I don't think I was expecting much from this book, but OH MY GOD I loved it! The plot was so unique and it was an absolute thriller that I couldn't put down. Top 5 of my reads this year, hands down.

I just finished Tasha’s debut and immediately preordered a copy. I loved Hannah’s hilarious narrative. It was fun to live vicariously through her bad decisions, while also nudging her on to keep at it. Her story thrilled me from the first sentence all the way to that final twist on the last page. I relished in how relatable she was, and after everything happened with William, I felt like I went through a breakup myself! I’m even in a bit of a slump now.

This story, an unsettling deep dive of ordinary people obsessed with true crime, while fantasizing about serial killers, was an excellent escape that had me laughing and cheering her on all the way through. Sure, I called one of the main twists earlier on, but I kept reading and loving the story because of Hannah’s voice. Her quirky, unnerved and dangerous perspective kept me flipping the pages. Carole’s support and voicemails were a close second.

Don’t sleep on this story! I predict that it will hit several summer must read lists in the weeks to come. A refreshing debut. I can’t wait to follow Tasha’s writing journey.

3.25 Stars

I mean if the title and cover don’t already give it away, the main character is nutty. The synopsis gives too much away and there isn’t much to add that isn’t there. In the real world, I would be saying we need to find a mental health professional for Hannah. In this fictitious one, I was repeating WTFs and uttering “you’re batshit crazy” while laughing as I turned the pages. This book, and this character, are obviously not meant to be taken seriously, and that is what made it so fun.

DNF at 20%. I was intrigued by the concept and had seen some great reviews for Love Letters to a Serial Killer. Unfortunately the execution didn’t work for me - the main character felt like a mean stereotype of single women. Thank you to Berkley and PRH Audio for the free ebook and audiobook to review.

I'm not sure who the target audience was here: the ~unhinged~ woman/messy millennial girls? the dark romance readers? thriller fans? It failed on all counts.

I’m not normally a big thriller reader, and I tend to not love books where at every page you are screaming at the main character to make better decisions, but I enjoyed this one! The pacing was great, and chapters were short. I did feel like the ending was predictable, and I wish it had been a different conclusion, but overall it was a quick, interesting read.

This was a unique story and I was excited to read it but I found it hard to keep me entertained. It just felt like too much detail into Hannah and her life. It started to feel more like a romcom than thriller until you get near the end. I figured it out early on which was sort of a bummer but I don’t think I’d feel that way if more of the story focused on the serial killer aspect rather than Hannah’s life. It just lacked that suspense that I like in a thriller. Worth the read if you like a mix of romance and serial killers.

I love the feeling of not being able to tear myself away from a book and being totally immersed in the story. Love Letters does exactly that and I listened to it every moment I could. Andi Arndt is a fantastic narrator and made the audiobook an all consuming experience. The author writes in a compelling way that grabs your attention and her characters are beautifully flawed. I was fascinated by the psychological aspects of the plotline and I wondered if letters like these happen in real life and what the results are? It's a unique thought-provoking storyline that captured my attention and I'm looking forward to reading more from Tasha in the future.

I don't often read Thrillers, but when I saw this one I was immediately drawn to it mainly for the cover art haha. I really did end up enjoying this book though! I didn't want to put it down and I read through it pretty quickly. I did figure out who the killer was before it was revealed, but the very very end really shocked me and left me wondering if we'll get another book because I have questions!! Some of the vibes slightly remind me of the show You, with the rationale characters use for why killing is okay and why it's okay to be with a serial killer. It's definitely interesting to see how the FMC thinks and why she does certain things, but the whole time all I could think is "She may be just as troubled as the serial killer." Which means Tasha did a great job at writing this character! This book definitely kept me on my toes and shocked me right at the end.

I entered a giveaway for a digital galley of this and, much to my surprise, I won. I downloaded the book, opened it up, read the first few pages and thought, “Oh no. What have I done?” After a few more pages, I had a change of heart. I truly believed the author was doing something good with the subject matter. I was wrong, but we’ll get to that.

I did initially think this was going to be a campy thriller. Sure, there was a little tension, but the mystery component was quite transparent. This certainly didn’t fit the definition of a suspenseful read.

So, how should this be categorized? I’m not sure if I can call it a romcom, but I suppose that’s what it was. It did contain humor and romance, but the latter was just a bad idea. No reader will be shipping William and Hannah. This is not the stuff that dreams are made of.

At first, I liked the setup. The narrator, Hannah, is extremely insecure. She has that “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” vibe going for her. She was recently ghosted. Her best friend is now in a committed relationship, exacerbating Hannah’s loneliness. She lives in a society that suggests she is “less than” without a man. (We all live in that society.) She finds new purpose in true crime, specifically focusing on one serial killer who, once caught, she decides to contact. She wants to tell him what a despicable human being he is. That’s all. She’s not fangirling him or anything. But the ever so charming William charms the pants right off of her. (I’m not going to tell you if that’s figurative or literal.) He recognizes and preys upon her vulnerability. He sucks her in. As absurd as it seemed, it started to make sense to me. It made me wonder about the women who do this in real life. Are they persuaded from the start or does grooming take place? I can see how the latter might be true, as it worked in Hannah’s story.

Until it stopped working, of course.

Eventually, I no longer felt like I understood what the author was going for. Given the foundation, it seemed as if Hannah was meant to be a sympathetic character, but my ability to feel for her diminished as the narrative dug deeper into her relationship with William. Her choices and internal processing were troubling, not amusing. I wasn’t sure if the author wanted me to feel bad for Hannah or judge her, as the humor began to feel like a veiled critique of women obsessed with true crime; a mockery of their mindset, instead of a case for compassion. As my perplexity grew, my enjoyment waned.

The story continued to go downhill and I found myself wanting to write Hannah a letter to let her know what a despicable human being she was. I was confident she would not change my mind in the way that William had changed hers. She had morphed into someone completely unlikable.

I hoped the author would salvage it all at the climax, but she only succeeded in making things worse. I might have been able to give the villain monologuing a pass since this was a comedy, but everything else was just so, well, despicable. I’d already predicted what was eventually revealed, but I am still stunned by how awful all other aspects of that revelation were.

So I found myself repeating the words I’d written in the beginning of this review: Oh no. What have I done? Because I finished this and was now stuck with the need to write another negative review. Sigh. Well, at least it’s over now.

I am immensely grateful to Berkley and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

Note: The synopsis on Goodreads continually refers to the love interest as Wesley. Hopefully someone on the marketing team will fix that. His name was definitely William. I promise.

Wowza! This book was a WTF clusterF^k of madness.
I liked that it gives the reader the mind of a serial killer groupie, how obsessed they become to where they're completely engulfed by the perpetrator ant their victims, and everything in between the lines that com with it. I like the ending, how it dives really fast as if you're on a roller coaster coming to it's climactic end with it's crazy loopty-loo of a plot twist. I highly recommend it.
Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Life After Lock-up! This is a most entertaining read, from start to finish, and had me just from the small summary alone. This is definitely one book for our true crime girlies, those that follow Gypsy Rose and others, this book is for us. So entertaining, such a great read!

This book had a really good premise - who doesn't want to see what happens when someone is falling in love with a serial killer in prison? But unfortunately it fell short because the writing style was way too boring and all over the place.

“Falling in love was always a risk, I just chose to raise the stakes by falling in love with an accused serial killer.”

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell is about thirty-something Hannah, who becomes obsessed with a news story as several dead bodies show up in a ravine. When handsome lawyer William is arrested, she begins to write him letters in jail. She never expected to receive a response.

I for sure judged this book by its super-fun cover and the title. I was expecting mostly thriller, but it was a good mix of thriller and romance. The main character Hannah is a little nuts. She definitely has some issues concerning men and relationships.

The book was cheesy and corny in some parts. But I think it is supposed to be that way. I enjoyed reading the book. I never knew what Hannah was going to say next. Just don’t take it too seriously and enjoy it for what it is.

Rating: 4 stars rounded up from 3 1/2. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the eARC.

I was hooked since the beginning! The attention to detail in the characters, mystery, suspense and pacing was phenomenal. I just can’t stop thinking about this book.

3.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
320 pages

💌 This was a totally unique twist on mystery/thriller. The plot was intriguing and I was overall entertained, however I felt the pacing dragged at times and the ending was predictable.

💌 Hannah struggles to find contentment in life. She is obsessed with what others think of her, dislikes her job, and constantly lies to her parents about her life. After she is ghosted by the guy she is seeing, she finds herself caught up in an online forum investigating a string of recent murders. Eventually, she writes a letter to the alleged murderer while he’s in jail under investigation, and a back and forth correspondence begins. What has Hannah gotten herself into, and what will become of this new relationship?

💌 I strongly disliked Hannah’s character, but I think that was the point. She’s entitled, lazy, desperate, and makes horrible decisions. I struggle reading books when I can’t stand the MC. But, I could see some people really enjoying this book. Despite the pacing at times, the writing was well done.

This book was wild. I admittedly listen to a lot of true crime podcasts but the main character's point of view was one that I never would of considered. It was page a turner and kept me guessing. Will definitely be reading any future novels by this author. Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Fascinating and a little disturbing, but in a very entertaining way. Loved the voice and there were lots of twists to keep the reader moving.

I won this Netgalley Widget in a Shelf Awareness Giveaway!

What a fun and unique premise! Bonus points for a super cute cover!

As far as the storyline goes, I think it served its purpose but will be very hit or miss for people. The main character can only be described as insufferable. While the opening really hooks you, I lost interest because of the annoyance of the main character.

I still think this will be a hit for a certain niche!

It's out on June 25th!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced copy of Love Letters to a Serial Killer in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a little different from what I usually pick up but the summary sounded interesting and the story captivated me from the start. I liked the way the book was divided into three clear parts and kept me questioning along the way. The author did a great job of creating the feeling of caution or on edge in the right moments. I didn’t personally feel a strong connection to any of the characters, but I am very okay with that in a book with this context.

I’m not completely sure how I feel about the ending, it will take some time to sink in. The unanswered questions will weigh on me for a bit, but maybe that unsettled feeling is exactly what the story intended. Otherwise, very entertaining and easy to read!