I read this in a single day, it was so interesting and full or twists. There are a lot of characters, and some of the names sound familiar, so it can be difficult to remember who's who especially if you listen to it on audiobook. I didn't see the ending coming, so that was a good, suspenseful buildup and surprise. This thriller deals with serious topics and can be eye-opening if read with caution. This debut was very impressive, and I'm already looking forward to the next book by this new voice in literature!

While most people are ringing in the year 2000, seven women stand around the severed head of a man who has harmed them in different ways. Each of these women has a motive for wanting him dead, so they must decide if they will cover for each other when the police start asking questions or start spilling long buried secrets that could harm not only them but each other.

Riveting and Character-driven, but Sad at times, this thriller deals with more than just murder.

This book dealt with some heavy topics, so please look up the trigger warnings. Overall, I enjoyed the idea and thought it was pretty original. The execution, however, was pretty messy. Going back and forth between perspectives made it confusing, and the ending left me unsatisfied.

Seven women meet up in a sketchy hotel room where they come upon the severed head of a man. Even more shocking is that each of the women present has a reason to have been the one behind it. As the murder investigation begins, no one’s secrets are safe.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL By Rose Wilding was full of unique voices and characters and I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives that brought out each character’s motive and the trauma they went through to lead them to their present day (with that being said, triggers for rape, infidelity, transphobia, suicide).

Despite enjoying the layout of the story and many of the characters, this book felt drawn out with some details feeling irrelevant and the final resolution feeling abrupt. There were also sooo many characters, with some not receiving much characterization for them to stick, which made it difficult to differentiate them at times.

All in all, an intriguing crime mystery with an original premise.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 13

2.5 stars

I’m glad I stuck this one out since I almost gave up several times. The last 20% finally became the book I was anticipating reading since the beginning of the book felt like it was a competition to see how many cliches/hot topics could be shoved into one book: rape, abuse, alcoholism, abandonment, witchcraft, murder, infidelity, gaslighting, suicide, transgender, lesbians, anti police, drugs, adult and minor relationship, infertility, and more. It felt like the author was trying to win a bet to see how many triggers she could fit into one book. It made the book kind of annoying since I was just planning on reading a psychological thriller/mystery.

The other struggle I had was, there are so many characters! Most of the first half of the book I was so lost and confused on who was who and why they are connected to Jamie.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

The story opens with several women meeting in a shabby hotel room. On an alter is the head of a man they all knew. But who killed him?

The story goes back and forth in time as the story of how Jamie impacted each woman's life is told. Heartbreak. Manipulation. Lies .

Who finally stopped him? I did not guess the end and was engaged enough to finish.

I had a hard time finishing this, the story fell a little lackluster to me. I wanted so much to love this book. I didn't like the characters or the story. I pushed through this book but it kind of felt like a slog.

What are you afraid of ?

For me, it’s Bees and Birds. I’m actually terrified . For this reason, I will never walk in grass in fear of what I can not see or get too close to a pigeon on the street.

So why would I pick a book that has birds on the cover? Hmm… If I haven’t previously established this, I will remind you, there is something seriously wrong with me .

I love scaring myself. I love books that scare the life out of me. I love movies that make me wet my pants and if you haven’t watched a movie that made you do the same you’re either lying or watching the wrong movies.

Speak of the Devil

I just shivered as I typed that out. I still can’t shake the feels that succumbed my soul while reading this one.

This book is absolutely insane. The lies, the deceit, the secrets 👀 . Everyone could be a suspect but which one has the strongest motive?

Pre-order yourself a copy to find out !

Here is a bit of a teaser :

Seven women, inextricably linked by one man, must figure out which of them killed him in order to protect one another in this electrifying debut thriller.

New Year’s Eve, 1999.

Seven women are gathered in a hotel room at midnight; a man's head sits in the center of the floor. They all had a motive to kill Jamie Spellman. They all swear they didn't. But in order to protect one another, they have to find out who did.

The ex, who drowns her darkest secret in a hip flask as the woman she loves drifts further away.
The wife, living out her fairytale marriage in a house tucked into woods so thick no one can hear a scream.
The widow, praying to a past she no longer knows whether she can trust.
The teenager, whose wide-eyed crush has trapped her in an unrecognizable future.
The mother figure, battling nature versus nurture under the weight of her own guilt.
The friend, forced to choose sides over and over, until she learns the price of choosing wrong.
And the journalist, who brought them all together―but underestimated how far one of them would go to keep believing the story they’d been told.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer. Marking the debut of an extraordinary new talent, Speak of the Devil explores the roles into which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to play pretend for one moment longer.

2.5 Stars

I’m on the fence about this one. With so many point of views, it sometimes felt choppy and I had a hard time connecting to any character. Jamie was obviously a horrible man who had wronged many people (these women in particular), and the mystery of who killed him when they all had motive was intriguing. I wish however that we didn’t have quite so many POVs. Overall, I didn’t love it or hate it, and I don’t know that I’ll remember it by the end of this year.

This was a fun read! I liked the mystery and the setup to the story. I really enjoyed learning about the characters’ backstories, but I did find it a little hard to track the story when I first started the book. I thought the book had a good conclusion that tracked well with the personalities and stories of each character.

The story abruptly ends when we first learned finding out everything that Jamie did to each of the women, the killer is revealed right after and the story is wrapped up, I want to say within about ten pages. I didn't feel like their were any breadcrumbs or any sort of build up to the reveal. The abrupt ending was a little bit disappointing.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It reminded me a little of Rachel Kapelke-Dale's writing, so if you enjoyed The Ballerinas or The Ingenue, or if you're looking for a fast paced, character driven thriller, I would give this one a try.

Speak of the Devil is about a group of women who are all tied to a man who was brutally murdered. Throughout the novel, the reader learns about each character’s tie to the victim to ultimately unmask the murderer. It is an interesting premise and an intriguing avenue to take; however, it was very difficult for me to keep the 7 women and their stories straight. That’s how many women are involved! As an avid reader, I am used to multiple POVs, but this was just too much. This confusion took away from the plot ‘s mystique, as I knew I was not understanding and making the right connections to really become invested in the plot. This was a major problem for this book. Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Seven women stand around a table on which sits a man’s severed head. Which woman killed him? They each had a motive. The murdered man, Jamie, was a nasty piece of work and we learn how he treated each woman.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this one. Maybe it’s timing right now for me but it was hard to get through and it’s actually quite a simplistic book. You have all the point of views of women that all had motive to murder a guy. It opens with a severed head and a group of women around it and I honestly thought there would be more to this moment and room from the synopsis but that’s where that moment ends. I couldn’t get any more involved because I just felt there wasn’t much character development. I’m all about different point of views and picking up pieces from all over the place but I just never got any feelings out of this one. Maybe it’s a it’s me not you kind of thing but either way we didn’t work out.

Thank you St. martins press, Minotaur books and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

“She loved watching people get what they deserved.”

Women wronged by Jamie Spellman exact their revenge.

One man hurt many women time and time again. Some survived his mental and sexual abuse over and over again as he manipulated them…until one day, they didn’t.

Now Jamie Spellman is dead. There’s no limit to reasons and motives because let’s face it, he was a bad man. The other question is…which one of the women actually decided to go ahead and “take care of” Jamie? I wouldn’t have faulted a single one of them for taking on the vigilante role.

Jamie is awful. Jamie is a rapist. Jamie is abusive. Jamie is gone.

Please check the trigger warnings on this on, sexual abuse, rape, manipulation, cheating, drugs, suicide, infertility etc.

This book was good and the scene with Keisha and her encounter with not only Jamie but the police will stick with me for a long time.

This book seemed very intriguing when I read the description. I cannot get through it though because of how many characters there are. It becomes too confusing when there are so many people to keep up with. Not for me but hopefully others enjoy

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Seven women surround the severed head of a man that has hurt them all. But who is the one that killed him? Set in eight different points of view, this book just had too much and nothing going on. I DNF'd at about 40% and it took everything in me to get that far. There were too many points of view and no real focus. Most of what we learned is from the past, showing what an awful human Jamie was. I just couldn't finish it.

"Seven women, inextricably linked by one man, must figure out which of them killed him in order to protect one another in this electrifying debut thriller.

New Year's Eve, 1999.
Seven women are gathered in a hotel room at midnight; a man's head sits in the center of the floor. They all had a motive to kill Jamie Spellman. They all swear they didn't. But in order to protect one another, they have to find out who did.

The ex, who drowns her darkest secret in a hip flask as the woman she loves drifts further away.
The wife, living out her fairytale marriage in a house tucked into woods so thick no one can hear a scream.
The widow, praying to a past she no longer knows whether she can trust.
The teenager, whose wide-eyed crush has trapped her in an unrecognizable future.
The mother figure, battling nature versus nurture under the weight of her own guilt.
The friend, forced to choose sides over and over, until she learns the price of choosing wrong.
And the journalist, who brought them all together - but underestimated how far one of them would go to keep believing the story they'd been told.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman's secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer. Marking the debut of an extraordinary new talent, Speak of the Devil explores the roles into which women are cast in the lives of terrible men...and the fallout when they refuse to play pretend for one moment longer."

But why wouldn't they just agree to protect each other and NOT solve the case? That way they have legitimate deniability if ever caught by the cops.

“Speak of the Devil,” starts off strong. A decapitated man’s head sits in a room. 7 women surround it. One of them killed him, but who?

Told from the POV of 7 unreliable narrators, this book keeps you guessing until the very end. While the guessing part was fun, I found it hard to keep track of all the characters and their ties to one another. I even started a chart at one point! Haha While the end was OK, I think the book would feel stronger if some of the storylines were flushed out a little more.

Overall, it’s a quick read and 3 of 5 stars for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love this book!! What a brilliant and creative debut from Rose Wilding. She gives us intriguing characters with multi-layered lies and deceptions, and the murder of a man who was despised by everyone. I was a bit reluctant to begin reading because the idea of seven women sitting in a circle staring at a man’s head which was resting on a bible, seemed a bit creepy. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down until the surprising and shocking ending. All the women had personal reasons for hating him, and the detective assigned to the case had to work extra hard as she took their statements and attempted to tie them all together. She wondered who had the most to gain from his death or whose life had he destroyed by his heinous behavior. To really understand each woman, Ms. Wilding goes back in time to when each of them first interacted with the deceased so we get a better understanding of his deviousness. Their common bond was this horrible man and even though many years had gone by, none of them could forget how he made them feel. It certainly took a lot of careful planning by the ringleader of the group to gather the victims together so they could share their stories, one agonizing detail at a time. By the time the truth was out, there was only one thing they could do, but who would do the dirty deed, or would they all become accomplices in the “crime of the century?”

A group of women are connected by their hatred for one man. On New Years Eve, 1999, they gather in a hotel for an emergency meeting. In the center of the hotel room, sits Jamie's head. The man they all have a reason to hate has been beheaded, and nobody knows which one of them is the one who swung the axe.

Told in the alternating POVs of all the women who had their own motives for murder, plus the detective trying to put the pieces together, this is a very character driven novel. Because there are so many POVs to keep track of, it took me a second to get each character straight, but as more of the story unravels it becomes easier to keep each character separate.

I liked all the characters, which actually came as a surprise to me because usually when I read books with multiple POVs, there usually one that seems to drag for me, but that didn't happen at all for me here.

The only gripe I had is that the ending felt very abrupt. After finding out everything that Jamie did to each of the women, the killer is revealed right after and the story is wrapped up, I want to say within about ten pages. I didn't feel like their were any breadcrumbs or any sort of build up to the reveal. The abrupt ending was a little bit disappointing.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It reminded me a little of Rachel Kapelke-Dale's writing, so if you enjoyed The Ballerinas or The Ingenue, or if you're looking for a fast paced, character driven thriller, I would give this one a try.