Books like this are so hard to explain! Quirky books lead to quirky reviews, so with this book, I’m just going to tell you a few facts. We know from the synopsis that Claire is a “part time” serial killer; here are a few other things that are in the book:

Claire met Lucas in a bar, and Lucas was annoying. Claire didn’t like that, so she rectified the situation.

Claire’s father had dementia and recently died in a memory care facility. After killing Lucas she began visiting his mother, Kathleen, at the same facility.

Claire found out some of the caregivers in this facility do everything BUT care. The things they’ve done are unacceptable to Claire.

Claire starts going to a group for the grieving, and meets Jemma, who has just lost her mother. Claire immediately can’t stand Jemma.

Claire can see some people look like ghosts, as if they can almost be seen through. Those people need to die.

This was odd, discordant, and rumors of a lot of dark humor are greatly exaggerated. It was more funny the more I got to know Claire, but it took awhile to get there. The ending was the best part - I was blindsided by who knew Claire’s secrets and how everything ended. Overall, this was darkly cute, engaging and creative. 3.5 stars, rounded up for being a debut!

(Thank you to Viper Books, Joanna Wallace and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

Joanna Wallace’s comic thriller You’d Look Better as a Ghost is the unholy baby of Dexter and Fleabag, featuring a sarcastic, short-tempered protagonist whose nightly hobby happens to be smashing in the head of anyone who crosses her. (I’ve heard knitting is also fun, but to each their own.) As far as darkly funny, part-time serial killers go, Claire is one of my favorites — the trials and tribulations of her gruesome, blood-soaked exploits would honestly make a great series. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself! Here’s a little more about You’d Look Better as a Ghost’s plot, courtesy of the publisher:

“The night after her father's funeral, Claire meets Lucas in a bar. Lucas doesn't know it, but it's not a chance meeting. One thoughtless mistyped email has put him in the crosshairs of an extremely put-out serial killer. But before they make eye contact, before Claire lets him buy her a drink — even before she takes him home and carves him up into little pieces — something about that night is very wrong. Because someone is watching Claire. Someone who is about to discover her murderous little hobby. The thing is, it's not sensible to tangle with a part-time serial killer, even one who is distracted by attending a weekly bereavement support group and trying to get her art career off the ground. Will Claire finish off her blackmailer before her pursuer reveals all?”

If you’re at all intrigued by ‘nature vs. nurture’ cases, Claire is an interesting example. As loving as her doting father is, her mother is an abusive wretch who takes all of her aggression and resentments out on her young daughter. It makes you wonder if she’d have still grown up to be so adept at swinging hammers into human skulls if it weren’t for such a hellacious childhood. The few flashback scenes we get to what Claire endures at the hands of her mother are rough, engendering more and more sympathy for our murderous narrator, even as we see her pulling off heinous crimes in the present day. Obviously I was rooting for Claire to evade her blackmailers (and by extension, the police), and you know what? I’m at peace with whatever that says about my moral compass. (Unless my assigned FBI agent is reading this, in which case jk!!!!! Promise!!!!! Lol!!!!) It’s so fun to watch Claire unravel the mystery behind the cat and mouse game she unwittingly finds herself in the middle of.

Wallace’s writing is often funny, especially when it comes to her wry, biting observations about all the annoying ticks and irritating traits of the eclectic members of Claire’s bereavement group. I also loved the brief throwaway lines nodding to murders Claire had committed for ridiculous reasons — a bad haircut, someone cutting her in line, etc. She’s pure id. She’s the corporeal form of that brief flash of rage you feel when some guy slams into you on the sidewalk and doesn’t say sorry, or when you discover your roommate ate the leftovers you’d been looking forward to all day. In a world where people seem to have increasingly awful manners, the pettiest part of me can see where she’s coming from. (Again, I promise I’m jk!!!!! Mostly!!!! Maybe!!!!! Ha ha ha . . . ha.)

I only had one real issue with this novel, which is that I thought the convoluted blackmail plot would’ve benefited from being streamlined just a bit. That being said there are some great twists and turns as Claire works to uncover who’s on her tail. So, all in all, I really loved this one! Funny and brutal and dark and as sharp as the knife someone may or may not be meeting the wrong end of if they so much as look at Claire wrong.

Thank you to Penguin Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dark, dark, dark. I'm not sure what I think of it still. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I've already sent a screen-shot of the book cover to several friends who will devour it whole.

good book! character was similar to me in ways. had growth to do and confident in themselves. able to overcome

This was dark but very engaging. I didn’t expect to enjoy this book this much. I highly recommend this for an unexpectedly great dark read! This is far from my typical read and I really liked it. I highly recommend this book!

3 stars

I’m not sure this is really what I thought it was going to be. It was definitely listed with a humor/satire heading but, I just didn’t feel that. I think I would’ve enjoyed this if I went in, in a different frame of mind. I wanted funny and light, this is not it. This is much darker and more mundane than I was hoped my for.

The writing is good, and the story is good. Just not for me right now.

“Walking along the corridor, my feet sink into the velvet carpet as a door opens ahead of me and Vampire Smoker steps out. Approaching, he has the gait of an underachiever, the presence of a nobody and the sneer of a man who enjoys pissing on old people and needs to be stopped. My plans for his death are coming along nicely. Just need to collect a little more urine for the waterboarding and then I'll be good to go. Note to self--drink more Evian. As our paths cross, his eyes meet mine and I smile. He looks better as a ghost- almost interesting. Not long now.”

This book got my attention with its title and striking cover. The story weaves in vignettes from the past of the girls’ upbringing and mistreatment. It details her mothers abuse of her and provides an origin story of sorts for her violent tendencies. Her mother would often lock her away in her room in a way that was reminiscent of Cinderella ….if Cinderella grew up to be Patricia Krenwinkle.

For fans of A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers or Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. The plot was too convoluted and the writing was not where I hoped it would be, but it will appeal to some.

an amazing debut. well written, interesting plot, anti-hero's. i enjoyed this very much and cannot wait to buy a physical copy for my bookshelf.

Reeling from the passing of her father, we’re first introduced to the main character, Claire, at his funeral services, where she finds the strength to push grief from her mind via an email stating her artistic entry has been shortlisted for a gallery showing. However, in a cruel turn of events, it’s revealed that it wasn’t actually our MC Claire who was chosen, but another artist named Claire. Unable to keep the haunting thoughts at bay any longer, Claire needs to do something to regain her focus, so decides to turn to her ever-faithful part-time hobby — killing. It’s decided that the night after the funeral, Claire will get both relief and revenge, but in her haste it appears someone has seen her in action and they're going to use it against her.

This dark, comedic debut thriller from Joanna Wallace was everything I hoped it would be. While Claire might technically be an anti-hero, I found myself routing for her from the very beginning all the way to the cheeky end. She’s sardonic, exceedingly clever, and not necessarily without a moral compass— she’s just not ordinary. The twists and turns kept me turning page after page, chuckling lightly at the internal monologues we’re privy to and trying to piece the puzzle together with the clues we’re presented. Each character we meet along the way, despite their strange ways, feels fully realized and the story wouldn’t be the same without them.

While on the surface this is a story following a female serial killer, there are also layers of thought provoking questions, empathetic critique on care for the elderly, musings on parenting, and, obviously, discussions on grief. When I finished reading this ARC, I said thoughtfully out loud, “That was a delight.” And it’s true, for me, it was.

💌 ARC FROM NETGALLEY

What an odd read.

I don't think I'm the audience for this book. YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST follows Claire, a serial killer with a knack for targeting bad parents, abusers, and ... people who tick her off. She's a bit unhinged, okay?

Claire is not an easy narrator to connect to, partially because she is disconnected from people herself, but also because her thoughts are pretty bleak. This novel as a whole is pretty depressing -- the author notes in her forward that she was inspired to write this following the diagnosis of her own father with dementia, so the mood makes sense.

This book had a much slower start than I expected given the summary. I do think it's an interesting read from about 45% on, but you'd got to wade through some uninteresting exposition and oddly-timed flashback scenes first.

YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST doesn't have the same dark charm that MAEVE FLY did, but the books are very similar in tone. I'll hand this to Joanna Wallace - I was actually impressed with the ending of this book, which is not something I can say for MAEVE FLY.

3.75 out of 5 Stars.

Claire is a unique character, and it’s oddly refreshing to see a female serial killer, especially one with such unemotional motivations and lack of understanding of other humans. You don’t necessarily root for her, but you do wonder what she’s going to do next. I didn’t love the sarcasm and “humor” when it was at other peoples’ expenses (quite a lot of anti-fatness in this book), but it’s hard to criticize a main character for those thoughts when she’s also literally a serial killer. The tension and build-up to the big reveal was well-paced, and the conclusion was satisfying without being too unrealistic.

What a treat! A black comedy cum thriller with some twists. Our heroine Claire kills people. Sometimes in the name of justice, sometimes in the name of revenge, and sometimes because she's simply having a bad day and someone irritates her. Her motives seem mostly devoid of emotion, but we get the impression that she does very much enjoy the process of killing, but we are thankfully spared the gory details. I liked hanging out in Claire's head and found myself nodding to her witty observations of the world and people around her. This could be an easy setup for a sequel, but I don't want one. This book is a perfect little character study and mystery case all on its own, wrapped up in a bow.

Claire, who has recently lost her father, takes out her frustrations or distaste for people by murdering them. After joining a grief support group, she finds that her murderous escapades have been noticed. She needs to get to the bottom of it or it all will fall apart for her. With flashbacks to her childhood, we learn about Claire. It's a comically funny novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace.

This book will definitely have an audience, but that audience isn't me. I enjoyed the writing and the character's voice, but the scenes of her killing were just too much for me. Reading through the eyes of a serial killer is just too unnerving. Books that have serial killers as more of the side character (ex: My Sister, the Serial Killer) are a little easier to step into. This book will have its reader.

You'd Look Better as a Ghost will have you rooting for the killer, in more ways than one! Original, hilarious, and with terrifying twists, this book is not to be missed!

An original funny thriller about a woman that has a hobby of killing people. I really enjoyed reading from Claire’s point of view and couldn’t help but root for her the whole time even though she was the “bad guy”. The book had many humorous laugh out loud moments, and the way Wallace wrote is making her one of my new favorite authors.
“I smile, which immediately feels weird. It’s been a while since my face has been troubled with a smile. Then I think I’d better say something, as it’s starting to hurt, cracking my face like concrete drying.”

thank you #netgalley and Joanna for this ARC! it’s one of my new favorite books

I'm sorry, but I had to DNF this book at 35%.

Now, normally this is a premise I'm usually all for! A funny book about a female serial killer? Count me in! But this book is... A lot. Let me list the ways this book put me off:

- There's blatant child abuse. I guess it's supposed to make us empathize with the MC, but it just made me uncomfortable. This book should come with trigger warnings.
-Our MC is a terrible person. Now I can deal with an unlikable character, but there has to be some redeeming factor that lets us root for them. Claire? She's selfish, she's rude and mean, (the way she makes fun of the grief group members in her head!) she's cruel and sadistic, ( torturing her victims, or killing that poor woman as an afterthought to stop her own blackmailing) she acts like she believes she's better than everyone else and seems to have no morals.
-And I can normally deal with that too! But when you get to the blackmail plotline, you get to some truly abhorrent elder abuse. I just cannot deal with that. I know they are only fictional characters, but what they do to these poor dementia addled elders is disgusting, perverted and physically made me sick. It only speaks to the depravity of the characters the author wrote, but unfortunately it was too much for me.


What can I say? This book took things way too far for me.

A female serial killer that uses a hammer? I’m all in! Great story, did feel a little slow around the 40% mark but a fun thriller with lots of dark humor. Somehow, I ended up rooting for the serial killer to not get caught? Overall I really enjoyed this book and would love a sequel.

I just finished You'd Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace and what a fun, dark read!
Claire looks like everyone else on the outside, but she's very different from your ordinary person on the inside. She has a history of taking her revenge on those she feels have slighted her but finds herself spiraling after the death of her father. Will she make enough mistakes to get herself caught and locked up? Will she turn over a new leaf instead? It remains to be seen. I highly recommend this title and I can't wait to read her next book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

This one certainly had an original premise, I'll give it that. I love, love, love dark humor and quirky anti-heroes so it seemed like You'd Look Better as a Ghost would be right up my alley, but ultimately it fell a bit flat for me. I mean, don't get me wrong – it wasn't a terrible read by any means, but I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I'd expected to.

I think that most of my issues with this book revolve around the fact that all the characters were tremendously unlikable. I don't necessarily need characters to be personable, but just a faint glimmer of anyone without a personality disorder would have made things so much more palatable. And Claire, the main character, is particularly awful and not just because she's a serial killer. I guess the reader is supposed to feel sorry for her because she had a crappy childhood, but there are lots of people who grow up in less than ideal circumstances and somehow manage to not become complete and total asshats, much less serial killers who bump off anyone who looks at them sideways. Her mother was a truly evil character, however, and I can't say that I was entirely disappointed about how that storyline ended.

It also would have helped if there had been more humor to offset all of the awful people in this story. Based on the blurb I expected this to be a laugh-out-loud funny read, but the humor was really rather sparse.

With all of my griping aside, I can't really say that I disliked this book. The premise is fantastic, and Joanna Wallace is obviously a talented writer. It was well-written and the mystery (who is watching Claire?) was entertaining. I also really enjoy first-person narratives so that was an added bonus.

This book also tackles some difficult subjects – child abuse (particularly of the emotional sort), elder abuse, grief, suicide … and, of course, murder. Certainly not what I was expecting from a “lighthearted” book about a unrepentant serial killer, but it wasn't unwelcome.

Overall, while this book wasn't my favorite, it was also a fairly entertaining read … even if the characters should have all been in jail and/or a psychiatric ward. Final rating: 3.45 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.