This novel unfolded masterfully - with great twists and deep character development. Seven women, one dead man… this is what happens when women are left at the will of evil men.

You have to pay attention to all of the women because their stories are quite intertwined. Past/future… it definitely kept me on edge!

Excellent narration!

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
Rose Wilding

LEVITICUS 2:19
..”An eye for an eye”

That is the name of the game here with SPEAK OF THE DEVIL by Rose Wilding.

In SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, we have a cast of characters. One of them killed the man in question and all of them have a lot to lose if the police find out. We follow along as the characters try to stay one step ahead of the case to figure out which one of them did it.

This book starts out fast and immediately I found it hard to filter out unnecessary information. There are a lot of characters to keep straight and they’re all sneaky and hiding something.

It felt a bit tiring and what you get in return for keeping everyone straight is not worth it in the end. I gave this one three stars and although it was well constructed there was never enough tension to keep me turning pages.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL…⭐️⭐️⭐️

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

This book starts with 7 angry women in a room with 1 dead man. Over the book we learn about each woman’s stories and how they have all had their lives damaged by the same evil man.

This story was so addicting. I really enjoyed the setup and how felt like certain secrets and stories were so well placed along the story line. It was a bit slow as I find most domestic drama/thrillers to be, but the audio was easy to get invested in! The characters were all so unique and interesting, there isn’t one story that I enjoyed more than the others.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @minotaur_books for my copies! The book is out on June 13th.

#speakofthedevil #rosewilding #macmillanaudio #stmartinspress #minotaurbooks #netgalley #audiobooks #listentobooks #bookreview #lgbtqrepresentation #bookthoughts #bookrecommendations #read #booksbooksbooks #bookthoughts #powerfulfemalecharacters
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I received Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding as an ARC from NetGally.
I was very excited when I read the synopsis it sounded so intriguing. Unfortunately the book fell short for me. I almost DNF’d the book and probably would have if i not been on a solo road trip and didn’t have another book downloaded.

We start with sitting in a room with seven women and a severed head of Jamie Spellman. These women are connected because of things Jamie has done to them. We do not learn how they come to meet Jamie or how they all came to know each other. We do know that one of the killed him though. The book is a multiple POV where you learn a little from each person who is there sitting around the head. There is not much discussion that happens in present day it is mostly just the past. You forget that the seven women are all together for most the book. I found myself not really knowing what was going on a lot of the book. I would forget who the characters were and whos POV I was listening to.

The line that gave me the biggest ick was “If she is old enough to bleed she is old enough to bread.” Also the fact one of the girls Jamie is with is 15 years old! We do not know how old he is but we know he is an adult old enough to go to bars, and married. The relationship could have had the same impact if she was 18.

There are a lot of triggers in this novel including; underage relationship, murder, rape, transphobia, cheating, and suicide.

This was an enjoyable read. There were so many characters that I did have a hard time keeping them all straight, but that’s pretty much my only complaint. I loved that the women didn’t know who committed the murder, even though each one of them had plenty of good reasons to want Jamie dead. I don’t think there was any way the reader could guess the guilty party before the reveal and I kind of liked that personally. This is a solid, original debut! If you enjoy revenge stories, pick this one up when it comes out next week.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the gifted ARC and ALC!

I had a hard time getting into this book but once I did, it took off running. With 7 women a dead guy and a detective there is a lot of information to collect and if the writer is not clever enough the reader will just not be able to take it all in. I am in no way saying the writer did a bad job, just building up to the good stuff took too long and I think that is what made a lot of people give up. If you hang in there though, it gets better with twists that will have you scared to just have a female friend……..


3 out of 5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I really wanted this one to work for me, but it was a DNF at 25%. There are so many perspectives that shift before there is enough time and character development to feel a connection. When that is the case, vividly described violence felt too jarring and uncomfortable for me.

Seven women meet regularly to discuss their shared trauma. The one thing that links them all is that the man that caused them their trauma is the same for all seven women. The book begins when an emergency meeting is called and all the women show up to find the severed head of "Jamie" the man that has cause each one of them so much pain. The question is, who murdered him though, and why?

I read a number of negative reviews for this book, but I'm not sure I agree. In general I really enjoyed the book (audiobook to be precise), and thought it was an interesting take on a "mystery" fiction novel. The biggest thing to note is that the book jumps around from perspective to perspective, and from time to time, so following it could be difficult, however, I had no issue as I was listening. For some reason, I got a vibe of "thirteen reasons" as I was listening, but more of the inverse... seven women had more than enough motive to want nothing more to do with Jamie, but who was actually responsible for his death, and what was the "trigger" that caused them to snap?

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a different take on fiction/mystery novels, and if they do not mind the crimes against women being very blatantly portrayed. Which leads me to my next point... there are some triggers to note including: rape, adultery, suicide, addiction, and other difficult topics.

Read/Listen if you like:
😡 Female Rage
🔍 Who Dunnit
👯‍♀️ 7 Women as Suspects
🔪 One Man Dead

This one definitely has a lot going on as we get 8 POV between the 7 women that out deceased had been involved with as well as the detective trying to sus out who revenge killed Jamie as they all have a motive to kill.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns and learning about what he had done to scorn each of the 7 very different women and why they each have motive.

I also really enjoyed the movement of time and the 1999 setting for his murder as that made the book even more immersive.

The ending was absolutely jarring and so interesting how it all came together.

If you want a thriller with lots of movement and female rage I definitely recommend this one!

Thanks so much to Macmillan audio for my ARC!

I just couldn't get into this book. I picked it back up numerous times but have finally given up. The characters aren't compelling and the story seemed slow.

Seven women, the severed head of one man they all have a connection with. They all have a motive and one of them is guilty, but which one? That's what they need to figure out...

This was a good book overall. It did take me a little while to sort out all the characters and their stories, but once I did, I was hooked. I do think there were maybe a couple players that weren't necessary and maybe over complicated the story, but it was definitely an intriguing story about how one man's evil ways affected the lives of seven women. This twisty mystery of revenge is definitely worth a read!

speak of the Devil definitely has an interesting premise-one dead man, six different female suspects. Each of the suspects had a reason to kill him. It was fascinating hearing each woman’s story and the reasons behind why they would have done it.

I enjoyed this book, however, I’m not sure if audiobook was the right choice for me. Although the narrator was good, I frequently became confused as to which character I was listening to. If I weee to read the book again, I would definitely do the ebook.

In the very crowded psychological suspense arena, this is a stand out. Each of the characters is richly drawn and each engenders empathy from the reader, including the person who actually commits the murder.
The narrator was an excellent choice, with just the right pacing and emotion. Will definitely recommend.

Review: Rose Wilding’s Speak of the Devil

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man's severed head sits in the center of the floor. Each woman - the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him - has an excellent reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. To protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

3 Things That Work:

The book opens with seven women sitting around a severed head. They point at one another accusingly, pleading, “Did YOU do this?” Need I say more?

Because Wilding wrote seven different POVs, I reserved making any predictions about the murderer until the 75% mark. Color me surprised when I guessed correctly! The whodunit factor kept me guessing until the bitter end. I saw a comparison title of Bad Sisters (Apple TV+ series) and wholeheartedly agree.

That ending, though…whoa, there! Whoa! A furious hurricane of female rage beheading a worthless piece of garbage psychopath who rapes and kills women. Delightful!

Minor criticisms: A lot of POVs to track, and some are better fleshed out than others. It ended abruptly after the murder cleanup. I wanted a little more here.

TW: rape, suicide, transphobia, domestic abuse, grooming, infertility

✨RATING: 4⭐️

✨REVIEW: Thank you @netgalley and @goodreads for my advanced reader copies! I won the paperback on a giveaway and then was gifted the audiobook via NetGalley! The synopsis had me hooked from the start. It was fun dual reading this! In the beginning I struggled with the multi POV (but all 3rd person so idk if I can call it that?) and remembering time frames, but as the book got deeper, I found it working… and found myself wanting to make an evidence board 🤣 There were so many “wait what?!” moments and found myself going back and rereading to double check things. I enjoyed watching my imaginary evidence board slowly become entangled. I recommend this one to my thriller readers!

✨PROS: you know I love a good multi POV story (though be prepared to juggle a lot), easy reading, lots of crossover and ending 🤯

🚨WARNING: Potential triggers include murder, pregnancy, cheating, stalking, rape

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the audiobook ARC!

I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. The setup was interesting, but I just did not vibe with it, Typically, I listen to audiobooks while taking care of chores around the house, gardening, travelling, etc. If a book is good, I often forget I've even got an earbud in while I'm going about my day, absorbed in the story. This is to say that this did NOT happen to me with this book. There were a few times I actually found myself tuning out the book, uninterested in the story.
Part of the issue for me was just the volume of characters. I couldn't keep track of who was who and what they were about. Also, I think the fact that the narrator's performance hit my ears wrong added to the 'tuning it out' problem. This may be much better in written form, and I may give it another go at a later time.

If you liked the series Bad Sisters (Apple TV+ ), stick with this book and you'll probably be satisfied in the end.

Seven women are in a small hotel room where they have been summoned via a mysterious phone number. On the table, covered up, is the decapitated head of a man that they know all too well--Jamie. In fact, he is the reason that all of these women know each other in the first place, he's done wrong by all of them in myriad ways. But who ultimately killed him? No one is confessing.

There are a lot of characters in this book, for sure. Yet it ultimately wasn't too difficult for me to tell them apart. As everything is being unraveled and backstories presented and Jamie's exploits are being revealed, the puzzle pieces do come together, albeit slowly.

I like a good revenge story, but this one's revenge comes about a little too late for my liking. The ending is fairly decent though, so I won't fault the author in that regard, because she doesn't drag it on and on and on.

I listened to the audiobook and it was well done. The narrator does a good job of distinguishing between the characters. I nearly threw in the towel up until about 50% into the book because it was quite a slog to care about who offed the slimeball, but once I started getting into the story the second half seemed to flow more easily.

Like I said, if you've watched Bad Sisters, this is a similar premise, but without as much humor and heart. The series is infinitely better, so if you haven't watched it you're missing out.

The idea behind this book is perfect. One man does his best to screw over several women and then it bites him in the ass - I mean, perfection. The execution wasn’t quite there for me though.

I received both the ebook and audiobook through NetGalley. The narrator was great and really brought emotion into the story. I think it was relatively obvious where it was going before it got there, but it was a decent ride to the end.

The biggest thing for me was it was longer than it needed to be. While I did like getting everyone’s full story, it wasn’t completely necessary here for the story to be told. The dual timeline wasn’t the easiest to keep up with at times, however I do think it was the best way to handle this story.

Overall 3.5⭐️

This book wasn’t for me.

When a man is found dead, there are seven women who all had a motive to kill him. The guy was such a jerk that I’m sure there were many more people with motive, but the book focused on seven.

The book is told through the perspective of the women, as we hear each of their gripes with him.

I didn’t hate the book, but it got to the point where I lost interest and didn’t care anymore. The end was more of a reveal than a surprise, because it wouldn’t have surprised me which one killed him, no matter who the author chose.

Overall, I think it would have been better if it focused on a few number of people.

I liked the book. I wanted to know whodunit. So that alone kept me invested. The multiple POVs were nice, but a bit confusing at times. I had to write some notes down so I could remember who the girls were and what Jamie did to them. Once I had that figured out it was pretty easy to know who was who. I like multiple POVs in a story!

I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, but I did like most of the girls. There was one who drove me up the wall, if you read it, you'll know. Jamie was HORRIBLE. I am totally okay that he got beheaded.

I listened to the book as I read, I thought the narrator did a good job, but I would have liked it better if each POV had a different narrator. I think it would have helped keep the people straight.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ebook and audio version of this book, in exchange for my review!