A review by booksabrewin
Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

Phoebe is a PhD candidate who has returned to her father's home that she hasn't visited since she was 8 years old. She is there to pack up the house to sell it meanwhile taking the chance to spend time with her baby brother. But while she should be packing her father's life away and finishing her writings on her dissertation on serial killers she is watching her handsome neighbor like a hawk. Could he be as sweet and kind as he seems or is it a mask like so many killers have used before to lull a single a woman into a false sense of security before they strike?

I tried really hard to get into the book and there were some factors that caught my interest with Phoebe. I am also pretty obsessed with serial killers and true crime. I listen to any podcast I can find, watch any YouTube channel that covers them (Bailey Sarian anyone?). I am fascinated in the way human behavior can change and what causes that change as a psychology graduate. In that respect Phoebe and I felt kindred. But that was the end of the the admirable qualities for her in my eyes. She was so negative and aggressive. There was no need for her to be as big of an ass to Sam straight out of the gate. I couldn't image any guy would be willing to look past the things she said and did. She illuded to him being a serial killer within earshot of him at a party that she invited herself to. I stopped finding anything redeemable in the character at that point and the book lost my interest. Now will I give it a chance down the road? Maybe. But for now, Phoebe was not a likeable character enough to keep me reading.

This is also just my own issue, but... the cover of the paperback book has this odd texture to it that made me squirm. I have a thing about textures and the odd feel of the cover made me cringe anytime I picked it up to start reading. That may have taken away from the experience as well for me.

I think the bare bones of the story had promise, but I despised Phoebe and would have only found Sam to be cringy if he tried to find any of her behaviors intriguing. I stopped reading at 22%.