This review is written with thanks to the publisher for my copy of Sweetpea via Netgalley.

Blurb:

The last person who called me ‘Sweetpea’ ended up dead…

Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog…but she’s got a killer secret.

By day her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening she dutifully listens to her friend’s plans for marriage and babies whilst secretly making a list.

A kill list.

From the man on the checkout who always mishandles her apples, to the driver who cuts her off on her way to work, to the people who have got it coming, Rhiannon’s ready to get her revenge.

Because the girl everyone overlooks might be able to get away with murder…

Review:

I’ve had this book on my TBR for so long and now it’s a TV series, I felt I really ought to see what everyone’s been shouting about! I’ve read a few novels with female serial killer protagonists recently, but if I remember correctly, Sweetpea was the first one, the one that really got everyone talking, and I can easily see why. Rhiannon shouldn’t be a likeable character – you can see that from her disturbingly high scores on Buzzfeed’s “Are You A Psychopath?” quizzes – but somehow she is. She’s a first person narrator, and the author has given her a unique and humorous voice, which allows the reader to see her more human side. (I mean, we’ve all got lists of people we want to kill, right?) It often feels like Rhiannon is talking to the reader, and this also helped me to relate to her. She also has a fascinating back story, which I loved, as it made her character and the choices she made feel more genuine, and I hope this will be explored even further in future instalments.

Sweetpea is written as Rhiannon’s diary, and this, alongside the author’s writing style, makes the novel really easy to read. There is, as you might expect, a fair bit of violence in the novel, but I loved being drawn into Rhiannon’s world and sharing her secrets.

There is definitely an element of unfinished business in the ending and I am excited to see where the author takes this series next.

Sweetpea is available from Amazon.