Thank you for this book.
This was well written. Informative with a touch of humor here and there. I am surprised Lorena Bobbitt didn't make the cut though.

Great collection of true crime stories with the common thread being the killers were women. Well researched and reads like fiction rather. Interesting and informative.

Book 26 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

She Kills Me: The True Stories of History's Deadliest Women
by Jennifer Wright

Summary (via Goodreads)
published 2021

A powerful collection of stories about women who murdered—for revenge, for love, and even for pleasure—rife with historical details that will have any true crime junkie on the edge of their seat.

In every tragic story, men are expected to be the killers. There are countless studies and works of art made about male violence. However, when women are featured in stories about murder, they are rarely portrayed as predators. They’re the prey. This common dynamic is one of the reasons that women are so enthralled by female murderers. They do the things that women aren’t supposed to do and live the lives that women aren’t supposed to want: lives that are impulsive and angry and messy and inconvenient. Maybe we feel bad about loving them, but we eat it up just the same.
Residing squarely in the middle of a Venn diagram of feminism and true crime, She Kills Me tells the story of 40 women who murdered out of necessity, fear, revenge, and even for pleasure.

First Impressions/Judging a Book by Its Cover
I chose this book from NetGalley (full disclaimer below) because of the title and cover art. Looking at the description, this book has a lot of potential for me to enjoy it. It's true crime with an unusual slant (women who kill) and covering so many different women makes it likely there will be crimes I haven't heard of.

My Opinion
4 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

Looking at my first impression, I was correct in my assumptions. What you expect going into the read is the minimum of what you'll get; there were many unusual extras that enhanced my reading as well.

The book really leaned into the point that women can be just as evil as men. Historically, women were able to get away with murder because men underestimated their mental capacities and physical strength or they assumed they must have had a good reason to commit the act (but it wasn't all roses since they could be accused of witchcraft or sent to an asylum because their husband didn't like them). Now we realize women can be just as conniving as men. To quote the author, "Yeah, that's right, women can be horrible people, too." Yay feminism!

The book was divided into sections: psychos, poisoners, family, black widows, scorned, mercenaries, royalty, warriors, and avengers. There were also summaries at the end of each section with extra information about the topic, such as how to spot a psychopath, the timeline of women's independence, and quotations from men throughout history about women in power (spoiler alert: they've never liked it).

There were trigger warnings at the beginning of each story so you could skip ones involving children, sexual assault, etc. if you wanted to. Each story ended with the citations of the author's research (instead of one big chunk at the end like usual) so if you wanted to know more about a specific case you could find the information easily and immediately.

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars but rounded up because of the extra details mentioned above that I haven't seen before. Even if everything stayed pretty short and superficial in terms of content, it was well-researched and the majority of the information was new to me. It was entertaining and funny without mocking or being disrespectful.

Quote from the Book
Note: I read an ARC so this quote may be altered in the final version

" "The world would be so much gentler if it was run by women." - A Man Who Never Read a History Book "

This book is such a gem. I love learning about true crime, especially when women are at the center of it. As someone who obsessively watches shows like Criminal Minds and Mind Hunter, this was just so much fun. I really enjoyed how the stories in this collection were split up - there were definitely some criminally insane ladies who killed and tortured for fun, but then there were also stories about women who took justice into their own hands to fight back. "She Kills Me" is a great introduction to true crime, as well as a fun read for those already familiar.

I found the topic of this book to be quite interesting. There were a few names I recognized. There was some information on the people I knew about that I did not previously know.

While the subject was an interesting one I found myself wanting more. The information provided whetted my appetite but did not give me enough. The credits section for each story in many cases was larger than the actual story.

Jennifer Wright has somehow managed to turn a collection of true crime stories into a book on female empowerment and I love every second of it!
Ok, so saying that this book is about female empowerment is a bit of an overreach, but Wright does dispel the myth that women are not killers. Many of the male victims in these stories learned that women are just as capable of committing atrocities.
Wright breaks the stories down into 9 sections, including poisoners and scorned women. The chapter on each deadly woman is a few pages long, but Wright cites her source material at the end of each if you’re interested in further reading. I love the illustrations by Eva Bee that adorn each story - they’re so pretty!
Also helpful is that Wright provides content warnings for each chapter. For example, the entry for Elizabeth Báthory notes that it contains “torture, enslavement, juvenile death, and cannibalism”. These were really handy - I liked knowing what content to look out for and knowing I could skip a section if I found anything triggering.
I really loved this book! It felt like sitting down with one of my favorite true crime podcasts! If you can’t get enough true crime in your life, I highly recommend this!

She Kills Me is set to be released September 14th, 2021.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

finished this gem of a book. everybody who says women are innocent and incapable of ferociousness – they need to read this immediately. my mouth was hanging open so many times istg. from cannibalism and enslavement to assassination and leading armies. true stories told with some humour, about ancient women & even a few modern. highly recommend this book!! xx

Arc received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably one of my favorite biographical collections ever. I enjoyed all aspects of this book — the entries were short but very informative, and the writing was also very entertaining. It felt like you were just having a conversation with the author and not just dry textbook text. There were many women featured with different themes, such as killer queens, avenging angels, rebel leaders, etc, but I wish there were more diversity amongst the women, although I really liked how the POC featured weren't the commonly known ones. I also liked how it didn't shy away from the fact that many of these women did fucked up things and try to spin it into "but she might have been innocent & was forced into it!!". It told the story the way it was and didn't sugarcoat anything. I honestly learned a lot from this book and if ever there would be a second volume, I'd definitely read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Image for providing me with a copy of this eARC.

Most of the true crime books I read feature one case/person. She Kills Me is a little different in that it features 40 different women throughout history - from bad to the bone to bad ass - in bite size pieces. The author also provides her sources which makes for a good jumping off point for further reading.

The writing style is quite informal and easily accessible, and this would be a great introduction for anyone who wants to try historical/true crime but isn’t too sure if they’ll like it.

The various shedevils of this book kill, slay, poison and get up to all sorts of mischief. It’s entirely too entertaining, albeit obviously in a macabre sort of way, to not make me rethink my position on true crime genre.
But no, I stand resolute in my avoidance of it, no matter its popularity, the modern interest/obsession with it just seems too prurient and salacious somehow. Unless, of course, the true crimes are told in brief cheeky entries with a black and white artwork presenting each murderous affair.
Which is to say this book struck just the right tone for me. The author did a great job with it, finding just the right balance of facts and opinions. It was practically funny at times, darkly humorous, because, you know, murder…hilarious business. And it covered such a span of time, historically, from the early days of warrior princesses and lady pirates to the more recent and admittedly more subdued but no less disturbing deadly ladies.
The idea behind it, timely as ever, is about equality. For so long women were denied basic rights, regardless as lesser people, etc. Much in the same way that Queen Victoria dismissed the sheer notion of women loving women to the extent of not even considering that enough of a possibility to outlaw it, for the longest time people (read men) dismissed the very idea of women murderers. Because what sort of a dainty delicate lady creature would ever do such a thing? Well, as it turns out plenty ladies, of all different sorts, walks of life, social strata, etc.
And for a variety of reasons, not just from having been scorned by a man. Sometimes for the sheer pleasure of it. So yeah, killer lady deniers…they exist, behold the evidence. Equality, baby, all the way.
What a fun book this was, just a quick, entertaining, informative read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you to Jennifer Wright, Abrams, and Netgalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

"If you don’t want to read about women eating people, that’s understandable." Well, you certainly have my attention!

She Kills Me is a mix of clinical and lyrical writing mixed with new facts about cases I was already aware of.

Here’s the thing, it’s hard to summarize the brutality of murderers and their crimes, especially when their torturous sprees lasted decades. Many of these stories read like elongated summaries of books - intriguing enough to draw you into the case but it ultimately leaves you a little disappointed as it only skims the surface.

The writing is succinct, well organized, and most importantly, peels back the curtain on the raw emotions felt my women. Again, with so many cases to cover, Wright didn't have time to really dive into the social commentary of the time, which is too bad considering those were the bits I wanted to read more about. Given that the introduction lays down the foundation for how misogyny helped shape the lens of how we view women who murder, it would have been nice getting into the meat of the subject, but that subject needs a book of its own.

None of this is to say the book is bad. I quite enjoyed it, especially when viewed as a primer or introduction to some of history’s most notorious women. It’s the perfect book to read when you’re interested in the subject but aren’t quite sure where to start.

This is an interesting collection of short stories about women who killed throughout history. I’ve read similar books like this, but this has more women I’d never heard of, along with those that are more common. I enjoyed reading about the women who are new to me, along with those I’ve read about previously. This book seemed less dry to me than similar types of books as I got into it. There are some really evil psychopaths among these women, and they kill in a multitude of methods. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Jennifer Wright, and the publisher.

My thanks to Abrams, Jennifer Wright and Netgalley.
I loved this book! Women who kill are damned near my hero's! And no. I don't mean women who kill for money, or in hospital . Just women who finally get their dander up, and go all out! I especially like the warrior's. Good book. Great humor! I had fun with this!

Very informative and interesting book enjoyed reading about all the women of history wished it was longer to be honest

This was a refreshing read for my true crime loving brain. You hear a lot about men and their killings, but women tend to not be focused on. Nor their motivates and what actually lead to any murders they committed. So it was interesting to see a full list of women killing, the different ways they did it, and why.

I think my only issue with this book was I went in expecting it to be completely true crime based. Facts laid out, compiled and given about the cases. But the author did interject her own ideas into some of the cases. And at times it was a bit off putting, though I understand wanting to discuss the misogyny and principles that were behind some of the murders. I also felt like some of the information wasn’t as fleshed out as it could’ve been. I felt like there could have been more said for some of the cases. But I suppose it had to be kept concise to include all of the women she wanted to include.

This is an overview of lots of different cases of women who kill, all told with a touch of humour - which actually works. It’s enough to give you a taste for the macabre and I found myself heading off to research some of the cases further. Fundamentally, I think this is a feminist book. It does not shy away from, compartmentalise or apologise. It reflects on historical contexts and attitudes which shaped the female experience but ultimately recognises that the women described had their own wills and made their own choices.

I was asking myself the question if there is women who is serial killers? And why we not heard about it.

They are a lot of themes when a woman kills. It is interesting that either man or woman could have kill the people.
There are a lot stories and methods when a person decide to kill others: torture, poison, beheading, starvation..
Killed by women is common as man killing if this actually normal.

The author does a good job and in short texts describing the women and their killings. A good research was made and if you want to know about them there is a extended bibliography.

But what really bothers me was how that in the introduction the author says that women may kills because of "patriarchy" which startle me because its a common word use now to describe everything and nothing for people who think everything resume to simple thinking.

There is others "white man" "white woman" using to describe people with that color can get away with everything and yet in the book a lot of women that had different background killed other people because they simple want to.

Not that hard.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of She Kills Me.

I love true crime featuring female murderers since they don't get enough credit so I was thrilled when my request was approved.

What's not to love about She Kills Me?

The title is clever and hilarious, the illustrations are cheeky, the categories the author has thoughtfully organized the women into, the useful tips and historical tidbits about what life was life for women in a particular time period, and the author's writing style is humorous and empathetic (when appropriate).

She Kills Me reminds me of another book called Lady Killers by Tori Tefler (another great read) and some of the women featured here I'm familiar with thanks to Ms. Tefler's book.

But, there are quite a number of murderous women and vengeful ladies I did not know about and I'm grateful Ms. Wright shines a spotlight on, especially the women from the last chapter. I'll be Googling some of these ladies to know more about their contributions.

I loved everything about this book, which may seem strange to some readers since this is a book about female murderers but to each her own!

My only caveat: this was too short! I wanted more details, more history, more female killers.

MORE MORE MORE!

Full of true crime stories about women divided by genre, this book is an interesting delight to read. I found the illustrations to be a nice touch for the stimulating subject matter.