Who Do You Believe?

First, I would like to congratulate the author, Katherine Wood, on an exquisitely written novel. The main characters are well developed, somewhat mysterious in their own way, and each have their own interesting past. Gia, the wealthy, flighty heiress; her brother Benny, a successful businessman; and Abby, a struggling attorney. Brought up together in childhood and separating their lives as adults, they are brought back together in this story of love, deceit, and betrayal.

Abby and Benny fly to Switzerland to meet Gia to celebrate her 30th birthday, but Gia never arrives. Worried, they make their way to Greece where Gia lives but can find no trace of her. Gia’s husband is also missing and the mystery deepens.

I have mixed feelings about this book. There is so much to like, but the way the story was assembled, with back and forth chapters in time and circumstances, made it a bit confusing at times. The ending, if you can call it that, left me wondering and unfulfilled.

I received an advance copy of Ladykiller from NetGalley, Random House, and Katherine Wood, this is my honest review.

This one kept me on my toes - that is for sure! Once I picked this one up, I did not want to put it down. 4 stars from me!

I love a good suspense novel set in Greece—specifically a small rural island. It adds a mystical element. There is something about the sun and sea and going back to a childhood vacation spot that is such a draw for domestic suspense. I especially enjoyed the mythology that was sprinkled in!

The book starts out with a prologue introducing all of the characters and how they are connected to Papa Hugo who recently passed. Gia and Benny are his children (although they did not inherit his sizable fortune as it was left to charity). Abby is his chef’s child and Gia’s best friend. The story continues from there by moving between the POV of Abby as she is invited to Sweden by Gia and Gia’s manuscript where she is writing about her life with her new husband, Garret, on their Greek island home. Abby and Benny rush to Greece when Gia fails to show up to Sweden and as they catch up on the manuscript us readers have been reading along the way, truths and lies are revealed and confrontations are made.

This was such an enticing story about a woman’s quest to find her friend who disappeared from her remote Greek island estate. Using her friend Gia’s manuscript to piece together clues in order to make sense of her disappearance, Abby begins to discover that her friend is hiding some dark secrets.

With each new twist and turn, I was genuinely surprised at times and thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. I’m not usually into novels like this, but I’m glad I tried it.

Characters you love to hate, a gorgeous backdrop, and non-stop drama. This novel is for any girl wanting that fun “by-the-pool” read.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What in the flying fudge did I just read here? I mean, it's a good thing to start reviews off like that because you shouldn't trust a single soul in this entire book. Well maybe like one person but don't hold your breath.

From the very beginning, I was completely hooked on Ladykiller. Gia and Abby's friendship seemed interesting enough, but the overall mystery kept the pages turning. Don't even get me started on all these fabulous places that were casually visited throughout this book either. If I could be in Greece, on an island, while reading this book - well, it would have been the freaking cherry on top.

Back to the mystery, it's hard to put down a book when you truly don't trust anyone. If they were acting suspicious, then I automatically didn't believe a single word that was being said. I was happy when questions started to form around certain people, but in the end, I'm still left with so many unanswered questions. Which irks me so much.

So many things are revealed towards the end which definitely had me gasping. Heck, even the little reveals along that way had me screaming, "I KNEW IT. I FREAKING KNEW IT!" Like I mentioned before, this book had me hooked and I wasn't going to put this down until I read the very last page.

In the end, I'm really happy that I dove into this mystery thriller. I'm (sort of) with how things ended but ugh, I just want to know - is she a killer? It will be on my mind forever and ever.

First off, thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so I have such mixed feelings about this book! On one hand, I didn't love it but it wasn't horrible either. When I saw this beautiful cover and read the synopsis about it taking place in the Greek Islands I knew I had to read it!! Ladykiller is a compelling, slow burn psychological mystery thriller that will keep you engaged and guessing until the very end. I loved the breathtaking descriptions of the setting and the plot was unique and so different from other thrillers. It's about friendships, lies, betrayals and the secrets of the glamorous people who seem to live perfect lives. The story started out really strong even though it was a bit slow but around the 50% mark things finally started to happen and I was hooked! Unfortunately, that didn't last long before it quickly lost steam and went a miss. We never find out what happened in the end and are left with more questions than answers! I normally don't mind an open ending in a book and can draw my own conclusions. However, I found this one frustrating because it was extremely vague and as a reader I was unable to figure out the truth. Overall, this book didn't quite meet my expectations and had an unsatisfying ending. I can only recommend this novel if you are okay with not being able to guess or know the ending. Personally, this book was just meh for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨I know many people will love this one so please see other reviews✨

I want to thank Random House - Ballantine for allowing me to read and review Lady Killer by Katherine Wood.
This book is about pretty people who live in pretty places who appear to have a lot of money and lead lives like the rich and famous. Lots of sex! I found it confusing trying to keep the characters straight. Never quite sure what is happening. But that is what the author has planned. Some secrets are never totally unraveled! It did keep my interest!
Lady Killer will publish 07/09/2024.

Sadly for me this was almost a DNF for me, but I kept reading to see how it would wrap up in the end. Unfortunately, I never got the satisfaction of a clear ending. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book but then it got to be a bit much for me in certain places. The writing style itself was fine but I found myself not caring what happened to Gia because of the character herself. I was left with more questions that answers and sometimes that can work in a book, but for this one personally it did not. I will preface this by saying I don't read a lot of smut, but the sex scenes in this book seemed pointless and I did not enjoy that part. Unreliable narrator/plot points are one of my favorite thriller tropes, but the execution of it in this book could have been better. Overall it is not the worst book and if you like open ended endings, then you may like this!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of this work in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great read that sucked me in and held my interest. The setting: a sun-drenched Greek island, and it is worth reading just for this! The protagonists are best friends Gia, a wealthy heiress, and her best friend Abby, a lawyer. While Gia often comes across as clueless, immersed in her luxurious lifestyle, the fact that she became friends with Abby—whose mother worked as the private chef for Gia’s family—and that they have stayed friends for almost twenty years despite vastly different lifestyles, says something about her substance. But, the relationship between the two women became strained when Gia married hastily and Abby cautioned her against doing this. A few months later Gia invites her brother Benny and Abby to Sweden to celebrate her birthday….but then doesn’t show up and they cannot reach her.. I loved this set up, and the alternating chapters that contrast Abby’s story and the manuscript Gia is writing about her summer in Greece. The last part of the book is notable for the drama that ensues and the revelations that emerge—both about Gia and Abby’s past and Gia’s recent marriage. This is the perfect summer read: a captivating and twisty dramatic thriller set in a fabulous location! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This story had plenty of suspense and mystery to keep my interest. I enjoyed it at first. What really turned me off were the sheer number of sex scenes and descriptions. That just really isn't something that all readers like to read. I think many of those scenes could have been cut without damaging the story's narrative. We get that Gia and her husband have an intense relationship. I felt that those scenes were a bit too much though. It detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

That aside, I did enjoy the elements of mystery and suspense. The story was told with alternating narrators. Abby was narrating her parts in the present. Gia's parts were narrated by her manuscript, which Abby and Benny are reading after Gia's disappearance. Once Gia is back on the scene, the characters interact in the present. The technique worked and gave the reader some insight into the events happening far from where Abby and Benny were staying in a snowy hotel.

I liked the red herring that the author threw in there. I won't give it away though. Even the ending does leave some things up to the imagination.

The settings were done well too. I could really see the beaches and beauty of the setting on the Greek island. And the snowy mountains and the beautiful hotel there were described well. The supporting characters also added to the scenes and brought their own drama to the story.

Overall, it was well-written, but I'd have cut out most of the smut and left just the better elements of the story.

Ladykiller was a propulsive, twisty, exciting read! A take if friendships, drama, and revenge, this is a perfect pool binge.

Dark and twisted. A good mystery thriller that kept me guessing, all the way through that last chapter.

The story may be a bit confusing at first. There are two POV and 2 timelines - there are chapters numbered for Abby and her POV. And there are numbered chapters for Gia POV.

Abby is in the now. She's preparing to visit a childhood best friend she hasn't seen in awhile. Abby has been wrapped up with work and Gia has been recently in a whirlwind romance and a quick wedding.

Gia's chapters are from just a month or so before the now. And she's trying to get her writing going again by writing about her day to day with her new husband while they vacation in a home she recently inherited.

The story is compelling. The chapters may be told from different people and be very different stories, but they hold well being together in one book. Gia's chapters are a bit spicy. She has some pretty intense chemistry with her husband but they are both adventurous and they have a new couple that has befriended them on the island. As you try to work out if everyone is as they say they are, it's hard to stop reading their story, the web is so fun to try to untangle.

I loved the tension and the mystery. Gia's chapters always had a layer of danger to them, as they pushed boundaries and tempers heated. I loved that I never knew what she was going to do next and who to believe. The story had me hooked and the twists kept me guessing. This isn't your average mystery and I loved the feel of reading something that stands out. This one was good!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

As to the who-done-it’s (yes, more than one!), this is a five star, right up through the final pages. Suspicion falls on everyone, and the hints are never convincing enough to point the finger for long.
I do suspect that the privileged lifestyle, drinking, drugs, and sexual activities would be a bit much for a number of our readers, so I won’t recommend it, yet I found it to be a good read. I hope suspicion doesn’t fall here as a result!

But the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past, and when she and Gia’s brother Benny arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. Gia’s narrative reveals the dark truth about her provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of their seductive guests, a story almost too scandalous to be believed. But the pages end abruptly, leaving more questions than answers.

This story had me jumping from one twisted guess to the next about what could actually be going on. Gia disappeared, but left the manuscript behind that left clues as to what has transpired leading up to her disappearance. Her childhood best friend and her brother try to find determine what has happened to Gia. They have a shared history themselves.

I enjoyed reading this book and playing sleuth and it kept me turning the pages. 3 stars because some areas of the book seemed to drag on too long.

I hated our characters and really liked the book!

Okay, I didn’t hate all the characters. I liked the himbo. But ALL of the other characters sucked.

The first quarter or so of the book, I actually contemplated DNF’ing. Like, who wants to torture themselves with horrible people? But before I knew it, I was hooked. I still hated all but our himbo, but I needed to know what the truth of everything was! From that point forward, I was hooked. The mystery of everything ended up being twisty and compelling and the ended packed a nice little punch.

Everyone but the himbo still sucked, but I ended up really enjoying the book!

• ARC via Publisher

Ladykiller was RIVETING. I could not put this book down and it kept me guessing at every turn! I kept thinking I had “figured it out” only to have another twist thrown my way. I enjoyed all the characters and their unique personalities. Wood also did a great job with the little bits of sexy spice weaved throughout. I truly enjoyed every page, and the final line of Gia’s Manuscript in the epilogue was genius. Can’t wait to read more by this author!

I really loved this book and how the story unfolded through a manuscript within the story! Such a very cool, inception-like vibe of a story within a story. I really liked the mystery in this book as well as the twists and turns, but I did find myself wanting the story to be a little quicker at times. Overall, this was a great read that kept my interest all the way until the end and without spoiling, I’m really hoping for more books!

Wow! That ending! Definitely left me with more questions! I loved how fast paced this was! I think this was the first book I’ve ever read that did flash backs instead of different chapters to go back in time, which was definitely a nice change! So much going on and very entertaining so had me glued to pages wanting to know what happens next! Can’t wait to read the next book she releases!

Wow...I don't even know where to start with this one. For starters, I absolutely LOVED Abby - she's a strong, independent lead actively trying to spearhead her way into the law world. The story goes back and forth between her perspective and a writing piece that her best friend, Gia, is working on. While engaging, this book was pretty long and read as a slow burn rather than your typical, fast-paced thriller. To be honest, I think I would have preferred if they were two companion novels rather than in the same back. Regardless, this story was packed with plenty to think about and would be a great book club discussion pick - plenty of twists that leave you wondering who to trust. Thanks for this ARC!