It was slow paced at first

I really enjoyed the overall message this story was sending and showing light to anxiety and PTSD which is a debilitating condition. I did however find the 1st half of the story was a little slow and at times felt I was losing interest. However, I am glad I stuck it out as the last few chapters were both heartbreaking and fast paced.

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Easy listening

Nice easy book to listen to listened to in one day. Liked the fact the it sent the message regarding anxiety and PTSD. It was quite heartbreaking. Joe and Aletha both did a great job at narrorating the book.

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Pull me close

Great story good narration enjoyed the play between the two main characters but also the back stories explain all questions with no cliffhangers but also sets it up for the next book in the series

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1 person found this helpful

I really liked it

I've never read anything quite like this. I really enjoyed it, though it was heartbreaking at times. Wonderful narration by Joe Arden and Aletha George.

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Just beautiful

I finished this book 5am in the morning and just had to leave a review !
It’s fresh and different
Great story!!

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Pull me close

Great book tackles some important issues people live through and with but in a way that is difficult for me to explain it’s a book I would recommend reading

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Pull me close

Excellent fresh writing which lead to a story that was great listening to didn’t want to stop -starting book 2 mow

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I will never forget this book.

I will never forget this book. I will explain why below but first of all thank you to the author. You will never know how much it means to me to have come across this story and how inspiring it has been listening to it.

Anxiety, panic attacks, fainting, Agoraphobia, PTSD, trauma, nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks, tremors, video call therapy appointments, failing in-person appointments, recovery and regression, character misunderstandings, facing judgment and not being believed and fear. I have never felt so... "Un-alone" is the only word I can come up with right now... It feels like Catherine looked me straight in the eyes and held my hands tightly.

The 1 step forward and 10 steps back became thousands of steps back yet again so I haven't even felt the wind or smelled grass in so long that I'm ashame to say how long. I was officially diagnosed with agoraphobia 5 years ago but it has probably been around more than 9 years ago since it started becoming an obvious problem. Before then it was kind of sneaking up on me without my realising it.

Anyway, my safe space has once again shrunk to the confines of my bedroom only so it's even worse now but your story has reminded me of how strong and relentless I have repeatedly been throughout the years, pushing forward to overcome these illnesses, step by literal step just like Catherine. I was with her every step of the way and through every chapter, memory after memory of my own steps, frustrations, tears and feelings of accomplishments, kept running through my mind so much so that it also helped me to recognise that I had finally given up trying at some point and hadn't even realised it. I hadn't but I do now and it is not me to give up so I'm more grateful than you will ever know.

After finishing this audio book, I was speechless. I know that my disorders aren't uncommon by themselves or even coexisting with one another but the type of panic attacks that Catherine experiences is exactly the same as what I experience. The only difference is that I do not Black out when I faint. I remain concious laying where I've fallen, paralysed, while still panicking on the inside as if I'm trapped inside a mannequin. Even still, I've read that severe forms of panic attacks where you faint, are rare and uncommon so a lot of information out there tells you that although you feel like you are going to faint, you won't and I also experience the more common type of panic attacks as well so I never put two and two together for over a decade.

I was in and out of hospitals for these "fainting attacks" for over 12 years, going through all sorts of physical tests only for them to tell my parents that I was perfectly healthy and they didn't know what could be causing them. All throughout adolescence, I was believed to be a lying teenager who was making up illness to skip school because of it. Only my mother and my younger sister believed me. They had seen it happening and could see instantly that with the cold sweats, the pale face and blue lips, it wasn't something that you could fake.

These "fainting attacks" started at 15 years old and I only discovered what they were from a psychiatric nurse, at yet another assessment to go back into to mental health treatment for other reasons/symptoms, at the age of 27. I am now 31 going on 32.

I've only ever heard of one other account in my life, of similar symptoms of panic attacks like mine from a girl on YouTube and was stunned back then so to listen to an audio book with all the disorders out of most of mine and also the severe panic attacks that are so rare even doctors couldn't figure it out for over a decade, left me absolutely speechless.

Catherine's story and my own have been eerily similar. It's not only just the afflictions, the situations and her day to day but also smaller details such as our ages. It's as if I wrote it myself, about myself and added the positives in life that I hope for but do not yet have. I am not sure what ethnicity she is but I imagined her to be latina like me, only because she seemed to understand Nico's Spanish words. I also have a lot of hair. It's thick and also down to my bottom due to not being able to go out and get a haircut at a salon. I also just trim the ends and hope for the best so some similarities had me smiling and giggling along with Catherine.

I don't expect Catherine's happy ending but I do still expect my own. I will never be "cured" but I know that I can work hard on making things less daunting and not so hard to the point where I will be able to enjoy the things that I used to enjoy, once again.

Thank you for pulling me out of my (sometimes literal 😅) slumber and clearing the fog that I didn't realise I was in. I'm off to work on my baby steps once again but I know that this is probably the only book I will come back to and happily do so to remind me of the strength that us Catherines out there, have inside. I don't reread/relisten books so that should tell you something about my enjoyment of the story besides being able to relate to the main character also.

Really, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, Sidney Halston.
You are an angel. 💖

Love from your real life Catherine, Jei. 🌹

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Worth listening

I enjoyed this book. couldn't put it down. The story was well written, although the female performance was not so great, but overall, I liked it.

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1 person found this helpful

Heartbreaking and heartwarming

Fascinating story line which moved me to tears and laughter. Recommended read or listen. Couldn’t turn it off

Great narration too

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