I am thoroughly enjoying the latest trend in female/feminist serial killer novels, à la Killing Eve. With their gallows humour, and deplorable men getting their comeuppance in myriad painful ways… what’s not to love?
So I was delighted to read How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways. And there were a lot of things I liked about it. First, the hotline for women to help keep them safe is a wonderful idea (variations on this idea actually exist and it’s a pity that nobody has yet set up more formal/better structures for women’s protection, but that’s a whole nother rant…). It’s great to see this as a central theme in a novel.
I’m not sure why I didn’t warm to this novel as I have to many others like it. It didn’t help that the protagonist, Millie, is not particularly likeable: that’s not a problem as such (good novels don’t have to have likeable characters), but it is compounded by flaws in the novel itself, in terms of character building, suspension of disbelief and plot development. Millie’s decisions and actions don’t make much sense sometimes and while they advance the story they don’t always add up to a cohesive character. These sorts of flaws are easy to dismiss if you like the main character and are immersed in the story, but they matter if they cause you to become disengaged and critical while reading.
In terms of tone, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways is dark. But while it starts out dark-funny, it becomes increasingly dark-sad, as Millie morphs from protector to vigilante to really quite unhinged. The ending is rather abrupt. Overall it left me with a feeling that there are the makings of a really good book in there, but it’s not quite fully realised and could have benefited from tighter editing. The aspects I enjoyed push this up to just a 3* rating, but as a debut novel, this is a solid start.
With all that said, I’m perhaps overly critical, and perhaps a bit jaded having already read quite a few books in this [relatively new] genre. Other readers have thoroughly enjoyed it, and so might you!
Thank you to @NetGalley_UK, @AvonBooksUK and the author for the ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
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