AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ ALL THESE MONSTERS

 

BY AMY TINTERA

NARRATED BY MARIA LIATIS

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS✎

❐ ALL THESE MONSTERS #1

❐ ONE POV (CLARA)

❐ DYSTOPIAN-ISH

❐ YOUNG ADULT (HEAVY ON THE YOUNG)

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 10 HOURS, 34 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

I've been a fan of Amy Tintera's works in the past, I really liked the Reboot Duo...but maybe I need to be more discerning when it comes to the YA I choose to read...because I wasn't really feeling this...it just felt too YA for me.  The dialogue felt rather cheesy and the actions of the characters felt off...I'm going to with this being a case of it's not you (the book), it's me (me).  Since there are already plenty of readers who've liked it.  Although, I do love the cover and its simplicity.

I want to say that the narration by Maria Liatis was well performed...but maybe she's to blame for how I feel about the book...who knows.

MY RATING➯ 2¾ STARS

BREAKDOWN✎

Narration ➯ 4 STARS

Plot ➯ 3.5/5

Characters ➯ 3/5

The Feels ➯ 2.5/5

Pacing ➯ 3/5

Addictiveness ➯ 2/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 2/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 3/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 3/5

World-Building ➯ 2.5/5

Ending ➯ 2.5/5

SUMMATION ➯ 2¾ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ REVOLUTION

 

BY JENNIFER DONNELLY

NARRATED BY EMILY JANICE CARD & EMMA BERING

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS✎

❐ PARIS SETTING BOTH 1790'S AND PRESENT DAY-ISH

❐ DUAL POV'S --ONE PRESENT (ANDI) & ONE PAST (ALEX)

❐ A SENIOR THESIS PROJECT

❐ FRENCH REVOLUTION

❐ MUSICALLY INFLUENCED BOTH MODERN & CLASSICAL

❐ TIME-TRAVELING OR JUST A REALLY VIVID DREAMSCAPE

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 15 HOURS, 4 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE ➯ A historical story immersed within a modern story with a dollop of romance, plenty of music references, time-travel, and one broken family trying to cope with the pain of losing someone they love.

The narration by Emily Janice Card & Emma Bering was very well performed.  I did struggle sometimes with comprehending the french words and accents, but that's on me.  It's funny though after I finished this and went to sleep, throughout my dreams I kept hearing french accents.

This started out slow...with a lot of inane teen drama and chatter...but once the MC goes to Paris with her Dad...things get a whole lot more interesting.  It was like a history lesson on the French Revolution with a bonus of music history.  I really enjoyed this aspect and even tried to look up the composer that she was doing her thesis on...but alas, I think he was made up.

There is some time-traveling of a sort, which for others could be a turn-off, but it really only enhanced the history aspect for me and I really liked it.  Overall, I found this to be an entertaining story, and since the narration was so excellently performed I readily recommend the audio version...especially for those slow parts of the story...listening always makes this so much easier to power through than actual reading.  

BREAKDOWN✎

Narration ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 4.3/5

Characters ➯ 4/5

The Feels ➯ 4.3/5

Pacing ➯ 4/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.3/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.3/5

Originality ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4.2/5

World-Building ➯ 4.3/5

Ending ➯ 5/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4¼ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ US AGAINST YOU

 

BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

NARRATED BY MARIN IRELAND

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS✎

❐ BEARTOWN #2

❐ HOCKEY LIFE

❐ THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT POV

❐ HOW THE TOWN FALLS AFTER...

❐ LITERARY FICTION

❐ SWEDEN

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 14 HOURS, 17 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

It's clearly more than just a game for this town...

A solid follow-up to Beartown...giving you insight into how the town is dealing with the fall-out of the rape and loss of their "best" players to Hed.  When a new coach comes to town and new players are added to the team, tensions rise, secrets come out, and someone ends up dead.  I loved the new coach, BTW.

I'm on the fence as to whether I gel with the author's way of storytelling...where he gives away the end at the beginning of each new segment in the book, like spoilers.  It's quite foreboding but it does ratchet up the tension...so I guess...maybe it does work.  Overall, these two books about Beartown are emotional...ofttimes sad but also altogether uplifting.

If you liked Beartown, then you should like this too. Marin Ireland's voice feels perfect as the omniscient narrator.  With only a slight accent on her words here and there, that I could always hear the most when she says Hed and it sounds like hjed.

BREAKDOWN✎

Narration ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 5/5

Characters ➯ 5/5

The Feels ➯ 5/5

Pacing ➯ 4.5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4.3/5

World-Building ➯ 5/5

Ending ➯ 5/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4¾ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ THE LIFE YOU STOLE

 

BY JEWEL E ANN

NARRATED BY PAUL WOODSON & ANDI ARNDT

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ THE LIFE SERIES #2 OF 2

❐ FOUR POV'S

❐ ROMANTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

❐ WITH A TOUCH OF DARK MAGICAL REALISM

❐ CHEATING --BUT IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 8 HOURS, 34 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE

Inevitably...the truth will always set you free...

I don't think I'll ever look at graham crackers the same again...not without wanting to throw them on the floor and stomping all over them.

Jewel E Ann...where or how do you come up with these ideas for your stories?  Seriously...

If you're looking for something different in the contemporary romance genre because most of what you read is the same story with slightly different characters...Jewel E Ann could be a perfect choice.  Her stories are not cookie-cutter, they are refreshingly different and hard-hitting.  This one is also a bit psychologically thrilling with a twist of magical realism.  While many will look at this book as having cheating...it's really so much deeper than that.

When it comes to narration, I'm never disappointed with Andi Arndt...she is one of the best, especially in a romance.  Paul Woodson was really good too...his french/sexy accent was just right and I felt the pain that he was in.

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 4½ STARS

Plot ➯ 4.2/5

Characters ➯ 4/5

The Feels ➯ 4.3/5

Pacing ➯ 4.3/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.3/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 3.7/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 4.3/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4/5

Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 3.5/5

Steaminess to Story Ratio ➯ 15/85

Ending ➯ 4/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ SAFE

BY S.K. BARNETT

NARRATED BY BRITTANY PRESSLEY

❐SYNOPSIS ON GOODREADS❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ MYSTERY/THRILLER/SUSPENSE

❐ MISSING CHILD/FOUND CHILD

❐ WHAT THE FUCKERY...

❐ TOLD FROM ONE POV

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 9 HOURS, 4 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY

Some have said that they think this goes somewhere that is not to be believed...but I was totally there for it.  The author took a well-known kidnapped-child-returns-home...is it really them or not, trope...and turns it into something that's unpredictable, mostly believable and twisted AF.  

Every time, you think you know where it's going...you really don't.  I like a mystery where the clues are there for you to decipher along the way but there's always something else you didn't quite see or figure out.

I really like Brittany Pressley as a narrator, I've read reviews where people don't really care for her voice, but for me personally, she never disappoints.

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 4.5/5

Characters ➯ 4.5/5

The Feels ➯ 4.5/5

Pacing ➯ 5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 4/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4/5

Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 4.5/5

Ending ➯ 4.3/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4½ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ CHOSEN ONES

 

BY VERONICA ROTH

NARRATED BY DAKOTA FANNING PLUS A FULL-CAST*

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ THE CHOSEN ONES #1

❐ DYSTOPIAN/APOCALYPTIC 

❐ FEATURING AN ALTERED WORLD WITH A TECH-INFUSED MAGIC SYSTEM

❐ PARALLEL DIMENSIONS

❐ TOLD MOSTLY FROM ONE POV --SLOAN (ONE OF THE LESSER CHOSEN)

❐ PLUS A FULL-CAST OF OTHERS

❐ CHICAGO SETTING

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 15 HOURS, 12 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE

My 5-star rating for the narration is not necessarily for Dakota Fanning, for reasons I"ll get to, but more for the all the extras this has, including vignettes from supporting characters news briefs, and the top-secret memo's from the Agency for the Research and Investigation of the Supernormal.  All of which is performed by a full-cast that I've listed at the end of this, and they are what made this five-star-worthy for me.  Dakota Fanning...well...I think she could use work on her narrating game.  Her voices for other characters are not much different from the one she is narrating for.  As for capturing the essence of Sloan, who is moody, depressing, and sort of a bitch, she was spot-on.  Which is no surprise since she's been acting since she was little kid.

An interesting concept that may suffer from having too much going on...this book sort of feels like it had a first book that you never read...only it didn't.  Ten years before the five Chosen Ones fought some sort of battle with some sort of Dark Figure that can kill indiscriminately whenever they want to.  Everything seems to be happening because of an influx of Magic.  So all the interesting stuff happened a long time ago and now the Chosen are like celebrities with the paparazzi following their every move...until one day they are sucked into a parallel Earth, that is oddly different and yet sort of the same...and then things get interesting again.

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 4/5

Characters ➯ 4/5

The Feels ➯ 3.7/5

Pacing ➯ 4.2/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.2/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.3/5

Originality ➯ 4.3/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 3.5/5

World-Building ➯ 4/5

Ending ➯ 4.2/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS

* Chosen Ones is performed by Dakota Fanning and features the voices of Veronica Roth, Victor Bevine, Gabriel Vaughan, Isabel Keating, Robin Miles, Kevin T. Collins, Vikas Adam, L.J. Gasner, Richard Ferrone, Carly Robins, Flynn Earl Jones, Emily Bauer, Kyla Garcia, David Shih, Edoardo Ballerini, Natasha Soudek, and Amy McFadden.    

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES

 

BY GRADY HENDRIX

NARRATED BY BAHNI TURPIN

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ A VAMPIRE MOVES IN...

❐ TOLD ALMOST ENTIRELY FROM ONE POV

❐ READ MORE LIKE THE 80'S THAN THE 90'S

❐ SOUTHERN GOTHIC SUPERNATURAL

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 13 HOURS, 49 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

This book had one of the most horrifying scenes I ever read...it involved rats and belly buttons...and I cringed just typing that.  It was so bad...I was on break when I got to that scene...so I was trying to eat...ehh...it was traumatizing...lol.  Nobody in the book world knows this about me...until now, of course...but belly buttons are like my trigger.  I believe this should come with a Trigger-Warning for belly-button horror...or something like that.

But seriously, this book is crazy AF.  Super-graphic-nasty scenes, shit-tastic husbands, shady deals, one bat-shit crazy grandma, a book club (of course) who likes to read trashy crime novels (what's wrong with that?), and one deplorable vampire are just some of what you'll find within these pages.  All that and it still manages to be funny, too...

The narration was performed quite well by Bahni Turpin, her voice and accent worked really well for the atmosphere of this book.

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 4½ STARS

Plot ➯ 4.2/5

Characters ➯ 4.2/5

The Feels ➯ 4/5

Pacing ➯ 4/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4/5

Originality ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4.2/5

World-Building ➯ 4.3/5

Ending ➯ 4/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4¼ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW➯ THE WAY I USED TO BE

 

BY AMBER SMITH

NARRATED BY REBEKKAH ROSS

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ AFTER-AFFECTS OF A RAPE...

❐ WHAT IT COULD DO TO A PERSON IF THEY DON'T REPORT IT

❐ A DOWNWARD SPIRAL

❐ GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF RAPE

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 9 HOURS, 37 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

A very raw look at the aftermath of the rape, one where you know your rapist and what it could do to you to never report it....never tell anyone...just let it fester inside of you.  Told with exerts from each year of high school exposing her deep downward spiral.  

The narration is performed very well by Rebekkah Ross...she made listening to the story effortlessly easy.  Which is exactly what you want your narrator to be like.

While this is a tuff listen, dealing with a really tuff subject, something about it didn't sit well with me, and not the obvious (the rape itself) something, either.  It was the telling of the story, I don't know if I was convinced that this is how it would have played out...there were elements in the story that never really get addressed; why didn't she do this...or why did she do that.  It's difficult to explain without giving it away, but overall it was an enlightening story that was more about the shame she put on herself, and how she self-destructs because of it.

P.S. I loved Josh...he was almost too good to be true, though...

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 4½ STARS

Plot ➯ 4/5

Characters ➯ 4/5

The Feels ➯ 4.2/5

Pacing ➯ 3.5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4.5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 3.7/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4.5/5

Ending ➯ 4.3/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4¼ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ WHERE THE LOST WANDER

 

BY AMY HARMON

NARRATED BY LAUREN EZZO & SHAUN TAYLOR-CORBETT 

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ HARDSHIPS OF THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA TRAIL

❐ HISTORICAL ROMANCE

❐ DUAL POV'S 

❐ NATIVE AMERICAN LIFE

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 11 HOURS, 46 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE BY WAY OF KU READ & LISTEN

What a moving story of a girl and her family making their way to California in the year of 1853 by way of the Oregon-California Trail.  With switching POV's between the MC Naomi and their guide through the trail John Lowry who is half Pawnee and half white.  These two were such indelible characters and I think they left a mark on my heart.  This story pulls you in right from the beginning with a stunning tragedy that strikes on the trail and then immediately after takes you back to the beginning of their journey when Naomi and John first meet.  I loved these characters...it's kind of difficult not to love all the characters this author creates.

Amy Harmon writes such amazing stories, The First Girl Child and Making Faces are two of fav stories of all time.  Her books deserve the best narrators.  While I think that Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Lauren Ezzo performed quite well...it could have and should have had someone unforgettable that could've done this epic story justice.  But, at least they had two narrators for each POV instead of only one.

Where the Lost Wander is fraught with danger, and filled with poignant moments.  It features a brave family moving west in a covered wagon, fighting cholera plus two courageous baby birthings, an attack by Native Americans, some romance and mules...a whole lotta mules.  

Interesting fact:  Some of the wagon ruts left by these brave people seeking a new life and land of their own are still visible to this day.  If that's not a lasting impression...

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 4¾ STARS

Plot ➯ 5/5

Characters ➯ 5/5

The Feels ➯ 5/5

Pacing ➯ 5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 5/5

World-Building ➯ 5/5

Ending ➯ 5/5

SUMMATION ➯ 5 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ NINTH HOUSE

 

BY LEIGH BARDUGO

NARRATED BY LAUREN FORTGANG & MICHAEL DAVID AXTELL

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ ALEX STERN #1

❐ DUAL POV'S GALAXY (ALEX STERN) & DARLINGTON

❐ URBAN FANTASY

❐ ARCANE/DARK MAGIC

❐ I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

❐ GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF A RAPE AND VIOLENCE

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 16 HOURS, 21 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED THROUGH LIBRO.FM

Full disclosure...I didn't always know what was going on in this...it's complex, with lots of layers, but...I really wanted to know what was going on...so much so, that maybe I'll read it one day to see if I can glean more of WTH was going on. Why 4 stars for something I didn't entirely comprehend most of the time...well, there is few reasons for that.

Number one is the dark humor she had going...I was totally there for that. The author also had that humor going on in the Six of Crows duo...but in this it's a little darker and I really liked it. Number two, the characters were super likable...from Alex to Darlington to the side characters whose names I couldn't even guess to how they are spelled. They were awesome...this too reminded me of SOC's duo...such amazing characters, she has really stepped up her character game, since Shadow and Bone series, which I never actually finished. Number three, Alex sees dead people, or grays, as they are called in this story...very Sixth Sense. Lastly, the setting was so well depicted that you can tell that the Author knew this area well. Fun fact...Leigh Bardugo actually graduated from Yale...which I learned by listening to Lauren Fortgang's interview with her at the end of this audiobook.

Lauren Fortgang has narrated on all of Leigh Bardugo's books...at least the ones that I've listened too. I usually always love her narration and did so on this book too...and Michael David Axtell is new to me....but I would definitely not mind listening to something that he's narrated again.

Overall, this was an urban fantasy that's grounded in the real world...with a "we can't let the real world know what exists right in front of their eyes" kind of approach. Delving into Arcane Magic...that which entails forces or phenomena that somehow transcend the natural laws that govern the world by directly manipulating unknown energies that bend the fabric of reality to create the desired effect. I stole that from google, BTW, and now I can't figure out where from. But...from what I did understand in this story...this is exactly what it has going on. So, basically...it's crazy-cool but can also be rather discerning at times.

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 4/5

Characters ➯ 5/5

The Feels ➯ 4.5/5

Pacing ➯ 4/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.5/5

Originality ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 3/5

World-Building ➯ 4/5

Ending ➯ 4/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ THE NOTHING MAN

BY AUTHOR CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD

NARRATED BY ALANA KERR COLLINS & JOHN KEETING

●SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE●

THE DETAILS❐

❐ A BOOK WITHIN A BOOK

❐ SERIAL KILLER MYSTERY

❐ WHERE YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO THE KILLER IS

❐ DUAL POV'S

❐ GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENT CRIMES

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO - 9 HOURS, 54 MINUTES
❐ I LISTENED TO AN ADVANCED LISTENER COPY VIA NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR A HONEST REVIEW

MY THOUGHTS❐

FULL DISCLOSURE:  I had an advanced listener copy of this through Netgalley, but there App's usability is so poor that I used a credit for this on Audible.  I'm not fully upset about this, either...since it was so freaking good.  I guess that answers the question they ask you on Netgalley --would I buy this for myself or a friend?

The narration by Alana Kerr Collins and John Keeting was performed swimmingly by both and made the audio of this book a treat.  They made both the victim of the Nothing Man and the Nothing Man himself come to life.

I had no clue that I would like a crime fiction/murder mystery where you, the reader, already know who he is...and you're even privy to what makes him tick.  Doesn't sound like much of a mystery when you know all this from the very beginning, right?  The real mystery at work here is when will the victim (Even Black), from long ago when she was just a child, figure out who he is because she is so very determined to figure it out...and what will ultimately happen to her and him when she does.

The book within a book thing was so very clever and overall this was a satisfying, and refreshingly different story...even the epilogue was cleverly executed.

MY RATING➯ 5 STARS

BREAKDOWN❐

Narration Rating ➯ 5 STARS

Plot ➯ 5/5

Characters ➯ 5/5

The Feels ➯ 5/5

Pacing ➯ 5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4.5/5

Mystery ➯ 5/5

Ending ➯ 5/5

Summation ➯ 5 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ THE DARKEST CORNERS

 BY KARA THOMAS

NARRATED BY JORJEANA MARIE

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS❐

❐ SMALL TOWN MYSTERY

❐ YA PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

❐ COMPELLING & UNPREDICTABLE

❐ THAT FINAL REVEAL IS BANANAS

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 9 HOURS, 39 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE ➯ A YA mystery/thriller that doesn't necessarily feel like YA, with intricately plotted revelations throughout and a hella-crazy ending.

Jorjeana Marie is one of the go-to narrators in the YA genre because she does an angsty teenage girl so well. Her timbre is a tad nasally...but not too annoying for me, when you speed it up it's not so bad at all.

Kara Thomas hasn't disappointed me yet...she can really write a YA mystery/thriller story that not only keeps you guessing but also feels believable, which can be difficult in the YA genre.  While I felt like they were some plotholes or elements that were not explained or lacked resolution...it's possible it was just me missing it.  Honestly, maybe it is a mix of all these things.

BREAKDOWN

Narration ➯ 4¼ STARS

Plot ➯ 4.2/5

Characters ➯ 3.7/5

The Feels ➯ 4/5

Pacing ➯ 4/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 3.7/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 4/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 4/5

Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 4/5

Ending ➯ 4.3/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ DON'T TURN AROUND

BY JESSICA BARRY

NARRATED BY SARAH ZIMMERMAN

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS

THE DETAILS⬇

❐ THRILLER/SUSPENSE/MYSTERY

❐ TWO WOMEN; BOTH WITH SOMETHING TO HIDE

❐ POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS 

❐ ALL WHILE VIBING A LITTLE BIT OF JEEPERS CREEPERS 

❐ SHOULD HAVE HAD ADDITIONAL NARRATORS

❐ TRIGGER WARNING ➯ INFERTILITY/MISCARRIAGE/ABORTION

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 8 HOURS, 57 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE ➯ The synopsis only prepares you for one aspect of this story...the other aspects addressed are significant and actually kind of heavy, sometimes in a political sense.  

Told mostly from two POV"s...with sadly, only one narrator.  It took me a while to adjust to whose head I was in each time it switched and once the real action started, it switched constantly.  Sarah Zimmerman was okay-ish, but she shouldn't have done all the voices.  This should have had two female narrators for each of the women and a male one for the various male POV's...someone who can do different voices easily...Luke Daniels comes to mind...he would have been perfect.

DISCLAIMER ➯ It took me forever to decide if I wanted to disclose as much as I did on the next paragraph of this review...and finally decided to go ahead and do it since I felt blasted by all that this book takes on...and figured that it might help someone decide whether or not this book is for them.

The political/#metoo/right-to-life/pro-choice/loss-of-internet-anonymity/ aspects can be viewed quite differently from one reader/listener to another.  For me personally, I feel like the story tries to explore each of these issues from both angles.  All these topics are hot buttons these days and it seems like all of them are part of some political agenda.  I also hate politics...and thought early on about DNF-ing this, but ultimately I'm glad I stuck with it.  All these situations play out amidst the thrills of vehicle dual across the New Mexico desert in the dark of the night...which is what initially drew me to read this, that and her previous book (Freefall) that I liked.

BREAKDOWN⬇

Narration ➯ 3/5

Plot ➯ 3.5/5

Characters ➯ 4.5/5

The Feels ➯ 3.5/5

Pacing ➯ 4.3/5

Addictiveness ➯ 4/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4/5

Originality/Believability ➯ 4.2/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 3/5

Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 4.2/5

Ending ➯ 4.3/5

SUMMATION ➯ 4/5