actual rating: 2.5I really just don't know what to do with this series but suffice to say it's one of the few times the show is way better than the book. I don't really know anything about this author as a person so maybe he is genuinely trying his best but it's just very obviously like 'hi I am a straight man writing a lesbian thriller' and the way he handled adding a nonbinary character into this one felt really weird and awkward to me but again maybe the intent behind it is genuine and it's just the execution that is awkward. Overall most of the book was okay and the spy stuff itself was good but he is definitely not good at writing the psychological bits. Also the ending was HORRIBLE. What a cop-out. (view spoiler)[If it ended after Villanelle 'died' then it would have been good but bringing her back to life and putting her into some weird cutesy domestic bliss scenario with Eve is just so wildly out of character for everything we've been told about her for the whole series. (hide spoiler)]

Villanelle (a codename, of course) is one of the world's most skilled assassins. A catlike psychopath whose love for the creature comforts of her luxurious lifestyle is second only to her love of the game, she specializes in murdering the world's richest and most powerful. But when she murders an influential Russian politician, she draws a relentless foe to her tail.  Eve Polastri (not a codename) is a former MI6 operative hired by the national security services for a singular task: to find and capture or kill the assassin responsible, and those who have aided her. Eve, whose quiet and otherwise unextraordinary life belies her quick wit and keen intellect, accepts the mission.  The ensuing chase will lead them on a trail around the world, intersecting with corrupt governments and powerful criminal organizations, all leading towards a final confrontation from which neither will emerge unscathed. Codename Villanelle is a sleek, fast-paced international thriller from an exciting new voice in fiction.

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Mollie Jackman

2011 American science fiction television series

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