Reviews with content warning for Stalking - This Is How We End Things

What a fascinating read. I love the concept of psychologists being suspects in a murder case.

I don’t think their case on deception was too interesting or pertinent to the case though.

I liked learning that people who are liars usually keep eye contact and are charming, and in turn, to catch someone in a lie, you must be warm and create report, then catch them by asking them something baffling.

I had the killer down to two people at the end:

Kings and Mark. I can’t believe I was close: it was Mark. I think the truly terrifying part was Mark having no reason to try to kill his ex or actually kill Lyons other than pay back for taking sole custody of his kid. It’s scary to think the person doesn’t need a reason for murder.

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Pitched as a dark academia thriller, This Is How We End Things is a fast-paced murder mystery with lots of twists.

The story takes place at a university among a cohort of six PhD students who are studying the psychology of deception. Which means they are all very skilled at lying. And then one of them ends up murdered.

Even the most skilled liar can’t keep their darkest secrets from coming to light during the investigation, and each student has secrets they’re aiming to keep hidden.

I really enjoyed this novel, but I wouldn’t describe it as dark academia. It has an academic setting and there’s a murder, but I don’t feel like it has the right vibe to fit in with the dark academia subgenre. For one, the main POV in the novel is a detective, and I feel like in dark academia, there are no detectives right off the bat. The focus was less on the students’ POVs and actions and more on what the two detectives were discovering as they were investigating the case. We did get POVs from the six students as well as some other minor characters, but I did feel like the “main character” of this book was Detective Larson.

Overall, though, this book was a quick read that really captured my interest. I read it very quickly and had a great time trying to solve the mystery along with the characters.

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