Let me start by saying this is not my usual type of book. That said, identical triplet women who all kill their boyfriends - wow! Then one of the women decides she likes the man she is supposed to kill. Wow!

Darkness. Part romance. Part thriller. Part delving into family trauma. Three sisters abandoned as babies dealt with the horrors of foster care grew up to become murderers. Their motto: love 'em and kill 'em before they can hurt you. When the youngest is setting up for her first kill you will dive between the pages for this wild ride.

OMG I absolutely adore this book. It is exactly what would have happened if Nora Ephron wrote the script for Dexter. Its deliciously dark and sumptuously steamy and I could not stop the pages from turning just to see how it would all end. Sissy and her sisters Moody and Iris are triplets that were found abandoned in their strollers as babies. All of their lives all they have had is each other (and a very dark secret). None of their boyfriends live to tell the tale of ever knowing them and they are gone before things can catch up to them. When the sisters arrive in Arizona its time for sissy to choose her first but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. This is a Steller debut novel that defies genres and expectations. If you have ever found yourself looking for a dark/romance/mystery/ thriller than look no further than How I'll Kill you. I look forward to see what Ren will come up with next because this one blew me away.

Female identical triplet serial killers. Is there anything left to say? This story had SUCH an interesting and twisted premise.

Three sisters abandoned as babies dealt with the horrors of foster care grew up to become murderers. Their motto: love 'em and kill 'em before they can hurt you.

What happens when one of the triplets is tasked with making her first kill only to fall in love (for real) with her target?

HOW I'LL KILL YOU showcases a lot of themes about love and belonging: family loyalty, new love, innocent love, love gone wrong, friendship … there were so many different types of love our main character experienced.

Of course, the book is as dark as one would expect with this title and premise. Part-romance, part-thriller HOW I'LL KILL YOU keeps the reader hanging on because you just know the main character is going to have to make some tough decisions when it comes time to make her first kill.

I thought the story was a bit longer than it needed to be, but the pacing was good and it kept me on edge the entire book.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an e-copy of HOW I'LL KILL YOU to review.

I rate HOW I'LL KILL YOU four out of five stars.

In addition to my house cover addiction, I have to confess that if you put “kill” in the title, there’s about a 112% chance Imma want to read it. If for no other reason than to carry it around the office so others can see it while waiting for their turn at the coffee bar or the copy machine . . . .



Last week I read How to Kill Men and Get Away With It, then I read this, and coming soon it’s Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. Ahhhhhhh, it’s like hanging out with my besties.

This selection was absolutely a had me at hello with the premise of triplets who spend their free time murdering their boyfriends. And having it not be all about the gore or twists and turns was once again super satisfying to my hate-everything lately self.

Sissy has always had the role of the “cleaner” when it comes to her sisters’ shenanigans, but now it’s her turn. She’s identified her mark and now has a maximum of six months to make him fall in love with her before offing him, disposing of his body and moving on to the next. It’s her time and she’s ready . . . until she starts catching some feels.

This slow roller didn’t include a lot of shock and awe, but it kept me engaged right from the jump and I read it in a day. There was a bit of jumping of the shark with the added neighbor narrative muddying up the waters, but for the most part I really enjoyed this one. 3.5 Stars and rounding up because I’m full of the holiday spirit.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sissy, Iris, and Moody are identical triplets who have all killed men they loved. Well, all except Sissy. But it's her turn now. She's picked her mark and is ready to make her move. After all, Iris and Moody couldn't have gotten away with their crimes if she hadn't helped cover it up.

Well, if I'm a little dazed at work this morning it's because I had to stay up last night to finish this thrill ride! It sounded a little farfetched to start with but I was soon drawn in to Sissy's world. Her internal struggle and conflict along with the thrill and twists in the story kept the suspense and stakes high for the reader.

Highly recommend this for fans of suspense and thrillers who aren't afraid of a little romance and obsession in the mix (fans of "You"). I'm excited to share this one with others!

Sissy knows two things in life: her two identical sisters are the only people she loves and trusts…and serial killing is their way of life.

They set their mark, they fall in love, and before there can be any heartbreak, they murder their lover.

It is Sissy’s first chance to kill and she’s found her victim. But then something strange happens, she starts to imagine a life with her new love and she doesn’t think she can kill him. Her sisters won’t allow for that so she must make the choice: the only family she’s ever known, or a chance of future where she’s not always running.

This book had great suspense and the main character was wonderfully manipulative. She is part of a pack of serial killers and preparing for her kill, but somehow you root for her. Even after choosing a mark that is completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Her journey from seductress to someone genuinely in love is believable and her torment palpable. Her sisters, while identical, are also completely flushed out characters who have unique personalities.

Overall a really enthralling read.

For fans of You by Caroline Kepnes.

As it is a story about killers, there is violence.

How Ill Kill You is a fun, fast-paced, thrill ride. I love serial killer stories, I love sibling stories, so combine the two and you have a recipe for success. Then, add a hint of romance and you made yourself a five star potion. I love the inclusion of a abandonment of our triplets, it added an extra layer to the story that otherwise I felt would be lacking. I absolutely loved this book and think everyone should run to get their hands on it.

What a wild debut! "How I'll Kill You" certainly lives up to it's title as surprising, and is quite a thrill ride, too! These three identical triplet, murdering sisters are quite mind-blowing. It's a big "will she or won't she" (kill) focusing on Sissy & her b.f., broken good-guy, Edison. Also this has a filly large helping of romance at it's core. Found it very enjoyable & a fairly quick read too - recommend. My sincere thanks to the publisher's rep for the complimentary DRC widget & to Net Galley. All ratings & opinions my own.

WOW now THAT is how you write a thriller! So fun, original, off-the-rails in the best way! I had no clue where it was going and really enjoyed this from start to finish. A fresh & unique concept. Highly recommend.

I recently finished reading How I'll Kill You by Ren DeStefano, and I can confidently say it was one of the most thrilling books I've ever read. From the very first page, I was hooked. Ren DeStefano has crafted an intense and gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I had a hard time getting into it. I think the beginning of a mystery is just as important as the end and needs to suck you in right away. I wanted to like it and maybe I’ll try again another time but for now I’m marking it as DNF. I just didn’t feel like picking it up after putting it down.

The drama builds slowly to a blistering end, much like a soft breeze can blow across the Arizona desert and create a sandstorm.

On many levels this is not an easy book to read. The sisters, identical triplets who never had a normal life and were constantly torn apart by the foster care system after being found abandoned as toddlers at a rest stop, are deeply wounded.

They never knew their mother or father. Never knew why they had been abandoned. But abandonment and trauma through childhood does horrible things to a person, and so we have this trio of young female killers, who at first seem totally heartless

Sissy, known as Jade to everyone in the small Arizona town where they have settled for a few months so she can fulfill her promise to go through with her first kill, has somewhat of a child-like innocence about her even though she's done horrible things - dismembering bodies and cleaning up blood and helping her sisters cover up the murders throughout their six-year spree of finding victims and killing them.

The story opens with the three young women near Phoenix, far away from their last kill in Montana. The reader meets Jade as she sits in a diner, checking out the other patrons so she can choose the man who will be her first kill.

The rules of this deadly game the sisters play have them taking turns finding a victim, then spending time making the man fall in love with them before killing them. In their twisted thinking, this is a way that they can have control over love. They will leave the lover; the lover will not leave them like their parents did.

Not rational, but not much about the three sisters is. And, trust me, it works in this story.

In the acknowledgments, the author states that the writing of How I'll Kill You took almost eight years, and it's evident that much care was put into every aspect of the story. The plot, the characters, the pacing, the surprises: Things are not completely what they seem to be, and the people are not completely who they seem to be.

When I read a novel, I do so as much for enjoying the craft as well as the actual story, and this author doesn't miss a beat. The last line in the story is so perfect and so satisfying.

We writers often struggle to find just the right words. Just the right amount of words - no more, no less. And I could tell that Ms. DeStefano agonized over her last line as much as so many of us have, perhaps writing ten different "last lines" before finally finding the one that is just right. She did it!

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book because I don't care for stories that put a serial killer center stage, asking us to somehow relate to him or her. I couldn't do that with the popular Hannibal series, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that with this book either. However, I did connect with Jade, and Edison, and Dara, and Sadie, and some of he other members of the superb cast. Even the two other sisters, Moody and Iris, were almost likable at times. There was an undercurrent of goodness in all of the characters that pulled me in.

Add to that, the turmoil that Jade went through as she realized that she truly did love this man, Edison, but did she love him more than her sisters? That was the question that I wanted to find the answer to. Even though she fantasized about how she would kill him, she just wasn't sure she could do it, and there was an internal struggle between Sissy and Jade that was wonderfully compelling.

If you like a taut thriller with wonderful undercurrents, I highly recommend How I'll Kill You.

Totally unique & devious, Ren DeStefano’s How I’ll Kill You was one of the best books I’ve read as of late. I have been in need of a thriller to stand out from the others and this one truly did that. A story of identical triplets with an unconventional upbringing has them finding men, luring them in and killing them. I couldn’t turn the pages of this fast enough and I can’t wait to read more from DeStefano in the future!

Thank you to Berkley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a different book than I was expecting. The premise was intriguing so I went about reading this book about triplets who kill. I was not expecting the strong love bonds or the romantic side of this. It was thrilling enough to keep me turning the page and for someone who really does not read rom-coms it’s saying enough that I finished this. There are some parts I truly had a hard time believing but overall I would recommend this book.

Ren DeStefano's debut novel, HOW I'LL KILL YOU has a very interesting premise, three identical sisters who are serial killers preying on vulnerable men. For some reason, I immediately get vibes from the movie Devil's Rejects, but this book involves a lot more romance. Starting right off, we find out that the three sisters—Iris, Moody, and our main protagonist Sissy—raised in foster care and ready to seek out revenge—all have a gameplan in motion. Trick the man into falling for you and then killing him in cold blood when he's at his most vulnerable. Sissy is planning for her first kill, what could go wrong?

This book was fun, but suffers from the struggle of what genre are you playing towards. It's a mystery/thriller at its core, but the romance plays a very big secondary role. I figured out what was going to happen early on, but it doesn't mean that I didn't have fun. If you need a fun and fast popcorn thriller, this book will entertain you.

A smart, sharp thriller that is both suspenseful and also surprisingly heartbreaking. The relationship between the three sisters is riveting. Once you're done, you'll be begging for more. I'm going to need a spin-off right about now!

This was just SO fun to read. I honestly wasn't too invested in the characters and had a difficult time connecting with them, but I really enjoyed the concept of triplet sisters committed to their mission together. I love books that elevate women no matter how wild and obscene their actions are -- it's all fiction fun anyway! Though not a deep dive by any means, I appreciated the touches on child abandonment and trauma and how they've influenced the sisters' actions in murdering their boyfriends. I work in the anti-carceral state field and have a background in clinical and social psychology, and so I was especially intrigued by this aspect of the story and it was enough to successfully trap me into the story.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!!

Man, this was a really fantastic read! I've loved her books under the name Lauren DeStefano, so when I saw this was by her, I had to pick it up! And I absolutely loved it, it was dark and I had to know what was going to happen next!

Sissy is the one that cleans up, she's the detail oriented one, the one to make sure that they don't get caught. And she's the only one of the triplets who hasn't killed her first love, and this is the story of her choosing him, falling in love-and being pressured to kill him.

On the one hand, these three sisters were extremely close. They would do anything for one another. But on the other, they maybe took it too far, because murder is extreme. If you don't want to be be hurt, maybe break things off before it gets to far?

It was interesting, because Sissy does have a hardness that comes from her life, being in foster care, separated from her sisters, and how they're killers. There's her developing love for Edison, and how she is softer then Iris and Moody. But oh, that ending and how everything went down? That was a bit sad, but it was fitting. It was a really great ending!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Ren DeStefano, under either name!

I really wanted to like this one because it's such an intriguing idea: identical triplets who take turns murdering people and masquerading as each other.

However, somehow the short sentences and writing style just did not work for me. How in the world could a ridiculous rom com of a book bore me? The writing just isn't good. Feels like a first draft of a book you'd write in highschool and think was super good, but now it's just embarrassing.

If you want your murder with a side of romance and sister issues this miiight work for you. Just don't expect quality shit.