Kill Them with Kindness

by Will Carver

300 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2025

Reviews

[Helen the Bassist · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

The penultimate sentence of Carver's acknowledgements says: "If you keep coming back for more, you'll know that sometimes I nail it and sometimes I go to far".

With this 'too close for comfort' satire he totally nails it.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I unintentionally devoured this book in one sitting. I couldn't stop reading it. It was dark and depressing, I think made particularly so for me because it poked at the recent trauma of going through the Covid pandemic in the UK. Although a work of fiction, it flies very close to what could very well be truth, tied up in conspiracy theories. Who actually knows the deep, dark depravity of their own governments and what they would be willing to subject their citizens to?

The Prime Minister in this was not even thinly disguised to be anyone other than Boris Johnson, and I'm glad the author decided to shine a light on what a disgusting, snivelling human he really is. His blatant racism, philandering ways and general buffoonery was hard to stomach during such a frightening period of history. Even his alleged admittance into hospital was smoke and mirrors in this story, and a conspiracy in real life.

As a Brit, I can laugh at aspects of this book as it pokes fun at the worst parts of British society. Readers from other parts of the world might be horrified by the caricatures of some of the people that populate this little island. The fact that it takes a mass suicide event and the death of 60 million people to make the UK a kind place to live, isn't lost on me. I'd like to think that in reality, it would take a lot less than that for people to have a shred of empathy for their neighbour. Then again, the entire world isn't a very kind place anymore, is it?

Food for thought...

Had to give this 4 stars for the sheer horror of it all and my inability to tear my eyes away from it.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kill them With Kindness is the first Will Carver book in which I have read. I was a little unsure of the plot at first as a lot of books lately have had plots centred around virus and plagues etc. But I found that the layout of this book was really different and I found myself really enjoying the storyline of it. It almost felt like I was reading articles of snapshots of each of the characters and their lives and the events they led.
I found myself unable to put the book own with how invested I was with the plot, it left me with a lot of surprises that I didn't see coming at all but are hard to write about without giving away the plot.

[Dawn Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading club read [EOTWRC]: Another pandemic novel. Post-COVID I can find these all a little samey - rest assured, this is NOT samey. It started off a little slow and dry but stick with it, guys, it's totally worth it. Can't really say much more without spoilers!

My first Carver read but I'll definitely be checking out his other books.

[Bepis.・✫・゜・。. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know what I was expecting from this book but I was surprised by how it panned out! Kill Them With Kindness had me feeling all kinds of emotions and if you’re looking for a dystopian book to read, this could be perfect.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5