Published By: Viper
Pages: 400
Released On: 29/01/2026
Murder me once, shame on you. Murder me 84 times…
Vivian Slade is a cautionary tale. The wrong side of thirty, she’s no longer the life and soul of the party – she’s a party of one. But she’s determined to turn over a new leaf, even if that means going to a family gathering where everyone hates her.
Turns out, someone really hates her – enough to push her off a balcony to a very messy end. But then Vivian wakes up! Only to be murdered again. And again.
Stuck in a baffling time loop, Vivian’s only ally is a sleep-deprived waiter who just wants to finish his shift. Will Vivian be able to solve her own murder? Only time will tell…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Viper for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This was the first of her books I’ve read and I had high hopes.
I was a little concerned to begin with because there’s a lot of characters floating about and I am notoriously bad with names. Overall I think I managed it but I think it might get a little confusing for some readers.
I do like a bit of dark humour, macabre humour, and this had a lot of that.
I had HUGE expectations for this book. I hadn’t seen a bad word said about it and I really hoped it would live up to that, but I don’t think it did.
It is quite slow to begin with. Obviously scene setting is important, introducing the characters, building up a backstory, I get that, but it felt a bit stretched out.
I did like Viv overall. She reminded me slightly of Fleabag (a programme I didn’t like). She feels real, clumsy, immature, a wild child, but it all felt very natural and recognisable. She did grate on me at times as I felt her issues were all of her doing and it was hard to feel sorry for her, but I did think overall she was a good protagonist.
I think I had the plot wrong. I was expecting a good 3/4 of the book to be a sort of Groundhog Day (which I also didn’t like) story, and it would really focus on the fantastical elements, the deaths, the reincarnations etc. but that’s hardly in it. We get a handful of those and that’s it. It’s more about family dynamics and relationships and growth, and about how the smallest of choices can have the biggest impact. And that’s fine, nothing wrong with that, because it is well written and it was enjoyable to read, but it’s not what I was expecting to read.
I do wonder if the things I mentioned above – Fleabag, and Groundhog Day – that I didn’t like explains why I didn’t think much of this? Maybe it’s just not my kind of story, which is fine. But I would still recommend it, especially if you like slightly different, fantasy, macabre novels with a heavy character presence.
I did find the beginning of the book slow, as I’ve already mentioned, and some bits are quick, so overall I think there’s a nice balance.
I can see this being a book that splits the room. This is completely my opinion. I’ve seen reviews giving it 5 stars and I’ve seen reviews giving it 2. And that’s fine. We can’t all like every book in the world.
It’s not perfect. It was slower than I hoped and completely different to what I was expecting. But it is still an enjoyable read with well-written, if not overly likeable, characters. Great storytelling and scene setting. It’s clear she has a talent for writing gripping novels, which I will not argue about.
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