Book Review | Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

Summary: PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation — if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years. It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). It’s not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier — a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Thoughts: I thought I would like this book more than I did, but there were just a few things that I wasn’t a fan of.

The love story was cute. I adored Sam, but I really did not like Phoebe. She is selfish and annoying. The character is thirty years old, but her dialogue and mannerisms make her seem like she’s twenty. And, for a PhD candidate, she is kind of dumb. That really bothered me. She has zero character development until the very end. She also treated Sam like crap.

Otherwise, I like that she is obsessed with true crime, although I think it would be kind of neat if she was being pursued by an actual serial killer. I am even intrigued by her dissertation topic. I liked seeing her get close with her brother again.

Overall, this was a fun read, even if I didn’t like Phoebe. Also, I really love the cover of the book.