Brilliant terrifying villain !

While I was listening to this, I kept imaging who would play 'Aunt" in a movie. A wonderful evil character that has you hating her immediately .Yes, she's evil but every good book needs a villain right, and oh oh my... she doesn't disappoint.
Really enjoyed this. Some good unexpected twists.

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okay soooo

IF YOU HAVE A TRIGGER ON ABUSE DONE NY PARENTS/PARENTAL FIGURES DO NOT READ! THE STORY BASICALLY REVOLVES ON THIS!

The book was a slog to get through in the beginning, got kind of good in the middle and then in the last hour or so lost itself completely.
I don't know if it was my fever or did the book just put me through a bad high but I came out the other one more confused than going in and with a persistent headache.

In essence the book had potential which it fails to live up to and its 20 hours you'll never get back. Just look up the ending on the internet you get the same expirience it just doesn't take so long.

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8 people found this helpful

Amazing Amazing Horrifying Amazing

The narrator was brilliant and I could hear all the voices and characters so clearly and visualise them perfectly. Attis and his ambiguous accent was perfectly captured but it took me till my second time reading it to realise this. His accent is welsh and American combined and it’s spot on.

As for the book itself, well, wow.
It was chosen for the book club at my workplace and at first I wasn’t thrilled with the choice as it seemed too dark for me and lacking in romance but once I got past the first chapter or two it came alive. The slow start is necessary to understand the life and personality of Anna the protagonist but it goes much quicker the second time you read it as it all makes more sense.

Each character is beautifully complex and their development is carefully done no matter how small the character. I loved the attention to detail and the foreshadowing is done wonderfully. I recommend reading this book again back to back after finishing because it’s like reading a brand new book with a fresh perspective!

It was horrifying to have such detailed descriptions of child abuse and bullying but it adds to the maturity and horror of the story and I appreciated the transparency of the author to how it can look to be abused by someone you love and trust.

The magical world building blew me away. While I was listening to this book I would see the world as perhaps there was a whole other world behind it. I don’t think I’ll look at old post boxes the same again.

I didn’t love the ending. It made sense but I felt the protagonist gave in too easily, then got out too easily. It was a great concept but I think it felt too bundled in together at the end and left me unsatisfied.

Overall I adored this book but I do appreciate it’s not for everyone as it is somewhat dark and for a younger audience. I don’t think the book necessarily needed more romance, but I’m just personally a fan of romance so I’d have loved some more.

Anyway just go listen to it. It’s great.

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Entertaining listen.

I chose this book not realising it was a YA, me being an old adult (OA) I attempted to return it but wasn’t able to and I’m actually pleased as I quite enjoyed it. The narration was excellent and the main character Anna and her aunt reminded me a little of Cinderella & her wicked stepmother. Yes there was cruelty inflicted and having read some of the other reviews I can understand the bullying aunt’s severe control over Anna upsetting some listeners/readers. However I found it an unusual storyline with relatable school characters. There was a nice balance of humour too, Attis was by far my favourite character.
If my children were teens I’d recommend this book to them.

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For young adults

If you like twilight or similar, you will likely enjoy this. Wasn’t really gritty enough for me and a bit predictable.

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Interesting storyline

Unexpected twists throughout, good pace and character build up! Good narration - really enjoyed this book!

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So much child abuse

This is a well written book but you have to slog through a lot of detailed descriptions of emotional abuse and some of physical abuse. These are very well written, so you've got to be feeling pretty strong to deal with it.
My main problem with the way the story handles this is that the message of the story seems to be that if you're a child suffering abuse you absolutely shouldn't tell anyone, especially the adults in your life. I just can't help feeling that somewhere a teenager is going to read this book, see themselves reflected in the main character and feel pretty hopeless about their future.
That being said, it's stayed with me so I'd say it is a good book overall, just don't expect it to be an easy read.

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6 people found this helpful

Takes a long time to become interesting.

For me, if this book were a film, most of it would lie somewhere between ‘She’s All That’ and ‘The Craft’. It took me a long time to really engage with the story and the first two thirds were a bit dull and onerous. I enjoyed the last third but I’m still deciding whether to listen to more stories by this author. The narrator reminded me a lot of Jan Cramer’s reading of the Kim Stone series; it’s quite abrasive and the voice characterisation of Attis left me wondering if he’s American or Irish. I also found the narration ponderous but sorted that issue by speeding up the narration to 1.2, which worked much better. The book would’ve been better with a bit more pace and a little less length.

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What a Find!

1 week ago I met a lady in the grounds of Chepstow Castle. I had my dogs with me and she hers, a very large Husky! We talked about our dogs (she had another at home) and she happened to mention that she was in Chepstow to support her friend Cari who was, that day, attending a promo signing of her new book, Threadneedle. I remembered seeing, in the window of our local book shop, a vivid, red patterned, front cover promoting the signing. I said I would definitely look it up, we then said goodbye. I did do just that and was intreged enough to download it from Audible. Well! What a joy! Although its subject matter will probably attract much younger people as the storyline involves teenagers, I at my grand old age (??) throughly enjoyed it. I listened to the whole book in two days. Beautifully written, tight writing style, which I love, the author also has a good if not brilliant command of the English language, each word was perfectly chosen. The plot was well thought out and had many twists and turns. The narrator was just as amazing, beautifully read, loved her voice and pronunciation of every word was clear and concise. Loved the whole package!

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9 people found this helpful

Incredible book

What a read! Gripped from start to finish, love the world she has created and can’t wait for the next book already! Highly recommend!

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6 people found this helpful