This was a great psychological thriller, full of suspense. The story itself was excellent and the characters were interesting. The first book I have read by this author and I will be looking out for more in the future. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading this genre.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book

I'd heard great things about this so I was so excited when I was approved - and what a great read! Very involved and exciting

I loved The Widow Next Door.

I liked this as well. It had strange and interesting characters and the writing was quite good. The pacing though was a bit slow for me.

The narrator, Ruby, isn’t your typical kid. She seems to be on the spectrum of OCD or autism - the diagnose isn’t important but it reflects in the journal entries. At the beginning, when Ruby is young the entries seem to be quite mature. Unfortunately, as Ruby ages the entries don’t really change so much so they don’t seem mature enough to represent the aging process.

This was interesting and I found myself needing to see how the story ended. It was a satisfying conclusion however it was strange in the choices - Ruby is odd, but intelligent. I feel she would understand that the items left behind would not be well received. (Spoilers have me writing this review strangely). It was interesting and enjoyable but at time I wanted a quicker pace. Overall, I would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Xpresso Book Tours for a copy in exchange for a review.

I have so much to say about this book that it's hard to know where to start. This book looked interesting to me because I read the book by BTK's daughter and I found it fascinating. Of course one was fiction and one was non-fiction but I was drawn to it all the same.

The book is solely diary entries of a girl, Ruby, who figures out that her dad is a serial killer, but instead of being scared, she was intrigued. I had some issues with the development of the character, Ruby. She finds out her dad is a serial killer when she is very young by spying on him in their garage. She first thinks the blood is him making art, then sometimes she starts to recognize it as he is killing them and causing them to bleed but sometimes she is unsure what is happening. She is also really precise about somethings like writing at the same time every time she writes but then she doesn't write every day. She seems to have a mix of OCD/autism/anxiety disorder/possibly other developmental delays but this was never defined. It is referred to many times as her having a "condition". I find this to be bizarre as these are things that can be diagnosed and I just felt that her development from a child into her teenage years could have been a bit more focused to fully establish who she is. I didn't think her development as she aged jived with how she spoke all of the time.

The book also spends quite a bit of time on bullying which is heartbreaking. Ruby is bullied at school and it's interesting to think about if this had been different would she not have the anger to agree with her father that killing was an acceptable thing to do? I did find it a little unrealistic that the most popular girl in school wanted a boy who liked Ruby when she was painted as the outcast of the school. Ruby's mom, who died when she was two, was also not a very nice person although who knows what the cause and effect was of her marrying someone she feared.

In the end Ruby's diary is left out and found... and I just can't understand how she would think this was a smart thing to do.

I guess it sounds like my review is very negative but I don't mean it to be. I actually liked the book but I did think the above things really could've improved it overall. I definitely couldn't put the book down at times and I loved the format of having it be journal entries completely from Ruby's perspective over the course of many years.

This book was horrifying, chilling , fascinating and intruiging. You name it it had it. Very powerfully written from the daughters perspective. It is in the form of a diary so it had a totally different perspective. I loved it.

I was sold on this premise from the start. We so often read/hear about/see things about serial killers, and their own madness, but we don’t nearly so often get the opportunity to see the kind of havoc they can wreak on those who are close to them.

This story is told by Ruby Marlowe, daughter of a serial killer (so it’s not just a clever name) via entries into her personal diaries spanning from the time she is 7 years old until she is 16.

We know fairly early on that Ruby is special. She has some unnamed ‘condition’ (which to me sounds like she might be on the autism spectrum based on symptoms, but dammit man, I’m a writer, not a doctor) which makes it difficult for her to fit in with her peers. She doesn’t deal well with over-stimulation, she’s not very sociable, and when she gets stressed out she does things like rock back and forth, hit her head on things, or scratches her neck until it bleeds.

As the synopsis points out, Ruby becomes aware of her father’s crimes – what she refers to as his killing game. Her diaries pick up for the reader when she first becomes aware of the “game.”

When Ruby comes to realize that her life can be different – that she doesn’t have to live with the weight of always having to protect her daddy, will she take it? Or will she choose to continue to live a life that is solely comprised of each of them protecting the other? “Just Daddy and Ruby. Ruby and Daddy.”

On a side note: this book has proven, once and for all that Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer has ruined serial murderers for me forever. I always picture them as Michael Rooker – every time! Every ding-dong-diddly time (please consider this permission for a Henry/Flanders mashup). Throughout the entirety of this book, I consistently pictured Ruby’s father as being played by Micheal Rooker. Ruby in my mind was a blank child (as, admittedly, most children are in my mind – they’re mostly just small, loud, interchangeable clay lumpkins).

An absolutely fascinating story told through the eyes of a daughter as she records her thoughts and observations in her diary. As her first person description is recorded with no filter, Ruby displays her life with chilling normality. Isn't everyone's father a serial killer? As her story unwinds and she begins to understand the action/ consequence of her father's "game" the tension builds. LA Detwiler sucks the reader directly into this story. You'll have to keep reading just to see how the story ends!

Holy cow! This is a dark, brutal read, which is definitely not going to be for all, but if like me you will be hooked! It’s done in a more original format; but some may not like the diary format! I found it to be quite chilling, tense, shocking, and brutal at times, but also well written and unputdownable! Highly recommend to those who’ve read all thrillers and are looking for something a bit different! It’s sure to bring you the chills, suspense, and brutality you are craving!
Will make sure to buzz it up on different platforms and use low Amazon reviewer number to review!

This is a dark, twisted read that chronicles in diary format the daughter if a serial killer. I jave to say I enjoy serial killer books and this one really gives the creap factor and extra notch this read is an increadibly intense page turner as we see how Ruby evolves due to the horros she witnesses as a child but does not quite understand.

The diary begins at the age of 7 as Ruby witnessed her fathers first murder cleanup and continues until the age of 16 and by this point Ruby knows what her father is... The characters are richly developed and we see Ruby grow to understand her fathers murders and need to kill..

Ruby is bullied at school and never truly fits in and is showered with love from a man of intense brutality so we see the impact as this weird dynamic plays out in her mind. Does Ruby learn the meaning of real love will she be as dark and twisted as her father? I can't wait to find out so I do hope to see more about Ruby!! Great creepy read I really enjoyed it but this dark jaunt into the darkest of minds and how it can shape a child may not be for everyone.

I received this book from L. A. Detwiler for an honest review.
#TheDiaryofaSerialKillersDaughterAchillingdarkthriller
#NetGalley

This is a dark, twisty read that brought joy to my serial killer lovin’ heart.

The story is told in a diary format from the point of view of the daughter, Ruby. Her first entry at age 7 describes what is clearly a murder scene in her father’s garage.

Entries continue until Ruby is 16, and over time we come to know Ruby and her father well. The characters are wonderfully developed. We also follow Ruby’s inner journey as she pieces together her father’s behavior and understands that he is a serial killer.

Ruby is bullied at school and is presented as non-verbal. I loved the juxtaposition of the love and kindness shown to Ruby by her father with the brutal nature of his need to kill. Is a monster capable of love? Is a child destined to walk in her father’s footsteps?

I would offer trigger warnings for anyone sensitive to bullying, graphic violence, and issues around suicide.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you like twists turns and thrills this book is one to pick and and get ready for a ride.
I love psychology thrillers and would recommend this book to fellow thriller lovers

It's not a read for everyone.

The story is told from Ruby's pov, from the time she is a little girl that just loves to play in puddles and sees something she shouldn't. Her father cleaning up a crime scene.
Ruby just sees the red color everywhere though and doesn't quite understand what's happening so she starts liking the color red- wanting to play in red puddles, having red rainboots, etc.

You read and see Ruby grow up and how the different things she sees around her affect her, she's a ddady's girl that thinks he can do no wrong though she eventually realizes that her father is a serial killer.

And honestly, the eerie and creepy parts of this book come from seeing the main character's mind as she wraps her thoughts around what she sees and hears.
As Ruby grows up and deals with the world around her, and sees her father growing restless when he doesn't commit murder, she tries to understand what's ''wrong'' and what's ''right''.

This is not a mystery kind of read, this is a book that makes you wonder what our main character is going to do and what will happen to her- every page you wonder what decision she's going to make as you watch her go through every age while knowing her father that she loves is a murderer.
It is well written and keeps you reading for sure.


If you love eerie and dark reads, this is for you.

My rating to this book is because it's not the kind of book for me, but if all of this piques your curiosity and you like those kinds of reads, you will enjoy it.
This is just my personal thoughts on the book.
2.5 stars!

I enjoyed though was incredibly creeped out by this intense page turning thriller. I enjoyed the diary format as seen through the daughters eyes as she grows

The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter was the perfect level of creepy and messed up for me! I absolutely loved it. I honestly wasn't expecting this book to be anything overly special but having it all told from the little girl's first person perspective as she was ageing was fascinating. The whole book is written in a diary format which kept the pace going and the pages turning.
Ruby tells the story of her Dad and his 'killing game' from her first discovering it at age 7 right through until she is age 16. The development of her Dad's killing and Ruby's changing thoughts on it and the world around her was brilliant. It sounds like Ruby has ASD from the way she thinks and behaves. She is very socially awkward, has concrete thinking, is obsessive about certain things, likes a strict routine and has sensory processing issues. This enables us as readers to see how she can possibly view things differently than we would expect and allows Ruby to have moral and ethical debates with herself regarding what is happening without empathy for the victims. She also comes across as quite naive and rigid about things at times such as when she quit chess club because someone cheated and she couldn't forgive cheating ever, yet her Dad is killing people.
Ruby gets bullied very badly during several periods in the book, and it only intensifies as the book goes on and she becomes older. So there are definitely trigger warnings for that. Also, I'd add that there are trigger warnings for graphic violence and the glorification of suicide.
Throughout the book there is a side mystery of how Ruby's Mother died. The official story is that she took her own life but is that true or was she murdered?
The book is very graphic and gory so definitely not for the faint hearted. And I love the idea that it raises a strong arguament for nurture vs nature.

A very entertaining and addictive book. I really enjoy the diary style writing and I couldn't put it down. A very dark and disturbing viewpoint from our main character here.

The Diary of a Serial Killer’s Daughter is a unique book, written in the format of a diary written by a girl, Ruby,
between the ages of 7 and 16, her father is an escalating serial killer that hides his true nature from everyone. The story is completely from Ruby's point of view which adds a wonderful element since she does not show any empathy and is obsessive.This book is not for the light of heart and if a lot of graphic imagery bothers you you probably need to skip this book.
This story is a good look at nature vs. nurture combined with psychological suspense. .I feel like some of the bluntness took away from the book some and the characters were not very likeable but mostly because it was Ruby's point of view.
I thank Netgalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book.

So this is a really good idea for a book but I found it a little slow. Not only that I had a hard time connecting with the main character.

Fabulous book. Very dark, but it's what I came for. A little slow for me at first but hang in there if it is for you, too. It gets good.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc.

This book was made entirely of diary entries and the reader follows Ruby as she learns about her father’s murderous obsession at a very young age. Ruby’s mother also died when she was very young and Ruby herself appears to be a high-functioning autistic. For whatever reason Ruby never really seems afraid of her father or thinks that what he is doing is very bad. The story follows Ruby as she gets older and things continue to escalate. To me the story seemed very repetitive and although we were reading what are Ruby’s deepest, secret thoughts, I never felt very connected to her. Overall for me this one fell pretty flat. Three and a half stars.

I was disappointed. It was a tedious read. There was nothing to it, it did not even feel like a diary. The character is supposed to be fixed on routines. Same foods. Same clothes. Same times. Yet the entries are sporadic. For me that was annoying because right away the character is not being true to herself. I get that the author had to stretch this over a period of time to have Ruby watching her father all these years. A more realistic diary would have led to hundreds and hundreds of pages. The diary is the vehicle for telling the story. It just did not work. Like I said, it was tedious to read. She tried too hard to sound like a child. Too many cliches. Of course the favorite English teacher of the "girl who was different" ended up being a pedophile. Ruby's dad was also the cliche serial killer. I was rooting for a twist in the end. That her dad never killed anyone. What Ruby saw was not reality but one she created around her mothers mysterious death and killing her rival shattered her illusions. I was expecting the police to only find one body in that field. But that was not the case. The ending was a huge let down.