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Killer Potential
Darkly funny and provocative, this edge-of-your-seat thrill ride follows two unlikely fugitives—an SAT tutor who finds her rich employers brutally murdered and the bound woman she frees from their mansion—an irresistible debut novel perfect for fans of The Guest and My Sister, the Serial Killer
A scholarship kid with straight As and big dreams, Evie Gordon always thought she was special, that she’d be someone. But after graduating from an elite university, she finds herself drowning in debt and working as an SAT tutor for the super-rich of Los Angeles.
Everything changes one Sunday, when she arrives for her weekly lesson at the Victors’ Beverly Hills estate and, in lieu of a bored teenager, finds the bloody remains of the parents strewn through their beautiful back garden, and a woman crying for help within a closet. As Evie works to free her, the two are spotted—and within moments, they go from bystanders to suspects to fugitives.
Suddenly at the heart of a manhunt and accompanied by a mysterious woman who refuses to speak, Evie knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. But first she’ll have to break down the barriers of her companion, who is quickly becoming the most important person in Evie’s upside-down life. Their breathless spree takes them across the U.S. as developments in the case shock the nation and the press runs wild with Evie’s a gifted kid turned killer. She's now on the cover of every magazine and newspaper—anointed the new Charles Manson, a bloodthirsty ninety-nine percenter looking to start a class war. Evie is finally someone.
By turns cuttingly hilarious and deeply insightful, Killer Potential is a strikingly original debut. A literary novel with the page-turning intensity of a thriller that asks timely questions about our belief in the romance of social mobility, and how the stories we’re sold about our potential can shape the course of our lives.
A scholarship kid with straight As and big dreams, Evie Gordon always thought she was special, that she’d be someone. But after graduating from an elite university, she finds herself drowning in debt and working as an SAT tutor for the super-rich of Los Angeles.
Everything changes one Sunday, when she arrives for her weekly lesson at the Victors’ Beverly Hills estate and, in lieu of a bored teenager, finds the bloody remains of the parents strewn through their beautiful back garden, and a woman crying for help within a closet. As Evie works to free her, the two are spotted—and within moments, they go from bystanders to suspects to fugitives.
Suddenly at the heart of a manhunt and accompanied by a mysterious woman who refuses to speak, Evie knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. But first she’ll have to break down the barriers of her companion, who is quickly becoming the most important person in Evie’s upside-down life. Their breathless spree takes them across the U.S. as developments in the case shock the nation and the press runs wild with Evie’s a gifted kid turned killer. She's now on the cover of every magazine and newspaper—anointed the new Charles Manson, a bloodthirsty ninety-nine percenter looking to start a class war. Evie is finally someone.
By turns cuttingly hilarious and deeply insightful, Killer Potential is a strikingly original debut. A literary novel with the page-turning intensity of a thriller that asks timely questions about our belief in the romance of social mobility, and how the stories we’re sold about our potential can shape the course of our lives.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2025
314 people are currently reading
33200 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Deitch
1 book142 followersHannah Deitch is a former SAT tutor with an M.A. in English from UC Irvine, where she studied Marxist theory and contemporary pop culture. A former arts magazine editor, she holds an M.A. in journalism from USC. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She currently lives in Los Angeles. Killer Potential is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,389 reviews
March 18, 2025
4.5 rounded up to 5 for GR—i LOVED this one!!!!!!!
this was put on my radar late last year bc the press release stated that there was already a TV series in the works (pre release) so naturally that caught my attention 🎬🎬🎬 i was looking for a quick audiobook after finishing a long one before this so i picked this up on a whim and i am seriously so happy i did!!
🎧 i cannot recommend the audio format of this book enough! it has dual narrators, totally brings the story to life in a great way, is relatively short, is really easy to follow, and is really funny at parts too
read if you like: THE GUEST by Emma Cline, good audiobooks, Thelma & Louise type plots, murder mysteries, female MCs, plot driven books with a lot of action
i kinda went in blind to this book and recommend you do too—all you really need to know is: it follows an overeducated and broke SAT tutor who finds her rich employers brutally murdered in their backyard and a mute woman tied-up in the walls of their mansion.
👀👀👀 if that synopsis doesn’t intrigue you to find out more then idk what to tell you
this book has A TON of action and a lot going on so that helped me stay entertained throughout as it was much more plot heavy vs character heavy. and tbh it coulda been really unrealistic but it felt really believable… and the MCs had to do some CRAZY sh*t to avoid the cops lol
for once i didn’t have any expectations or try to figure out the ending of this book which i think was a really fun experience for me. with how many thrillers i read, i’m always trying to guess who did what before it actually happens (my toxic trait tbh) and i didn’t really have any theories going on in my head here. the author did a really good job of planting a few different resolutions in your head so that when the twist was revealed, you were entertained and surprised (at least i was!!!)
looking back, idk how i wanted the book to end but i really appreciated that it wasn’t tied up in a perfect little bow as that is becoming a pet peeve to me lately! it does have a semi an open ending and i really liked that.
TLDR: this is an underrated bop!!!! pick it up and lmk what you think!
this was put on my radar late last year bc the press release stated that there was already a TV series in the works (pre release) so naturally that caught my attention 🎬🎬🎬 i was looking for a quick audiobook after finishing a long one before this so i picked this up on a whim and i am seriously so happy i did!!
🎧 i cannot recommend the audio format of this book enough! it has dual narrators, totally brings the story to life in a great way, is relatively short, is really easy to follow, and is really funny at parts too
read if you like: THE GUEST by Emma Cline, good audiobooks, Thelma & Louise type plots, murder mysteries, female MCs, plot driven books with a lot of action
i kinda went in blind to this book and recommend you do too—all you really need to know is: it follows an overeducated and broke SAT tutor who finds her rich employers brutally murdered in their backyard and a mute woman tied-up in the walls of their mansion.
👀👀👀 if that synopsis doesn’t intrigue you to find out more then idk what to tell you
this book has A TON of action and a lot going on so that helped me stay entertained throughout as it was much more plot heavy vs character heavy. and tbh it coulda been really unrealistic but it felt really believable… and the MCs had to do some CRAZY sh*t to avoid the cops lol
for once i didn’t have any expectations or try to figure out the ending of this book which i think was a really fun experience for me. with how many thrillers i read, i’m always trying to guess who did what before it actually happens (my toxic trait tbh) and i didn’t really have any theories going on in my head here. the author did a really good job of planting a few different resolutions in your head so that when the twist was revealed, you were entertained and surprised (at least i was!!!)
looking back, idk how i wanted the book to end but i really appreciated that it wasn’t tied up in a perfect little bow as that is becoming a pet peeve to me lately! it does have a semi an open ending and i really liked that.
TLDR: this is an underrated bop!!!! pick it up and lmk what you think!
April 17, 2025
From the riveting start of Killer Potential, I thought I knew exactly where it was all headed. And while I definitely saw through parts of this provocative novel including the twist, for the most part it surprised me at every turn. You see, it wasn’t what I expected at all—in both good and bad ways. With a Thelma-and-Louise vibe, a tense game of cat-and-mouse, and a steamy love story that caught me off guard, there were definite pluses and minuses to this thriller/romantic suspense/drama debut. After all, while I had a hard time connecting to either of the characters, each of them pulled me deeply into their story during their cross-country run.
The biggest positives included the Gone Girl-esque feel, thought-provoking commentaries, and dynamite, in-depth character studies of both pursued women. Unfortunately, the negatives somewhat overrode them as I got further into the novel. With an exceedingly slow burn first half filled with backstories and internal thoughts, I found myself skimming as I waiting for the action to arrive. And arrive it did. Sadly, however, it turned this book in the over-the-top direction as quick as could be. Hard to believe and filled with questionable events, the two parts of the novel just didn’t square up. Just the same, I still somehow felt I couldn’t put it down and flew through the pages in no time at all.
All said and done, thanks to a twist that most will find shocking, a fully-fleshed-out protagonist, and a critique of relationships and love that had me thinking long and hard, I was mostly won over by the conclusion. Obviously that also didn’t mean that it was an out-and-out home run, but the complex characters and intermittent heart-pounding action meant that what could’ve been a DNF was anything but. So if you like introspective writing with a steamy, spice-filled edge that includes LGBTQ+ representation, this book is for you. Just don’t forget that it was anything but fast-paced and propulsive despite how it sounds in the blurb. Rating of 3.5 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
A scholarship kid with straight As and big dreams, Evie Gordon always thought she was special, that she’d be someone. But after graduating from an elite university, she finds herself drowning in debt and working as an SAT tutor for the super-rich of Los Angeles.
Everything changes one Sunday, when she arrives for her weekly lesson at the Victors’ Beverly Hills estate and, in lieu of a bored teenager, finds the bloody remains of the parents strewn through their beautiful back garden, and a woman crying for help within a closet. As Evie works to free her, the two are spotted—and within moments, they go from bystanders to suspects to fugitives.
Suddenly at the heart of a manhunt and accompanied by a mysterious woman who refuses to speak, Evie knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. But first she’ll have to break down the barriers of her companion, who is quickly becoming the most important person in Evie’s upside-down life. Their breathless spree takes them across the U.S. as developments in the case shock the nation and the press runs wild with Evie’s story: a gifted kid turned killer. She's now on the cover of every magazine and newspaper—anointed the new Charles Manson, a bloodthirsty ninety-nine percenter looking to start a class war. Evie is finally someone.
Thank you to Hannah Deitch and William Morrow for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: March 18, 2025
Content warning: forced captivity, violence, knife and gun violence, imprisonment
The biggest positives included the Gone Girl-esque feel, thought-provoking commentaries, and dynamite, in-depth character studies of both pursued women. Unfortunately, the negatives somewhat overrode them as I got further into the novel. With an exceedingly slow burn first half filled with backstories and internal thoughts, I found myself skimming as I waiting for the action to arrive. And arrive it did. Sadly, however, it turned this book in the over-the-top direction as quick as could be. Hard to believe and filled with questionable events, the two parts of the novel just didn’t square up. Just the same, I still somehow felt I couldn’t put it down and flew through the pages in no time at all.
All said and done, thanks to a twist that most will find shocking, a fully-fleshed-out protagonist, and a critique of relationships and love that had me thinking long and hard, I was mostly won over by the conclusion. Obviously that also didn’t mean that it was an out-and-out home run, but the complex characters and intermittent heart-pounding action meant that what could’ve been a DNF was anything but. So if you like introspective writing with a steamy, spice-filled edge that includes LGBTQ+ representation, this book is for you. Just don’t forget that it was anything but fast-paced and propulsive despite how it sounds in the blurb. Rating of 3.5 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
A scholarship kid with straight As and big dreams, Evie Gordon always thought she was special, that she’d be someone. But after graduating from an elite university, she finds herself drowning in debt and working as an SAT tutor for the super-rich of Los Angeles.
Everything changes one Sunday, when she arrives for her weekly lesson at the Victors’ Beverly Hills estate and, in lieu of a bored teenager, finds the bloody remains of the parents strewn through their beautiful back garden, and a woman crying for help within a closet. As Evie works to free her, the two are spotted—and within moments, they go from bystanders to suspects to fugitives.
Suddenly at the heart of a manhunt and accompanied by a mysterious woman who refuses to speak, Evie knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer. But first she’ll have to break down the barriers of her companion, who is quickly becoming the most important person in Evie’s upside-down life. Their breathless spree takes them across the U.S. as developments in the case shock the nation and the press runs wild with Evie’s story: a gifted kid turned killer. She's now on the cover of every magazine and newspaper—anointed the new Charles Manson, a bloodthirsty ninety-nine percenter looking to start a class war. Evie is finally someone.
Thank you to Hannah Deitch and William Morrow for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: March 18, 2025
Content warning: forced captivity, violence, knife and gun violence, imprisonment
September 5, 2024
This did not do it for me... a "twisty" thriller but I literally guessed the twist 20 pages in. Didn't even think it was a twist! Just sorta seemed like what was happening and then... it's what happened! Cool.
First of all, the plot of this never worked for me. The set-up did not seem like any decisions a real person would make--like, I know she fled the scene because she thought she killed someone, but WHY did she throw the vase at her in the first place? Literally why not just call the cops in that moment? Why assume you would be prosecuted for a crime that there is no evidence you committed because you didn't commit it? When you have an air-tight alibi of NOT BEING THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED (in a neighborhood that explicitly is full of security cameras that can back this up!) So, from go I thought the whole conceit was stupid, but I thought maybe that was part of the twist that would wrap it all up... but no, it was just kinda stupid.
I also just generally found Evie obnoxious the whole time... like, I guess I agree with what she's saying, but the way she says everything is so former gifted child Twitter speak that it's like... okay you are twenty-nine years old you cannot still be caught up on "my life should've been awesome because I was good at the SAT." Like definitely relate to the struggles about student loan debt and the job market being terrible, but when someone is pushing thirty and still bitter that they should've been a very special exception it's like.... ok. And I know Jae's little monologue about the bootstraps metaphor being bullshit was supposed to put Evie in her place, but it just felt like this is all stuff Evie should've realized at like 23 and not 29! You are pushing 30!
I also struggled with the romance -- I WANT so badly to root for the lesbian Bonnie and Clyde, but I just never understood their dynamic. I feel like they didn't talk for two weeks and then were suddenly deeply in love without us knowing why? I was told quite a bit that Jae was hot and then that Evie loved her, but it felt so detached from actually allowing me to feel those feelings that I didn't care at all about them getting together. And like really after finishing the book I'm still not rooting for them... just because they're gay doesn't mean she's not weird, and manipulative and just because she's hot doesn't make that normal!
Last thing that really didn't work for me was the prose. Deitch has a habit of weird, muddled metaphors. Like, "she was as unknowable as the moon." It's all stuff that SOUNDS like it should be poetic and deep but when you think about it at all it doesn't mean anything. IS the moon unknowable? What do you mean! You can't just say stuff!
I think I picked this book up wanting a break from deep heavy literature with a fun little gay thriller, but this book is a bit too big for its britches and seems to be trying to tackle societal issues it only ever has a tenuous (ham-fisted) grasp on. Like the commentary about the economy being bad and student loans being bad is there but what did this book have to add to the conversation that others haven't already said? I fear the answer is nothing.
Sorry this was mean but I had a lot of thoughts I wanted to spew. This book was like 40% of the way there and those books are always the most frustrating to me because I keep reading them waiting for the other 60% that I never end up seeing
First of all, the plot of this never worked for me. The set-up did not seem like any decisions a real person would make--like, I know she fled the scene because she thought she killed someone, but WHY did she throw the vase at her in the first place? Literally why not just call the cops in that moment? Why assume you would be prosecuted for a crime that there is no evidence you committed because you didn't commit it? When you have an air-tight alibi of NOT BEING THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED (in a neighborhood that explicitly is full of security cameras that can back this up!) So, from go I thought the whole conceit was stupid, but I thought maybe that was part of the twist that would wrap it all up... but no, it was just kinda stupid.
I also just generally found Evie obnoxious the whole time... like, I guess I agree with what she's saying, but the way she says everything is so former gifted child Twitter speak that it's like... okay you are twenty-nine years old you cannot still be caught up on "my life should've been awesome because I was good at the SAT." Like definitely relate to the struggles about student loan debt and the job market being terrible, but when someone is pushing thirty and still bitter that they should've been a very special exception it's like.... ok. And I know Jae's little monologue about the bootstraps metaphor being bullshit was supposed to put Evie in her place, but it just felt like this is all stuff Evie should've realized at like 23 and not 29! You are pushing 30!
I also struggled with the romance -- I WANT so badly to root for the lesbian Bonnie and Clyde, but I just never understood their dynamic. I feel like they didn't talk for two weeks and then were suddenly deeply in love without us knowing why? I was told quite a bit that Jae was hot and then that Evie loved her, but it felt so detached from actually allowing me to feel those feelings that I didn't care at all about them getting together. And like really after finishing the book I'm still not rooting for them... just because they're gay doesn't mean she's not weird, and manipulative and just because she's hot doesn't make that normal!
Last thing that really didn't work for me was the prose. Deitch has a habit of weird, muddled metaphors. Like, "she was as unknowable as the moon." It's all stuff that SOUNDS like it should be poetic and deep but when you think about it at all it doesn't mean anything. IS the moon unknowable? What do you mean! You can't just say stuff!
I think I picked this book up wanting a break from deep heavy literature with a fun little gay thriller, but this book is a bit too big for its britches and seems to be trying to tackle societal issues it only ever has a tenuous (ham-fisted) grasp on. Like the commentary about the economy being bad and student loans being bad is there but what did this book have to add to the conversation that others haven't already said? I fear the answer is nothing.
Sorry this was mean but I had a lot of thoughts I wanted to spew. This book was like 40% of the way there and those books are always the most frustrating to me because I keep reading them waiting for the other 60% that I never end up seeing
March 31, 2025
Hannah Deitch blends literary crime with an unusual variation on a lesbian love story. Evie Gordon’s drowning in student debt, scraping a living by tutoring wealthy teens. Then she discovers a client’s parents slaughtered in the grounds of their opulent, art-filled mansion. There too she encounters Jae Park, and together they go on the run. As Evie and Jae become fodder for frenzied news reports, Deitch’s story details their struggle to escape capture in a breathless flight across America, a near-existential journey that brings them closer than Evie ever imagined.
Deitch’s narrative sometimes dips and flags but for the most part it’s fast-paced and gripping. Like Gone Girl it’s laced with disorientating twists and turns. Evie’s commentary can be bleakly witty particularly when she’s critiquing social and economic inequality in contemporary America: the crimes that capture the public’s attention, the corporate crimes that go largely unpunished. Deitch has a decent track record as an editor and journalist which explains her fluid prose but this is her debut novel and there are moments when that shows, particularly in the concluding sections. Still there was a lot I really liked about this. But I have lingering doubts about a few of Deitch’s creative decisions, especially the crafting of Jae’s character and connections being made between poverty and criminality which skated perilously close to cliché.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Weidenfeld and Nicholson for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
Deitch’s narrative sometimes dips and flags but for the most part it’s fast-paced and gripping. Like Gone Girl it’s laced with disorientating twists and turns. Evie’s commentary can be bleakly witty particularly when she’s critiquing social and economic inequality in contemporary America: the crimes that capture the public’s attention, the corporate crimes that go largely unpunished. Deitch has a decent track record as an editor and journalist which explains her fluid prose but this is her debut novel and there are moments when that shows, particularly in the concluding sections. Still there was a lot I really liked about this. But I have lingering doubts about a few of Deitch’s creative decisions, especially the crafting of Jae’s character and connections being made between poverty and criminality which skated perilously close to cliché.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Weidenfeld and Nicholson for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
September 13, 2024
ARC for review. To be published March 18, 2025.
I almost gave up on this book right after I started. It involves two young women on the run across the United States. They are suspected of murder. I can tell you how this ends, Bonnie & Louise…in a hail of FBI gunfire outside a cheap motel in Kansas started off by an agent who swears he thought that burner phone was a gun (and it will always be a “he.”). But this doesn’t go that way.
While I’m torn between disbelief that they could stay on the road and my firm certainty that most people don’t notice/don’t care about the world around them (and I’m not excluding myself. If anyone from the FBI’s Ten, make that One Hundred Most Wanted List knocked on my door right now….well, Inprobably wouldn’t answer, but it’s because I’m lazy, I hate people and I’m wearing a nightgown, not because I would recognize them.).
Anyway, the story becomes much more interesting, and, though I had a few raised eyebrows about the end (I’m a lawyer), I actually enjoyed it. Evie is a strong main character with totally understandable angst, for once. There’s a lot to like here.
“An entire country was chasing us - and isn’t this what so many women say they want? Men persuing them, courting them, waiting up late next to the telephone for news of their whereabouts, twirling their hair…a funny thing, how the language of courtship mirrors the language of hunting. Chase. Pursue. Stalk. We had become the object of it all. Objects of lust, objects of fear. What was the difference, really?”
I almost gave up on this book right after I started. It involves two young women on the run across the United States. They are suspected of murder. I can tell you how this ends, Bonnie & Louise…in a hail of FBI gunfire outside a cheap motel in Kansas started off by an agent who swears he thought that burner phone was a gun (and it will always be a “he.”). But this doesn’t go that way.
While I’m torn between disbelief that they could stay on the road and my firm certainty that most people don’t notice/don’t care about the world around them (and I’m not excluding myself. If anyone from the FBI’s Ten, make that One Hundred Most Wanted List knocked on my door right now….well, Inprobably wouldn’t answer, but it’s because I’m lazy, I hate people and I’m wearing a nightgown, not because I would recognize them.).
Anyway, the story becomes much more interesting, and, though I had a few raised eyebrows about the end (I’m a lawyer), I actually enjoyed it. Evie is a strong main character with totally understandable angst, for once. There’s a lot to like here.
“An entire country was chasing us - and isn’t this what so many women say they want? Men persuing them, courting them, waiting up late next to the telephone for news of their whereabouts, twirling their hair…a funny thing, how the language of courtship mirrors the language of hunting. Chase. Pursue. Stalk. We had become the object of it all. Objects of lust, objects of fear. What was the difference, really?”
March 27, 2025
"KILLER POTENTIAL" had sooo much potential.
Yes, this book coulda and shoulda been a 5-star read.
WHAT HAPPENED?
1) BRILLIANT PREMISE.
An SAT tutor enters her pupil's home and discovers her pupil's parents are murdered and a young mystery woman tied up in a secret room.
When the pupil and her boyfriend arrive for the tutoring session, they assume that the tutor and the mystery woman murdered the pupil's parents.
The SAT tutor and the mystery woman panic and flee and their "Thelma and Louise" escape journey begins.
Who killed the pupil's parents?
2) 10-STAR VIBE.
I loved the book's "Thelma and Louise" vibe.
3) OPEN DOOR, STEAMY LGBTQ+ SCENES.
HUH? Nothing in the publisher's blurb identified this book as an LGBTQ+ title with steamy love scenes. These scenes could easily have been omitted without compromising the storyline.
I prefer "G-rated" thrillers with no open doors and explicit sexual details.
4) EXCESSIVE TEXT
There were portions of the book that were overwritten.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kristen Sieh and Daru Oda.
Although the narrators did a superb job, their voices were similar and the transition between the two narrators was sloppy. At times, it was difficult to discern who was saying what.
May 6, 2025
unhinged from beginning to end I cannot fully explain my obsession
February 19, 2025
This was stunningly awful.
I know that’s harsh. I know this is the author’s first born baby. I know there will be readers that adore it. But I thought it was really, really bad.
The unfortunate thing is that I was initially intrigued. It had a strong beginning, and while I had briefly considered some of what is later revealed, I was sure it couldn’t be true because it seemed too absurd. So, congratulations to the author for tricking me there; for making me think she wouldn’t travel such a ludicrous route. I wholeheartedly regret the curiosity that ruled me early on.
What began as a thrilling mystery turned into a sloppy, silly romance. It’s nearly impossible to believe that these women on the run could develop such strong feelings for each other, and the progression of this cliff jump left absolutely nothing for me to celebrate, even though the author seemed to think she was luring readers into a dark, sentimental love story.
On top of that, there is the twist, and I’ve already stated my feelings on that, which means this novel was essentially irredeemable, despite its compelling foundation.
I had no hesitation in rating this with one star. I hated it. I hope it remains my least favorite read of 2025 because I just don’t think I can tolerate something more hollow than this.
I am immensely grateful to Libro.fm and Harper Audio for my copy. All opinions are my own.
I know that’s harsh. I know this is the author’s first born baby. I know there will be readers that adore it. But I thought it was really, really bad.
The unfortunate thing is that I was initially intrigued. It had a strong beginning, and while I had briefly considered some of what is later revealed, I was sure it couldn’t be true because it seemed too absurd. So, congratulations to the author for tricking me there; for making me think she wouldn’t travel such a ludicrous route. I wholeheartedly regret the curiosity that ruled me early on.
What began as a thrilling mystery turned into a sloppy, silly romance. It’s nearly impossible to believe that these women on the run could develop such strong feelings for each other, and the progression of this cliff jump left absolutely nothing for me to celebrate, even though the author seemed to think she was luring readers into a dark, sentimental love story.
On top of that, there is the twist, and I’ve already stated my feelings on that, which means this novel was essentially irredeemable, despite its compelling foundation.
I had no hesitation in rating this with one star. I hated it. I hope it remains my least favorite read of 2025 because I just don’t think I can tolerate something more hollow than this.
I am immensely grateful to Libro.fm and Harper Audio for my copy. All opinions are my own.
April 25, 2025
Equal parts of The Fugitive’ and ‘Thelma and Louise’ - mixed together with what reminded me of a few Netflix thrillers that I’ve seen, this was a really well written novel. I really enjoyed it!
October 4, 2024
4 1/2 stars!
Part Thelma & Louise, part haunted house, Killer Potential is ultimately a blend between literary thriller and love story. It isn't for anyone who likes to read a novel with a clear villain, but it was certainly for me.
It starts with a murder, which the narrator Evie stumbles upon accidentally, and fears she'll be charged for. As she moves to flee the scene, she discovers another tragedy-a woman in the walls, kept prisoner. The two flee together, and the novel turns into a roadtrip across the country, both desperate to evade the police until the real killer is discovered.
I didn't guess the twist, and remained glued to the story, even after I knew the "who-done-it" of it all. Beauty is found in the most unexpected places, within these pages.
(Thank you to the publisher, for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!)
Part Thelma & Louise, part haunted house, Killer Potential is ultimately a blend between literary thriller and love story. It isn't for anyone who likes to read a novel with a clear villain, but it was certainly for me.
It starts with a murder, which the narrator Evie stumbles upon accidentally, and fears she'll be charged for. As she moves to flee the scene, she discovers another tragedy-a woman in the walls, kept prisoner. The two flee together, and the novel turns into a roadtrip across the country, both desperate to evade the police until the real killer is discovered.
I didn't guess the twist, and remained glued to the story, even after I knew the "who-done-it" of it all. Beauty is found in the most unexpected places, within these pages.
(Thank you to the publisher, for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!)
September 13, 2024
2.5 — I wish I liked it more, I really do :( the premise sounded very intriguing, but there were just too many instances where my brain couldn’t suspend disbelief in any of these things happening in real life.
A few specific things I had issues with
*****potential spoilers below*****
• why is Evie just accepting of this fate?? Just being like “okay sure I’ll go on the run with this tattered, potentially kidnapped girl who I know nothing about”??
• Evie just lets Jae sit in silence??? For days??? You know nothing about her and you just keep going??
• how do they always have materials? I know the answer is bc they steal them, but like how did they have any of their stuff when they hopped on the boat at the Florida house?? Wasn’t it all in the car?
• I have beef when authors switch to 2nd person writing. I know you’re writing to Evie, but why do you have to write it this way. why are we switching POVs all of a sudden and with no warning each chapter.
• probably more, this is just off the top of my mind
As a debut book, I definitely see the potential here. The writing was mostly solid and the ideas were interesting, but there’s definitely room for growth. I’ll likely still give Deitch’s future projects a chance
A few specific things I had issues with
*****potential spoilers below*****
• why is Evie just accepting of this fate?? Just being like “okay sure I’ll go on the run with this tattered, potentially kidnapped girl who I know nothing about”??
• Evie just lets Jae sit in silence??? For days??? You know nothing about her and you just keep going??
• how do they always have materials? I know the answer is bc they steal them, but like how did they have any of their stuff when they hopped on the boat at the Florida house?? Wasn’t it all in the car?
• I have beef when authors switch to 2nd person writing. I know you’re writing to Evie, but why do you have to write it this way. why are we switching POVs all of a sudden and with no warning each chapter.
• probably more, this is just off the top of my mind
As a debut book, I definitely see the potential here. The writing was mostly solid and the ideas were interesting, but there’s definitely room for growth. I’ll likely still give Deitch’s future projects a chance
August 11, 2025
I support women's rights but most importantly I support women's wrongs.
April 13, 2025
Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch is such a wild debut novel, and I loved how unique it is. I don’t think going in blind is a bad idea, but I do think it is important to know that this has literary fiction vibes in the way it makes you think, but also quite a few violent moments. The action is strategically placed throughout the story and the shocking beginning was just a start to the spiral this book takes you on. It is a thrill ride while also being rather introspective, and I enjoyed getting to know these characters better though I can’t say I actually found either of them all that likeable.
I really enjoyed the audiobook, but I thought the pacing was off a bit. Kristen Sieh & Daru Oda did a great job bringing Evie and the mysterious woman (who we later learn the name of) to life, but I had to slow the audiobook down a bit to find the sweet spot of where their narration sounded the most streamlined. The plot is definitely a bit out there, so you do have to suspend some disbelief, and there are flashbacks that sometimes come at seemingly inopportune times that slow things down a bit. They did add more depth though and I loved this quick read that I was into from start to finish.
Read this if you are looking for: A compelling female protagonist, LGBTQ+ representation, and an adventurous read that takes you across the US.
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received a complimentary eBook and advance listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I really enjoyed the audiobook, but I thought the pacing was off a bit. Kristen Sieh & Daru Oda did a great job bringing Evie and the mysterious woman (who we later learn the name of) to life, but I had to slow the audiobook down a bit to find the sweet spot of where their narration sounded the most streamlined. The plot is definitely a bit out there, so you do have to suspend some disbelief, and there are flashbacks that sometimes come at seemingly inopportune times that slow things down a bit. They did add more depth though and I loved this quick read that I was into from start to finish.
Read this if you are looking for: A compelling female protagonist, LGBTQ+ representation, and an adventurous read that takes you across the US.
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received a complimentary eBook and advance listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
August 19, 2024
It seems I am the minority here so maybe it just wasn't for me. I do feel horrible rating this debut novel so low. 🫣 I struggled through it and I could not wait for it to end. I can appreciate the story the author was going for but I do not feel it was executed well. I was bored, it was unrealistic, repetitive.. juvenile. My least favorite so far this year.
Thank you NetGalley and The William Morrow Team for my ARC ❣️
Thank you NetGalley and The William Morrow Team for my ARC ❣️
January 22, 2025
Fans of murder mystery and a cat and mouse chase game will love this thriller #debutnivel by @hannahdietch that crosses the country several times. Evie Gordon is an SAT tutor who was “gifted talented” in school, and like so many of us, find that not being the indicator of success that her elementary school teachers said it might be. She is tutoring Serena Victor, a teenage girl in Southern California.
One day, when Evie goes to the Victors’ home in order to conduct her lesson. She finds the parents brutally murdered, and a seemingly mute woman tied up inside of their closet. Without thinking, she frees the mute woman, but covered in blood, finds herself to be the main suspect in the brutal murders. Of course, the only way for her to be free is to find out who the real murder is, the reasons why they had a woman trapped in their closet, and how their journeys have come to meet.
Fans of Thelma and Louise, parasite, Gone girl, and Heather Gudenkauf might enjoy thisraucous adventure. The ending is going to be a bit polarizing, so without any spoilers, I will say that this ending goes in a direction that most books in this genre do not. That said, I did truly enjoy the story, the writing is very solid, as well as the commentary. The themes include privilege, educational privilege, academic success, trust, and even a little romance. It is a fascinating character study and mystery.
Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the ARC. Book to be released March 17, 2025.
#netgalley #bookreviews #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booktok #killerpotential
One day, when Evie goes to the Victors’ home in order to conduct her lesson. She finds the parents brutally murdered, and a seemingly mute woman tied up inside of their closet. Without thinking, she frees the mute woman, but covered in blood, finds herself to be the main suspect in the brutal murders. Of course, the only way for her to be free is to find out who the real murder is, the reasons why they had a woman trapped in their closet, and how their journeys have come to meet.
Fans of Thelma and Louise, parasite, Gone girl, and Heather Gudenkauf might enjoy thisraucous adventure. The ending is going to be a bit polarizing, so without any spoilers, I will say that this ending goes in a direction that most books in this genre do not. That said, I did truly enjoy the story, the writing is very solid, as well as the commentary. The themes include privilege, educational privilege, academic success, trust, and even a little romance. It is a fascinating character study and mystery.
Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the ARC. Book to be released March 17, 2025.
#netgalley #bookreviews #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booktok #killerpotential
February 19, 2025
I just finished “Killer Potential”, the debut novel of Hannah Deitch, and I’m honestly struggling to find anything positive to say about it.
I didn’t necessarily like it for reasons I can’t seem to pinpoint other than it felt very disingenuous to me. Like when people want you to know how smart and clever they think they are and it comes across as annoyingly presumptuous. This book was like someone who constantly drops into conversations that they went to Harvard.
At best I would say this book was overambitious. The plot really made no sense and it’s so obvious what the twist is that I hesitate to even call it a twist. I’m generally fine with suspension of disbelief, but there were just too many idiotic things that a supposedly intelligent and gifted woman did that had me sighing in annoyance and frustration.
If you like books that try to be overly academic while meandering around a patchy plot, metaphors that make zero sense and sound uber pretentious, and insta love between artificial characters that comes outta nowhere, then you’ll probably enjoy this book. I really wanted to like it based on the blurb, but unfortunately it fell short.
I received an ARC copy courtesy of William Morrow and NetGalley, however my review is completely my own unbiased personal opinion, left of my own volition.
I didn’t necessarily like it for reasons I can’t seem to pinpoint other than it felt very disingenuous to me. Like when people want you to know how smart and clever they think they are and it comes across as annoyingly presumptuous. This book was like someone who constantly drops into conversations that they went to Harvard.
At best I would say this book was overambitious. The plot really made no sense and it’s so obvious what the twist is that I hesitate to even call it a twist. I’m generally fine with suspension of disbelief, but there were just too many idiotic things that a supposedly intelligent and gifted woman did that had me sighing in annoyance and frustration.
If you like books that try to be overly academic while meandering around a patchy plot, metaphors that make zero sense and sound uber pretentious, and insta love between artificial characters that comes outta nowhere, then you’ll probably enjoy this book. I really wanted to like it based on the blurb, but unfortunately it fell short.
I received an ARC copy courtesy of William Morrow and NetGalley, however my review is completely my own unbiased personal opinion, left of my own volition.
April 17, 2025
I have a question. If a person discovers another person who is tied up with electric cords in a basement, clearly desperate, unwashed and unfed for a very long time, likely tortured, possibly left there to die, would Person 1 not be curious about what the hell had happened to Person 2?
In this instance, apparently not. The beginning of the novel pulled me in; I went along, my this is creepy, and now there's 2 strangers fleeing in a car. This is not very far in; much too early for everything to fall apart. And yet. Killer Potential is told from the pov of the woman behind the wheel, whose thoughts made no sense to me at all. Something about her childhood. Her lifestyle choices. Very little about the mute woman riding alongside her.
For a stretch I was interested in what was going to happen despite not believing a single sentence. But the protagonist is equal parts unpleasant and slow witted, a lousy combination. The churn of her internal monologue becomes unbelievably repetitive once the escape from the crime scene has been accomplished.
The lesbian heat was as tepid as the rest of the book. Nothing here grew in a way that paid off in satisfaction: the ending was infuriating.
That said. Now I feel unkind and will be quiet.
In this instance, apparently not. The beginning of the novel pulled me in; I went along, my this is creepy, and now there's 2 strangers fleeing in a car. This is not very far in; much too early for everything to fall apart. And yet. Killer Potential is told from the pov of the woman behind the wheel, whose thoughts made no sense to me at all. Something about her childhood. Her lifestyle choices. Very little about the mute woman riding alongside her.
For a stretch I was interested in what was going to happen despite not believing a single sentence. But the protagonist is equal parts unpleasant and slow witted, a lousy combination. The churn of her internal monologue becomes unbelievably repetitive once the escape from the crime scene has been accomplished.
The lesbian heat was as tepid as the rest of the book. Nothing here grew in a way that paid off in satisfaction: the ending was infuriating.
That said. Now I feel unkind and will be quiet.
January 20, 2025
On my blog.
Rep: bi mc, biracial Korean American lesbian mc
Galley provided by publisher
I have to admit, I had a rocky start to Killer Potential. The first pages had me wondering if I would even like it, so that it managed to be a 3-star read in the end is a good sign. This is a fast-moving read, one that, once I’d got into it, had me hooked.
The story opens with our main character, Evie, arriving at the home of her tutee to discover that the tutee’s parents have been murdered. As she’s about to leave to call the police, she hears someone calling for help, and discovers a disheveled woman tied up in a dark room, seemingly a victim of the family. When her student arrives back home and starts screaming murder, Evie ends up going on the run with this mysterious stranger.
It was a slow start to this one — there is quite a bit of exposition and backstory before we get to the interesting part, even while we’re in the interesting part, if I’m honest. It’s only once that’s all out of the way that the plot truly starts to kick into gear. Evie and the woman initially aim just to evade the police, before realising their best bet is to flee into Canada. And, oh yeah, along the way Evie kind of falls in love (which is a bit wild when you consider she ends up knowing this woman for only a week, but I guess shared experiences and all…).
The plot is honestly the best part of this one. It’s what kept me reading so that, in the end, I finished this one in about two sittings (but only because I started it while at work). The desire to find out what actually happened to the family compels you to keep reading and, okay yes, the reveal at the end was kind of obvious in a it-can-really-only-be-this way; but despite that, it had no real impact on my enjoyment of the progression of the plot.
The reasons I rated it 3 stars only, then, were twofold. Firstly, once the reveal comes, there’s still about 50 pages to go, and it becomes a lot more exposition-filled again. We get a detailed play-by-play of what happens to Evie afterwards which, in all honesty, was boring. A lot of that felt like it could have been slimmed down or even cut out, to get to the more impactful ending. My second issue was with how bland the characters felt. It’s not even that they didn’t feel fleshed out, but that they felt like blank spaces where characters should be. They were, despite everything, wholly unmemorable. Perhaps this was because of the first person POV — it was hard to get a sense of Evie’s character in particular — but, as I said earlier, it was the plot that compelled me to continue reading this one. If the plot hadn’t been so strong, this could easily have been 2 stars. I didn’t care all that much about either character or their relationship so the moments that should have been emotionally impactful weren’t.
That being said, if you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller that’ll hook you from early on, then this fits the bill. While I had some issues, I still enjoyed the experience of reading it.
Rep: bi mc, biracial Korean American lesbian mc
Galley provided by publisher
I have to admit, I had a rocky start to Killer Potential. The first pages had me wondering if I would even like it, so that it managed to be a 3-star read in the end is a good sign. This is a fast-moving read, one that, once I’d got into it, had me hooked.
The story opens with our main character, Evie, arriving at the home of her tutee to discover that the tutee’s parents have been murdered. As she’s about to leave to call the police, she hears someone calling for help, and discovers a disheveled woman tied up in a dark room, seemingly a victim of the family. When her student arrives back home and starts screaming murder, Evie ends up going on the run with this mysterious stranger.
It was a slow start to this one — there is quite a bit of exposition and backstory before we get to the interesting part, even while we’re in the interesting part, if I’m honest. It’s only once that’s all out of the way that the plot truly starts to kick into gear. Evie and the woman initially aim just to evade the police, before realising their best bet is to flee into Canada. And, oh yeah, along the way Evie kind of falls in love (which is a bit wild when you consider she ends up knowing this woman for only a week, but I guess shared experiences and all…).
The plot is honestly the best part of this one. It’s what kept me reading so that, in the end, I finished this one in about two sittings (but only because I started it while at work). The desire to find out what actually happened to the family compels you to keep reading and, okay yes, the reveal at the end was kind of obvious in a it-can-really-only-be-this way; but despite that, it had no real impact on my enjoyment of the progression of the plot.
The reasons I rated it 3 stars only, then, were twofold. Firstly, once the reveal comes, there’s still about 50 pages to go, and it becomes a lot more exposition-filled again. We get a detailed play-by-play of what happens to Evie afterwards which, in all honesty, was boring. A lot of that felt like it could have been slimmed down or even cut out, to get to the more impactful ending. My second issue was with how bland the characters felt. It’s not even that they didn’t feel fleshed out, but that they felt like blank spaces where characters should be. They were, despite everything, wholly unmemorable. Perhaps this was because of the first person POV — it was hard to get a sense of Evie’s character in particular — but, as I said earlier, it was the plot that compelled me to continue reading this one. If the plot hadn’t been so strong, this could easily have been 2 stars. I didn’t care all that much about either character or their relationship so the moments that should have been emotionally impactful weren’t.
That being said, if you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller that’ll hook you from early on, then this fits the bill. While I had some issues, I still enjoyed the experience of reading it.
February 27, 2025
“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡, 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈'𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲.” 📰💛💋✨
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Picture this: a literary fiction from the perspective of a former A+ honors student has a baby with a queer Thelma & Louise-style thriller that is laced with dark humor, plus a romance subplot, and manages to address topics like educational privilege, sexism, and academic success. Do I have you hooked?
Our protagonist, Evie, is a former honors student, a young woman with an expensive art history degree, carrying around a feeling of existential dread for not living up to her potential. As an SAT tutor, she steps into the home of one of her students to find the parents murdered and a mute hostage tied up in a room underneath the staircase. After choosing to save the hostage and then being seen, they're both wanted for a murder they didn't commit and are on the run.
Thank you so much to the publishers at William Morrow for sending me a physical copy of this MASTERPIECE of a debut novel. Hannah Deitch's writing style held me captive on each page, highlighting nearly every paragraph because of her sharp wit, dark humor, and insightful takes on academia and companionship. As a freshly minted adult in graduate school and a former straight-A student who was always reminded of her potential, I saw so much of myself in Evie-her wit, her melancholy, her chaos. The whole book kept me on my toes, and although the twist wasn't groundbreaking, especially because this book balances literary fiction and thriller, it was indeed not what I was expecting. At first, I thought, how long can they get away with this, but as a true crime lover, I've seen fugitives on the run go on for quite a while! 😭 For a debut novel, this smashed my expectations. My only qualms were:
- I wanted more time to see Evie and Jae grow closer and bond; the time jumps could have filled in more feelings of connection to their relationship.
- The switching of POVs threw me; it's not my favorite thing, but I didn't mind it!
highly recommend you pick this book up on March 17, 2025. 📰💛💋✨
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Picture this: a literary fiction from the perspective of a former A+ honors student has a baby with a queer Thelma & Louise-style thriller that is laced with dark humor, plus a romance subplot, and manages to address topics like educational privilege, sexism, and academic success. Do I have you hooked?
Our protagonist, Evie, is a former honors student, a young woman with an expensive art history degree, carrying around a feeling of existential dread for not living up to her potential. As an SAT tutor, she steps into the home of one of her students to find the parents murdered and a mute hostage tied up in a room underneath the staircase. After choosing to save the hostage and then being seen, they're both wanted for a murder they didn't commit and are on the run.
Thank you so much to the publishers at William Morrow for sending me a physical copy of this MASTERPIECE of a debut novel. Hannah Deitch's writing style held me captive on each page, highlighting nearly every paragraph because of her sharp wit, dark humor, and insightful takes on academia and companionship. As a freshly minted adult in graduate school and a former straight-A student who was always reminded of her potential, I saw so much of myself in Evie-her wit, her melancholy, her chaos. The whole book kept me on my toes, and although the twist wasn't groundbreaking, especially because this book balances literary fiction and thriller, it was indeed not what I was expecting. At first, I thought, how long can they get away with this, but as a true crime lover, I've seen fugitives on the run go on for quite a while! 😭 For a debut novel, this smashed my expectations. My only qualms were:
- I wanted more time to see Evie and Jae grow closer and bond; the time jumps could have filled in more feelings of connection to their relationship.
- The switching of POVs threw me; it's not my favorite thing, but I didn't mind it!
highly recommend you pick this book up on March 17, 2025. 📰💛💋✨
August 3, 2025
thrilling mystery? more like absurd romance. repetitive and pretentious. lots of internal narrative that I really did not care about, felt like it dragged on and on. this could've been a must shorter story.
March 19, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an complimentary early release copy of Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch.
Killer Potential unfortunately doesn’t stand out to me, there isn’t much I can say that I enjoyed about the book. Evie and Jae were decent characters to follow but again nothing really stands out about them. The story itself held my interest enough for me to wonder what’s going to happen but I didn’t find it to be particularly thrilling, things were happening but at the same time things felt kind of convenient, the thrilling bits just weren’t hitting for me.
The writing also felt strange to me, it sometimes felt overly detailed about things that didn’t need that much of a description. Evie would have this inner monologue type of thing going (about her past) and it just didn’t add anything to the story, it happens quite a few times in here and I just wished she would have focused more on the present matters or did a full flash back type of thing. The romance adds an interesting aspect to the story but it just ends up falling flat, the characters hardly knew each other but by the end they are supposedly giving “I’d do anything for you” kind of vibes. I just didn’t feel that between them, they needed more time with each other for it to develop into something like that.
Killer Potential unfortunately doesn’t stand out to me, there isn’t much I can say that I enjoyed about the book. Evie and Jae were decent characters to follow but again nothing really stands out about them. The story itself held my interest enough for me to wonder what’s going to happen but I didn’t find it to be particularly thrilling, things were happening but at the same time things felt kind of convenient, the thrilling bits just weren’t hitting for me.
The writing also felt strange to me, it sometimes felt overly detailed about things that didn’t need that much of a description. Evie would have this inner monologue type of thing going (about her past) and it just didn’t add anything to the story, it happens quite a few times in here and I just wished she would have focused more on the present matters or did a full flash back type of thing. The romance adds an interesting aspect to the story but it just ends up falling flat, the characters hardly knew each other but by the end they are supposedly giving “I’d do anything for you” kind of vibes. I just didn’t feel that between them, they needed more time with each other for it to develop into something like that.
May 23, 2025
Pre-Read Notes
This is another arc that got away, but I'm glad I caught it!
"All things are livable, with enough imagination. When you don’t have money, your imagination is forced to expand beyond the limits of what’s tolerable to rich people, who don’t need imagination at all. When you are rich, the opposite happens: the world shrinks to particularities and patterns. I can drink water only at this temperature. I can sleep on beds only with this thread count, this mattress height. ... The imagination folds in on itself. Space crystallizes and becomes intractable, opaque. When you are poor, space does the inverse: it hollows out. Anything can be a door. Anything can be a place to rest." p230-231
Final Review
This is a book about two young women, fugitives on the run from the law, and that's what it's about. But it's also not about that at all. It's about sexism and how the media treats female villains. It's about the social contract women are forced to make with society that they will remain small, both physically and intellectually. It's about family and friendship, poverty and obscene wealth, how justice isn't uniform and the world isn't accessible for everyone. It's a read that made me think very hard and reread passages out of curiosity and desire to learn more. It's a truly excellent book with a message I fear is about to get lost in the politics of the day.
For me, the subtext is where it's at with this book. This definitely isn't a plot-driven story, which is what I normally go for, but it is story-heavy and that's just as good. Also, Deitch has great style.
This book is a bingeably readable execution of stream of consciousness, which is a style choice that can go awry easily. But Deitch keeps a handle on the story progression while also delivering brilliantly intimate passages of internal landscape or dialogue. The rare change in POV is easily discernable since Deitch takes care to make the voices distinctive and use strong transitions.
I recommend this for fans of fugitive stories, reluctant murderers, and coming of age stories of the dark variety.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ Now when I think about the day I arrived to tutor Serena Victor and discovered her father cradled in sea kelp in the koi pond, blue and bloated and unquestionably dead, I can almost imagine it as a film I watched. When I stumble upon the bloody, bashed-in sinkhole of her mother’s face, I’m like a ghost encountering a crime scene. I have no material form. I touch nothing, removed from the universe of ripple effects and entropy. I’m just a passenger. p10 This is just some fantastic writing. Also I love stories that wonder about time and humanity's place in it. Here, a brilliant description of dissociation, where one separates from one's objective self. Also, yay for presenting a common symptom of mental illness without stigmatizing it or the people who experience it!
✔️ I'm enjoying the story honestly-- I think it's a clever use of unreliable narrator in first person. I really want to know what's going to happen. But part of the suspense for me here comes from whether I will discover stigma or not in the book. The whole concept hinges on a common ableist trope-- the secondary protagonist who the story suggests may be a figment of the primary protagonist 's imagination. Writers who depict complicated health issues have a duty to get the details right and avoid stigmatizing conditions and those who have them. So far, this story is great and ableism hasn't come on the scene, but I'm sort of expecting it. I'll add an edit later. *edit I didn't find any ableism in this beyond this one moment where the narrator wonders about her own motivations. This happens throughout the story, but the narrative never stigmatizes her for it!
✔️ It's sort of rare, so I didn't know this until now, but I love the reluctant murderer trope that *isn't* staged as some kind of comedy. This story feels so gritty and authentic and just so real to me!
✔️ Wow! What a book! The final third of the book, from the twist through the denouement, is just such excellent storytelling. The final scene was perfect to wrap up conflicts and suggest that the story goes on after the last page.
Notes:
1. Content warnings: murder, crime scenes, abduction and captivity, claustrophobic situations
2. This novel contains open door sex scenes, which I think are out of place here. This isn't exactly a romance-- the vibes are all wrong for an open door scene. Which is probably why it's so rushed and unpleasant.
3. This is billed as dark humor, but I didn't find it funny. Clever, though.
Thank you to the author Hannah Deitch publishers William Morrow Books, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of KILLER POTENTIAL. All views are mine.
This is another arc that got away, but I'm glad I caught it!
"All things are livable, with enough imagination. When you don’t have money, your imagination is forced to expand beyond the limits of what’s tolerable to rich people, who don’t need imagination at all. When you are rich, the opposite happens: the world shrinks to particularities and patterns. I can drink water only at this temperature. I can sleep on beds only with this thread count, this mattress height. ... The imagination folds in on itself. Space crystallizes and becomes intractable, opaque. When you are poor, space does the inverse: it hollows out. Anything can be a door. Anything can be a place to rest." p230-231
Final Review
This is a book about two young women, fugitives on the run from the law, and that's what it's about. But it's also not about that at all. It's about sexism and how the media treats female villains. It's about the social contract women are forced to make with society that they will remain small, both physically and intellectually. It's about family and friendship, poverty and obscene wealth, how justice isn't uniform and the world isn't accessible for everyone. It's a read that made me think very hard and reread passages out of curiosity and desire to learn more. It's a truly excellent book with a message I fear is about to get lost in the politics of the day.
For me, the subtext is where it's at with this book. This definitely isn't a plot-driven story, which is what I normally go for, but it is story-heavy and that's just as good. Also, Deitch has great style.
This book is a bingeably readable execution of stream of consciousness, which is a style choice that can go awry easily. But Deitch keeps a handle on the story progression while also delivering brilliantly intimate passages of internal landscape or dialogue. The rare change in POV is easily discernable since Deitch takes care to make the voices distinctive and use strong transitions.
I recommend this for fans of fugitive stories, reluctant murderers, and coming of age stories of the dark variety.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ Now when I think about the day I arrived to tutor Serena Victor and discovered her father cradled in sea kelp in the koi pond, blue and bloated and unquestionably dead, I can almost imagine it as a film I watched. When I stumble upon the bloody, bashed-in sinkhole of her mother’s face, I’m like a ghost encountering a crime scene. I have no material form. I touch nothing, removed from the universe of ripple effects and entropy. I’m just a passenger. p10 This is just some fantastic writing. Also I love stories that wonder about time and humanity's place in it. Here, a brilliant description of dissociation, where one separates from one's objective self. Also, yay for presenting a common symptom of mental illness without stigmatizing it or the people who experience it!
✔️ I'm enjoying the story honestly-- I think it's a clever use of unreliable narrator in first person. I really want to know what's going to happen. But part of the suspense for me here comes from whether I will discover stigma or not in the book. The whole concept hinges on a common ableist trope-- the secondary protagonist who the story suggests may be a figment of the primary protagonist 's imagination. Writers who depict complicated health issues have a duty to get the details right and avoid stigmatizing conditions and those who have them. So far, this story is great and ableism hasn't come on the scene, but I'm sort of expecting it. I'll add an edit later. *edit I didn't find any ableism in this beyond this one moment where the narrator wonders about her own motivations. This happens throughout the story, but the narrative never stigmatizes her for it!
✔️ It's sort of rare, so I didn't know this until now, but I love the reluctant murderer trope that *isn't* staged as some kind of comedy. This story feels so gritty and authentic and just so real to me!
✔️ Wow! What a book! The final third of the book, from the twist through the denouement, is just such excellent storytelling. The final scene was perfect to wrap up conflicts and suggest that the story goes on after the last page.
Notes:
1. Content warnings: murder, crime scenes, abduction and captivity, claustrophobic situations
2. This novel contains open door sex scenes, which I think are out of place here. This isn't exactly a romance-- the vibes are all wrong for an open door scene. Which is probably why it's so rushed and unpleasant.
3. This is billed as dark humor, but I didn't find it funny. Clever, though.
Thank you to the author Hannah Deitch publishers William Morrow Books, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of KILLER POTENTIAL. All views are mine.
May 25, 2025
Ci si può fidare di chi incontriamo? Quali segreti si nascondono dietro le mura della casa di una ricca famiglia?
Quante sono le identità che una persona può avere?
Attorno a queste domande ruota la storia di Evie Gordon, una giovane donna con una intelligenza superiore alla media. Ma le condizioni economiche di Evie la obbligano a fare ripetizioni per sbarcare il lunario.
La sua vita si stravolge quando diventa “dipendente” dei Victor, a Beverly Hills, e la sua strada si incrocia con quella di Jae:
“Quando percepii un dito carezzarmi le nocche, pensai di essermelo immaginato. Quando accadde di nuovo, mi voltai verso di lei.
«Che c’è?»
La donna mi guardava fissa negli occhi, intenta a cercarci qualcosa.
Tremava.
«Che c’è?» ripetei. «Hai freddo? Vuoi che alzi il riscaldamento?»
Lei scosse la testa. Chiuse gli occhi. Fece un respiro profondo e poi li aprì di nuovo. Il suo viso era così vicino al mio che distinguevo le punte delle sue ciglia.
«Jae» disse nel silenzio della stanza. «Mi chiamo Jae.»”
Killer Potential di Hannah Deitch è un romanzo ricco di colpi di scena: a volte ho sentito gli echi di Joyce Carol Oates. Non solo per via del thriller, ma perché prova a entrare nel novero del “grande romanzo americano”:
“Sì, il tempo e lo spazio e le circostanze hanno congiurato per metterci nella stessa stanza, ma i casi fortuiti di latitudine e longitudine non sono altro che quello. Io ero in un luogo in un determinato momento. Siamo apparse l’una davanti all’altra come sfingi a un bivio. Ci siamo poste indovinelli a vicenda. Io non sono più intelligente di chiunque altro. Sono soltanto rimasta più a lungo. Mi hai lasciato più tempo che agli altri. Non scambiare il destino per bellezza. Ci sono sempre scelte: centinaia, migliaia, milioni di scelte. Muri morbidi contro cui premersi, per vedere quanto riescono a piegarsi.”
Quante sono le identità che una persona può avere?
Attorno a queste domande ruota la storia di Evie Gordon, una giovane donna con una intelligenza superiore alla media. Ma le condizioni economiche di Evie la obbligano a fare ripetizioni per sbarcare il lunario.
La sua vita si stravolge quando diventa “dipendente” dei Victor, a Beverly Hills, e la sua strada si incrocia con quella di Jae:
“Quando percepii un dito carezzarmi le nocche, pensai di essermelo immaginato. Quando accadde di nuovo, mi voltai verso di lei.
«Che c’è?»
La donna mi guardava fissa negli occhi, intenta a cercarci qualcosa.
Tremava.
«Che c’è?» ripetei. «Hai freddo? Vuoi che alzi il riscaldamento?»
Lei scosse la testa. Chiuse gli occhi. Fece un respiro profondo e poi li aprì di nuovo. Il suo viso era così vicino al mio che distinguevo le punte delle sue ciglia.
«Jae» disse nel silenzio della stanza. «Mi chiamo Jae.»”
Killer Potential di Hannah Deitch è un romanzo ricco di colpi di scena: a volte ho sentito gli echi di Joyce Carol Oates. Non solo per via del thriller, ma perché prova a entrare nel novero del “grande romanzo americano”:
“Sì, il tempo e lo spazio e le circostanze hanno congiurato per metterci nella stessa stanza, ma i casi fortuiti di latitudine e longitudine non sono altro che quello. Io ero in un luogo in un determinato momento. Siamo apparse l’una davanti all’altra come sfingi a un bivio. Ci siamo poste indovinelli a vicenda. Io non sono più intelligente di chiunque altro. Sono soltanto rimasta più a lungo. Mi hai lasciato più tempo che agli altri. Non scambiare il destino per bellezza. Ci sono sempre scelte: centinaia, migliaia, milioni di scelte. Muri morbidi contro cui premersi, per vedere quanto riescono a piegarsi.”
August 21, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
Killer Potential.
Great title and premise so I was excited my request was granted.
There are a few sex scenes and discussions of same sex relationships if some readers are sensitive to these topics.
** Minor non-killer spoilers ahead **
Evie Gordon is a smart cookie but having brains isn't everything.
One day she walks into a crime scene and her meager existence explodes into a Lifetime movie.
From the premise, I was envisioning a Hitchcockian-esque thriller; being falsely accused and on the run, trying to figure out a way to clear your name.
I only got one part right; running from the law, and everything else required a high suspension of disbelief I couldn't fake.
It's hard to believe two women could evade the police for so long considering how many security cameras and facial recognitions scanners there are in our country now.
The book gives off Thelma and Louise vibes but Evie and Jae are nothing like those likable, engaging and memorable characters.
It's pretty convenient that Jae is as skilled at pickpocketing and nicking like the Artful Dodger because if it had been just Evie on the run alone, she would have been picked up by the cops in 20 minutes.
Evie talks constantly about how smart she is; yes, she's book smart but obviously (so obviously) not street smart.
And, you know what, you really do need a bit of both to survive in the real world, on the run or not.
We're in Evie's head a lot as she monologues constantly about how smart she is, how much her loving family supported her academic dreams, how smart she is, how much potential she has or had.
Evie is annoying, bratty, and entitled; she's surprised her big brains didn't give her everything she dreamed of; success, money, a big house.
But she's still a nobody from a small town she doesn't want to return to with her tail between her legs.
I'm not sure how I feel about Jae; I didn't like her but I didn't dislike her.
She's a cliche stereotype of a rebel, a good girl turned survivor because of her difficult childhood and hardships.
There are moments of blood and violence as Evie and Jae hide and evade capture, resorting to acts of violence to protect one another.
But the narrative eventually devolves into a romance between them. Sheesh.
There's a 'twist' I saw coming (and so will you), especially when you realize Evie is doing nothing to find the real killer and clear their names.
And here's my biggest gripe; I've said it in so many reviews and I'll keep saying it again until I'm blue in the face.
Every novel doesn't need to have a romance.
The main characters don't need to hook up or get involved or married, etc.
The sudden romance between Evie and Jae was forced, contrived, and unnecessary.
The tone of the narrative soon shifted from potentially suspenseful to a YA novel, romanticizing their plight and them imagining a future together.
The ending is realistic; neither happy nor sad, but again, unnecessarily corny and romance-y.
The writing was good, but heavy on metaphors especially when the characters are talking about the feeling they have for each other. 🙄
Great title and premise so I was excited my request was granted.
There are a few sex scenes and discussions of same sex relationships if some readers are sensitive to these topics.
** Minor non-killer spoilers ahead **
Evie Gordon is a smart cookie but having brains isn't everything.
One day she walks into a crime scene and her meager existence explodes into a Lifetime movie.
From the premise, I was envisioning a Hitchcockian-esque thriller; being falsely accused and on the run, trying to figure out a way to clear your name.
I only got one part right; running from the law, and everything else required a high suspension of disbelief I couldn't fake.
It's hard to believe two women could evade the police for so long considering how many security cameras and facial recognitions scanners there are in our country now.
The book gives off Thelma and Louise vibes but Evie and Jae are nothing like those likable, engaging and memorable characters.
It's pretty convenient that Jae is as skilled at pickpocketing and nicking like the Artful Dodger because if it had been just Evie on the run alone, she would have been picked up by the cops in 20 minutes.
Evie talks constantly about how smart she is; yes, she's book smart but obviously (so obviously) not street smart.
And, you know what, you really do need a bit of both to survive in the real world, on the run or not.
We're in Evie's head a lot as she monologues constantly about how smart she is, how much her loving family supported her academic dreams, how smart she is, how much potential she has or had.
Evie is annoying, bratty, and entitled; she's surprised her big brains didn't give her everything she dreamed of; success, money, a big house.
But she's still a nobody from a small town she doesn't want to return to with her tail between her legs.
I'm not sure how I feel about Jae; I didn't like her but I didn't dislike her.
She's a cliche stereotype of a rebel, a good girl turned survivor because of her difficult childhood and hardships.
There are moments of blood and violence as Evie and Jae hide and evade capture, resorting to acts of violence to protect one another.
But the narrative eventually devolves into a romance between them. Sheesh.
There's a 'twist' I saw coming (and so will you), especially when you realize Evie is doing nothing to find the real killer and clear their names.
And here's my biggest gripe; I've said it in so many reviews and I'll keep saying it again until I'm blue in the face.
Every novel doesn't need to have a romance.
The main characters don't need to hook up or get involved or married, etc.
The sudden romance between Evie and Jae was forced, contrived, and unnecessary.
The tone of the narrative soon shifted from potentially suspenseful to a YA novel, romanticizing their plight and them imagining a future together.
The ending is realistic; neither happy nor sad, but again, unnecessarily corny and romance-y.
The writing was good, but heavy on metaphors especially when the characters are talking about the feeling they have for each other. 🙄
May 19, 2025
While I always root for a fresh new voice, this debut literary thriller unfortunately, missed the mark for me.
The story follows two women caught up in a violent crime, who then go on the run from authorities. What could have been a tense, character-driven survival thriller quickly unraveled into a confusing, often implausible narrative with characters making eyebrow-raising decisions that defied all logic. The main character, in particular, was infuriating—her choices in life-or-death situations had me internally (okay, and sometimes audibly) shouting, “Why would you do that?!”
The romance subplot came out of nowhere and felt wildly out of place. I love a good slow-burn or high-stakes love story, but this one felt like it belonged in an entirely different book. The chemistry wasn’t there, and instead of raising the emotional stakes, it raised more questions—most of them concerning.
As for the big twist at the end… I saw it coming from a mile away, and when it finally landed, it felt more like a tired shrug than a jaw-dropper.
While the premise had promise, the execution didn’t quite deliver. Between the disjointed pacing, illogical plot points, and romance that felt forced, this was more of a frustrating read than a thrilling one.
I’m giving it a generous 3 /5 🌟 because there were moments that sparked curiosity—but I wouldn’t be quick to recommend it.
The story follows two women caught up in a violent crime, who then go on the run from authorities. What could have been a tense, character-driven survival thriller quickly unraveled into a confusing, often implausible narrative with characters making eyebrow-raising decisions that defied all logic. The main character, in particular, was infuriating—her choices in life-or-death situations had me internally (okay, and sometimes audibly) shouting, “Why would you do that?!”
The romance subplot came out of nowhere and felt wildly out of place. I love a good slow-burn or high-stakes love story, but this one felt like it belonged in an entirely different book. The chemistry wasn’t there, and instead of raising the emotional stakes, it raised more questions—most of them concerning.
As for the big twist at the end… I saw it coming from a mile away, and when it finally landed, it felt more like a tired shrug than a jaw-dropper.
While the premise had promise, the execution didn’t quite deliver. Between the disjointed pacing, illogical plot points, and romance that felt forced, this was more of a frustrating read than a thrilling one.
I’m giving it a generous 3 /5 🌟 because there were moments that sparked curiosity—but I wouldn’t be quick to recommend it.
August 18, 2024
A pretty good Thelma-and-Louise-but-make-it-gay type story. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending (although as the book went on, it was harder and harder to imagine a GOOD ending. And I have a LOT of questions about the road trip itself. Sure, time passed and there were time skips, but the characters seem to launch from one side of the country to the other with little or no effort, only to immediately/constantly get in trouble as soon as they reached wherever they were going. There was a lot of bonding time alone on the road that got left on the cutting room floor, and it made the story feel a bit too over-trimmed.
March 20, 2025
Deitch is a very good writer who tells a story about failed potential and stifled ambition with the cool eye of someone who's seen and done it all. What exactly are we meant to believe about the myth of the gifted kid? What purpose does it serve? An interesting thread to pull, but the middle of this was a little meandering as the protagonist embarked on her journey across the country (twice).
Reiterating that Deitch is a great writer! This could have been 75 pages shorter and would have been better for it.
Reiterating that Deitch is a great writer! This could have been 75 pages shorter and would have been better for it.
March 19, 2025
I really wanted to love this book. The premise is fantastic—Evie, a struggling SAT tutor, walks into a crime scene and suddenly finds herself on the run with a mysterious woman, Jae. The media turns her into some kind of class-war villain, and she’s forced to unravel the truth while dodging the authorities. Sounds amazing, right?
And in some ways, it is. The opening hooked me, and I was totally on board for the wild, high-stakes chase. But the further I got, the more I struggled. Evie makes one absolutely insane decision after another, to the point where it stopped feeling thrilling and just got frustrating. I also had a hard time buying into some of the plot twists—they require a lot of suspension of disbelief.
Then there’s Evie and Jae’s relationship. I liked the idea of it, but it also shifted the focus in a way that made the tone feel a little off. I wanted more of the murder mystery and less of the emotional entanglements that sometimes slowed everything down.
That said, the book is well-written, and I had to know how it all ended. I just wish the big reveal had hit harder—I saw it coming and was hoping for something more layered.
This was a fun, fast-paced read, but not one that totally stuck the landing for me. I liked it, but I wanted to love it.
My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and William Morrow for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
And in some ways, it is. The opening hooked me, and I was totally on board for the wild, high-stakes chase. But the further I got, the more I struggled. Evie makes one absolutely insane decision after another, to the point where it stopped feeling thrilling and just got frustrating. I also had a hard time buying into some of the plot twists—they require a lot of suspension of disbelief.
Then there’s Evie and Jae’s relationship. I liked the idea of it, but it also shifted the focus in a way that made the tone feel a little off. I wanted more of the murder mystery and less of the emotional entanglements that sometimes slowed everything down.
That said, the book is well-written, and I had to know how it all ended. I just wish the big reveal had hit harder—I saw it coming and was hoping for something more layered.
This was a fun, fast-paced read, but not one that totally stuck the landing for me. I liked it, but I wanted to love it.
My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and William Morrow for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
April 4, 2025
So...not my favorite read.
It started out okay, though I didn't like Evie. I was interested in the crime and her situation and what promised to be a fascinating crime spree/road trip/getaway novel.
But...it changed. It became a story about the RELATIONSHIP (and, yes, all caps) and sex on the run and way too much blather.
Eventually, as things started coming to a head, I got interested again only to have the author throw in a bit of a twist that I simply didn't like.
I ended it not liking any of our characters (except maybe Evie's parents who were largely non-entities, but pleasant) and really not enjoying the interminable loose end wrap up.
Readable, but not really for me.
It started out okay, though I didn't like Evie. I was interested in the crime and her situation and what promised to be a fascinating crime spree/road trip/getaway novel.
But...it changed. It became a story about the RELATIONSHIP (and, yes, all caps) and sex on the run and way too much blather.
Eventually, as things started coming to a head, I got interested again only to have the author throw in a bit of a twist that I simply didn't like.
I ended it not liking any of our characters (except maybe Evie's parents who were largely non-entities, but pleasant) and really not enjoying the interminable loose end wrap up.
Readable, but not really for me.
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