This is just so much its own unique thing and I consumed it so quickly it has spat me out and I don't know what to do with my life now or where to begin with this book.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC and PRH Audio for the complimentary ALC.

There was a second I actually thought this was supposed to be romance, a la Butcher & Blackbird if you will. Well let me clear it up that it is not. This is a mystery/thriller with an unlikeable narrator that leads you on a journey that I found more interesting than what was built up to be the big twist at the end. Honestly, I wasn't so concerned with the ending which maybe I should have been because that's what ended up letting me down and the reason for 4 stars vs 5.

We go along with Hannah, a 30s woman who is so bored with life and frustrated with men who keep ghosting her. She gets fixated on a string of murders but switches her focus to fixate on the man accused of committing the crimes. In an exchange of letters initially starting off hostile (on her end) she somehow falls into the rabbit hole of falling for this man. He's giving her everything she ever wanted from men- attention and adoration, and it's not like he can murder her behind bars. That is until he's released and the real risk begins.

At times this is definitely satirical and as unlikeable as the FMC was she feels like someone you know, like a hyped up unhinged version of stories you've heard about people fixated on crimes and who idolize killers. The lies she tells herself to rationalize and choices she makes I just couldn't stop listening because I had to know what hole she was going to dig herself into next.

There is a point and commentary to this all by the end even if it's just about what Hannah finally uncovers about herself and her own motivations and also the motivations of William and supporting characters. I just wanted more. That being said, I still don't regret my time with this. The narration was AMAZING. Major kudos to the narrator, I absolutely enjoyed the ALC and it was not overacted.

Hannah is one of my favorite characters as of late - just so totally bonkers it was really fun to be inside her head. This was such a unique premise for a story and I thought Coryell hit it out of the park for her debut. I'll be looking for more from this author in the future.

This book was just not it for me. I am a fan of dark romances as much as the next person, but this book was work to get through. I'm hoping it was written to be satirical more than anything else, as our female main character.....girl what are you doing. It's an unhinged book and honestly I've definitely read worse books, but truly not for me.

First and foremost, how incredible is this cover for LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER? @berkleypub really slays the game when it comes to covers, seriously. Now, this review will be controversial because the reviews for this book are legitimately all over the dang place, and for good reason. I totally understand why this book is getting mixed reviews, but honestly, doesn't that make reading and discussing books more fun?

LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER stars a hopeless romantic young woman named Hannah. Hannah is having a series of bad dates after being ghosted by her situationship, but her biggest passion is following true crime online investigators in forums to discuss what's going on with their crimes. When Hannah decides to write William Thompson, a good looking serial killer arrested for the murder of multiple women, she wants to give him a piece of her mind, but when he responds in a manner she doesn't expect, the two of them engage in a relationship. Hannah knows this is risky, I mean he's a possible serial killer, but the two have such a magnetic chemistry that she doesn't want to give up. Is Hannah drawn to him because she's lonely and wants a connection? Is she truly attracted to him or wants to try and see if she can "change" him? Is he truly guilty? Everything is up in the air, but when Hannah gets in too close with William, her life will be changed forever.

This book is so unhinged, bookstafam. I think because of my divorce I related to Hannah more than I wanted to and enjoyed this book more than I expected. Dating in 2024 is not what it was in 2014 when I was last single, I WILL TELL YOU THAT. This book is a slow-burn, and less thriller than you'd expect. It's more of a satirical social commentary on dating and relationships in the dating app world. I had a blast with this book, but understand why some may not. Go into this book with no expectations and I think you might be surprised.

To be honest, I don’t even know how to fully express how unhinged this book was. This is a perfect case of not judging a book by its cover because, even though it’s all pink and girly and gave Mean Girls vibes, it was so sick and twisted.

I went into this blind, and it had my stomach turning. If you ever wondered about the women who fall in love with serial killers behind bars and fetishize them, this is basically a character study on that. This is actually a legit term, and it’s called hybristophilia.

This story is about Hannah. She’s unhappy at her current job, the man she’s sleeping with is ghosting her even though she was hoping for a relationship, and she’s rapidly becoming obsessed with William Thompson, an alleged serial killer.

She starts writing him letters, and soon they become “boyfriend and girlfriend.” She leaves her old life behind to attend his trial, infiltrate his family, and avoid her own friends and family. She never gave much thought to the possibility that William would be found innocent, or how she would feel if he actually was.

This was a wild ride, and being inside her head was really unpleasant (albeit interesting). Even though this story was slightly predictable, I still felt like it was an enticing take on hybristophilia, especially since I never gave women who are sexually aroused by serial killers much thought previously. Truthfully, I never thought of them much because I devalued them as humans.

As uncomfortable as this was to read, if you are obsessed with true crime documentaries and murder podcasts, and ever wondered about women like all of the ones who showed up to Bundy’s trial in droves, this will be the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley & Berkley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Hannah’s character is something else! She definitely has mental problems that need addressing. I did enjoy getting a look into the mind of one of those women who fall in love with serial killers. I guessed the twist in this book and I feel like it was obvious so don’t go into it thinking there will be a shocking twist. That didn’t keep me from turning the pages tho! I enjoyed this book except I wish the ending was different. I didn’t enjoy the ending and it wasn’t what I expected it to be.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was completely unhinged yet so intriguing and addicting. There is nothing about Hannah’s choices that made sense to me, yet I did see how such am aimless, drifting young girl could get sucked into a trial and prospective murdered. It’s that dark and secret longing for drama, for sensationalism, coupled with the awareness that it’s not only ethically gray at least, but also likely very pathetic and embarrassing.

Reading this felt like watching for TLC shows on addiction, strange phobias, or my 300 lb life. You want to be a voyeur into the messy, whetting your appetite for judgement, without getting your hands dirty.

While a smidge too long in the middle, and with an ending that left a little something to be desired, ultimately this was unlike anything I’ve ever read and I couldn’t tear myself away.

3.5 ⭐️
Love Letters to a Serial Killer was a fun, fast paced story. It opens with Hannah, the protagonist, tied to a chair by a serial killer and continues to tell us how she ended up in such a predicament!

Hannah is an 30 something year old whose life is all over the place when becomes obsessed with a a few cases of murdered women. When their suspected killer is put behind bars, she decides to write him an angry letter, not expecting him to write back… BUT HE DOES! She then finds herself falling for a potential serial killer that she has never met and decides to pack herself up and go to his trial. WHAT?! 🤯🤯

Hannah is extremely unlikeable but I literally couldn’t put this book down because I HAD to know what she was up to next! She’s crazy… almost as crazy as the killer. 😂

Though I found the ending predictable, that didn’t stop me from devouring it! I would recommend this book to all of my fellow crime junkies!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Tasha Coryell for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 • 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 • 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 • 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 • 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦(?!)
𝘈𝘙𝘊 • 𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦 25 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 2024

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 @berkleypub 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺!

The gorgeous cover combined with the provocative title are 100% what first drew me to this book. Look, this was absolutely deranged, unhinged from start to finish. As such, it may not be for everyone but I was totally here for this book which I interpreted as a well done satire piece that is primarily suspense/mystery with dark romance subplot.

Our main character Hannah is that girl who is always making terrible life decisions in a way that reminds us of ourselves, but 100x worse. She has extremely low self self-esteem, seems to base her self worth on all the wrong things, is obsessed with serial killers and true crime forums although she’s also in denial of this fact.

Constantly chasing what she can’t have, Hannah finds herself in a pen-pal situation with a psychopath bad boy who’s in prison awaiting trial for the murders of 3 women. He also happens to be a smoking hot, deeply intellectual lawyer from generational wealth, and blessed with charismatic charm to boot. Will Hannah tame the proverbial beast? You’ll have to read to find out.

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀 - 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲!!

An addictive, binge-worthy thriller with an unlikeable fascinating main character...did I predict the ending? Yes I did (mostly). However, I’m very impressed with this debut title. Give it a look, coming out next month!

i kinda cringed the whole time and i’m so sad about it. the cover and description made me so excited but after 20% of it, i was just like ??? the whole time. thank you for the arc!

💌🔪𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝙻𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙰 𝚂𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁
𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚌
🗓️𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟸𝟻, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺
𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟺.𝟸𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...Hannah becomes obsessed with the girl victims & their killer. She begins writing letters to him in jail & he writes back.

🤓𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢...That title, that pink cover👌🩷..I knew no matter what I had to read this one & I went in blind!🙌The premise was so unique. I loved the added humor into this insanely unhinged book! 😆I mean this girl is bad shit, but yet you can relate to her at times. I know.🧐🫣 I was so cringed out, yet couldn’t put it down. I can’t believe this is a debut. It was a total train wreck, yet also ton of friggin fun! Oh & I will be purchasing this one because of that cover alone! Obsessed! Bravo 👏

This book reminded me of when you see a train wreck about to happen (figuratively) and you can't help but watch or peek through your fingers... There is something so fascinating and addicting about this book. I don't know if it is my love for true crime (movies, TV shows, podcasts) that really drew me into this story, or if it was Hannah's spiral of a life that I was rooting for her to fix. Either way, I flew through this and I absolutely devoured it. While there is the overarching question of "is William truly a serial killer?" the book is more so focused on Hannah finding herself throughout the trial and her relationship. I would not go into this book looking for a straight up thriller or murder mystery, although you will get some of those vibes. To me this book was almost like reading a true crime novel through the lens of romance and a journey of self discovery. I would definitely read this again.

4.25/5, Rounded down for GR

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked this! I’m one of those true crime girlies who love following cases and murders, but I could never see myself LOVING the killer.

This follows Hannah, a pretty boring no one who’s ex (even though he never labeled their relationship) ghosted her, her best friend got engaged and doesn’t have time for her, and her job is going no where. She starts following this forum discussing these murdered women and trying to find out who is murdering them. Turns out it’s this handsome man William (murderers always have to be handsome right? Wrong look at the green river killer or BTK)

She starts writing to William while he’s in jail awaiting his trial, it starts off as her questioning why he did this. Then turns into friendship, and then he asks her to be his girlfriend. (Side note, I never understand how you can get into a relationship with someone in jail/prison like.., what…) Anyway she decides to go down to Georgia to watch the trial in real life. While she’s there she befriends Williams brother Bentley, and some other women who are in love with William. Right before William gets convicted there’s another murder!!!!

Read the book to find out the rest….. it’s great

Love Letters to a Serial Killer features a protagonist who latches onto a suspected serial killer. Her delusional dreams consume her everyday. She's got poor decision-making skills and lacks any ounce of self-respect. I often wondered about the women who fall for criminals, and this novel provides glimspe into these women.

This novel was a bit predictable with loads of unlikable characters. The only sane character is William, and I cheered when he let her go!

Thank you, Berkley

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of publication! My review will appear on my blog on 6/25/24. I will also feature the review on Instagram that same day and post my review to Goodreads, The Storygraph, Fable, and retail sites.

Review:

The title alone is what made me request this book on NetGalley. For some reason, the cover made me think it would be a dark comedy, but that is not at all what I got (and I am totally okay with that). This book is pretty dark - as one would expect when serial killers are involved - and dives deep into people's obsession with true crime and serial killers. This is Coryell's first book, and I am already a fan!

The story follows Hannah, a bored and disillusioned young woman who doesn't have a whole lot going for her. She lives in a small studio apartment in the Midwest and works a non-profit job that brings her little joy. Often bored at work, Hannah entertains herself on internet forums where armchair detectives try to solve crimes. Her latest obsession? A serial killer who is preying on women in Georgia. When William (the alleged killer) is caught, Hannah decides to write to him as he awaits his trial. She intends to tell him what a POS he is and be done with it, but when he writes her back, Hannah is shocked, a little nervous, and intrigued. So, she replies to his letter and thus begins her relationship with an accused serial killer. But what starts as a harmless outlet for her frustrations quickly spirals into an obsession as Hannah becomes more and more entangled in the case and more and more emotionally attached to William to the point that she begins to make some very questionable decisions that may cost her her life.

The character development in this book is exceptional. Hannah is a complex and flawed protagonist whose descent into obsession is both fascinating and terrifying to witness. At the same time, I have read many true-life stories of people who go down this path. It's both disturbing and fascinating. Likewise, William (the accused) is a compelling and enigmatic character, keeping readers guessing about his true nature until the very end. Coryell delves deep into the psyche of her characters and explores the dark and unsettling nature of their relationship. The dynamic between these two characters creates a tense and suspenseful narrative that will keep readers turning the pages well past their bedtime.

The side characters are also very well-developed. From William's influential lawyer father to his enigmatic brother and the other armchair detectives that Hannah befriends, each one serves a distinct purpose, and their time on the page is not wasted. As the stakes rise and the tension escalates, the book barrels to a satisfying conclusion, and while I wasn't surprised by the twist at the end, it was still a satisfying read.

While not the dark comedy I expected, this book ended up being way more than I thought it would be. It's a dark and riveting thriller full of well-drawn characters and a compelling plot that is as chilling as it is captivating. With a unique premise and a gripping narrative, this book is a must-read for fans of true crime and psychological thrillers.

This really worked for me. It was easy to read, and while I won’t say any of the characters were particularly likable, I still enjoyed it!

The title pretty much says it all. Hannah, who’s in a dead end job with a love life that’s going nowhere, reads about a potential serial killer and becomes obsessed. She starts writing to him in jail, and then he writes back.

From there we get a sort of twisted romance with a bit of a mystery. Everything really worked for me, but especially the ending. I love an ending like that, but I know it’s not for everyone. Hannah was relatable, even though at times she was annoying. While I found parts of it to be predictable, I still thought it was well done.

4.5 stars

This book started a little slow. It definitely put me in the feels and soon after reading I was on tik-tok watching video's and one showed up where a serial killer sent this girl a letter. It's always the same thought in books or movies like this. What did you think was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this eARC. This book was something new for me, I haven’t found a concept similar to what this story portrays and I can appreciate the creativity for that. Unfortunately the main character is absolutely horrendous. There was no redemption for her and i feel like she could really benefit from a psychiatrist. The story follows Hannah as she ruins her life and career over a true crime forum as she falls in love with an accused serial killer, while also obsessing over a failed fling to the point that she’s absolutely harassing this other guy. There are some interesting qualities to this book though, I liked some of the side plot and I appreciated that it wasn’t as straightforward (even if the plot twist is extremely obvious and guessable as soon as you meet that character.) I also would recommend changing the blurb due to it spoiling some of the key points of this book. This book does keep it moving tho, and I appreciate that it was difficult to put down. Kind of like when you see a car accident and can’t look away? Love Letters to a Serial Killer holds you in a grip where you can’t put it down. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this book but I didn’t hate it either, I’m pretty neutral to it.

A flawed woman with serious psychological issues begins corresponding with a man on trial for multiple murders. While the protagonist was extremely difficult to like, I found myself turning the pages to see what happened next.

Hannah’s love is spiraling out of control. She needs to start fresh, so why not get a pen pal? Except this pen pal isn’t any ordinary person. William is a convicted serial killer who murdered multiple women. Hannah finds herself falling for William, but will it work out?

This book was a great read. The dynamic between the characters was something I haven’t read before. Hannah and Williams relationship seems bizarre, but definitely interesting! I do think the synopsis revealed a little too much info about the book, especially a spoiler. Overall I rate this book 3.5⭐️