Chefs kiss

Firstly, the narrator did an exquisite job with each character. I was truly impressed by her versatility and how flawlessly she presented each accent. I was so swept up with the book that I had almost forgotten that it was one person reading this!

Secondly, the author has quickly become one of my favourites even though she has only written one other book previously! Her writing is so believable that you really feel transported into the scene. And the characters! Each one so distinctive with their own personalities (as they should. But a lot of authors don’t and end up creating 2D characters which makes you glaze over.)

Absolute perfection and just what I needed after a streak of 3 mediocre books on audible.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Pacey enjoyable thriller

Good narrator, liked the accents always clear who was speaking.
Twisty plot
Liked this a lot

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Revenge.Slow Paced

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Thankyou #netgalley #stephaniemerrit #harpercollinuk for the arc copy of this book for a honest review.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
⚠️Revenge.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Uhhmmm. The story came in a slow pace, and the story is not as original that I felt like I heard it somewhere already. Like a plot that rich people don’t like other outsiders and the other side wanted to revenge for their friend. That’s my observation.
However , the words that the author used in this book was up to par. Stephanie did not use repeated words. So a deserving 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ me.



❤️shaye.reads

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Something to get your teeth into, twist after turn

I was not exactly confident getting this audiobook after so many let down thrillers, but this one did NOT disappoint at all. I did not really engage to begin with as expected the usual old guff and tired story lines ... but wow, it took off full speed.

I thought I had worked out the twist and sighed thinking it had been an exciting adventure up until now but I had worked it out.
I soon found out I only had scratched the surface of an excellent plot and so it continued delivering twist after turn after twisty turn.

Was it believable? Not so much. Was it enjoyable ... you betcha!

Did not care so much for protagonist Jo ... or come to think of it, any of the characters but I really had a great time following the story which was head and shoulders above so many these days.

It is very unlike me to complain a book is too long and I am usually horrified when I see others comment on a book I love in this way as I have enjoyed every sentence, word and comma ... but this time it seemed like we had come to a satisfying end - I checked and I still had over an hour to go and on I went. Then it seemed like I had come to the end again but no, on for another couple of furlongs.

Not that I exactly minded just the whole thing felt like epilogue after epilogue and these days I do wonder if editors still exist in publishing as I felt the whole thing could have been polished and honed into a more flowing and rounded story instead of the stop start of three endings.

Narration wise I had my issues also. I really adore Victoria Fox's voice but as soon as she started saying "correeeeeeedors" instead of corridors I recalled her from a book I had previously returned which it seemed every sentence had the word "corridor" in at least once and it subsequently drove me up the wall and possibly correyyyyyydor as well.

As for the Irish accent - which rambled through most of the 32 counties and was painful to listen to at times, romping along like frm "the Quiet man" to "Derby O'Gill and the little people" ... it was truly desperate in places. My main gripe is the way Hannah was mispronounced as Hannerrrrrrr and sometimes Pirate style as hanaaaarrrrr. The Hannerrrrr I think is maybe a Bristolian/West Country thing as in Ireland you would be more likely to hear Henna or Hannahhhhhh but never Hannerrrrrrr!

I have no idea how narrators prepare or research their roles but this one was just embarrassing. casting wise although Vctoria has a lovely voice I would have thought it would have been easier to find an excellent Irish actress who can also do an excellent English accent like Caroline Lennon for example to save the listener from the embarrassing shambles that this important character became. Also so easy to find out that the name Roisin is pronounced Row-sheen not Rosssh- eeeen.

Mind you as "correeeedors" automatons, skeins and several other quite common pace words were also mangled I suppose this is hardly surprising.

Anyway, between the jigs and the reels, it was a good story and the narration was thankfully good for the most part and the duff stage Oirish accent and mispronunciations were balanced by a lovely reading voice and good acting abilities and in a sea of truly dire and unthrilling thrillers, I really felt this was worth a credit.

Recommend!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Ingenious plot - full of promise - French pronunciation mangled

This is certainly a good listen. I was on holiday when I read/listened to this one, so I toggled between reading on a Kindle inside/in the shade and listening on the beach/in the sunshine.
Plot-wise, the tale really drew me in. I felt the end was a bit disappointing, almost as if the author had played all her cards too quickly/rather too soon, so the end was more of a non-event than I had hoped for. A caveat about the audible version is that the reader really should check on French pronunciation of names and place names before recording this. Pau is a well-known enough city for anyone to know that it is not pronounced “pow”. The story is set in France; it might be vaguely excusable for an English person to think so, but NEVER a French police officer! Also Benjamin is not said in French as the reader pronounced it. This may seem petty, but it is an easy thing to check to make the French in the setting more credible.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Sophisticated writing with punch and twists

Max, Leo, Arlo and Oliver had formed their close friendship at university and now two decades on what remains of the group and their wives have gathered to celebrate Arlo and Cressida’s 21st wedding anniversary. Since they have all done exceptionally well and are obscenely powerful and wealthy, (Arlo is a tech billionaire), the extravagantly perfect weekend party orchestrated by Cressida is being held in a French château.

Tensions are clear from the start: Max, in recovery from divorce, is bringing his half-his-age new girlfriend, but is delayed; Jo is still reeling from her husband Oliver’s suicide and is feeling raw and uncomfortable; expensively educated Lucas, Arlo and Cressida’s teenage son, is troubled and rudely uncooperative; and apparently without good reason, Cressida simmering with hostility against Becca the nanny brought along to keep the children at bay. Into this emotional maelstrom comes unannounced Max’s very young Irish girl friend , Storm, vehemently resented and suspected on sight by Cressida for her youth, provocatively clothed body and her air of knowing confidence. Why does she know so much about them all and why does she make a ‘friend’ of vulnerable Jo?

Any details of the wreckage of the party guests’ lives wrought by Storm would spoil the twists and helter skelters of this highly complex and intricate psychological thriller plot which careers through the characters’ hidden past and present lives eventually erupting into violent deaths. Stylish and sophisticated, the plot keeps on morphing in unexpected ways.

But what makes the book worthwhile apart from its thriller plot, is the skill with which the characters are fully fleshed out with childhoods, past lives, vulnerabilities, resentments, hurts and shame which doesn’t make them any more likeable, but does make them into real interesting people. The story is further strengthened by its s political bias with the moneyed quartet basking in the power which money has always enabled them to pay their way out of trouble. In their monstrous hypocrisy displayed in their daily dealings within their own lives and in the lives of others. I sense the author expressing her own feelings about our present society/government through this truly shameful group of high status men. Only Jo and Lucas are free from taint - but they have secrets too.

It is very well written it and also very well read with difficult accents to get right and captures a range of moods, dialogue and pace.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Spoiled by production.

The story and narration were fine but I kept being distracted by background noises and found this increasingly irritating.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Deranged women

Another book that paints women as deranged. In this case, they are not only deranged but also, vindictive, schizophrenic, weak, man hater, incapable of making their own choices, drugging men, but they are the victims…. Victims, victims, and more victims, it gets so boring. We, as women, fought so much to make our own choices and now we have this victim mentality, where a woman of 19 years old can’t make their own choices.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

painfully boring

The plot and characters were stuck together inexpertly. I actually stopped near the end, I literally didn't care and finished as Cressida waffled on

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!