How could I turn down reading this book with a cover (and title) like that?! When I was offered a widget for this book I immediately accepted! The synopsis took my breath away. A rich heiress on a Greek island. Yes, please take me there! A longtime best friend coming to the rescue- what could possibly go wrong?

This story started off super intriguing with two very interesting characters. We have Gia, who is newly married into a hasty marriage to Garrett. Her best friend, Abby, tried to stop Gia from this marriage but to no avail. This story goes back and forth between Gia’s manuscript (what she started writing while in her marriage to Garrett), and Abby’s present and past day recollections.

Gia and Garrett lived in her family mansion in Greece to renovate it for its near future sale due to Gia losing some of her family fortune when her father passed away. They meet some new friends while out having dinner, and invite these new friends, Emelia and Timeo to come stay with them. That’s when things start to go downhill for Gia. Gia starts to question everyone around her, even her own husband. Is there anyone out there that she can trust?

Abby, on the other hand is worried about Gia when she doesn’t show up for their planned vacation together. Can Abby make it to Greece in time to find out what’s wrong? And are things what they appear to be?

While this story started off super strong, it unfortunately lost its way somewhere past the halfway mark. We are left to assume to know what happened towards the end, but for me I would have liked this story to be wrapped up in a nice pretty red bow. I am left with way more questions than answers, and rather unsatisfied with the ending. I also started off liking Gia and Abby pretty strongly, but by the end I didn’t care much for either one of them (although I definitely liked one more than the other).

This book might be a better read for those who don’t mind stories that take sudden twists and turns of action, and have an open ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine, and the author for an ARC of this book, which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: July 9, 2024.
Genre~ General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers

𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚...𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏, 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍. 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌, 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒚.

I wasn't too sure about this one at first, but once I got hooked, I was invested. Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood even though Gia's family is insanely wealthy and Abby's mom was their cook. Despite the financial gap, the two grew up almost as sisters. However, when the girls are 18, a traumatic event involving the two occurs, and neither can make peace with is, so they separate with miles of ocean between them.

Many years later Gia reaches out to Abby as she is newly and impulsively married and is planning to celebrate her birthday with her best friend in a chalet in Sweden. Abby agrees to meet her, and then things get strange. Interspersed throughout the rest of the book are chapters from Gia's 'manuscript' revealing the trouble in her new marriage with her husband's temper and wandering eye and the money missing from her bank account. When Abby arrives in Sweden, Gia is nowhere to be found, and all calls go straight to voicemail. What follows is a dizzying plot that spans the globe and makes Abby question everything in her life that has happened since that fateful night when the girls were 18.

I really enjoyed this twisted tale of friendship and misguided actions. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for this early read. This title will publish July 9, 2024.

Picked it up and didn't stop till I finished! This book kept me guessing from beginning to end! Book club material

The beginning of the book was extremely long winded and I had a hard time staying interested in it. The ending didn't give the closure I was hoping for I still have so many questions.

This book reminded me A LOT of Dangerous Girls and also a bit of We Were Never Here - two best friends, a death, maybe the narrator is unreliable or maybe not, maybe they're all involved in a big conspiracy or maybe not? This is complimentary, because I enjoyed both of those books a lot! What I found lacking in Ladykiller was the way that the manuscript piece is interwoven – we find out fairly early on that what's happening in the manuscript is taking place in the past (unspecified how far in the past a bit later) and then we're getting Abby's perspective which is happening in real-time. It's unclear throughout who is reliable here - can we trust Abby or Gia, or neither? Even finishing the book, I felt like there are still pieces left unclear (which is simultaneously good and bad!).

I do wish we had less time with the side characters and more time focused on Gia and Abby, maybe more of their bond (rather than just being told they're so close), or more time in the after of it all and an epilogue giving more clarity from Gia's POV.

Overall, I liked it, and I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars. It's not clear if the questions at the end are intentional to leave readers guessing, or it's that there simply wasn't enough tying up of the plot. I really did read this one quickly though, and will likely recommend.

If there's a hyper specific genre I love most, it's rich people with rich people problems. Ladykiller does not disappointed - badly behaved but incredibly glamorous rich people abound. What admittedly did start as what could be a formulaic domestic story (oh no my rich friend married a bad guy!) quickly turned into a genuinely enjoyable, twisty-turny thriller.

At the risk of divulging spoilers, I will just say that the unreliable narrators will keep you guessing until the end, and while I sort of could figure out the main villains, the way the narrators told the story had me suspecting nearly every character of being duplicitous in some way.

I bet within a few years, we will see either a mini-series made of this starring whatever young hot actresses are currently big or maybe a Netflix movie. The story would translate beautifully to screen.

This book was pretty much what you’d expect from the blurb – a breezy quick read about a wealthy socialite and what may or may not have happened during a vacation in Greece at her family's estate. Gia was born into money and made friends as a young girl with Abby, whose mother worked for Gia’s family. They’re still friends years later, except that Gia does nothing but spend money while Abby works hard as a lawyer. Gia did write a book about a big event that happened when the girls were eighteen (not a surprise that it’s not what it seemed) but she can hardly call herself an author.

Abby doesn’t have much free time which is why she didn’t go to Greece when invited by Gia. All the reader knows about that time is what Gia wrote in a manuscript, ostensibly to publish as her second book. But Abby feels guilty, so she agrees to go to Sweden to finally spend time on a short vacation with Gia. But guess who doesn’t show up? So, Abby and Gia’s brother go to the estate in Greece to see if she’s ok and that’s when they come across the manuscript. The story alternates between the narrative in the manuscript (which details the past up until about a month before the Sweden trip), and the present time narrative from Abby’s point of view.

Since we don’t know if the manuscript is more fact or fiction, it’s hard to know what to believe. And it kind of leaves you with a “What’s the point?” feeling because of this. If it’s all a big lie, or mostly lies, then you can only believe what happens with Abby which is not too much at all. Gia is not a likable character and since most of the book is her manuscript, it comes across as more of a romance novel than an actual mystery. Her husband is perfect in every way until oh wait, he’s not at all what he seemed, big surprise. Gia herself doesn’t make for a sympathetic character, so you really don’t care if she gets screwed over by everyone or not.

This leaves you to take this book at face value as a scandalous sexy story about the rich and beautiful. Fine if you like that, but disappointing if you don’t. Depending on which side you’re on, you’d probably either love or hate this story. But if you go into it knowing not to expect too much, you can be easily satisfied with a right down-the-middle ‘meh.’

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC of Ladykiller in exchange for my review.

Reading the synopsis, I was so excited to read Ladykiller that I bumped it to the top of my TBR. I probably should have left it where it was.

It's a very descriptive slow burn that just kind of fizzles. Though some of the characters were very interesting (Gia & get houseguests), some (Abby & Benny) were not, and unfortunately, about half the book is Abby's point of view.

I think my favorite part of this book was all the ambiguity. Normally, this would drive me up a wall. I need all the answers neat and tidy by the end of a book, especially of this genre. However, it worked for this storyline. I love the premise that you don't really know those you're closest to. I think the way this played out made the elements work together instead of a flop. Although I'm not quite as fond of the title of this...but I guess it works with the ambiguity.

I’ve been finished with this book for a couple days, but I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how to review it. I didn’t love it. It wasn’t bad, and it definitely kept my attention, but it just didn’t wow me. I wasn’t all that invested in the characters or the storyline. It was entertaining but something just fell flat for me.

I did enjoy the setting in the Greek islands. The description of the setting sounded breathtaking.

Interesting thriller, set primarily in the Greek islands (and a hint of Switzerland). I enjoyed the description of the house and settings in Greece almost as much as the story. Slightly predictable, but still twisty enough for me, with its long-buried secrets surfacing, and small touch of romance. I agree with others who commented that the title misses the mark a bit.

Become immersed into the Greek islands and adventure of Ladykiller. Gia, appears to be just another spoiled rich girl…or is she? A juicy read full of suspense and constant plot twists, Wood delivers with each unique line and even squeezes in a bit of romance via as you’re whisked away from Greece to Switzerland and the City of Light!
Finally, you’re left with the ability to develop your own assumptions as to what happened to Garrett and Emelia.

Thank you to Bantam Books for providing me the opportunity to obtain an ARC of Ladykiller by Katherine Wood and leave a 4-star review.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I liked the book but not the title. A ladykiller to me is a man who goes around and sleeps with a bunch of different women. This book may have been ok with the title Lady Killer. The book is fairly fast-paced. Abby and her friend Gia have been friends since they were you. In fact, Gia’s dad, Hugo, paid for Abby’s education. But Hugo is dead and his money has been bequeathed to charity. Gia doesn’t seem all that happy with that and neither does her new husband, Garrett. Gia and Garrett are at their home on a Greek island when they run into some ex-pats whose boat is getting fixed. Timeo and Emelia end up moving into the house too. The more the merrier right? The book flashes back to 12 years previously when Gia ended up hitting a guy over the head, and killing him, while he was attacking Abby. But was it an attack? Was Gia jealous? What’s up with her new husband? Is someone related to the man who died? How does Gia’s mom, in a sanatorium in Switzerland no less, know her husband? This would be a good book for book club. There isn’t a lot holding this book together so the author relies on well placed sex scenes. Not the best book I’ve ever read. If you have other things on your TBR pile, hit those first.

I loved this and couldn’t put it down. So fast paced!! Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Could not put this fast paced thriller down!! Abby and Gia are childhood best friends. They have a falling out when Abby disapproves of Gia marrying a man she has only known for a few weeks. But when Gia extends an olive branch to meet up in Switzerland for Gia’s birthday, Abby decides to go. Only Gia doesn’t show. Abby and Gia’s brother try to find out what has happened by reading through a manuscript Gia has left behind. So many twists in this book! Who is telling the truth?? Thanks for NetGalley and Bantam for this fantastic ARC!

The ARC of this debut suspense novel did not disappoint. It contained multiple twists, leaving me wondering about the truth right through the end. The dark storyline and writing style remind me of Alex Michaelides.

Set on Greek Island, Gia and Abby were childhood friends who experienced adolescence, and kept a secret about the death of a lover. They grow apart when Abby moves to the United States, but are reunited after Gia marries a man Abby is suspicious of. Abby declined the wedding invitation, but has second thoughts and agrees to an all-expense trip to Sweden to celebrate Gia's birthday. Gia goes missing and a manuscript written by Gia is discovered describing the event. Abby is on a quest to discover the truth.

3.5 stars from me for this one. While I didn’t dislike it, it didn’t really pull me in until 3/4th of the way through. The twists were a little predictable (which is perfectly fine) but with a lack of a connection to the characters there was nothing to ground me to the storyline except the great premise and the hope for more. Which, I did end up getting.
I would absolutely read more from this author, I just think this one needed a little more fleshing out before publishing.

Wow… exotic Greek Island? Say no more.

This book is fast paced and will suck you in. The twists and turns just keep going, the characters were interesting, I was truly invested and kept me intrigued.
It was a very good read for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Katherine Wood for the invitation to read this ARC in an exchange for my honest review.

Coming out on 07/09/2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read Ladykiller by Katherine Wood. Fast paced and full of surprises!