She Kills Me: The True Stories of History's Deadliest Women

by Jennifer Wright

A powerful collection of stories about women who murdered—for revenge, for love, and even for pleasure—rife with historical details that will have any true crime junkie on the edge of their seat

In every tragic story, men are expected to be the killers. There are countless studies and works of art made about male violence. However, when women are featured in stories about murder, they are rarely portrayed as predators. They’re the prey. This common dynamic is one of the reasons that women are so enthralled by female murderers. They do the things that women aren’t supposed to do and live the lives that women aren’t supposed to lives that are impulsive and angry and messy and inconvenient. Maybe we feel bad about loving them, but we eat it up just the same. Residing squarely in the middle of a Venn diagram of feminism and true crime, She Kills Me tells the story of 40 women who murdered out of necessity, fear, revenge, and even for pleasure.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Crime, Audiobook, Biography, Adult

176 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2021

Reviews

[Jennifer Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the author I want to point out that murder is not cool to do. It is, however, VERY cool to read about. 5 out of 5 stars, thank you to everyone.

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Abrams, Jennifer Wright and Netgalley.
I loved this book! Women who kill are damned near my hero's! And no. I don't mean women who kill for money, or in hospital . Just women who finally get their dander up, and go all out! I especially like the warrior's. Good book. Great humor! I had fun with this!

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely fantastic. Not quite what I expected, to be fair: for some reason, I thought the entire book's focus would be on serial killers, while it actually focused quite heavily on historical warriors and heroines, including some really badass ladies who fought Nazis, such as Virginia Hall. I learned a lot of information (I hadn't heard of almost any of these women before reading this book!) and it's packaged in an incredibly binge-able format. The author offers a little input here and there, whether it's a quick joke or a personal remark on the treatment of a woman, and while I know some nonfiction readers prefer little to no side-chatter, I really enjoyed those little tidbits and thought it made this an immensely fast, light read.

I also appreciated that, whenever a story's focus would include particularly triggering topics, there was a brief little content warning at the top of that story's first page to let readers know what they're in for (or to decide to skip that story altogether). I've never seen something like this implemented in a nonfiction collection before, and I found it very thoughtful!

All in all, if you enjoy nonfiction about gruesome deaths (both deserved and not) and fascinating women of the past, I highly recommend checking out She Kills Me. I'm so glad I read this and I know this is a book I'll be recommending highly!

✨ Representation: She Kills Me features women from all over the world of many races, places of origin, cultures, religions, abilities, and more.

✨ Content warnings for: mentions of violence, murder, rape, infanticide, abuse, war, misogyny

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

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[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to a collection of the deadliest women in history!

I stumbled upon this book because I very much like the author and have read other non-fiction books she's penned. Since her writing style is always very nice (informative, not boring, but also not too sensational) and the title already intrigued me, I had to have this.

We get introduced to 41 women who made history through her ruthlessness, bloodthirst, psychopathy and other "interesting" character traits. The book divides them into the following 9 chapters called "sections" here):
1) Psychos - but not the way misogynists say it
2) Pretty Poisoners
3) Bad Fam
4) Black Widows
5) Scorned Women
6) Murderous Mercenaries
7) Killer Queens
8) Badass Warriors (not princesses)
9) Avenging Angels

And let me tell you: life is not only stranger than fiction, it's apparently also even more brutal. Though I have to agree with what the author said in her summary of Delphine LaLaurie: considering the real-life crimes, it's often astonishing that people had to invent even taller tales (as if the actual crimes hadn't been bad enough)!

Anyway, the book tells of all kinds of ways these women have killed and introduces us to women from all walks of life: highborn ladies, slave owners, orphans that became nurses, housewives, queens, ... using weapons as well as what nature offered them. Some have become something of a legend by now (Elizabeth Bàthory, for example), others I had never heard about and was quite surprised that I hadn't considering how many victims they've had.

In addition, at the end of every section, there is general information about all sorts of historical stuff such as revolutions (led by woman though), poisoning husbands and the likes.

As an introduction to a very interesting aspect of criminal history, this book wasn't bad at all. It was also nice to read that the author did NOT excuse away the killings just because the ones committing the crimes were women - she even mentioned that that is not only stupid, but even sexist since it denies women the faculty of feeling rage or being as competent/cruel as men. She also never made excuses for difficult childhoods or whatever nonsense legal systems nowadays come up with.

However, due to the shortness of the book and the number of women presented, the book itself doesn't give too many details on the women's stories (a short summary of their backgrounds and how/why they killed). Just enough to give a comprehensive overview and get readers interested in the sources the author cites throughout the little chapters. Yes, I've already marked some and might read up on some of my favourite murderesses. ;)

Still, that makes this book more an appetizer than the full meal, if you know what I mean. For someone only looking to know that there were quite a lot of prolific female serial killers and who they were, this book is perfect. For me, it's off to find some more details now (really good history books do that to me).

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: September 14, 2021

“She Kills Me: The True Stories of History’s Deadliest Women” by non-fiction author Jennifer Wright is a short collection of stories focused on women who kill. Divided into nine sections, Wright discusses; legit psychopaths, poisoners, female cult leaders, partner murderers, scorned women, mercenaries, killer Queens, female warriors and avenging angels. Each section comes with a subheading (ex. “rape”, or “juvenile murder”) as a trigger warning for those who want to avoid certain subject areas. I found this was a really smart move on her part, although I chose to read every section willingly. Each section, too, works in chronological order, starting with the earliest, and leading up to the most modern.

Although there are legitimate “serial killers” in this novel (especially in the first half), Wright covers other killers as well, including those women who killed in battle. A lot of the women discussed were new to me, and I enjoyed hearing about their rise (and subsequent fall) into infamy.

This novel is geared toward women readers. It isn’t “man bashing”, but it is difficult to discuss the role of women in history without portraying the misogynistic tone of society at the time. From female slaves, to “kept” women, each with their own motivation to kill, Wright highlights the specific struggle for women in their era, while at the same time not condoning their actions.

Wright’s writing is witty and casual, and I enjoyed the short sections. I found this novel to be informative and entertaining, and at just 176 pages, it was certainly a quick read (but well worth it!).

[greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

finished this gem of a book. everybody who says women are innocent and incapable of ferociousness – they need to read this immediately. my mouth was hanging open so many times istg. from cannibalism and enslavement to assassination and leading armies. true stories told with some humour, about ancient women & even a few modern. highly recommend this book!! xx

[verbava · Rating 4 out of 5]

як людина, одною з найзачитаніших книжок у дитинстві якої були «убивці хх століття, том 2» (трешове російське видання з обкладинкою, бездарною навіть за стандартами дев'яностих, і на жахливому папері; том 1 мені до рук теж потрапляв, але я його недостатньо надійно сховала, то він пішов далі у світ), я досі нашорошую вуха на true crime. навіть не обов'язково мікроісторичний, високохудожній чи скандинавський. історії про вбивць, у яких немає нічого, крім, власне, історій про вбивць, мене цілковито влаштовують.

у книжці дженніфер райт сторінок 176, а вбивиць 40, і на кожну є красива велика ілюстрація, тому сюди взагалі небагато могло вміститися. але, по-перше, добірка персоналій хороша: у моїх штатоцентричних «убивцях хх століття» жінок у принципі було обмаль, а тут не просто жінки, а й часові, і географічні межі значно ширші. а по-друге, гумор дженніфер райт добре пасує до історій про піраток, диктаторок, ангелів смерті, веселих удів і просто жінок, яким довелося брати справедливість у свої руки. (моя улюблена історія — про японку ші джанчао, яка, зарізавши вбивцю свого батька, написала про це зворушливий вірш і залишила записку з перепрошеннями за заквецяні кров’ю стіни. а потім жила ще довго і щасливо).

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the tales of various women who have killed, personally or not, for a plethora of motives such as politics and pleasure.

This was a fun and quick read, with vivid illustrations and a humorous tone. I enjoyed the down-to-earth recountings and that the author found a selection of women that spanned space and time. I did wish the stories went more in depth though, as they were very short and did not have too many details.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

She Kills Me is a book about women who have killed for a myriad of reasons. We have our more psychopathic killers, those who poison, some that are just done with having a family to fool with (both blood and by marriage), women scorned, and just about every other kind of killer.

I think it’s way nifty how there are trigger warnings before each section/killer. This will be helpful to those who aren’t exactly comfortable with the subject matter discussed. The stories themselves are interesting, though it did feel like there was a certain something missing. All in all, She Kills Me was an interesting read that I would recommend to those interested. It’s 3 stars from me.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Abrams Image, and Jennifer Wright for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"People are very apt to believe that a woman can't kill someone, not without a man forcing her into it anyway.."

As someone who throughly enjoyed Tori Telfers Lady Killers, I can say She Kills Me was a fun & interesting read! I love a good dive into the history of badass ladies as well as into the physche of those femme fatales..Boudica, Zenobia and The Night Witches were fierce and fascinating!! Elizabeth Bathory, Grace O'Malley and Leonarda Cianciulli were especially cruel, but all the ladies contained within this story hold their brutal place in history and are hard to look away from.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another Audible freebie find, and one I was super happy to discover, because I loved Jennifer Wright's previous book Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them) and I really like her style and want to read more of her work. But my library didn't have it, so this was a fortunate find for me.

And, as expected, I really enjoyed it. I kind of expected this to JUST be about female serial killers, but it covered a range of murderous women to heroic badasses. Of course, that distinction really depends on the context and situation surrounding the killings, but "deadly" definitely applies to all of them.

Each woman was covered in relatively short order, with expediency and efficiency and humor, and I really enjoyed it. I was only disappointed it wasn't longer.

Also, each woman's section is preceded by content/trigger warnings, even in the audio, for anyone who may appreciate the opportunity to skip a disturbing section.

[Natalie Holbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I love true crime and this book seemed very similar to Elizabeth Kerri Mahon’s book Scandalous Women, which I loved. However, I just couldn’t finish it. I got about halfway though but I could not get past feeling like this was more similar to a bunch of Wikipedia pages combined than an actual book. Each passage was so short that the gravity and severity of these women’s actions were not able to come through fully. if the author had cut down on the number of women covered and increased the content in each portion, this book would have a lot more power.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book full of soundbites on fascinating women told in a sarcastic and tiresome manner. The attempts at gallows humor were the macabre version of dad jokes. Also constant attempts at armchair diagnosis of various women continues to spread the idea that mental health issues means you are going to be more violent.

[Marta Demianiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorystyczne wstawki mnie nie przekonują, nie sądziłam też, że czytając o morderczych kobietach dostanę rant na mężczyzn. Niby logiczne, a jednak nie spodziewałam się, że będę się przy tej książce wkurzać.

Była OK, ale nie porwała mnie.

[Robert Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐ Engaging and Witty, but Lacking Substance

She Kills Me: The True Stories of History’s Deadliest Women has an intriguing premise, and that is what initially drew me to it. I was looking for something interesting and expected the same sharp wit and snark found in Jennifer Wright’s Get Well Soon. While the writing here is light and often entertaining, the book never quite delivers the depth I was hoping for.

The concept of examining history’s deadliest women is compelling, and it is clear that the author did a great deal of research. The sources are strong, and the range of figures covered is impressive. I enjoyed the brief portraits and the author’s commentary, which kept the tone accessible and often humorous despite the dark subject matter.

However, the book’s biggest weakness is its limited scope. Each woman is given only a few pages, which prevents the reader from gaining a full understanding of who these women were or the broader context of their actions. Some of the figures included also felt questionable in terms of how “deadly” they truly were, especially when compared to others who deserved more detailed treatment. I found myself wishing the author had focused on fewer women and explored their stories in greater depth.

Overall, I am glad I read this book, but it left me wanting more. It serves as an engaging introduction to the topic and may spark further interest, but readers looking for a more substantive or in-depth exploration will likely need to look elsewhere.

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of short stories about women who killed throughout history. I’ve read similar books like this, but this has more women I’d never heard of, along with those that are more common. I enjoyed reading about the women who are new to me, along with those I’ve read about previously. This book seemed less dry to me than similar types of books as I got into it. There are some really evil psychopaths among these women, and they kill in a multitude of methods. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Jennifer Wright, and the publisher.

[Miriam still reading! HIATUS from GR · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars audio and story.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slight little book about murderers, warriors, cult leaders, and psychopaths. Who also happen to be ladies! I wish I could have given it an enthusiastic five stars, but because of the format, I don't think that would ever have happened. This is a book so chock full of murderous women they all start to run together. The chapters are very short, and especially if you read or listen to them within a short period of time like I did, none of it cuts very deep. But it was extremely entertaining!

Just like with her previous book about historical plagues, Wright writes with a playful, tongue-in-cheek attitude, and often makes light of tough subjects, but never in a way I felt was disrespectful. I liked the short chapters, but at the same time I found myself wishing for more depth on some of the women.

I really liked the audiobook narrator. I loved the lady who narrated Get Well Soon, and was sad she didn't narrate this one, too, but I ended up enjoying Eva Kaminsky as well. I feel like she got the author's humor just as well.

[Jodie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Tiny chapters in which the author adores women for heinous behaviour, usually excusing said behaviour due to their oppression. How about, evil is evil???

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The various shedevils of this book kill, slay, poison and get up to all sorts of mischief. It’s entirely too entertaining, albeit obviously in a macabre sort of way, to not make me rethink my position on true crime genre.
But no, I stand resolute in my avoidance of it, no matter its popularity, the modern interest/obsession with it just seems too prurient and salacious somehow. Unless, of course, the true crimes are told in brief cheeky entries with a black and white artwork presenting each murderous affair.
Which is to say this book struck just the right tone for me. The author did a great job with it, finding just the right balance of facts and opinions. It was practically funny at times, darkly humorous, because, you know, murder…hilarious business. And it covered such a span of time, historically, from the early days of warrior princesses and lady pirates to the more recent and admittedly more subdued but no less disturbing deadly ladies.
The idea behind it, timely as ever, is about equality. For so long women were denied basic rights, regardless as lesser people, etc. Much in the same way that Queen Victoria dismissed the sheer notion of women loving women to the extent of not even considering that enough of a possibility to outlaw it, for the longest time people (read men) dismissed the very idea of women murderers. Because what sort of a dainty delicate lady creature would ever do such a thing? Well, as it turns out plenty ladies, of all different sorts, walks of life, social strata, etc.
And for a variety of reasons, not just from having been scorned by a man. Sometimes for the sheer pleasure of it. So yeah, killer lady deniers…they exist, behold the evidence. Equality, baby, all the way.
What a fun book this was, just a quick, entertaining, informative read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[jagodasbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to say I support women's rights and wrongs... not anymore

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

If you’re looking for a book that has short summaries of women from all over the world and places in history who have killed then this is a good choice for reading. I like that each section has the reference guide for the women who were covered so if there is a murderess who you want to know more about you can find them.

Read this book as part of Spookopoly. This book fulfills the Pumpkin Spice prompt as I’ve really anticipated reading this book.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

This was really fantastic and had a whole lot more in it than I was expecting. I love true crime, but I also get sick of reading about men doing terrible things to women and I needed a change for a minute.

And this book provided it. What’s so interesting is that it isn’t even just about female murderers, but legit heroes like ancient queens, female warriors, or women who fought Nazis (Virginia Hall is a new heroine of mine and the fact that we don’t discuss her when learning about WW2 is a travesty). There were so many incredible women in this book that I had never even heard about and really want to learn more about.

So we get a good dose of psycho and a good dose of heroine. Perfect! :D

I would’ve liked more about some of the women, especially Zenobia, Boudica and Griselda Blanco, but I was mainly satisfied with the length of each biography, which is roughly 4 pages each. Also, more modern women would have been great, but I’ll take what I can get.

Overall, 4/5 stars for being interesting and honestly pretty funny and quippy, which definitely helped manage the dark subject matter.

[Wero.nika27 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Pierwsza połowa książki była naprawdę dobra, przedstawiała te tytułowe „Najbardziej mordercze kobiety w historii”, natomiast druga już według mnie nie do końca, była zdecydowanie mniej ciekawa, opisane kobiety popełniły zbrodnie, ale nie na taką skalę jak kobiety w pierwszej połowie książki i ta nierówność trochę mi przeszkadzała.

[Kaora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just about serial killers, poisoners and scorned women, She Kills Me also delves into women who fought in wars or ran gangs or become heroes.

[Jamie Jones Hullinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend Tori Telfer's Lady Killers over this. The author even references it in the text.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it bad that I can understand why some of these women snapped? Lol

[Nikoletta (nikisjournal) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ciekawostki o kobietach zebrane w książkę. Uważam za niesprawiedliwe połączenie w jednej pozycji historii psychopatek wraz z niewolnicami walczącymi o swoje prawa, wojowniczkami chroniącymi swoje rodziny czy tłamszonymi kobietami, które się broniły. Na pewno jest to pozycja warta przeczytania przez każdego seksistę. Odczarowuje poniekąd historię, z której kobiety zostały praktycznie wymazane. Fajnie, jakby wiele z tych niesamowitych kobiet dostało osobne pozycje na swój temat. Na minus fakt, że autorka notorycznie podsuwa swoje opinie. Girl, nie obchodzi mnie twoje zdanie czy tak wolno czy nie wolno. Jej moralność dobrze wybrzmiewa w rozdziałach skupionych na jej opiniach (takie są), gorzej w biograficznych fragmentach.

[Isabel Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for some true crime but nothing too involved? Jennifer Wright’s She Kills Me may be right for you! It’s a compilation of snapshots of information about female killers throughout history, both notorious and lesser-known individuals. What is great about it is that you get little snapshots into the details of each killer and what she did. That could also be a turnoff for people who want a more in-depth, almost case-study style look into these women. For me, I was somewhere in the middle. What stood out to me the most were the illustrations; instead of having real life photographs in the book, there is an illustrator named Eva Bee who designed comic-book style illustrations to accompany each narrative. They definitely helped to keep me engaged!

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5