Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

I read this having waited until I'd seen the full TV series.  I have to say that the two bear little resemblance on the whole - the TV series includes characters and events that do not exist in the book - but that's showbusiness for you!

Interesting to discover more about the backgrounds, backstories, motivation and characters of the various players, and the interplay between them. Much more information than I picked up from the TV programme.

All in all a good read - if you've seen the TV series it's helpful to read it as a novel and THEN compare it to the TV series - otherwise you'll find yourself distracted.

Just read the second book, having waited until the second TV series finished. Will there be a third book? We'll have to wait and see...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

This makes the TV series look tame! This comes to life on the page and will be the best novel you read this year! Utterly fantastic.

I watched the TV adaptation before I read the book and am so glad I did it that way as the book included more detail and helped colour the story I already thought I had down pat.  

Villanelle is a cold and calculated sociopathic assassin, who enjoys the thrill of new contracts all over the world.  Eve is painted as a more dowdy character unlike fashion forward and bold Vilanelle. Eve always seems frustratingly one step behind. This cat and mouse story is beautifully crafted and culminates in a frustrating cliff-hanger which makes you thirsty for more.

Action thriller for women - what's not to like? Haven't seen the TV series but I'll be digging into it as soon as I finish book two, which I shall be starting immediately. Love the characters, plot and the various settings. "Nikita" meets "Leon". Great stuff!

When a book goes to screen I always try to read the book before it appears at the cinema or TV.  I did this one the other way round, and I'm so pleased I did.  After watching the Killing Eve series, I just had to read the book – Villanelle was under my skin.  After reading a few book reviews, I realised that it wasn't liked by all but I felt that watching the series first gave a head start on Villanelle's character.

With visual characters already in my head, I quickly got into the story, slightly different from the TV series, and immediately loved Oxana (later becoming Villanelle) and Konstantin.  The book does flip about and has a rushed, almost the book in a draft form feel about it, but this staccato, slightly detached writing style really fits with Villanelle's character.  She is seriously flawed, crazy and uncontrollable at times and her lack of emotion makes her a perfect assassin.

Eve is a character who seems to be always running on catch-up.  She never makes dinner with her husband even when they have guests round.  She's uncomfortable in fashion and barely has time to do her hair or apply make-up – she knows she should make more of an effort but it just doesn't seem to work for her.  The final straw is when she's kicked off her job of finding the mystery female assassin who killed on her watch.  She knows she's close and just has to find this cold killer.

Villanelle has certainly got under my skin and I now have to read book two before it hits the screen.

I loved the brilliant TV series Killing Eve and when I saw that Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings was the basis for the series I was really keen on reading it. However, this is one of those rare occasions when I preferred the adaptation to the book. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did – just not as much as the TV version. Now, that may be because I watched the TV series first – but I don’t think so. They begin at different points in the story. Codename Villanelle begins by introducing Villanelle, giving her background, real name and the details of her training as an assassin with the codename Villanelle, and her paymasters, known as The Twelve. Thus the suspense in that is built up in the TV series by not knowing anything about her other than her codename, just isn’t there in the book.

Both are fast paced, although the action sequences come over much better on TV, as you would expect.  Both portray Villanelle as a young woman who is psychologically invulnerable – a ruthless and successful killer, experiencing neither pain nor horror and totally unaffected by the pain she inflicts on others or the murders she carries out. But the dynamic between Villanelle and Eve Polastri that plays a large role in the TV series is missing in the book and there are several other changes too.

The book ends before the ending shown in the TV series and I’m assuming the next book Killing Eve: No Tomorrow, will continue the story, which I’m planning to read in the near future. There is a third book on the way too – Killing Eve: Endgame. 

My thanks to the publishers, John Murray, for my review copy via NetGalley.

Having heard good things about the tv show, I did what I always try to do when I saw the books it was based on were available - read the book before watching the adaptation.

Female assassin vs female national security agent - full marks for female characters in leads by the author. Shame that those characters are v poorly fleshed out in favour of a plot that moves at breakneck speed with no exploration really of why anything is happening.

Having watched and loved Killing Eve, I was really keen to read the books that the series was based on. This one goes a fair bit deeper than the tv series with Villanelle's background, which is fascinating. It ends on a big cliffhanger and I'm definitely going to be reading the second one now to pick things up straight away.

I wanted to read this book after watching the brilliant TV adaptation ‘Killing Eve’, and was excited as usually the book is even better. Unfortunately I didn’t think this was true in this case. The descriptions of Villanelle and her kills were good, but I didn’t find Eve to be as interesting and engaging a character as I expected. I will read the next book, and will try harder to keep the TV show out of my mind as I do so.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I was overjoyed to receive a copy of Codename Villanelle from Luke Jennings.  Though I haven´t seen the television show Killing Eve, I had heard about it and was inspired to read the book behind the inspiration.  I was rivetted from the first page and inhaled the book in just two days.  Though Villanelle is a sociopath, I couldn´t help but be fascinated by her life in Paris and her adventurous spirit.  I felt that I could relate to detective Eve and the feelings she experienced when she felt like her life was spiraling out of control.  It was refreshing to read a novel with such strong female characters.  I like thrillers and am a huge fan of James Bond but am often disappointed at the limited roles women play in these novels.  Luke Jennings offers another outlook on the traditional genre with Codename Villanelle. 

I am really looking forward to the sequel of Codename Villanelle and hope to catch the television show soon.

The book is almost always better than the adaptation isn’t it. It is here! And I loved the series!!

2.5 stars

Villanelle is a psychopath and a highly skilled assassin. 
She wasn't always called Villanelle, but she has left her past behind and now works for a secret organisation that targets high profile and powerful people.
When Villanelle murders a Russian politician, she attracts the attention of Eve Polastri, an ex-MI6 officer. Eve is determined to track down this mysterious new female assassin, and follows Villanelle's trail around the globe.

I requested Codename Villanelle after watching the TV adaptation (which I really enjoyed) and it's hard not to compare the two.
For me, the writing style is what let this down - it took me a while to get into the story and there were times that I found myself skipping paragraphs, wanting to get to the action.
The plot was okay. There were parts that I liked and parts that I didn't.
Villanelle and Eve were interesting characters but as this was only a short novel, I felt like they could have been fleshed out a bit more. Eve especially.
I definitely preferred the TV series - and plot were more interesting, and I was more gripped when watching it compared to when I read this.

Overall this was an okay read.

I absolutely adored the Killing Eve tv series and it was great reading a bit more about Villanelle. A must-read for anyone who enjoyed the TV show! Have ordered the next book in the series!

I decided to read this book as I adored the TV series so much. It’s a quick read that I did enjoy, but I would have to say that this is one of the few times when what is shown on screen is even better than the book. 

I think I was probably expecting too much after watching the series which definitely coloured my view, but with a bit more fleshing out of the characters this could have been a great read instead of just an enjoyable one. 3 stars.

This book got me HOOKED from the start. It left me 'O' mouthed at some of the more brutal and graphic scenes. It just always seemed to shock me whenever someone got killed, even when I saw it coming. I loved the flip between Eve and Villanelle's narrative and between the different countries. Okay, it got a bit long winded at some points with all the names and organisations. But this is some real kick-ass book that had a 'Line of Duty' vibe to it, which of course, I loved. The ending! It was so abrupt and left me on the edge! I was expecting so much more but I guess I'll have to pick up the sequel now.

Overall, I was thoroughly surprised by how good 'Codename Villanelle' was! It was such a gripping book and definitely left me on the edge of my seat.

A brilliant short booknow that is every bit as good if not better than the TV series. Really enjoyed this original story.

I hadn't read the other books in this series nor seen the TV show, but that didn't seem to matter. 

This is a very short book which ends on a cliffhanger and that's my biggest problem with it. Well, that and the jumping between perspectives without warning so it could be hard to follow what was going on.

While the characters were interesting and the action tense, I can't help but wish they'd combined this book with the sequel for a more complete story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

This book is very obviously written by a male author from a female perspective. Which is to say that it's not a queer female perspective at all but a male imagining of it.
Though the premise of the book is quite compelling, the telling and editing detracts from the story so much that it's unreadable in parts.

Loved this book, so different from other thrillers. Even though Villanelle seems to be a cold hearted killer she seems vulnerable and you feel that you desperately want to understand her.