"We'll believe what we want to...People will believe the story we sell to them, even if it clearly isn't true."

Ruby Marlowe knows all about secrets. She's grown up keeping them -- from age 7 she realizes that something about her father is not normal and very scary. He doesn't know that she's watching him very carefully and learning a lot about what he is doing although she has no way of understanding why he's doing it. But Ruby loves her daddy and he has always taken care of her. It's been the two of them, alone in their isolated house by the fields and the woods. The two of them, alone, don't need anyone else. But Ruby is growing up and her being "different" is making things hard. Daddy has taught his daughter well. NO SPOILERS.

This is some sick stuff here. Told in diary format, Ruby details her thoughts and feelings about her life as the daughter of a serial killer who's driven by a darkness that engulfs Ruby as well. I don't really care for the style, especially the entries Ruby makes at an age where most children can't express themselves very well or write at that level. It's definitely twisted and sad and awful and I couldn't help but wonder how the family avoided any protective services intervention. It was an extremely fast read and I found myself unable to put this horror story down, hoping that somehow Ruby would be able to be saved. Nothing about this was predictable, which was different for me, but I can't say I enjoyed it. I also can't say I liked any of the characters but I did feel quite sorry for Ruby growing up as she did, keeping herself to herself, and also being privy to her father's secret life. That father-daughter bond was unbreakable since all they had was each other.

I am not sure what type of psycho chiller thriller fan would like this with its very dark subject matter. Be warned! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Ruby Marlowe is a daddy's girl. Her mother died when she was only two and has no real memory of her. But that's okay, because daddy is always there for her.

As a young child of 5, she discovers that her daddy has secrets ... secrets that run deep and dark. She calls it the killing game.

As she ages into a teenager, she knows why she's always been a little different from everyone else .. her daddy's blood runs through her veins.

(BOOK BLURB) As her father’s killing grows rampant, the secrets get harder and harder to hide—and she fears it will all come crashing down. Will Ruby seek a different life for herself and betray the only person who has ever loved her, or will she get wrapped up in his sinister path?

Ruby's story is told through the pages of her diary .. her thoughts, her actions. She becomes obsessed with the color red ... especially the way it takes shape on the garage floor. It's a fascinating look at a child raised by a serial killer.

Many thanks to the author / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The title alone screamed at me that I needed to read this and I’m so glad I did! This book is written entirely from the pages of the daughters (Ruby) diary entries. It starts when she is 7 years old and goes on until she is 16. Ruby and her father live alone on secluded property. She secretly watches what her Daddy (that’s what she calls him the entire book) does in his garage and she becomes utterly fascinated by it.. I just don’t want to give away anything so I’ll just leave it at that.

This book is extremely dark, chilling, very different (in a good way) and I couldn’t put it down. I did not care for all the bullying Ruby endures, honestly at some points this book is just heartbreaking. The book also does get a little a repetitive but it didn’t slow me down because I just had to know the ending!

Very interesting to read. I really enjoyed it. Twists and turns and some stomach churning moments. It was very well written and very easy to read.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Diary of a Serial Killer’s Daughter appealed to my more morbid reading interests, as I loved the idea of exploring what it’s like to grow up with a parent who’s also a serial killer. And this did not disappoint: it’s a slow burn, going through several years in a young girl’s life as she comes to maturation and a true realization of her father’s crimes and her potential to be like him.

I could not help but be struck by the fact that, even though, as an outside observer, you can see the dysfunction in the lives of Ruby and her father, I also found myself rooting for them in a weird way too, because of how messed up they both are. I love how the way his killing spree is hinted at from her perspective through her gradual growing awareness is written, and it perfectly, along with the constant torment she faces from a school bully due to her developmental disability, foreshadows her own dark act pushing her toward the point of no return.

And while it is mostly her voice conveying the narrative, there are some other perspectives that come in toward the end, to balance it out, and it made me feel sorry for her for what she became and contemplate what could have happened had her circumstances been different.

This is obviously quite a dark book, with a ton of sensitive content (CW: bullying, graphic violence), so I would keep that in mind when considering if you’re. However, if you’re among the many who also enjoy reading crime stories, especially those that center the killers themselves, I recommend this one highly.

To be honest, thrillers aren't my go to genre. HOWEVER, this book 'captured' me from the beginning all the way till the end. I wanted to know what happens.
I liked the writing format in diary entries.
The main character Ruby writes in her diary since she doesn't speak much throughout her childhood. Ruby is a great writer and takes time to put her thoughts down and what happened that day. It's her safe place. She also loves to write poetry which is dark because of what she lives with. Her father is a serial killer. They both like the color red.
This book was interesting too and I would recommend it to others!

I will admit that this one started out a bit slowly for me. A good portion of the beginning was written from the POV of a seven year old. It got repetitive and, to be honest, seven year olds just aren’t all that interesting.

However, once our girl started growing up, I was invested.

This is definitely a dark tale. While I’m not sure I liked any of the characters, we really aren’t meant to. But it’s a good look at the inner workings of a psychopath!

Once it got going, this was a very good story!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

I started this book not knowing much about it and ended up loving it! It is written from a child's point of view in a diary format. So different from anything else I've read and I loved the creativity of the writing style. Very chilling and somewhat disturbing, this book will hook you from the first page. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review

This book is written in a diary format initially by young Ruby growing into a teenage Ruby. It is obvious that Ruby is different from her peers, this is cleverly portrayed by Ruby herself and her in writing in her diary but never a diagnosis.

Ruby’s mother died when she was two and Ruby loves her father who brought her up. However Ruby has trouble with the rest of the world. In Rubies world her father can do no wrong .Early in the story we discover what her father really does in the garage when he thinks Ruby is safely asleep in bed , The truth is that Ruby misses nothing and details her fathers actions both in her diary and dark poetry. Ruby loves the colour red the colour of blood!.

This book was a dark unputdownable read ,waiting to find out what happens next . Read this book the title speaks for itself you will not be disappointed.

I read a lot of books about serial killers. I'm not sure what that says about me, but it's become a niche for me and I'm always amazed by how the genre manages to come up with new twists on a familiar narrative.

This provides two new elements. First, it's written from the perspective of the serial killer's daughter versus the POV of the investigating detective or the killer himself. It's quite interesting to see how she interprets the situation. The book provides a new perspective on how a murder can be witnessed, without being overt on the gory details.

Furthermore, it's written as a series of diary entries over a span of about ten or so years (aside from the epilogue), which is a novel approach. We get to see how the main character progresses as a person and as a conflicted daughter.

There were some elements that seemed not fully fleshed out, but overall I definitely enjoyed this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Oddly written from a child’s point of view but deeply disturbing and also incredibly engrossing. I could not stop reading this book even though it made me mildly uncomfortable.

Prehaps the fault is my own, the blurb describing 'The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter' was slanted more as if the Ruby, whose father she knows to be a serial killer, wrestles with the weight of this knowledge and what action, if any, she should take to make it stop. From this decription my expectation was that 'The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter' would vibe similiarly to that of 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, where a child is trapped into an exsistance of horror, even if that child is yet somewhat innocent of such knowledge. I had expected Ruby to express a more profound naivete towards her normal, rather than understanding from a very young age that her life, and the doings of her father were indeed far from normal, or right.

I found this read to be much from gruesome, and twisted than I had expected, that being said, I suppose my disappointment from this book stems more so from the let down of my own expectations, which arose from the description, than the actual reading of 'The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter'. That being said, I personally did not enjoy this read nearly as much as I thought I would.

I would, however, recommend 'The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter', if you're looking for gruesome, for the darkness that comes about from a child being raised on secrets, for angst that pleagues those who feel misplaced amongst society, for an understanding of going to any lengths to stop the pain even if that means doing something you swore you would never do. This book is for you.

Thank you so much for both NetGalley for an advanced copy for 'The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter' in exchange for my honest review.

2.75 stars / 5

The diary of a serial killer - L.A. Detwiler

Review from @netgalley

The synopsis of this book really drew me in and I couldn't wait to read it.

However, this book wasn't quite what I had expected. The story is told from the point of view from a child and reads from her diary extracts during the time she was living with her dad who, later finds out is a serial killer.

As Ruby was growing into a teenager, I found the writing style still seemed like she was very young.

It was a quick read but quite predictable.

RATING: 2 STARS ⭐⭐

I thought the concept of the book was really interesting , it got pretty dark at times! Did it blow me away... no, but I dont think this was the books fault, I just for some reason couldn't connect to the story and cant put my finger on why. I have been hitting the thrillers pretty hard lately so dont know if that has impacted on my enjoyment of the story, so I would like to try again with it at a later date.

Thank you netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for my review.

2.5 stars

This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but the format was interesting and different from most books of this genre I've read in the past.

The story is told from the POV of a child (who ages throughout the book) of a serial killer, as she "talks" through her diary. It was a quick read, but it wasn't as engaging as I'd hoped. The drama and tension just weren't the same, due to how the story unfolded vs. seeing it through the father's eyes, etc. The "creep factor" just wasn't the same. Also, due to the structure of this novel, it was hard to connect with the characters, making it hard to completely stay engaged.

I'd consider reading books by this author in the future, but I'd want to be sure the format was different.

What a great book. Would definitely recommend to it others I no. Great work will look out for this author again I couldn't put this book down

I was in the mood for a mystery read and the title of this book stood out to me being from the serial killer's child's POV. Other than the title, I didn't have any idea what the book was about. The Diary of a Serial Killer's Daughter is written in diary format and follows the life of Ruby Marlowe. Ruby loves her father so much and would never betray his trust or break his rules. One day Ruby hears her father coming home and heading towards his shed, she is curious to see what happens in her father's shed as this is his happy place where she is forbidden to enter. At the back of the shed is a little hole in the wall, where Ruby can peek through. What she sees is a woman lying on a table and the color red everywhere, dripping on the floor. Red is her favorite color and watching her dad becomes her obsession as she over the years watches her dad kill the woman and play with them. Her diary is her only friend and so she writes about her life which in turn is detailing her father's crimes. As Ruby gets older she soon learns that what her dad is doing is wrong and that he is, in fact, a bad guy and as she ages into her teen years, Ruby must decide whether to turn in her father or become an accomplice to his murders and let him continue killing. As this was written in diary format and a childish narrator, in parts was slow to read but as the book went along it kept you wondering what actions Ruby was going to take.

This story is dark ... darker than anything I have ever read. Be warned.

According to the blurbs Ms. Detwiler has put out on Facebook, she wanted to explore the dynamics involved in being related to a serial killer. And, man-oh-man, did she accomplish that in spades. This book is written in diary form from the perspective of a daughter, beginning when she was a young girl on through when she was a teenager. Ruby, the young girl in the story, discovered her father went out in the middle of the night and she wondered why. She discovered a peephole in the garage ... the garage her father warned her to stay away from because it was dangerous. She always took "Daddy" at his word, staying away from the garage until she couldn't. She used the peephole to spy on "Daddy." What she discovered surprised her and mystified her all at the same time. In the end, she wanted to protect herself, wanted to understand "Daddy's" proclivities, wanted to protect him at all costs fearing she would lose him. This tale takes you on a journey you are not soon to forget. I am still "digesting" the story and how close to the truth it may really be.

Be warned, again, though ... it is a very, very dark tale.

This is a really cool story concept and one that I wanted to read. Unfortunately I had a lot of trouble connecting with the character and the overall story. I really wanted to get into it but it wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this one! The diary format was a great idea; it flowed easily & the characters were well developed. I was invested from the beginning.......OH MY.....I kept reading till the end as I couldn't put it down! Loved that it was front a child's point of view; great idea!! Will recommend to others