If You Love It, Let It Kill You

A Novel

De: Hannah Pittard

Narrado por: Allyson Ryan

Recommended Summer Reading according to The New York Times, Elle, Zibby Owens, and the Minnesota Star Tribune

“A dishy work of autofiction that everyone will be talking about.”—The New York Times

A refreshingly irreverent novel about art, desire, domesticity, freedom, and the intricacies of the twenty-first-century female experience, from the acclaimed writer Hannah Pittard

A novelist learns that an unflattering version of herself will appear prominently—and soon—in her ex-husband’s debut novel. For a week, her life continues largely unaffected by the news—she cooks, runs, teaches, entertains—but the morning after baking mac ’n’ cheese from scratch for her nephew’s sixth birthday, she wakes up changed. The contentment she’s long enjoyed is gone. In its place: nothing. A remarkably ridiculous midlife crisis ensues, featuring a talking cat and a game called Dead Body.

Steeped in the strangeness of contemporary life and suggestive of expansive metaphoric possibilities, If You Love It, Let It Kill You is a deeply nuanced and disturbingly funny examination of memory, ownership, and artistic expression.

©2025 by Hannah Pittard. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Hannah Pittard’s new novel is utterly compelling. I felt like I was standing beside Hannah while she peered in a mirror, looking for truth (in fiction, where it of course resides), pointing out flaws, but allowing the cracks of beauty to be revealed too. Pittard’s work lets nothing off the hook, and I read the book in one sitting, desperate to know if she—and therefore I—would be all right by the end. I love Hannah Pittard’s dark and squirrelly mind. I’m a huge fan.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“Hannah Pittard has always been so adept at delving into the interior, unafraid of what might reside there, able to create stories where the specificity of relationships and family and identity touch you in these unexpected ways. If You Love It, Let It Kill You asserts that it is ‘neither a comedy nor a tragedy but something much worse: real life’ but Pittard and these characters know better. Real life, the strangest place to reside, is where Pittard does the most incredible work.”—Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

“Hannah Pittard’s If You Love It, Let It Kill You is a masterclass in autofiction: incisive, hilarious, heartbreaking, and mercilessly candid. This novel, its narrator makes clear, is ‘neither a comedy nor a tragedy but something much worse: real life.’ If You Love It, Let It Kill You is Pittard’s most impressive and innovative book yet.”—Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful

Couldn’t keep listening

I’m someone who will happily read a novel where nothing happens, is highly interested in auto- and meta-fiction, loves a good dish about relationship craziness and is a big fan of All Fours by Miranda July. And after an hour of this book, nothing had sparked my interest or made me want to keep listening. It’s clear that this book will have its fans, but please don’t be swayed by the comparisons to July. I don’t think it has the wit, creative language, or emotional pull that she brings.

As a writer, I’m not taking swipes at Pittard, who is clearly talented. But I suspect this book needed more development, and it’s the publisher and editor who should push back to make sure that happens.

Self reflective

After reading the NYTimes article “Two Writers Fell in Love, Married, Then Divorced. Who Gets the Story?” I thought listening to her first book, followed by the ex’s book, and finally this book would make for a salacious summer escape. It did. But this book ended up being deeper and more self-reflective than I’d anticipated. With some exceptions, she can be very relatable, for a person stuck in her head and prone to observing the world at a distance. It’s a good book - on its own.

Stopped after an hour

Really disliked the character - unfeeling boring woman who may or may not have been redeemable. I usually love her stuff but not this one.

Boring and uninspired

What a dud. This is one of those books that really wants to be something, but it isn’t. I wanted to like it because of the drama surrounding it, but that was much more interesting than this book.

Not Impressive

Anticipation gave way to disappointment. The book is often silly and disorganized, the use of a talking cat distracting. There were passages that created emotional interest but these were infrequent. The main character is often in extremis but rather than creating sympathy her predicaments just seem pathetic. It feels like she is living an unexamined life, or rather she is not very good at examining her life. Perhaps she should visit the bar on Commonwealth Ave in Brighton MA that David Foster Wallace writes about in Infinite Jest.