Kate’s Review: “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It”

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Book: “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” by Katy Brent

Publishing Info: Harper Collins, June 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Meet Kitty Collins.

FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.

He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone. I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it.

That’s where my addiction started…

I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted story about friendship, love, and murder. Fans of My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and Killing Eve will love this wickedly clever novel!

Review: Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I’m going to get on my soapbox a minute, but I promise it won’t last long and I promise it has a point. I get frustrated by the literary box that the concept of ‘women’s fiction/chick lit’ gets put in. It’s pretty silly that sometime’s a book that centers on a woman and perhaps more emotional themes (love, loss, self exploration) is given this label, especially when that label can imply ‘less than’ to certain subsets of readers. That said, I do enjoy the occasional women’s fiction book, which has a pretty predictable formula and a general sense of comfort around it. So when I started reading “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” by Katy Brent, I smirked to myself. Because this book has very women’s fiction-esque themes, but centers upon a woman who, when she isn’t cavorting with her friends or living a lavish lifestyle, is killing men who have been abusers in their past and present. Sometimes in very graphic ways. And if that doesn’t satirize the preconceived notions of women’s fiction, I don’t know what does!

I would say that if you threw “Sex and the City”, “Dexter”, and “Promising Young Woman” into a blender and hit the on button, you would more or less get “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It”. Which is, on the whole, a rather charming concept for those who enjoy twisted thrills with some black humor to boot. It makes for a pretty fun read, with a fizzy humor and sarcastic bite that firmly places the power in a character who doesn’t want to deal with victimization, whether it’s towards herself, her friends, or women as a whole, any longer. And goes to extreme means to stave it off. Kitty is an interesting protagonist in that she is oozing with privilege due to her wealth, beauty, and social clout due to her successful influencer lifestyle, but covertly slaughters men she as discovered or deemed to be predators while hiding behind these things. Her first person perspective can be a little twee and repetitive at times, and I’m not sure that we really delve too far into her character so as to make her deeply complex, but as the story stands she’s enjoyable and just a bit wicked in a very fun way. There is definitely something cathartic about seeing crappy abusive dudes getting bumped off, so while Kitty could definitely have had some room to grow and evolve, it’s escapist fun at the end of the day and that’s just fine.

There is also a mystery at hand, as Kitty, being a well loved and well known influencer, has a stalker that is lurking about. A stalker who seems to know that Kitty is out and about slaughtering shitheads and has been holding it over her head. I liked having this added layer of stakes for Kitty, as it does make things all the more complicated for her. I also found myself genuinely surprised by some of the reveals and twists that came along with this subplot, as it goes from general ‘oh geeze, stalkers are always a problem’ to ‘oh boy, the stalker knows what she’s up to!’. I was a little surprised that Kitty herself didn’t seem super concerned about it, viewing it more as a nuisance that this anonymous person being in her business than someone who could very easily turn her in or at least tip someone off about her. I’m not certain if this was supposed to be reflective of Kitty’s general sociopathy, or that it was a point that could have used more development, but it was always present and it added to the overall tension.

“How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” is the kind of quippy and engaging thriller that will certainly appeal to fans of the genre who also like a little bit of sudsy ‘chick lit’ to be in their reading piles. As someone who fits that description, I found it to be a pretty fun read for summer.

Rating 7: Witty and banter filled with some fun satire, “How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” has a dark premise and fizzy execution.

Reader’s Advisory:

“How to Kill Men and Get Away With It” is included on the Goodreads lists “Not a Handbook”, and “[ATY 2023]: Murder!”.