retribution and then some. Helping ‘some women’ in similar situations to do the same.

It is quite dangerous to read revenge fiction as good as this, ‘fiction’ that focuses on women taking back their power. What if we all started standing up for ourselves and making ‘some men’ face the consequences…

Bella Mackie meets Katy Brent in this humorous debut thriller. Shrewd Sally awakens one morning to realise she has been swindled by smooth talking Harry. Fed up of men taking advantage of women, Sally decides to take action. Discovering a group of worked women, Sally sets about to fight some wrongs, fuelled by the injustice of her childhood when she witnessed her mom’s abuse from several “step dads”.

Witty, quick paced and climactic. First person perspective which draws us into Sally’s world, as she sets up for revenge.

🍸 When sally killed Harry - Lucy Roth 🍸

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Released - 27.03.25

‘THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY. THIS IS A ROM COM GONE ROGUE’

Blurb -

Say hello to Sally. ​

I’ve woken up in the Big Apple with the world’s worst hangover, an empty bank account, and the sinking feeling that my life just nosedived. Last night’s escapade is a blur, but one thing is clear: I’ve been swindled and I’m not happy about it.​

​She’s the woman of your dreams…​

The culprit? Harry – a total dreamboat and my worst nightmare. He’s got charm, secrets, and a smile that screams trouble. Little did I know, Harry’s not just a pretty face – he’s a liar, conman and he’s turned my life upside down.​

…or is she your worst nightmare?​

​When I discover I’m not the only victim, I decide it’s only right I take my revenge. And with a group of wronged women behind me, murder isn’t on the agenda just yet because Harry’s in for a nightmare and I’m only just getting started…​

My thoughts - okay I’ll address the elephant in the room first, I didn’t love it. I tried really really hard not to compare this book to others in the same genre but unfortunately for me the others I did end up comparing to will always be my favourite.

That being said, I did enjoy the concept of this one it just for me missed the mark slightly and dragged in places which made me loose interest. That’s the reason why this one for me is 3⭐️

#bookreview #netgalley #bookblogger #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreviewer

I absolutely loved the title and concept of this book but it feel short for me. I love a story of women who get revenge like Katy Brent or Julie Mae Cohen however, Sally was not clever at all. She was sloppy and never had a plan. I honestly do not know how she did not get caught! The support group could have been a good story line however, it was not executive efficiently. The women trusted each other entirely too quickly, they did not even show any caution when meeting with each other, they talked openly about their plans, and most of the action happened off page. There was soooo many paper trails that lead back to Sally especially renting the loft and having Marie live there. What was the point of that? Why did some men get more story time than others? Why so many misses on the Pastor and then such an anti-climatic conclusion to him? I absolutely hated the trip to London with Harry - it was so unnecessary and it did not follow the theme of strong, feminist women, if she needed Harry's help. Why didn't she cancel her credit card after Harry stole her money the first time? Why did Rachel go out with Harry and why did he drug her? Did Rachel even have money to steal? What was the point of her night runs/hallucinations? I feel like I was left with more questions about things than answers.... I am really sad that I did not care for this book but I am grateful to Netgalley for the ARC.

I've enjoyed the author's work previously, but this seemed like it was going to be a bit of a departure from that, so I was interested to see what it would be like. Pleased to say it was a lot of fun - a dark tale of revenge, following Sally and her friends turning the tables on the bad men in their lives.

I would recommend caution for people of a more nervous disposition - some of the events and themes in the book could be upsetting to some people.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley for the ARC.

I loved the premise of this book woman seeking revenge on a man that's wronged her and in turn starting a support group for wronged women. This book certainly tackled the idea of misogyny and how women have to face it almost daily. The main character Sally was well written I found myself agreeing with her alot then questioning whether she had gone to far. I do love a morally ambiguous character. Yet something fell flat for me half way through I think there was too many scenarios trying to be dealt with that it got abit much. But it all paid off as I really loved the ending and how it all tied together. Overall a good read which I would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon books for letting me reading this E-Arc.

Honestly when I saw the name of the book I was very intrigued but that is where my interest stopped. When Harry Killed Sally is about a group of women banding together to get back at the men who have hurt them in their lives.

That concept as a whole is so fun and if well-executed would have been GREAT. Sally and the gang had no character and they fell flat for the entire story. I felt no connection to literally anyone and even the plot twist at the end wasn’t exciting. I wish that they would have more development that didn’t depend on these awful men.

I also had an issue with the amount of description it came to the clothing aspect. Her outfits weren’t good and more details were not needed there out of all places.

Say hello to Sally. ​ I’ve woken up in the Big Apple with the world's worst hangover, an empty bank account, and the sinking feeling that my life just nosedived. Last night's escapade is a blur, but one thing is clear: I’ve been swindled and I’m not happy about it.! Good book! This book was definitely a bit different! It was a dark funny, sort of rom com that goes haywire! I definitely enjoyed the characters! And I enjoyed reading this book more than I thought I would! I liked the different! lol I would definitely recommend reading this book if your in the mood for something a bit different! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this story with me!

Likeable enough yet not really my sort of thing. I found this book did nothing to stand out from others in its genre.