Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent

8 reviews

ynaiita_5896's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

🍸 Instagram star and influencer, Katy Collins is surrounded by fame and fortune. A normal night out turns into a freaky accidental death of the man who followed her from the nightclub. But what also remained is a new addiction - the thrill of killing.

🍸 Dark, twisted and hilarious. It had those dark comedy thriller elements that I normally gravitate towards. Loved the pop culture references.

🍸 The plot lacked some originality and often lost its sense of realism. Overall story felt like it was from a TV series. It's obvious these characters aren't people you'd want to hangout with and Katy Brent has perfectly created them to be so toxic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gaslighting, Blood, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

galactic_gigi's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Started this book at 1 a.m. during my exam weeks. Huge mistake! Couldn‘t put it down and actually spoiled myself as to who the stalker was to even go to sleep. Needless to say I basically finished the book in a day. The characters are not really loveable but oddly charming and the dark humour was right up my alley.

I‘m really glad Kitty doesn’t get caught

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Infidelity, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Torture, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Blood, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Trafficking, and Medical content

dr_kat's review

dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

There are enough reviews here that y’all can get what this book is about. I’m gonna say this: it was super fun and creative and, yes, gory and violent. I really liked Kitty Collins’s and Tor and was totally captivated by their narratives unfolding. The villains were all scary af, as villains should be; but they were also good representations of the flaws in villains (and why they don’t “win” in the end). So often serial killer stories give the killer (and the hunter, sometimes) these kinds of supernatural kinds of abilities and that can quickly get ridiculous. Brent doesn’t do that — there’s a lot of how life happens, how people only see what they expect to see, etc. — and I think that’s why it works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Bullying, Abandonment, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, and Emotional abuse

leah08855's review

dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

calicat42's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

pippamillerxoxo_'s review

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Rape, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Addiction, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, and Sexism

coffeekitaab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

When reading a fiction that is so close to the truth always hits me hard, especially when that truth is the violence faced by women and girls. There is not a single scenario that Kitty overhears either from friends or on the news that is untrue, be it ghosting by men after sex leading to heartbreak, sexual harassment faced by aspiring artists by those dominating in the industry, and even violence and abuse from their own partners. This is a book that needed to be written and I understand and appreciate the emotion behind it, especially when stats tell you that convictions for rape are the lowest, because firstly they're not reported by women in the first instance and secondly because of a "lack of evidence". This is not about the innocent  (although Katy Brent really ties up all eventualities in this book especially on this element to her credit) and there will be because no justice system, especially not the British system, is perfect but what happens when it fails the survivors? Enter Kitty Collins. 

I loved the dark humour and satire in this book. With it being a theme close to my heart, I would have struggled with the gruesome descriptions of violence and murder generally (did anyone turn vegan after reading this book I'm intrigued to know?). I loved the writing and the concept. It leaves me sad because of the truth behind it but overall I would recommend this - but noting all the trigger warnings first. Looking forward to Brent's next. Thank you @netgalley and @HQStories for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Blood, Gore, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

So, imagine if Dexter and Rihannon Lewis (of SweetPea fame) moved to Chelsea and had a baby....meet Kitty Collins.

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It is the dark, twisted and sweary story of Kitty Collins (online influencer) and her crusade to right the wrongs done to women by lecherous men across London. Filled with dark gallows humour, graphic depictions of abuse and murder and some nicely placed plot twists this book will appeal to fans who are trying to fill that Dexter/SweetPea/Jane Doe shaped hole.

I really wanted to love this book and while I did enjoy it unfortunately some aspects were just overly far fetched for me. Let's just say Kitty Collins would want to be a whole lot smarter about how she conducts her business if she is to remain a free woman and see a sequel!

I listened to the audiobook and definitely think this would be the best format as Kitty's sharp humour and snobby snipey comments translated so well, although it does increase her unlikability factor (but I guess that’s just Kitty). 

Overall a dark yet funny tale of a female serial killer doing good, or is she?

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Murder, Animal death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Domestic abuse