Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide

by Karen Kilgariff

Other authorsGeorgia Hardstark (Author)

Hardcover, 2019

Status

Available

Genres

Publication

Forge Books (2019), Edition: Illustrated, 304 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML: This program is read by the authors, with Paul Giamatti, and includes sections recorded in front of a live audience. The highly anticipated first book by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the #1 hit podcast My Favorite Murder! Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation. In Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being "nice" or "helpful." They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness. "My Favorite Murder started as a way for Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark to work through their fears. Now it's a worldwide community.... Even its darkest moments are lightened by Karen and Georgia's effortlessly funny banter and genuine empathy." �??RollingStone.com… (more)

Rating

(219 ratings; 4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member dcoward

This book wasn't quite what I expected - I thought there would be more true crime, but it was more of a memoir from the two hosts of a popular podcast I true crime. Also, I found one of the authors to be quite enjoyable, while the sections from the other grated a bit - forced funniness maybe? I

wondered if I might have enjoyed this more as an audio book. However, in general this was an enjoyable read where the authors focus on starting their podcasts, personal and emotional safety, and their substance abuse and mental health issues.

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LibraryThing member Susan.Macura

I loved this book. Apparently these two women have podcast that I must look for. In this book they tell stories from their lives that are honest and human, as well as lots of fun to read about. They give some great advice, but do so not as experts, but as real women who have lived and learned. It

was such a fun read.

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LibraryThing member shelleyraec

I’m a recent ‘Murderino’, which marks me as an avid listener of Karen and Georgia’s true crime/comedy podcast, My Favorite Murder. If you are not familiar with this weekly broadcast, Kilgariff and Hardstark each select a single murder, true crime story, or survivor story to recount and

discuss in an empathetic but humorous manner. More recently the podcast has also featured Minisodes - which consist of audience write-ins detailing their near misses, or tangential relationships to murder cases; and broadcasts of their live shows. Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered is their signature show sign off.

I probably shouldn’t have bought Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered without reading the description (though I likely would have got it anyway), because it wasn’t what I was expecting.
I wanted something more closely related to the podcast, a mix of true crime stories with reference to their patented advice such as ‘F*ck Politeness’ and ‘You’re in a Cult, Call your Dad’.
Instead this is largely a memoir/selfhelp book detailing the hosts’ dysfunctional childhood/adolescence/young adult years including their issues with addiction, eating disorders, mental health, and relationships.

It’s not that these stories aren’t interesting, or funny, and occasionally relatable (I was a latchkey kid like Karen, and I had a brief flirtation with kleptomania at thirteen like Georgia- a single Mars Bar I still feel guilty about), but stories like Georgia’s ‘red flag’ encounter, and the essay in ‘Stay Out of the Forest’, which includes some information about the murder of Michele Wallace, were probably closest to what I wanted.

Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered is really a book for fans of the personalities of Karen and Georgia, those more interested in the true crime aspect of their podcast may be slightly disappointed. I did enjoy it, I just would have appreciated a different approach more.

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LibraryThing member mazeway

I actually read it on actual paper, but for some reason, that edition doesn't come up. weird. I liked it way more than I expected. I knew it would be fun and funny, but didn't expect it to really resonate and make me want to thrust it into the hands of every young woman I see.

LibraryThing member lisa875

I was a little afraid to read this because true crime scares the crap out of me (fake crime does too) but it’s not really about that. Their interest in crime really comes from anxiety and fear and that maybe knowing more can help prevent it. I so appreciated the part where they were sure to

acknowledge that the victims were not the ones that did something wrong. I loved the openness of the authors about their lives and I’m definitely reading a book they suggested, Daring Greatly.

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

The two stars of My Favourite Murder discuss how they came to broadcasting their podcast and discuss their lives and how the podcast has affected them and changed their lives. It's an interesting read to get a background into the women involved and as a fan I enjoyed it. Quite sweary and quite real

it's like listening to them on the podcast but where they are more in the foreground rather than hints threaded throughout the stories they tell.

Neither of them had terrible lives but neither were their lives a piece of cake, this story was quite interesting.

It made me want to binge listen to a tonne of the podcast.

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LibraryThing member Slevyr26

If there was a perfect book, this is it. I love these women.

LibraryThing member bookczuk

Loved this. Now to listen to the podcast, even though I'm not a true crimes fan.

LibraryThing member Karen.Helfrick

An interesting novel of two women making bad choices, learning from them, and advice to move forward. I laughed out loud, and couldn’t put this one down.

LibraryThing member hexenlibrarian

K & G make my heart grow and I hope I turn out just like them when I grow up

LibraryThing member Iira

Love the podcast, did not love the book.

LibraryThing member mstrust

The creators and hosts of the "My Favorite Murders" true crime podcast discuss how they met and started the podcast, and through interchanging chapters they pretty much write their autobiographies. The chapter by Karen of what it was like to be a latchkey kid in the 80's is hilarious. The majority

of the book is about their emotional problems and substance abuse and what they've learned through years of therapy. They do go into their problems at length, with Georgia even providing direct quotes from her therapy sessions and providing a list of her diagnosed issues.
This is a lot of self help for a reader who thought that the book would be about putting together a true crime podcast. Not sorry I read it because it was entertaining, informative and sometimes funny, just a completely difference book from what I was expecting.

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LibraryThing member amcheri

For me, this was a legit 5 star book. Definitely go with the audio version if possible. The emotion and humor that goes along with hearing the authors telling their stories can't be replicated in print.

I can absolutely see myself listening at least one more time. But for now, I'll be loading up on

My Favorite Murder episodes.

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LibraryThing member Andy5185

I read an advanced reading copy of the book and it is still not finished - however, I have to say that these ladies are like kindred spirits to me. Filled with humor and real gems of wisdom I highly recommend. Really looking forward to the final publication version — and they’ve got a new fan

of their podcast in me!

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LibraryThing member doehlberg63

I loved the title but honestly didn't see how it related to the rambling topics presented in the book. I wish the book had focused more on random murder mysteries and podcast experiences. Instead, it seemed that the book was a compilation of the authors' biographies that explained how their own

dysfunctions had to be overcome. It really didn't lend itself well to the topic of the book, so I am not sure why there was such a huge focus on that. In that case, the title should have been Why I Am So Nuts or Growing Up Alone and Unloved, or something like that. I appreciate the honesty of the stories, but those stories didn't live up to the hype of two great murder podcasters (Murderinos?) I am no prude, but when a book is beyond peppered with profanity, I truly believe it is filler to finish a book versus words of any worth to the story at hand. I am surprised at the high ratings of many of the reviews, some of which were based on a preview to the book versus reading it in entirety. I don't feel like very much advice was given to protecting oneself against murder, so I wonder if the title is really tongue-in-cheek and truly meant to be a comedy. It was not my type of humor, so, unfortunately, I dd not "get it". I will say that I did relate to being a sensitive child who could not watch scary stuff without having night terrors, but was fortunate enough to have parents who realized that and wouldn't even let me even go in a haunted house for a long time. This book had so much potential in being unique and appealing to a different type of reader. I love the murder mystery shows. Still, I can't watch them too late at night, because my own neighborhood is often a crime scene (no exaggeration), but I enjoy the psychological explanations behind why people do what they do and how they think they can get away with it. Well, maybe a second book can be more like that. I still have hope.

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