Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - I Bet You'd Look Good in a Coffin

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

I Bet You'd Look Good in a Coffin by Katy Brent

20 reviews

tiiiger35's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Katy Brent has become a favourite of mines. I loved her other books & this one, the follow up to “How to murder men and get away with it”, was everything I hoped for.

Another fast paced mystery, full of twists and turns. Kitty is a whirlwind of chaos. She’s been spiralling out of control & making mistakes, perhaps becoming too comfortable with her role as judge & executioner…

Kitty is a vigilante, murdering “bad” men to get a sense of justice in a society where women’s abuse isn’t dealt with seriously enough. The parallels between fictional ‘Blaze Bundy’ & real life “Adam Tate” were striking, highlighting how this angry, dangerous, misogynistic, rhetoric is spreading like wildfire amongst men. It’s almost cathartic to imagine a ‘Kitty Collins’ out there to scare the living hell out of these scumbags.

This was a really easy read, dark, witty & a little bonkers. It’s a nice change to be rooting for a diabolical murderess, trying to right the actions of the worst humanity has to offer.

Content Warnings

rbarrett_'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sopy24's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

mareikesrep's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ccassidy98's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

cogowno's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

saraafonso's review against another edition

5.0

dark funny relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

shedevoursbooks's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love the Kitty Collins books so much, I've been so looking forward for this one to be released and it didn't disappoint.
I finished it the first day.
But I will absolutely be listening to it again, probably several times, as I have the first.

The narration is spot on, Kitty and her world come to life on the audiobook. I loved the inclusion of the group as it diversified the characters and gave a couple of different perspectives on the feminine rage. The story was fun, changed up from the last one and I really, really hope there'll be a third instalment, especially with how this left off.

Content Warnings

alis_adventures_in_literature's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

cw: misogyny, mentions of SA, DV, cancer, and hate crimes, on-page murders and graphic attempted SA

In the follow-up to 'How to Kill Men and Get Away with It' we catch up with Kitty as she tries to resist her urges to kill bad men. But those urges are tested to their limit when she becomes aware of anonymous influencer Blaze Bundy spreading his misogyny. How long can she ignore who she truly is?

I'm going to keep this review deliberately vague because I'm mindful of spoilers, but once again Katy Brent has crafted an intriguing vigilante story with the acerbically witty Kitty Collins. Please heed the content warnings for this book, as several scenes could be triggering,

Kitty was as darkly hilarious as always, but it was also fascinating to see how she fought her compulsions early on in the story. From the men spoken about in the AWA, to a certain therapist, you could just feel her will not to act dwindling with every single page. I did think some of her observations early on (while totally relatable) descended into diatribes, but given the current climate, I imagine it was quite cathartic writing this character. But Kitty often had THE best one-liners. She could also be absolutely ridiculous, in the best way. I cackled laughing at the name she used to try and get into the studio, and the reaction from the security guard was priceless. As for the aftermath, you could just feel the visceral relief from Kitty. Meanwhile, her list of potential murder modus operandi in chapter 29 made me snort laughing. But it was also interesting to dig deeper into what made Kitty into the woman she became. I found the recollection of her childhood and what prompted her compulsions very moving.

I guessed the identity of Blaze pretty much straight away, but the reveal was well-done, and, the scene with a certain person (no spoilers) in chapter 34 was SO well-written. As for the following chapter, my heart broke for both Kitty and Carmella in different ways. It left me desperately wanting to read Carmella's POV, perhaps in a couple of bonus scenes, pretty please? But even with the knowledge of who it was, it didn't stop me from screaming at the pages on several occasions, as Kitty made terrible decision after terrible decision, usually suffused in alcohol.

But, that's also why I like her as a character so much. She's fallible and makes mistakes, sometimes HUGE ones. One of the things I love most about Katy Brent's writing is that she has crafted this character who is, at turns, almost insufferable in her snobbery, who giddily murders (granted they're almost exclusively seriously terrible people), but who is, deep down, quite broken, vulnerable and oddly lovable. Even at her most diabolical, you can't help but root for her as a woman who's seen some of the worst in humanity. Chapter 42 broke my heart, even though I knew it was inevitable. But the following chapter was bizarrely hilarious, and strangely cathartic in a way I'm still struggling to explain. As for the moment Kitty truly saw herself in the mirror? I was sobbing alongside her. It was heartbreaking. Meanwhile, the wedding was so bittersweet.

We were introduced to a few new supporting characters in this book and I grew to love all of them in different ways. While I can't name them without potentially spoiling things they were amazing.

The penultimate chapter made me fist pump, but also tear up again. As for the ending. I hope it's the start of a new adventure because I'm SO not ready to say goodbye to Kitty just yet.

Another darkly humourous tale.

*Thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own*

Favourite Quotes:

‘Thank you,’ I whisper into his ear. ‘Thank you for bringing me back.’

Today I’m thirty. The big three-oh. Halfway to sixty. The age where women hit The Wall, according to Blaze Bundy. I’d very much like him to hit a wall actually. A brick one, preferably travelling at a very high speed in a vehicle without brakes.

'What do you like doing? What gives you purpose? What gives you joy?’

Hunting deviant men and murderising them in the cruellest and most unusual ways possible.

No. Stop that.

‘Um . . . interiors?’

Melinda is one of the lucky ones in that her attacker was actually brought to justice and convicted. Melinda is only too aware that she’s classed as ‘lucky’ because justice did what it is supposed to do for once. Lucky because she got the bare minimum from the system.

‘It’s not even about what happened to me. It’s what is happening to us always. All the fucking time. It’s not fun to be a woman. No matter how much we think the world has changed, it really hasn’t. And it won’t while there are still men like Bea’s ex-husband and the men who hurt you walking around with no consequences. I just feel powerless. And it makes me so fucking angry and so fucking tired.’

We live in a world where monsters are praised and applauded. Where they’re promoted and enabled. Where they’re given even more opportunities with every vile action. Where they’re given slots on primetime television and OBEs and don’t even have to go through the public ballot for Wimbledon tickets. It’s hardly surprising that men like this hit the roof when they’re told no. They’re not used to it.

I really don’t want to go on the run. It seems like such a hassle. Where would I get my eyebrows done, for a start?

I forgot how physically exhausting a murder can be. I’m not in my twenties anymore.

He pulls me into him, kissing me like a starving man. Which he probably is, to be fair. The French really don’t cater for vegans.

'Why are you putting yourself in danger?’

'Because no one else is!’ I want to scream. ‘Because there are monsters like Max Macintyre and Blaze Bundy everywhere you look. And there are even bigger monsters behind the scenes, pulling the strings, enabling the monsters, creating a new generation of monsters. And I can’t just sit here and watch it happen. I can’t...'

‘You’re scared of me,’ I finally manage.

‘I’m scared of what you’re going to do to yourself, Kitty.’

Hopefully his death will be recorded as a misdemeanour. I have to hope for the best. Because people will notice he’s missing. And because he’s a white male, people will want to know what happened.

‘Yes [redacted], I meant to shoot you, for fuck’s sake. Keep up. Or has your brain been totally rotted by spray tans and Taittinger?’

‘Even after everything you’ve told me, you’re still not worthy of breathing the same air as her.’

‘Time to go home?’

'I’ll get the bags and pop them in the car,’ says [redacted].

The bags. Like we’ve done a big shop.

As much as we talk about justice prevailing, it just doesn’t, does it?

Not all the time.

Not for everyone.

Content Warnings

beate251's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for this ARC.

This is the sequel to How To Kill Men and Get Away With It. It's a year later, Kitty Collins is happily shacked up with Charlie Chambers and has sworn off killing. Instead, she weekly attends Angry Women Anonymous, which is exactly how it sounds - women who have been given a hard time by toxic men gather to unload frustration. Kitty would love to kill the men in those women's lives but she won't because she's a new woman.

Unfortunately for her willpower, social media is full of misogynistic men displaying toxic masculinity of the ilk of Andrew Tate. One such bloke is someone calling himself Blaze Bundy, and for some unknown reason he targets Kitty in his videos. Who is he and what does he want with her? It'll be murder to find him.

Then her friend Tor gets involved with her therapist Dr Adrian Ward, she is being told about Max MacIntyre, a media personality who grooms young women, and her usually absent mother Carmella invites her to her wedding in France to a guy she's never heard of. Suddenly Kitty has her hands full.

I loved the first book which had a high body count. This one only manages three, as Kitty talks a lot about revenge but takes the first half of the book to get back into her groove, valiantly trying but ultimately failing to keep her bloodlust at bay. Also, I like the idea of revenge but not so much all the blood and gore, so whenever Kitty acted, I was first saying "Yay, finally!", closely followed by "Ewww!"

I liked how a mirror was held to how women are still treated in the legal system and how often misogynistic behaviour is ignored. The problem is real and the rage is real.

There were a lot of twists and turns but I thought the identity of Blaze Bundy was kind of predictable. However, this time Kitty got help from surprising quarters, and I was very ok with the happy endings for the Angry Women!

Recommended if you like books by C.J. Skuse, Julie Mae Cohen and Eve Kellman.

"The family that slays together stays together."

Content Warnings

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