Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus publishing for providing me with an early review copy.

I had taken a break from thrillers after growing bored of the genre. Everything felt very same-y and predictable for a while there. When I read the synopsis of A Beautiful Way to Die, I was hopeful I had found something to pull me from my thriller slump. I'm happy to say I was right!

The setting of 1950s Hollywood was compelling, adding an extra layer of tension and corruption. We follow several women as they navigate a dangerous industry filled with powerful and predatory men. Many moments of misogyny, unbalanced power dynamics, and infuriating injustices actually raised my heart-rate. The tension was effective, properly building to a climax that was satisfying, even if I was able to predict some of the reveals.

Each of our characters felt distinct and believable, with Stella being a standout and a badass. I would have preferred a bit more time with her inner dialogue, but it was fascinating to witness her through the eyes of others as well, with all of her flaws on full display. A vain, pampered, self-assured but also deeply insecure woman with a fiery temper and fierce loyalty. There was a lot of complexity and nuance to her which I relished.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this one, and was eager to return to these women each time I put the book down.

I really really love old Hollywood era stories! They always have so much glamor and seem so far removed from us, but also have so many common themes with today.

This is a dark and compelling tale of Old Hollywood and its dark underbelly.
Ealing Studios 1954 and Hollywood star Stella Hope is making a low-budget film after being exiled following a car crash that left her ex-husband with facial injuries.
Earlier that year, Virginia Rose, a naive English actor, is being wooed by a handsome star who happens to be Stella's ex-husband, Max. But nothing is as it seems.

This drips with Hollywood glitter. It's all platinum blonde hair, fur stoles, and strappy sandals. There's excessive glamour, and Kyriacou has done her research. The settings of LA, Ealing, and Soho are evocative and well drawn. As is the intrigue. There's a sordid flipside to it all. 1950s Hollywood was a dangerous place to be a woman. There were a multitude of ways to deal with inconvenient, non-compliant , or difficult women. Within the twisty plot, this serious subject is handled sensitively. Sadly, there's relevance to today, and not everything has changed.

I really enjoyed this as a Hollywood story, it had that suspense and what it takes to be a star in Hollywood. I was invested in what was going on and enjoyed the concept of this book. Eleni Kyriacou has a strong writing style and I loved the cover of this book. It was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the characters in this. It felt like Old Hollywood and was hooked from the first page.

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus publishing for providing me with an early review copy.

I wasn't planning on plowing through it like this, but here we are, 50 pages yesterday and literally the other 270 pages today. For me, that's honestly wild. The fact that it's a thriller definitely helped with the speed-reading situation. The pacing is just really well done, and the way the author switches between different perspectives keeps everything moving at this perfect pace that makes you want to keep going.

Now, I need to address the marketing comparison to "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" because it's a bit misleading. If you're going in expecting the deep character stuff and emotional gut-punches that Taylor Jenkins Reid writes, you might want to adjust your expectations, Eleni Kyriacou does not. The only real similarity is that they both take place in 1950s Hollywood. This book does a great job with that setting. I actually learned some pretty interesting stuff about the entertainment industry during that era. The author manages to show both sides of Hollywood, all the glitzy, glamorous stuff alongside the really dark, messed up parts of the industry.

The way it handles the thriller aspects is just really solid. It's got all the twists and reveals in the right places, the suspense actually feels suspenseful, and the whole Hollywood setting adds this extra layer that makes it stand out.

This deserves to blow up next year when it comes out. It's just a really well-executed thriller that does everything you want from this genre. I don't typically give 5 stars to thrillers (that's just how I rate things), but this is about as good as it gets for me in this category. The way it kept me glued to the pages says it all, really. The whole thing is just very captivating from start to finish.