Natalie chose James carefully, because he's different from all the men she'd loved before. Calm. Competent. Kind.
And there are three very good reasons she needs to be so careful. Their names are Marc, Luca and George.Natalie prefers not to think about what they did to her. Let alone what she had to do to them.
Except now, on a night they are meant to be celebrating how happy they are together, Natalie and James are lying in separate bedrooms. She is asking herself how she could have been foolish enough to let yet another man hurt her like this.
Slowly, Natalie realises she’s already holding a knife.
But she's not going to do anything with it. She’s not.
"I want to know why my childhood fucked me up so much more than everyone else's fucked them; I want to know where the blackouts come from; I want to know if James will be my next victim; I want to feel confident that he's definitely not."
Well damn, looks like the competition is heating up for our favourite murderess stories - The Exes is entering the ring with a bang and fixing the snatch the title.
If you've ever watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you'll know the quote, "Stuff can be two things!" and that's what I say about this book - simultaneously a hot mess and a wickedly clever thriller wrapped up in one delightfully dark bow - it's the very definition of a page turner.
Our main character, Natalie takes the main narration of the story as she takes us through the past and present, remembering her exes tragic fates as she navigates a bombshell with her latest lover. Was it her revenge, a violent blackout, tragic coincidence? Regardless of the explanation, the men she dates tend to meet their end quickly. As the pages turn, Nat takes us back to the key moments in each relationship through her own memories and chats with her therapist.
As we learn more about them, I found myself half-hoping she did actually kill them herself but also questioning if she really had all the answers, or if she was keeping secrets. It was like a hot bath - it took a minute to get into but then it's just right and everything is great. The erratic, short chapters that jump between exes and timelines could be confusing and made a few lulls with a lot of moving parts at first before it finds it's footing but it definitely helps create a slightly disorienting, dizzying experience.
Nat was a complicated, morally complex character and a dubious narrator - asking the reader to question whether she's a victim, villain - or something else? She's had a tough life; toxic family, racist abusive exes, a slight issue with making men part of her personality. She is full of duality: paranoid and nervous but fierce and loyal, a mix of conflicting emotions that made her undeniable.
And as for the big questions? Darlington has an answer that is the perfect twist upon twist, smirk at the page kind of vibes. You might guess a bit of it, but that'll just leave you more blindsided when things heat up and the secrets start to unravel.
Now these twists - I'm a lover of truly chaotic, diabolical writing. Was this potentially bordering too chaotic as we approached the end? Possibly.
Will some readers find the twists unnecessary or too much for the story? Probably.
Did I eat it up anyway? Absolutely.
Leodora has crafted an absolutely killer debut here, taking a huge risk by jumping into a highly trending, saturated genre and still made her mark with something entirely her own. I will definitely be keeping my eyes on them in the future.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
- The Exes will be available from February 12th 2026 with Michael Joseph/Penguin. I received a reviewers copy of this title.
- This title contains potentially sensitive material including violence, implied sexual assault and coercion, rape, abusive relationships and parental relationships, racism and 'revenge porn'
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