Reviews

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

taylorannwright's review

2.0

I liked the cover

orangeadeprince's review

2.0

i have met penises with more personality than phoebe

vicki_pittman's review

I just have no love for the main character or the love interest. Not even a spark of interest at all and I'm 30% of the way in. 

mikaelamacks's review

funny reflective

• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

ambermatarazzo's review

3.0

I honestly lost interest half way through but I can’t get myself to DNF a book. I was honestly disappointed he wasn’t a serial killer. I feel like she set it up so he could have been by the end of the book. I was waiting for that GASP moment. The plot went off the rails halfway through and just felt like someone was rambling. It had potential but it fell through the cracks.

bridgetmad's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

howse's review

lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

cfranchi_'s review

1.0

didn’t make it more than a few pages. I picked up this book as a true crime lover and the cover and summary seemed right up my alley. I rolled my eyes so many times within the first two pages. it’s really corny and not in a good way? no interest pushing through anymore. I actually think I stopped in the middle of a sentence on the 4th page.

and by reading a handful of the one star reviews, im not missing out. returning this to the store I bought it from.

fishyashiro's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

christinabijou's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Okay, so I have complicated feelings about this one. 

On the one hand, it’s a comfortable romance novel—familiar plot line, mild/moderate conflict, and an expectedly happy ending—which is always comforting.

On the other hand, I’m realizing that I hate how they tend to write the female characters in this type of novel. The female characters tend to fall into this archetype of a hyper-independent woman who is: 

1. used to doing things on her own/in her own way; 
2. avoids/sabotages romantic relationships due to either low self-esteem, a fear of commitment, or a combination of both; 
3. has very clear undiagnosed generalized anxiety; 
4. severely (and repeatedly) damages her closest relationships beyond repair and; 
5. somehow finds a way to undo all the damage caused throughout the book with a singular grand gesture and apology without doing any of the real work to fix the central issue that caused all the problems to being with. 

This archetype bothers me so much and I have a hard time rooting for these characters because ultimately, it feels like they’re going through a mental health crisis (or just going through their own shit) and everyone around them is just expected to “deal with it” until they come back to their senses. Then we just gloss over all the damage they’ve done and skip right to the happy ending like nothing ever happened.  

Regardless, I don’t think the main characters of a novel need to be likeable for a book to be good. I can appreciate a novel that makes me feel anything (even irritation) so I’m glad I read this novel, as it left me with a lot to think about. I just think this type of genre/novel isn’t for me.