Member Reviews
This was more intense and dark than I’d expected, but I still enjoyed it! I was expecting more of a Finlay Donovan lightheartedness, and there are moments of that, but in the end, it’s much darker than that. It has a powerful message underneath, it just felt a little callous for me. Overall, I enjoyed it though
I received this DRC from NetGalley.
I'm not a fan of just coming up with some pun title and then using it even if it doesn't fully fit. I mean, it fits in the sense that this is about a woman with a mission that she's trying to accomplish alone that revolves around killing instead of dating... but that's a week connection. I don't think 10 ways are mentioned. And she's not writing an article about it.
Oh, and trigger warnings: SA, talk of suicide
I wanted to be able to root for the main character, but she was just annoying. She's very self-assured, even about how smart she is, while she makes several dumb mistakes. Why include that she's supposedly so smart when she's not? It just wasn't necessary. It would have made more sense to lean into her flaws without having to remind us of how smart and hot she is. Might have even been more interesting if she wasn't so obviously pretty, so she couldn't lean on that.
This was a quick and easy read in terms of language. There were interesting parts. I do like that there was a bit of a twist in the end. Some things felt inevitable, but the resolution just felt ok.
This was a fun and light read. We follow Millie who takes action on bad men after her sister is attacked with horrific consequences. Then she meets a man who might just be onto her….
I wish we would have gotten more of Message M as that was a fun concept and part of the hook!
Can recommend to readers who enjoyed How to kill men and Bad Men.
3,5 stars
rigger warnings: murder, self-harm, child abuse, depression, domestic abuse, suicide attempts, stalking, drink spiking, rape, sexual assault, incest
'how to kill a guy in ten ways' is a dark and unhinged book on killing a guy in ten ways.
i'm only joking. sort of.
i have very mixed feelings about this book. on the one hand, it's about a woman going on a killing spree as she very calmly tries to find the man who raped her sister. on the other hand, that was not what i was told in the blurb.
millie was an incredibly unlikeable character. she wasn't always a girl's girl: her comments on tattoos and piercings were unnecessary and awful and she implied lots of things about women wearing short dresses, which was especially awful considering that this was a self-proclaimed book about feminism. she made some really stupid decisions but at least she killed sucky men?
the romance was ... not it. the idea was so much more interesting than what actually took place - it was supposed to be this doomed-to-fail relationship between the police officer with all the dancing with our hands tied, getaway car, gorgeous and midnight rain vibes but it didn't work. there was no tension and chemistry and it didn't feel too realistic either. (and yes, i realise this isn't marked as a romance, but why have a romance sub-plot if it's not a good one?)
the ending was just horrendous. it was supposed to be her blaze of glory but it should have just been an untold story.
i think i like how the cover makes sense, although after reading this book, i don't i'll be sure about anything ever again.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!
This is my favourite kind of thriller - badass female serial killers who kill the bad guys for the good of society (women).
I blitzed through this and I enjoyed it so much! I loved the reasoning behind everything and her wanting to protect other women - especially with her 'Message M' helpline.
Similar vibes to HOW TO KILL MEN AND GET AWAY WITH IT, YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST and SWEET PEA.
Thank you to the publisher, Avon Books UK, and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
This was a really quick easy read. It just flowed super well and once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down again! I highly recommend this for anyone who liked gone girl or the Finlay Donovan books.
The morality is weak at best and it's obviously quite violent at times. But part of the magic of it is that you find yourself agreeing with Millie a lot of the time and understanding her motives, which is easily the tell of a well written "villain".
This book is about violence against women, getting justice by whatever means necessary. in the end, this story ends up being one of love.
How many times have we been in this situation & seen the ‘ask for Angela’ signs to help someone out! What a uniquely twist on the ‘anti hero’ I enjoyed this and would recommend. The writing style is easy to follow and keeps a nice steady flow throughout. Would recommend - thanks to Netgalley for this eArc
I found the concept of this book to be a unique and thrilling storyline of female rage but when it was aimed towards other women it felt a bit out of character. I would read this again but I wouldnt put it up with my top reads
she is very crazy, and this book was wild. it was a fun and interesting read and i was satisfied with the ending
This book had so much potential but it just fell flat. The main character is so unlikeable I'm actually wondering does the author think this character was going to feel relevant and like a boss beach because for me she was annoying, whiney and I am fed up of her. The writing felt repetitive to fill a word quota. When you read this title you think that this book would involve a lot of murders but that is actually a small part of the book. The way this book could have been improved would have been have our MFC be more likeable and secondly to have had 10 chapters about 10 different kills she commits and then the in between chapters being how she covers it up. That would have been so much better.
Think "Promising Young Woman" meets "Dexter" but set in the UK! Despite the heavy subject matter (huge content warnings for sexual assault, rape, and violence), the book manages to strike a good balance of fun and serious. Though she spends most of the book focusing on others, the heart of the book is the main character coming to terms with the sexual violence and abuse in her own life and the deep female friendship between her and her best friend. The honest friendship element in particular sets it apart from other media that has been created in this similar vein. I flew through this book and really enjoyed it!
3 out of 5 stars!
Feeling unsafe in a bar? Or is a man following you home? Message M, a hotline for women, can help you out and get you home safely. Millie Masters has had an urge to help women who find themselves in unwanted positions with men. Since her younger sister was assaulted during a night out, she has made it her mission to help people like her sister. But since starting this, Millie has realized just how often this happens to women around her. One night, she finds herself going too far to help out a young woman and ends up with a dead body. How far will Millie take the mission to stop all the assaults going on? This is a serial killer thriller with a strong female lead and dark humor. What’s not to love?
“How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways” by Eve Kellman is a funny, dark, and twisty thriller that has you rooting for Message M to take matters into her own hands. Millie, the main character, is undeniably funny and dark at the same time. At first, I thought she was a tad much with her crazy thoughts, but I think that plays into her serial killer persona. She had me rooting for her and made me understand where a lot of pain came from.
This book was a really slow burn. It caught my attention with the first paragraph, slowed down a bit, but then picked up more towards the end. And the end was shocking! I felt like some of this book could have been cut and still be understood, but I feel like the story was overall worth the entire read. If you are in a slow spot, I suggest keep reading for it all to make sense!
I felt like this story was very refreshing for the mystery/thriller category! There is still mystery and a whodunit, but we are really being told the story from Millie’s perspective. I won’t tell you more than that because I don’t want to spoil it, but you go into the mind of a killer. Overall, I decided to rate this book a 3 out of 5 because of the slow burn and a tad unbelievable. I loved the dark humor and the writing in the book though. It was very well written with lots of descriptive text.
Pick up “How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways” by Eve Kellman on March 28th, 2024!
Thank you to Avon Books UK, Eve Kellman, and NetGallery for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
What a fun and quirky read! My fsvorite movie of all time is How to Lose a guy in 10 Days, and I love watching documentaries on serial killers and murders. So safe to say that this book was right up my alley. I absolutely devoured this book! It’s rare to read about a female serial killer and it was so fun getting into the mind of Millie.
There were a couple of spelling errors as I did receive an ARC from NetGalley, but those were easily overlooked for me.
This was a great debut novel! It was dark and fun, just as a thriller should be. The main character was so pretentious and self-righteous and honestly pretty unlikeable, which I weirdly enjoyed. My favorite character was the protagonist’s best friend Nina. She really shined.
However, this just felt too long. When I thought I should have been about 80% in, I was really only about 50%. Thrillers need to have that zippy tension in order to keep the suspense flowing, and this one felt too leisurely for my taste. It took too long to get to the meat of things, but the last 20% or so went by fast.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this, but be prepared for a slower pace than the usual thriller/crime.
✨4.25 stars✨
I really enjoyed this book! There are some dark themes explored in the book (as the title would suggest) but it is told by a protagonist who is dry and sarcastic. There were points in this book where I laughed out loud.
There were similar vibes to “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” by Katy Brent and “Sweet Pea” by C.J. Skuse so if you liked these books then I recommend this book.
Also the idea that the protagonist who carries out these murders dating the police officer who is investigating the cases (or in this case starting to be suspicious of the cases) is similar to the Mindf*ck series by S.T. Abby so again if you enjoyed that element I would recommend this book to you.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
this reminded me a LOT of 'how to kill men and get away with it,' by katy brent, as they both had a similar premise. this was carried out SO well, i was completely hooked and (wrongly? rightly?) rooting for millie the whole way through. i loved that at no point did it ever become too far-fetched, or anything that couldn't be explained happen, which overall made it an exhilirating read for anyone!!
thank you to netgalley and avon for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: After Millie’s sister is assaulted, Millie makes it her mission to save as many young women from predators as she can. She starts an emergency phone line women can call to request help and spends her evenings picking up women from dates gone wrong. When one rescue goes too far, it sets off a series of vigilante justice that will eventually catch up with Millie.
Thoughts: This was definitely an interesting premise, and it started off great. Based on the title and cover, I expected a bit more humor, but it got real dark real quick. Unfortunately, the main character was very unlikable, and I had trouble understanding any of her decisions. I do think it was a promising debut, and I would check out the author’s next book - this one just didn’t hit quite right for me. Definitely check the trigger warnings - major TW for SA.
Read this if you like:
🔪 Dexter
🔪 vigilantism
🔪 dark humor
Ok so I really wanted to love this however.. I found this to be a very quirky and interesting quick witted book … the plot was good but slow at times and it just felt a little dragged out.. I really felt like the character just went round killing for the hell of it…. I had high hopes and wanted to read it and laugh…
I really wanted to like this one more than I did. The title and book cover looked like it was going to be right up my street. It gave me the same vibes as ‘how to kill men and get away with it” which was a 5 star read for me, but this one just missed the mark. It started off well, she was trying to protect women using her Message M service. However suddenly she’s going round seemingly killing people without hesitation. The title made me think it was going to be clearly laid out 10 murders and how she did them. When in reality I didn’t know if I was coming or going between murder, getting revenge, a love interest, and a life crisis. Maybe if there was a few less ideas then the book would have been a smoother more enjoyable read.
This was absolutely brilliant. I know it's only March, but this is hands down in my top 5 books of the year already. We have a female serial killer with dark humor and highly relatable female rage? I'm all the way here for it. There wasn't one moment that I wasn't rooting for Millie, our FMC. This book can get dark, so be sure to check out the trigger warnings before you pick it up.
Trigger warnings: rape, child sexual assault, suicide, self-harm, domestic violence, semi-graphic murder
Many thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Expected publication date of March 28, 2024.