Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe just tolerating each other, just getting by, was enough. Maybe that was all we were meant to hope for. Maybe all the movies and great works of literature had lied… There was no great ongoing enduring love.

I can relate to Haze’s sentiments here, and it applies not just to real life, but also to this book itself.

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage has a great premise and starts off really strong before it simply peters out. So much of the narrative is character introspection and backstory, and for most of the book, the pace is glacially slow. Though it is well written with some relatable insights into the realities of marriage and parenthood, I often found myself bored, wishing something interesting would happen and unable to read more than a few chapters at a time. It finally picked up in last 15% and felt more like a thriller, with a few good twists and big reveals, but overall, I would not put this book in that category. I did like the ending, although again, it was a little too neat for a thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC.