Reviews

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

peterkeep's review against another edition

4.0

Probably closer to a 3 star book in terms of the writing and stuff, but I got sucked into it pretty quickly. It was fast and fun, with a lot of excitement in such a short book. I like the premise -- a kid diagnosed as a sociopath struggles to be normal, a would-be serial killer is obsessed with serial killers and then guess what, a serial killer shows up. It's not exactly like that, but it was enough to sell me on the book.

Some of the writing favors pace over prose, and the character sometimes falls a bit flat (although it's hard to tell, since he doesn't show emotion anyways), but the story is good enough to make amends for all of that. There weren't a lot of twists and turns, but the ones that were there caught me off guard. I think that's important for a book like this...it sometimes felt like even though I was enjoying it, I could see what was going to happen next, so it was nice when I was wrong. I liked being surprised.

Overall, not a lot of depth but again, a lot of fun.

_thunderhead_'s review

dark 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

3.0

cr4nkyp4nts's review against another edition

4.0

Fun read! The narrator definitely didn't sound anything like a 15 year-old but besides that, the performance was fine. I'm thinking of picking up the next in the series. I enjoyed getting into John's head. It was a very interesting place to visit.

mellove's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.0

aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

bookmaster4's review against another edition

3.0

I’m really not a horror person so I didn’t enjoy the book too much but the mystery and conflict were enough to get me to finish it. John is a very interesting character, not just because of the dangerous impulses he has but because of the way he sees the world. It was thought provoking to see “normal”/neurotypical humans through his eyes, how their actions and reactions don’t make sense because they are based on emotion which he doesn’t understand. I liked the relational tension created when the killer was revealed. I think it added an extra layer to John’s conflict with the world.
I can’t speak to the accuracy of John’s condition or how well it’s portrayed, but I didn’t like his mom’s attitude towards him. I understand how concerned she might be and how there could be a certain level of disbelief/unacceptable, but it frustrated me how she seemed to treat him like his psychopathy was something he could turn on/off. I feel like there should have been a bit more understanding between her and her son but that’s nothing against the author or the book itself and I assume she goes through growth throughout the rest of the series.
I took stars off because it’s not my genre but that should in no way deter you if this is your genre. In terms of writing/characterization/development/plot…5/5

avoraciousreader68's review against another edition

4.0

Book source ~ Chirp

John Wayne Cleaver is a 15-year-old boy who grew up in a mortuary. Ok, not literally, he and his family live in the apartment above the mortuary. His mom, dad, and aunt are morticians and he started helping as a kid. John is obsessed with serial killers so when mysterious deaths start happening in his small home town he’s nearly beside himself with curiosity. But it’s not what he thinks. It’s not what anyone thinks. 

This is a scary yet fascinating story told from a teenager’s POV. A teenager who is diagnosed as a sociopath. His therapist is pretty good, but if John had actually told him about the “monster” in his head who talks to him then I believe, along with being a sociopath, he would also be diagnosed as schizophrenic. Because my son had a monster in his head telling him to hurt us, but he would self harm instead. Once we had a proper diagnosis and he was put on meds the voice was silenced. I couldn’t help but compare John and my son even though my son is definitely not a sociopath. Anyway, back to the story…

John is an interesting character. He is highly intelligent, but is fixated on serial killers. He has one friend and gets bullied, so he’s basically an outcast even though he tries to act “normal” and not draw attention to himself. Then a murder happens. And another. John’s attention is well and truly caught by the unusual circumstances. Good thing, too, because his observations are what ends up saving his town.

I’m not a fan of his mom. I mean, instead of being supportive and actually listening to John, she worries about all the wrong things. When my son was going through what we thought were anger issues and then the schizoaffective diagnosis, I listened to him. I got him therapy. I tried to understand. I helped regulate his meds. I did what I’m supposed to do, be a mom. She is more like, why can’t you be a normal kid? Go do this and do that and just be normal. Damn, bitch. How about actually listening to him? How about accepting him as he is? Anyway, I like her more in the end, but it shouldn’t have taken what happened for her to finally get her head out of her ass. All-in-all this is a creepy story. It’s sticking with me so I’ll probably check out the rest of the series at some point.

 

neverfruitt's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

If you read this as a teenager you should reread it. It was a lot of fun 

sushizhan's review against another edition

4.0

Idk why this took me forever to finish (actually I do know: real life, laziness, also was reading fanfic along with my books). The book is 271 pages FFS. This should just be one sitting read.

It's quite good and fast paced. This is actually like 3.75 stars but I'm rounding it up coz I am so pumped to read the next books in this series. Really enjoyed it! 👍🏼

kayteaface's review against another edition

3.0

Well, this was surprising~. I spent the first third enjoying it, the second not really liking it, and for the last third I just couldn't put it down; I have quite mixed feelings about it.
Like a lot of people, I guess, I went into this in the mood for a good, realistic YA crime/thriller. Let me tell you, I didn't get what I was expecting. Wells threw the biggest plot twist into the works that left me a bit dazed and not so pleased, to be honest, because I didn't dig the direction in which the story was taken. The summary doesn't hint that there's going to be elements of another genre

Spoiler

paranormal goddamn demon serial killers, yo

in there. I must admit, though, that it grew on me eventually and I really found the latter part of the book really entertaining. It was an exciting read, and really quite an interesting insight into the mind of an unstable teenage boy struggling to refrain his urge to kill.