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A review by serenityofbooks
The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent
4.0
The cover for The Murder After The Night Before by Katy Brent suggests a fun cosy crime romp but beneath its witty exterior lies a narrative with surprising depth.
Molly Monroe wakes up after her work Christmas party with a killer hangover and a strange guy in her bed. She doesn’t remember anything from the night before but is quickly made aware that she is all over the internet for all the wrong reasons and things go from bad to worse when her best friend, Posey, is discover dead in the bathtub.
I loved this flawed main character – she was witty, smart, damaged, and relatable – and I really felt like I was seeing my best friend go through the worst time of her life. It was laugh out loud funny one minute but heartbreaking the next. The strength of this book for me was taking an almost comical first chapter of Molly waking up to a really bad day and using it as an engaging platform to examine important societal issues like sexual assault and consent, slut shaming, casual misogyny, internet trolls and the impact of grief on people’s lives. The disgusting way Molly’s night went viral and the reaction of those closest to her as well as the broader community was sickening & made me so angry but felt all too realistic when you see things like this play out in the media all the time.
I would love to see Molly come back in another book and am keen to check out this authors debut, How To Kill Men and Get Away With It – what a fab title! BTW I listened to this one on audiobook and highly recommend checking it out! Victoria Morrison did a fantastic job of giving Molly Monroe the perfect voice and tone.
Molly Monroe wakes up after her work Christmas party with a killer hangover and a strange guy in her bed. She doesn’t remember anything from the night before but is quickly made aware that she is all over the internet for all the wrong reasons and things go from bad to worse when her best friend, Posey, is discover dead in the bathtub.
I loved this flawed main character – she was witty, smart, damaged, and relatable – and I really felt like I was seeing my best friend go through the worst time of her life. It was laugh out loud funny one minute but heartbreaking the next. The strength of this book for me was taking an almost comical first chapter of Molly waking up to a really bad day and using it as an engaging platform to examine important societal issues like sexual assault and consent, slut shaming, casual misogyny, internet trolls and the impact of grief on people’s lives. The disgusting way Molly’s night went viral and the reaction of those closest to her as well as the broader community was sickening & made me so angry but felt all too realistic when you see things like this play out in the media all the time.
I would love to see Molly come back in another book and am keen to check out this authors debut, How To Kill Men and Get Away With It – what a fab title! BTW I listened to this one on audiobook and highly recommend checking it out! Victoria Morrison did a fantastic job of giving Molly Monroe the perfect voice and tone.