So this is classified as a "psychological thriller", but there is nothing thrilling about it. Mike is very dull, if I may be frank. The entire story is from his point of view and, to be honest the way the author floats back and for with the narrative towards the end of the third section is a bit off putting, but more on that in a bit. As for the "psychological" part, yes. Clinically I suppose there are elements and undertones of psychology in here ranging from PTSD, depression, and anxiety to personality disorders, pathological lying, and obsession almost to the point of compulsion. None of them are actually officially brought to light and the author is up front with pretty much everything, so there's no mind games for the reader.

I spent most of the 200 some-odd pages waiting for something to happen and, when it did, it was relatively short, predictable, and underwhelming. With Mike's obsession for V as strong as it was through out the entirety of the story, I expected a lot more than a groggy moment of self defense to turn into a dead body. There's plenty of obsession to go around in this book too, for what it's worth. Mike's obsessed with V, her relationship with Agnus, his mother's short comings, The Crave he and V used to play... the list goes on and on. For all that obsession, you would think there would be a lot more action than some light stalking, a court case, and the little that happened in between.

In the end, we also don't have answers to some of our more burning questions and a small section from V's perspective at the very end would have helped a lot as we got to see as much of her as anyone living in her world did: the surface. You want a potentially twisted mind? You want a psych thriller, get this same story from her point of view if she's truly as bold as I believe her to be. ( )

This story was so confusing (in the best way) and well developed. I really enjoyed it and will be looking to read more work by the author. ( )

*** NOTE: I RECEIVED ARC OF THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHERS VIA NETGALLEY, IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. MANY THANKS TO PUBLISHERS FOR GIVING ME A CHANCE TO READ THIS BOOK. ***

Our Kind of Cruelty was psychological thriller focused on the highly crazy obsession and delusional lover. When the blurb said it’s Mike love story, it truly was from all the angle was Mike’s love story that revolved around his life, his psychology and his love narrated from his POV.

Characters-
Mike Hayes- ‘Placid exterior hides a passionate or subtle nature’ surely defines Mike’s character. He had good and placid face in front of the world but he had disturbing twisted mind. He had bad childhood that had left its impact real deep than he himself realized. He had no empathy, had anger issue and he definitely never learned to respect love or lover and when to let go of them. He was over obsessive and delusional. Easy to say he was highly unlikable, complicated, and strong character but oh my so cleverly created by author. I definitely like the way author represented him throughout the book.

Verity- Bad decision and choices in life can drags you to the worst situation one can ever imagine. That’s what Verity’s life was. There was certainly good qualities about her- clever, caring, confident, and successful, but also had flaws. I said many times that I don’t appreciate weak characters and Verity’s actions made tag her weak.

What I liked-
I just started it on 7th and I finished only 30% book by late evening and it even surprised me that I was up till 4 this morning and I slept after finishing this book. So you can imagine how addictive this book was.

Book was sectioned in 3 parts without any chapter breaks that initially made me put it down or go slow. But the scenes broken into paragraphs was a big relief.

Part 1: first impression- slow. Writing was great and engaging. This part gave a damn good description of Mike and his life. Though it was slow, it was very important part of the book. It told all about Mike’s life, his childhood and how he brought up by foster parents who gave him good education, and how now he turned out successful rich person. Also gave close look on his relationship with Verity, how it started, how they were together, and how it ended. Within few pages or few scenes I could clearly see there was something wrong with this guy. His narration showed his love in creepy way. He definitely was not reliable nor at any point did I think I believe him. End thought of this section- I couldn’t believe the words that their relationship lasted so long and Verity still wanted to be friends!!

Part 2: It was hard not think all sort of possibility in this part. The book had darkness of its own kind that exuded slowly in twisted and creepy way, specifically in this part, that made it so addictive. I was damn curious to know what Mike will do next and equally sure he was going to do something nasty. I wanted to see what steps Verity will take when that happens. I was so surprised by Mike’s delusions. How he just wanted to believe what he thought was right. His thought were so appalling and disgusting, I was really sick of him and the word ‘crave’ by the end of this section. The more shocking and surprising was Verity didn’t take legal help when I guessed at few points. I felt that either she is fool or was too weak for my liking.

Author twisted and complicated this section mindblowingly. She made me think at certain point that maybe I could have some hope in this delusional character and then next minute he did something unbelievable. She made it so unpredictable that all I thought was wrong and the unpredictability was even more in third section.

Part 3: Damn engaging and so so brilliantly crafted part. I seriously liked that trial session. I couldn’t even imagine it was going to end this way.

This book will definitely make you stop reading at certain point and think over deeply on things that happened in the book. It definitely made me think it’s better not to have lover than to have this kind in life or should be careful with people, they’re not always what they look like.

why 4 stars-
I feel few things were unbelievable. Don’t rich people have CCTV camera around their house making their home more secure? If they had it would have been drastic change in story. Don’t big houses have a peephole on the door so that they can see before opening a door? I wish they had and character has used it. I might sounds silly but I just couldn’t stop thinking this.

It was really awkward to believe no one has taken any serious steps after his emotional abusive childhood, how everyone was going on with Mike’s words and how it can be so easy for him to convince what he thought was right. Such person is bound to do mistake at certain point. It was all amazing but I was not satisfied with these things I mentioned and with the end.

Overall, it was dark, engaging, cleverly written book with complicated characters. I highly recommend to psychological thriller lover. ( )

Deeply disturbing and intricately unsettling until the very end, this book will make you question who the real monsters are and if anyone's testimony can be trusted. It's also a powerful and timely musing on the way societies punish men and women differently for similar peccadilloes and crimes. ( )

Briefly:

This was a page turner and a very good character study. If you're expecting a typical "thriller" though (or a twist of any sort,) this is not that kind of book.

It was an interesting point of view, though, and I think we've probably all known people like Mike (though hopefully your Mike never went as far as this one does.) I applaud Araminta Hall for capturing the thought process of a man who is obsessed, and who doesn't know how to wrap his head around "no" when it's coming from the object of his obsession.

Anyway, I recommend. Good stuff. ( )