David Bell | Kill All Your Darlings

The Book: 

Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell
Published July 6th 2021 by Berkley Books
Date read: April 11, 2021

The Characters: 

Connor
Madeline

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon


The Plot (from Goodreads):

After years of struggling to write following the deaths of his wife and son, English professor Connor Nye publishes his first novel, a thriller about the murder of a young woman.

There’s just one problem: Connor didn’t write the book. His missing student did. And then she appears on his doorstep, alive and well, threatening to expose him.

Connor’s problems escalate when the police insist details in the novel implicate him in an unsolved murder from two years ago. Soon Connor discovers the crime is part of a disturbing scandal on campus and faces an impossible dilemma–admit he didn’t write the book and lose his job or keep up the lie and risk everything. When another murder occurs, Connor must clear his name by unraveling the horrifying secrets buried in his student’s manuscript.

This is a suspenseful, provocative novel about the sexual harassment that still runs rampant in academia–and the lengths those in power will go to cover it up.

Click here for book spoilers for Kill All Your Darlings
Book spoilers ahead–if you haven’t yet read Kill All Your Darlings, I suggest you turn back now.

The Twist:

Preston killed Sophia, and Lance was there. Lance was sexually assaulting the girls, and Preston was trying to sweep it all under the rug. Madeline thought only Lance was responsible, but Connor figured out Preston’s involvement.

The Ending:

Lance jumps off the bell tower at the school and dies. Preston is arrested. Connor moves out of town to teach at a different school, and begins writing the story of his family’s death.

The Review: 

I’ve never read a David Bell book before, but I certainly will be checking out his backlog! When I read this description it sounded similar to The Plot, which I really enjoyed.

This book was very well-written. I especially thought that the alternating POVs and timelines were an interesting way to come at the truth from multiple angles. The plot was engaging and I couldn’t wait to see how it would all come together in the end.

I didn’t love Connor, the MC, but his story was certainly interesting. He kept making terrible decisions at every turn, screwing up the investigation and digging himself into a deeper hole. I did appreciate that he made sure his dog would be taken care of, though, instead of leaving the reader to wonder what became of him! My biggest fear is that something will happen to me and my dog will be left alone at home with no one to take care of her.

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