Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green - OPTIONAL

Haven’t Killed in Years by Amy K. Green, 368 pages. Berkeley (Penguin Random House), 2025. $30.

Language: R (85 swears, 21 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: R

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Gwen (29yo) has been living her boring, normal life ever since she became an adult. She doesn’t have close friends to keep from forming attachments and doesn’t even wear bold colors in order to not stand out. But still, someone has figured out that she wasn’t born with the name Gwen. On the day that her mother gets released from prison, Gwen finds a box on her doorstep containing a severed human arm, and now she has to do something about it.

There were several things I liked about this book, but the story became convoluted halfway in and the ending was disappointing, which left me feeling meh about the story overall. A killer that comes out of left field isn’t a twist; it’s a wrinkle that disrupts the flow of a good story. Despite that, I really liked Gwen and her character arc, and even the side characters were memorable. They made the story an enjoyable read.

The majority of characters are implied White. Gwen’s and Elyse’s sexual orientations are undefined, and neither is strictly heterosexual. The mature content rating is for drug and alcohol use; illegal activity; kissing; mentions of prostitutes, genitalia, sex, and rape; innuendo; and partial nudity. The violence rating is for blood and gore, corpses, cutting and self harm, assault, gun use, mentions of animal cruelty and suicide, and murder.

Reviewer: Carolina Johnson