X Marks the Stalker Review

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Happy New Year and some updates!

    Happy New Year, and apologies for the silence. A lot of things have been happening since my last post, and it has made my mental/emotional health deteriorate a bit. So many things happened that I am opting not to do a life update on them, except to talk about my birthday and the holidays. I have many new books to read for the latest challenge, and quite a few changes coming to my blog as well. I could go on and on about it, but it is time for the review that I have been trying to craft since last year. 

About the Book

    X marks the stalker follows the love story between Oakley and Xander. Oakley is a journalist who has been following cases closely and getting to the truth of the crimes. Xander falls for her when she arrives at a crime scene he is cleaning, and she compliments his technique and tech. From there, he begins to stalk her and puts cameras into her apartment, while she looks for evidence of the Gallery Killer and of ways to take down the man who has framed her father and killed her parents. A series of events unfolds in the book, and from it comes a morbid, beautiful relationship that is surprisingly healthy for serial killers. 

My Initial Thoughts

    I started reading this book around September 21st and instantly fell in love with the humor. This book has become one of my favorites and one I will need on my shelf. When I first picked it up, the trigger warnings had me dying of laughter. I was instantly drawn to this book and kept reading. The first impression that this book gave me was that I need therapy. It is gruesome and hilarious, and I found myself wanting to read more and more until my depression and ADHD overwhelmed me, and I took a reading slump. That being said, Xander is one of my all-time favorite book characters now, and I cannot wait to delve further into my review. That's right. I'm posting this before my Goodreads review. 

Trigger Warnings

    As I mentioned above, the trigger warnings had me laughing so hard I almost died. Contents include but aren't limited to (and I quote): surveillance cameras as a love language, creative uses for nail guns (very poetic!), eyeball extraction, panic rooms that become very unsafe spaces, murder boards of actual murder, a gas station bathroom death via decorative fish (the book also in paranthesis says "yes, really"), basement furnaces with a particular purpose, various sharp objects used for non-kitchen activities, blood spatter as interior decorating, explicit sex scenes including public fingering, phone sex with candy, knife play, anal play, restraints, praise kink, choking, and other activities that would scandalize your grandmother (I was laughing so hard on that one.), parental murder and childhood trauma, stalking presented as a courtship (the author wishes to remind others to not try this at home.), a secret society of murderers with surprisingly good organizational skills, and disturbingly artistic torture scenes. One of my favorite parts is that, beneath all those triggers, K.N. Wilder reminds you this is fiction and not to fall in love or plan a wedding.

My Goodreads Review

    I have yet to post on Goodreads, but I am going to be giving this book a 5-star review. I know people might disagree and say it is at least a 3- or 4-star, but this book has tickled my brain and had me calling my boyfriend to gush about it or to laugh at a scene. That being said, because I enjoyed the humor, chemistry, and various characters and details, I am giving this book a 5-star review. In the end, I am disappointed that Oakley does not join the society (Spoiler alert!!), but I thought the ending was so cute I could overlook it. As someone who cannot look at blood (real or fake), the book made me slightly nauseated, but since I couldn't see it, I was able to read and enjoy it. The book is very graphic, and I loved the dramatic flair of Calloway and Lazlo. I will be looking for the other books, if there are any, and keeping up with the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 

My Final Thoughts

    This book is beautifully twisted and macabre. It is disturbing, and it makes me question whether I should seek help to enjoy it as much as I did. I know my boyfriend will eventually tease me about it. I already mentioned I plan to get the physical copy of this book since I read it on Kindle Unlimited, and once I do, I plan to make a display for it. I loved this book that much. It took me a while to read, as with most books, due to my depression or ADHD, but I was so glad that this was the first book that I finished at the beginning of this year. 2026 is going to be a lot different and healthy, but still filled with as many twisted fantasies as I can read. I have a new reading challenge underway, and this book is the first to be added to it! I look forward to posting more reviews and updates. 

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