She's a Killer

by Kirsten McDougall

The world’s climate is in crisis and New Zealand is being divided and reshaped by the arrival of privileged immigrant wealthugees.

Thirty-something Alice has a near-genius IQ and lives at home with her mother with whom she communicates by Morse code. Alice’s imaginary friend, Simp, has shown up, with a running commentary on her failings. ‘I mean, can you even calculate the square root of 762 anymore?’ The last time Simp was here was when Alice was seven, on the night a fire burned down the family home. Now Simp seems to be plotting something.

When Alice meets a wealthugee named Pablo, she thinks she’s found a way out of her dull existence. But then she meets Pablo’s teenage daughter, Erika – an actual genius full of terrifying ambition.

She’s a Killer is the story of a brilliant and stubborn slacker who is drawn into a radical action. It’s about what happens when we refuse to face our most demanding problems, told by a woman who is a strange and calculating force of chaos.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Dystopia, Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Science Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: A dystopian cli-fi satire that is wacky in myriad ways. If you go in with the right expectations, you might enjoy the book. Just be prepared for a slow start. Not a thriller!

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Plot Preview:

Wellington, sometime in the future. Thirty-seven-year-old Alice, who has an IQ of 159 (missing the ‘genius’ mark by just 1 point), is stuck in a dead-end job and frustrated of the change wrought about by the climate change. The situation is worsened by the wealthy immigrants – ‘wealthugees’ – who are flocking to New Zealand and affecting the local economy by purchasing land and driving up prices, making the situation worse for residents. But Alice is a slacker, and does nothing to change the situation except complain.
When one hot wealthugee asks Alice to take care of his fifteen-year-old daughter Erika for a few days in exchange for a large sum, Alice readily quits her job. But she doesn’t realise that Erika is a fellow genius, and carries many more secrets. Alice’s life isn’t going to be the same anymore.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Alice.

Bookish Yays:
🍓 The dystopian world: So like the usual dystopia we read and yet so very different! We hear of the climate crisis and see the impact of the ‘wealthugees’, but instead of making the dystopia the prominent feature, it serves only as the foundation for the main plot.

🍓 Alice: Alice is unlikeable to the core yet it is tough to hate her because of the writing. An excellently sketched character whose sarcastic remarks make the narration entertaining.

🍓 Simp: Alice’s imaginary friend and master of retorts. Loved “her”!

🍓 The ‘wealthugee’ concept: Ridiculous to the point of being believable! Enjoyed the upside-down take on “privileged refugees”. It was all very clever!

🍓 The satirical elements: A lot of the plot left me wondering whether to laugh or to be horrified. Satire at its best!

🍓 The New Zealand setting: The location cant be used in the typical sense as this is a futuristic tale. But the author still manages a accurate portrayal of what could be dystopian NZ.

🍓 The indigenous Maori rep in the plot: So twisted and yet so clever!


Bookish Mixed Bags:
🍍Needs a lot of patience at the start because Alice’s first person narrative sounds like an endless bitchy ramble and is terribly slow. But once you begin to see where the plot is going (which is around the halfway mark), the build-up makes sense.

🍍The title tells you that “she’s a killer”. But it takes a long time to understand the validity of this claim in context of the book.

🍍The proceedings are outrageous! This shouldn’t be said as the book is meant to be a satire, but better to go in prepared for bizarre developments that come out of nowhere. This does work for the book, but will it work for every reader?


Bookish Nays:
🍊 Alice doesn’t sound like someone in her late thirties; her narration is almost YA in style. This could be because of her sheltered life and self-absorbed life choices, but it still feels odd.


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 38 min, is narrated by Eva Seymour. She does an amazing job keeping so many characters distinct in out head. If you want to try this, the audiobook is a great option, though it will take you a while to realise where the story is going.


All in all, I felt like I would hate this book until about the one-third mark, it was so amorphous until then. But once the story threads started coming together, I began to enjoy it better.

Definitely recommended, but to only a specific set of readers. This is a very intelligent novel that might be a tad too esoteric for typical dystopian fiction fans. But if you are fond of satire or dark humour, this ought to be on your reading list. It is a go-with-the-flow kind of story, so don’t overthink; just enjoy the ride.

This is promoted as a “satirical dystopian cli-fi thriller”, but it is more like a ‘literary thriller’, so you will be on a slowburn journey to the thrills. Not for those who want believable plots or likeable characters or clean content or fast-paced writing or happy stories.

3.75 stars.


My thanks to NetGalley, Gallic Books for the DRC, and Bolinda Audio for the ALC of “She's a Killer”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.





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[Southern Lady Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most deliciously satirical books I've read in a VERY long time. There's just something about McDougall's premise of satire, the end of the world, and somewhat feminist leanings... I never quite knew if we were talking about now or the not-so-distant fate of the planet? After all... most people are only a day away from absolute calamity due to shortages and pestilence.

THOUGHTS:
- I read something somewhere that said that people who are highly intelligent are intelligent enough to know how intelligent they aren't. This, in turn, affects their relationship with their inner selves and how they perceive the outside world. It made me want to know the inner thoughts of those people and our unlikely heroine, Alice (with an incredibly high IQ), has become one of my favorite characters of 2023!!! I loved living this story through her eyes and seeing the world from her perspective. Her snarky commentary with her imaginary best friend gave me LIFE when I was feeling burnt out from other reads!

She's A Killer was refreshing, and all I can think now is: GIVE ME MORE UNLIKEABLE, YET DARKLY AMUSING HEROINES!!!

- I won't ruin the story for you because I desperately think you need to read it for yourself.. but if ever there was a macabre Charlotte's Web... I feel that it would illicit much the same feelings as McDougall's work. Being around people who are more intelligent than you is fascinating. You never quite know what they're thinking, and I found myself sucked in so many times trying to figure out different character's motivations!

NOTES:
- 🌶️/5 - Some s3xual elements - but not romantic in almost any way.
CWs: Some of the characters are a bit unnerving, but overall I didn't feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

**Thank you to Gallic Books & NetGalley for my advanced reader copies. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

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[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW/CW: Language, physical abuse, toxic relationships, eating disorder, death by suicide attempt, cheating, drinking, drug use, toxic parent relationships, eating disorder

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Thirty-something Alice has a near-genius IQ and lives at home with her mother with whom she communicates by Morse code. Alice’s imaginary friend, Simp, has shown up, with a running commentary on her failings. ‘I mean, can you even calculate the square root of 762 anymore?’ The last time Simp was here was when Alice was seven, on the night a fire burned down the family home. Now Simp seems to be plotting something.

When Alice meets a wealthugee named Pablo, she thinks she’s found a way out of her dull existence. But then she meets Pablo’s teenage daughter, Erika – an actual genius full of terrifying ambition.
Release Date: October 10th, 2021
Genre: Women's Fic
Pages: 384
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. In love with the cover
2. Enjoyed the writing style

What I Didn't Like:
1. Hate Erika
2. So many whiny moments

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Trying to understand why Alice would quit her job just because Brian was fired. I don't get it. She was getting more money too plus she hated him.

So she just pees in the yard and pulls her pants up. Ew. That would be so uncomfortable and gross.

After Alice makes Amy eat the whole pineapple Amy stays friends with her which I guess makes sense since she's used to abuse with her family

This book is taking an odd turn; the girl is now an assassin hired to kill a man and is using Alice.
Final Thoughts:
The shame of the book was that I was enjoying it a lot but there was already so much happening and then we get Erika a girl who is training to be an assassin.

I dnfed the book. I've been reading it for months and had to return it back to the library. I tried to push through but just too much going on with this book;
• World is ending
• Quits her job
• Her friend moving away
• An imaginary friend
• Taking care of some man's kid
• Kid being an assassin
Just too much. I should have skimmed to the end to see if she's actually imaging all of this but I lost interest.

IG | Blog

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great read. 4.5 stars. What is not to love about a central character who is a bitch to everyone? What makes this so great are the bonus features. This central character has an invisible friend, a girl called Simp, whom she converses with all the time. Unusual, given that she is thirty-seven. Also I love the portrayal of the not to distant future. A world where all the things we are about to face into are starting to happen. Climate change, the flooding and drought in other countries, has created a new class of people. The wealthugees. Those who are rich enough to pay their way out of the problems in their own country and who are welcomed into this very realistic New Zealand of the future, only as long as they are paying.

Our central character and narrator is Alice. She lives in the same house as her mother but has walled up the staircase down into her flat and only communicates with her mother by flashing lights and Morse code. There are so many great things about this protagonist, that you cannot help but love her. The more of a bitch she is, the more you love her. Also I love the way she is pitched, one point below the IQ of a genius, and resentful about it. She began training to be a psychologist, but was refused entry into further study at university. Instead she has lapsed into being an underachiever. But a dangerously clever one. The idea that she would do well at an advertising agency by feeding the boss psycho-babble about their clients is a great one.
Alice has only one friend, Amy. A girl she knew from school and who has been her only friend since age seven. At eighteen Alice saved Amy’s life and Amy has not been able to get rid of her since, even though Amy has moved on. Amy has a nice house, kids, a successful husband. She is moving up in life. The complete opposite of Alice.

One of Alice’s main problems is that she knows too much and is very self-aware. For example this passage about Nick, one of her ex-boyfriends:

Like many people throughout my life, Nick had seen a lot of potential in me. Nick loved my potential and believed that through careful attention and care he would free me of whatever it was that was obviously holding me back from fulfilling it. He would say things like, You’re so clever, you should join MENSA. You have such original ideas, you should write a novel. Nick mistook his love of my potential as love for me. I understood right from the start that this was the case, but I did not try to disabuse him because there was no point. Saviours are very determined people. Also – I was still young enough to feel a kind of pride in someone loving my potential. It was almost like having someone love me.

The lack of care that Alice displays can be seen very clearly in this observation she makes about the wealthugees:

Since the wealthugees had started pouring into the city more than a year earlier, I’d had a number of casual encounters with men, new arrivals at the end of the world. The problem with them was that they mostly wanted to talk about living in a new country and where they could get good coffee and their trauma and which was the best gym to work out in. I didn’t want to hear their stories and I couldn’t help them. They’d paid for a nice bottle of wine and mistaken me for someone who listened. Their stories were all the same. Their countries were flooded, burning or in drought. They ran from civil wars and useless governments, and they all had the money to leave. I got fed up with them. I pointed out to one guy that he was lucky. He’d been able to come to New Zealand because his family could offer large amounts of money in return for residency; they could afford a small piece of land on which to build a house. He didn’t like that. He slapped my face and yelled at me, saying I didn’t understand what he’d lost. Then, to make it worse, he sat on the floor and cried and begged me to forgive him because he had PTSD. It took me ages to get him out of my house.

However, along comes one of the wealthugees, asking Alice to help him study Russian literature at the university where she works in a menial job she hates. He draws her into the beginning of a relationship. He is older, with a teenage daughter, but Alice is seduced by his very soft hands. For there things begin to rapidly spiral out of Alice’s control. She is the sort of person who likes to be in control.
I am not going to say more about the plot because to do so would give things away which are better if they are a surprise. One of the best things about the book it that readers are constantly being surprised by the twists and turns. It is down to the skill of the writer, Kirsten McDougall, that we continue to feel that Alice is constantly being surprised by what is happening around her. As Alice says, ‘Oh my god. I’m being used and at the same time ignored…You’ve completely ambushed my life.’

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s set in the not too distant future (the main character Alice, still listens to The Violent Femmes) but out in the world, climate change is running rampant and things have obviously deteriorated very quickly. Here in New Zealand there has been a huge influx of very wealthy immigrants buying their way in. NZ has basically been taken over by these ‘wealthugees’ (such a great term, I can see it becoming common usage) escaping, to what they see as their South Pacific bolthole, where a steak will now set you back $200 and your morning water allowance isn’t much more than washing your face if you are one of the great unwashed.
37 year old Alice is one point off being a genius, and her imaginary friend Simp has just turned up again, after a 30 year absence. The same imaginary friend that had been such a bad influence when she was a kid, and who she last saw the night their house burnt down.
When the story opens, Alice is leading an unfulfilled life in a deadend job at the university while still living with her mother. Things change quickly after Simp reappears and soon spiral completely out of control when she meets wealthugee Pablo, and his genius daughter Erika, packing some serious ninja skills.
It’s a great read and although not far from a depressingly plausable future for us here in NZ, it’s also very funny. I had no idea where the story was leading and it kept me guessing right to the end. There is some very entertaining dialogue and who would have thought a chocolate smeared four year old could cause such havoc?
I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of She’s A Killer and read it during New Zealand’s 2nd nationwide lockdown. Luckily it was hugely entertaining or I might have felt like I was reading something close to nonfiction.

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy of this to review!*

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I quite liked how unusual and different it was to everything I usually read. On the other, it was so different and unusual I can’t exactly decide whether I liked it all that much.

The beginning of this book had me in its grip quite firmly, the first 200 pages or so flew by. I really liked the writing style, it was well written and thought it was pretty thought provoking, and exactly my brand of dry humour and dread. I also really liked the themes being explored in here and it really added another dimension to the storytelling and atmosphere. I’ve never really read a book quite like it. It had some good commentary on societal issues such as immigration, privilege, wealth, and the climate crisis. The satirical angle for some of it too was quite a distinctive spin.

I have no idea what you’re really supposed to take from this book, and I do agree with other reviewers that have said it could have been a hundred or so pages shorter. It’s really trying to do a lot and fit several different clashing genres into one book which makes for quite the whirlwind of a reading experience. It was really kooky and strange. The way the plot ended up panning out was really unexpected for me, and I don’t think I like it. I think it just went too far fetched too quickly and it just left me feeling a little bit stumped once I finished it. It just felt really random in all honesty.

If you’re a fan of quite experimental and different fiction, this definitely ticks those boxes. I am a puddle of confusion though. It was fine, I guess. I enjoyed the first half way more than the ending.

[Han · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars
Audiobook: 5 Stars

'She's a Killer' can be best described as a dystopian satire cli-fi, a story that follows Alice, a 1 point off genius who potentially doesn't care about anyone, set in New Zealand where 'wealthugees' are using the world's depleting resources and buying up New Zealand.

The premise of this story is really interesting and is what enticed me to pick this book up. Throughout Alice provides entertaining sarcastic remarks and all-in-all is a purposefully unlikable character which at times is very entertaining. The audiobook narrator Eva Seymour did an excellent job at portraying the main character and her quirks and kept me interested. However I think my issue is I went in expecting a thriller, which this is not. The story has an incredibly slow start, with nothing of substance really happening until the last 20% of the book which did really pick up. This however is also where the book became quite surreal and there were elements that seemed out of place and random.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Paperback Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd at 55%
Listened on audio.
The narration was fine and was not what made me DNF.
It was just SO MUCH WORDS and NOTHING HAPPENING.
The writing style was fine, but 55% into the book and I'm just so bored, the characters actions just seem to be so far-fetched too

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read New Zealand authors, but when I do it is always excellent. Eleanor Catton of course, Kate Mansfield, Catherine Chidgey and the wonderful Aūe by Becky Manawatu.

She's a Killer is a very original novel with a delightfully quirky first person narrator (Alice) and an unexpectedly intricate plot. It is blurbed by Eleanor Catton and I see some parallels with Birnam Wood, in particular the eco-warrior plot. But this is much more satirical and playful.

It is set in the near future, the climate crisis has hit a tipping point and New Zealand has become one of the few safe havens where the world's richest flock to buy up land and find shelter, creating a divided society between struggling natives and rich 'wealthugees'.

A fun, smart and quick read, that works really well as an audiobook too.

[ReneeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book with a female main character that is totally unhinged, gives zero effs and has no moral compass, then this one will be right up your alley. I was instantly sucked into the narrative of this book and couldn't put it down.

In a not to distant future where climate change is wreaking havoc on NZ, Alice is faced with change all around and is being forced to adapt. "Wealth-ugees" are buying their way into the country and living as though money is expendable while current population suffers. Alice thinks she may have met her meal ticket with wealth-ugee Pablo, but he has other plans which change Alice's current living conditions.

This book is a chaotic roller coaster ride filled with satire, humor, wit and a general feeling of unhappiness but its a fun, quirky read.

The audiobook narrator, Eva Seymour does a wonderful job.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio and Kirsten McDougall for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

[The Bibliophile Doctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Gallic books for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

She's a killer is a book that will test your patience coz it is slow paced and not so exciting. Alice is 30+ and yet her POV felt like Young adult for the most of the book. She is totally unlikable but yet I couldn't help but like her monologues and her imaginary friend "Simp".

This book takes a while to get into but once you are into it, you will feel dragged into the world of satire and dystopia. For about 50 % of the book, the book had very different storyline n after the introduction of Erika, the story took a turn for , I don't know I feel like calling it worse because it wasn't as enjoyable as before. Simp wasn't around much and the banter between simp and Alice is what I enjoyed the most. The ending was totally unexpected and kind of heartbreaking.

Alice is so unlikeable and yet you can't stop yourself from feeling sorry for her, for whatever she did with herself and her life, it was tragic and kind of her fault and yet I felt like she deserves better.

Definitely a good read. I enjoyed it more in first half rather than last. The title she's a killer doesn't really made sense. But overall a good read.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already assured a spot in my Top 10 of the year, She’s A Killer by Kirsten McDougall is an absolute tornado of fresh air in the thriller genre. I totally loved this book in all its weird, wonderful, mordantly funny, did I mention weird, cleverness, yet crucially, at it’s heart a chilling treatise on the burgeoning pressure, and increasingly damaging effects of climate change for communities across the globe. Billed as an eco-crime thriller, this sassy and whip-smart book is one to be savoured…

Alice is an absolute gem of a character, highly intelligent but lacking in empathy and also imbued with a self destructive CBA (can’t be arsed) attitude to life. She inhabits a small claustrophobic world of tedious job, shabby flat, ineffectual relationships both with the opposite sex, increasingly with her best friend Amy (and yes, we all hate Amy’s husband Pete too- what a c**k) , and, oh yes, a dysfunctional relationship with her mother too- don’t mention the pineapple. She also has an up-and-down relationship with her imaginary friend Simp too, but that’s a whole other level of weirdness in the story. Then there’s weird Brian, an ex-workmate, boring Alan, her mother’s latest squeeze, but, hang on a rooting-tooting minute. Who is this ?

Pablo.

An intriguing intelligent, attractive man who sets Alice’s world, and lady parts, aflame. But there’s always a catch. This being his teenage daughter.

Erika.

And this is where Alice’s real troubles begin, as McDougall sucks us in to a dark Fargo-esque adventure with petty jealousies, physical violence, a hugely uncomfortable road trip, murder and a hapless central protagonist whose (almost) genius IQ belies her sheer ineptitude at life itself.

All of this plays out against a clever allegory to the current migration crisis, where the richest inhabitants- ‘wealthugees’ of countries ravaged by the effects of climate change, move to still functioning countries, and infiltrate society to the detriment of the existing population- in this case New Zealand. McDougall references the devastating effects of flood, famine or heat across the globe, and how less scrupulous members of society are harnessing resources and land, and stock piling essentials to ride out the climate change crisis. It’s clever, it’s pertinent to the world we currently live in, and depressingly prescient of how the world will potentially come to be at the current rate of environmental destruction.

What more can I say?

She’s A Killer is a dark, twisty joy from start to finish. Highly original, very funny, yet cut through with the most important issue facing the world today.

Absolutely loved this one.

[Molly]

DNF @ 40%. I really wanted to like this, and I think I'm in the minority in not liking it. The set-up of a dystopian present/not-too-distant-future where "wealthugees" have come to live in New Zealand because their home country is uninhabitable, but the people already living in New Zealand are struggling. The wealthugees are putting even more of a strain on resources in New Zealand, as they continue to consume at the rate they're used to. It's a really interesting premise, and that was my favorite part of the book.

But every character sucks. It ranges from "they are generally unpleasant" to "this person is truly human garbage." And even the least offensive ones don't really have any redeeming qualities. I generally don't enjoy books where all the characters suck, and this one isn't an exception. (I know that it could be a good social commentary! It's just not for me.) Content warnings for disordered eating throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallic Books for providing me with an eARC of She's a Killer in exchange for my honest review.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5
I have mixed feelings about this one. It was smart, occasionally funny, unusual and original. I also liked the social and political criticism. But the main characters didn’t convince me and around two thirds in I thought things were getting kind of ridiculous. I see that a great many people loved this, but in the end I’m afraid this wasn’t for me.
Thank you Gallic Books and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Laura Giddey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so great and unexpected and funny and heartfelt.

[Carolyn DeCarlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt very much like a game of two halves, in a similar way to this year's NZIFF closer, Titane, in that the pace and even the style of the narration shifted focus from the first 200 pages to the last 200 pages. In the beginning of this book, the story unfolds slowly. Alice is working a tedious job, living below her mother but not in great communication with her, and kind of lacking all inertia. The introduction of teen Erika shakes this up and propels both Alice and the narrative forward. In retrospect, I loved the first half for building that sense of being gummed up, no movement, that feels like such a stark contrast to the second half but like To The Lighthouse, I wish someone had warned me that things would change at the halfway mark so I would have been a bit more motivated to get there. I raced through the second half of the book, breathless and anxious to see how it would all conclude. We already knew Kirsten was an excellent writer, and I'm so glad to have read her latest. I will say though, trigger warnings for disordered eating throughout. These women are so afraid of being fat. I found that kind of weird and unnecessary, but I'm sure Kirsten wrote that in for a reason – it just wasn't for me. Not a reason not to give this a read, though – unless it's something you really strive to avoid.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to Gallic Books and NetGalley for a review copy of this book

This is told from the first person point of view of Alice, a 37 year old almost genius who is living in a dead-end job in near future New Zealand. The climate crisis has affected the world and an influx of wealth-ugees has bought their way into NZ. Food is outrageously expensive, a $200 steak, water is scarce and the local residents are being marginalized while the wealthy few buy up their land. But Alice doesn't really care that much. Her childhood invisible friend has returned, her paranoid mother lives upstairs and she's falling out with her best friend Amy and her survivalist husband Pete. She meets a wealthugee Pablo and is soon looking after his teen daughter, enigmatic Erika while Pablo disappears.

I really enjoyed this. The voice of Alice is funny and self-deprecating, the near-future world is brilliantly depicted, and it turns into a bit of a twisty thriller where you're never sure what will happen next. It reminded me a little of Birnam Wood which I read earlier this year as another NZ eco-thriller, but I found the satire in this much lighter and more enjoyable. I'd definitely read more books by the author.

[Jemima Pett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the imaginary friend was what first caught my eye. I had imaginary friends when I was a kid. This made me wonder when I stopped. Then I realised that my pets are probably the real life substitutes. Hang on, this makes me sound weird. In fact I began to think I might have a lot in common with Alice.

Alice does some bizarre things. Maybe she should not be so open about them. But then again, you start to wonder whether, in fact, you can believe her. How much of this is in her head? Unreliable narrators can be very tricky beasts. But it turns out that whilst she has her own take on things, and acts in ways that most of us wouldn't, she has every reason to do so.

The most important question I found myself mulliing over, as the suspense built, was ... just who is the She of the She's a Killer?

This is a bizarre, brilliant book. It'll definitely take your mind off things!

[Boukie's Bookshop · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a fun, sharp read dripping with black humor, don't look any further! She's A Killer by Kristen McDougall will scratch that itch and more. With all the hallmarks of contemporary American writing, McDougall crafts a dystopian side-splitter reminiscent of Pynchon or DFW while being less obtuse and more readable.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for the digital advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

[Renée · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the most part, though it’s not a thriller imo. It dragged on and on in some parts and I kept losing interest but overall a well written, humorous, quirky and unique read. And written by a fellow kiwi. 🇳🇿

[Eileen Merriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read this year. The black humour, the dialogue, the not-so-distant future... this deserves to win awards. Cracking pace, very funny.

[Rod MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharp, clever, contemporary writing. I loved it

[Heather Bassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh- i think I’m sick of characters who keep choosing to f… up their lives

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speculative fiction from Aotearoa - count me in! Set in Wellington, this novel is about a youth-adjacent near-genius (Alice, IQ 159) who's rude, lacks empathy (and money) and is generally dissatisfied with life which she's frittering away - not using her intellect.
She communicates with her mother living upstairs by Morse code, and has only one longtime friend Amy whose family will soon be moving to some eco-prepper rural idyll. Oh, actually she has another friend, an invisible friend called Simp, a kind of conscience or alter-ego who tells Alice home truths, and has just reappeared after a long gap since childhood.
The time period is not stated, although the past 2-3 decades are referenced so it feels like it's not very much in the future, if at all. But society in NZ is changing with the influx of 'wealthugees' who are fleeing the effects of climate change, and maybe unrest, in their home countries.
Enter Pablo, a wealthugee from London and Hong Kong, who befriends Alice, and his teenage daughter Erika. All is not what it seems and Alice gets caught up in something she hadn't bargained for.
This is a really readable novel with plenty of momentum and twists to keep you reading. There is some swift and shocking violence, hidden agendas, betrayal and just plain bumbling naivety. Alice (whose name is rarely mentioned and I even forgot what it was) is the kind of frustrating character you just want to shake by the shoulders and tell her to get a grip - although Simp seems to do a reasonable job of that.
The novel does finish with some kind of redemption although [SPOILER ALERT] it's not altogether a happy ending. I felt there wasn't enough of the effects climate change in the novel, or enough of the human responses (politically and individually) to put the actions of the eco-warriors in context - I wanted to know more about their background, motives and operation. A heightened sense of the world and local situations would have made for an even more powerful story.
I was baffled by the cover comment that "You’ll laugh—a lot. And then you’ll cry and be really surprised about it since you were laughing so much" - I didn't react that way - didn't find it particularly funny.

[temporalsoup · Rating 4 out of 5]

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

[ review ]

in a world plagued with poverty, disaster and climate collapse, 37-year-old alice is far too busy worrying about her own life. despite her near-genius iq, she's at her wits' end with a mundane university job, her relationship with her mother has deteriorated, and her imaginary friend, simp--what a name--has resurfaced after a three-decade disappearance. alice's social circle is limited: excluding a handful of colleagues and her childhood best friend amy who's been raised to riches by her annoying architect husband pete, she spends most of her time talking to simp and just being a whiny bitch.

then she meets pablo, a wealthugee--the new (and very clever) term for rich immigrants who have fled to nz to escape the climate crisis. she's only looking for sexual distraction in him. definitely nothing serious. (famous last words.) but when pablo's unusual teenage daughter erika shows up unannounced, the novel branches off in a totally unexpected and very exciting direction. the opening is slower paced and seems to deal little in the external environment (with lots of stuff on alice's personal life), but as the novel progresses the author masterfully weaves in some really critical dystopian themes. be patient--mcdougall knows what she's doing.

it would have been nice to see pablo reappear towards the end as he pretty much vanishes, and considering this is meant to be set in the near future, i also thought it was strange how they seemed to accept very nonchalantly they were from 'china'. no hker would be particularly happy about this.

She's a Killer is the kind of novel which rewards you the more you read. every chapter was a genuine surprise. i've read a lot of deeply depressing dystopias, so it was so refreshing to find a book which balanced urgency and humour in the way every good satire should.

[ ✮ 4 stars ✮ ]

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't contain my laughter as I delved into the pages of “She's a Killer” by Kristen McDougall. Within the first 40 pages, I laughed so uproariously that I had to put on noise-cancelling headphones to spare my eardrums. My raucous laughter caused such a disturbance that I was promptly asked to leave the library where I had been residing.

As I continued reading, the story took an unexpected turn. The world was in dire straits, teetering on the brink of destruction. Everything was completely askew. New Zealand emerged as the last beacon of hope in this bleak scenario, the final paradise.
Our protagonist, a near-genius woman, trudged through life with a spectral imaginary friend by her side, simultaneously taunting her and offering guidance. The impending end of humanity rendered life utterly meaningless. To make matters worse, New Zealand was being invaded not by desperate refugees fleeing war-torn nations but by the ultra-wealthy individuals responsible for the destruction through the disease of greed and entitlement.

These “wealthugees” sought to purchase paradise, evading the inevitable downfall of humankind with their affluence. In the midst of this chaos, Alice, our near-genius protagonist, unexpectedly falls in love with a wealthugee who exhibits a conscience and a desire for a better world.

Their connection brings Erica, his daughter, into Alice's orbit. Erica, surpassing Alice on the genius scale by two points, proves to be far more than she initially appears.

“She's a Killer” takes readers on an uproarious and relentless rollercoaster ride of laughter and shines a blinding light on the true meaning of being a refugee. It challenges our preconceptions about those in need and those who have contributed to the mess in the first place.

With the final word devoured, I can guarantee readers will yearn for another page.

[hanascozycorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

This book is about Alice, a 30-something woman with an imaginary friend whose IQ is one point short of being a genius. Her strained relationship with her mother, whom she still lives with, has led them to communicate through Morse code. Her mom, constantly nagging her in many ways, has always made her feel like a failure. But this doesn't affect Alice; she never lets anything affect her, especially with what she can achieve. She knows she can do anything, but what's the end goal? Any answer never seems to satisfy her.

Everything changed for her the night she met Pablo, a wealthugee in New Zealand. Of course, she didn't realize it yet, but she knew something would change, mainly because of the sudden appearance of her imaginary friend, Simp. The last time they had talked to each other was when Alice was seven years old, and she thought it was weird that she just popped out of nowhere again.

Pablo has a 15-year-old genius daughter, Erika, whom Alice had the pleasure (not really) to meet. We see Alice form a weird friendship with her, their grating yet funny arguments/banters, and their unhinged personalities.

Do any of these characters seem who they are? Can a manipulator manipulate a fellow manipulator?

Personal thoughts:

Wow, wow, wow! I did not have any expectations when I started reading this book, but I was very intrigued by the blurb. This book did not disappoint me! I love the dark humor presented and the brilliant banter/answers the FMC responds with. I feel like I've become friends with the main character by reading this book and following her story. I was very interested while reading this and wanted to know more about her past. The author did a fantastic job writing this book!

Thanks again, Netgalley and Gallic Books, for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review!

[Anna Keyser · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of things to like about this book. The apocalyptic aspects are totally plausible, lending a familiarity and inherent unease to the author's created world. Additionally, I loved how completely average Alice was, and her numb ambivalence to the world was frustrating but relatable. The story itself was wickedly creative with some valuable social commentary on the ramifications of extreme socioeconomic inequality in the midst a warming global climate with an interesting application of utilitarian ethics—her use if the term "wealthugee" to describe wealthy climate refugees coming to NZ feels all too real. However, overall, I had a tough time reading this book. By the time I finished, I personally had some reservations.

I think my difficulties reading the story began as the plot began to truly take off towards the second half of the book. Weirdly enough, I preferred the story when it was more internal and reflective. It became increasingly difficult to find any character likable, any character to ground me as a reader, someone I could root for. I just felt a sense of dread continuing to creep up on me the farther in I got (which was perhaps the author's intention, but nevertheless, it didn't work for me personally). Normally, I don't have much of a problem with unlikeable characters, but if the characters are entirely unlikable, they need to be well developed, and I need to be able to understand their motivations. This brings me to my other critique of this story. I felt the plot began to lose its believability the further into the story I got... No longer could I really understand the progression of events or the characters' true motivations.

There are for sure people who will pick up this story and absolutely love it. But, in the end, I just don't think it was quite my cup of tea.

[pages_amour · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a lot of mixed thoughts on this one.

She’s a Killer is a dystopian satire, making sharp observations on society and humanities continual apathy and desensitisation towards our eventual self-inflicted doom. While I delighted in the astuteness of these societal narrations, the books' unrelenting nihilistic nature and pressing belief of the inherent selfishness of humanity, became rather draining after a while. The continual lack of hope or characters possessing any sort of empathy, the main character being entirely selfish and apathetic, with side characters who weren’t much better, made the book rather a slog at times, and I was forced to question why I continued reading when I couldn’t care less about the fate of any character.

Then about halfway through the novel, a plot shake up; which both felt way too late in the novel as well as being a rather unfeasible twist, added a strange element of surrealism to the formerly grounded novel. Not to mention a throwaway fantasy element popped up at one point and was completely unexplained, leaving me somewhat dumbfounded.

All in all this book is well written, a biting satire on society, however it gets weighed down by its constant pessimism and its veer into absurdity in the closing chapters. Readers who love a bit of dark humour will probably delight in this novel, but I personally found its continual insistence on the flaws of humanity to be rather sobering, leaving me unable to form an emotional attachment to the novel.

[Sam | Sambooka23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think McDougall has written a masterpiece here. This was a brilliant, smart, funny read whilst also being quite dark and thrilling.

We get a quick insight into the main character, Alice. She is a thirty-seven year old with an invisible friend, a high IQ and unusual relationship with her Mother, she speaks to her in Morse Code. You actually can’t help yourself but love her.

We’re quickly introduced to the Wealthugee’s and what part they play throughout the book, including Alice’s love interest, Pablo. It seems he’s made quite the impression on and Alice and so their ‘love story’ begins, or so the reader thinks. He has managed to seduce Alice with his incredibly soft hands.

From there, things take a turn for the worst and we delve into their world… and they take Alice with them. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride from there. All the secrets, lies, betrayal and so much more. Alice is no longer in control, at all.

The last 25% of the book was very fast paced and cleverly written. I really enjoyed McDougall writing style and pace. It added to the effect of the book. I’d definitely recommend if you are looking for something dark, witty and satirical, I’d recommend this.

I am super lucky to have been sent a proof copy of this book by @gallicbooks so thank you for that and to @cursesmcd for writing such an epic novel.