She's a Killer - Kirsten McDougall - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Kirsten McDougall
GENRE: Dystopian Satire.
RATING: 3.75 stars.

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!


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.

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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