How I'll Kill You

How I'll Kill You has an interesting premise: triplet sisters, abandoned at birth, raised in the foster care system. After a childhood full of disappointment, betrayal, and hurt, they learn that they can only rely on each other. When Iris, the oldest, snaps and kills her much older lover, Sissy, the youngest by just minutes, handles the cleanup and makes sure Iris won't be found out. They decide then that they'll never let men hurt them again; rather, they'll take lovers, win them over, and then kill them.

As Iris and Moody leave a growing number of corpses across the country, Sissy ensures no trace is left of her sisters' crimes. She's the one who keeps them off of law enforcement's radar. She's always been the steady one. The sensible one.

Until now.

It's time for Sissy's first kill. She sees him in a diner in Rainwood, Arizona, and she just knows. He's her mark. As her assumed identity of “Jade,” she'll have six months to win him over and make him love her before she bids him the final farewell. None of them counted, though, on Sissy falling in love with him.

This story goes some dark places. It's a pretty scathing indictment of the foster care system, where the girls were either cared for but couldn't stay, treated with indifference, or actively harmed. However they were treated, they came out of the system damaged. The book is also stark in its descriptions of how Sissy handles a cleanup job, so if you're squeamish, be prepared.

But the book has its beautiful parts, too. Love of family is central to the tale, even if that love has been twisted and misguided along the way. Sissy and her sisters love each other and have each other's backs. The relationship between Edison and Sissy is genuine, and Sissy's internal struggle when facing a choice between her sisters and a man she didn't expect to love made me want to hug her. Sissy also finds an unexpected friend in their neighbor Dara, her first real friend outside of her family.

My prosecutor brain couldn't help but think what a nightmare this would be for law enforcement. Three identical siblings – how could you ever prove which one actually committed the crime? Of course, they'd have to get caught first....

How I'll Kill You is a solid four-star read for me. Stop by my blog to read an excerpt: https://theplainspokenpen.com/book-review-and-excerpt-how-ill-kill-you-by-ren-destefano/

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.