Katy Brent’s How to Kill Men and Get Away With It struts into the thriller scene with one of the boldest titles of recent years and thankfully, the story inside is just as provocative. Equal parts satire, social commentary, and dark comedy, this debut novel follows Kitty Collins, a glamorous London influencer who accidentally kills a man one night and discovers she’s disturbingly good at it.
What begins as self-defense turns into something else entirely: an addiction to revenge. Kitty becomes a vigilante for women everywhere, targeting men who prey on others and believing she’s cleaning up the world, one creep at a time. But beneath the designer labels, vegan smoothies, and Instagram filters lies a woman whose morality is as unstable as her double life.
Brent clearly takes inspiration from shows like Killing Eve and novels such as My Sister, the Serial Killer and How to Kill Your Family. She weaves dark humor with modern absurdity, portraying the influencer world as a glittering but soulless ecosystem where violence and vanity often coexist. Kitty is both monstrous and magnetic her sense of justice is thrilling but her hypocrisy, maddening. She detests inherited “blood money” from her family’s meat business yet thrives off influencer wealth; she condemns abusers but overlooks her own manipulative tendencies.
The book’s strongest moments lie in its sharp commentary on privilege, performative feminism, and the blurred line between justice and obsession. However, it’s not without flaws. Some readers have pointed out that the plot stretches believability: Kitty’s ability to “get away with it” despite CCTV, digital footprints, and police oversight feels implausible. Others find her character too inconsistent vacillating between introspection and shallowness.
There’s also a heavy-handed emphasis on veganism that doesn’t fully tie into the main narrative, leaving some readers feeling preached to rather than persuaded. And while the book toys with the idea of satire, it occasionally stumbles into melodrama or gratuitous shock value, especially in the final act.
Still, there’s no denying that Brent delivers a story that’s wickedly entertaining. Kitty’s unapologetic voice, her morbid sense of humor, and the book’s biting wit make it compulsively readable. For readers who enjoy morally gray heroines, messy ethics, and a story that doesn’t shy away from violence or social critique, this is a wild ride worth taking.
How to Kill Men and Get Away With It isn’t perfect it’s chaotic, inconsistent, and at times overindulgent but it’s also fiercely original. It captures the cultural contradictions of our digital age: the obsession with image, the thirst for justice, and the danger of confusing one for the other.
⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
A flawed yet fun feminist revenge fantasy with a bite, perfect for fans of dark humor and modern satire.
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