ALC Review: Her Husband’s Mistake by Daniel Hurst
Her Husband’s Mistake
Author: Daniel Hurst
Narrators:
Tamsin Kennard
Nathaniel Priestley
To Be Published: September 30, 2023
Audiobook: 5 Hours 36 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 18-19, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Audiobook Description:
A week in New York with my family should be the trip of a lifetime–yet I’ve been on edge the whole time because fifteen years ago, when we were living in this city, my husband did something that ripped our lives apart. I swore I would never come back, but he insisted. As we stroll along the Hudson River, drinking coffee in the sunshine, anyone would think we’re the perfect family. But the truth is far more complicated.
Jessica’s Review:
I am pasting the Goodreads book description for this review as the book’s description everywhere else gives to much plot away for this short book! This was also the book description I read, so I wasn’t spoiled if I had read the book description elsewhere I would have been.
Jack and Lorna are from the UK originally and were living in New York until Jack did something and they suddenly left and returned to the UK with their young children. They vowed to never return until… Fast forward fifteen years with their children turning 18 and 21… big birthdays!!! Guess what both kids want??? A trip to NYC!! Knowing their kids wouldn’t stop mentioning a NYC trip Jack and Lorna decide to give that gift to them. And now we have this book and what happens!
Her Husband’s Mistake is my second book by Daniel Hurst that I have listened to this year and I have enjoyed both. He is an author I will look out for! This one was very short coming in at 5.5 hours long and so it moves the entire time! Get ready for a roller coaster of intensity with this one!
Jack and Lorna were not very likeable for me, but the kids were. So much happens so quickly it’s a book you don’t want to put down! And it even went in a direction that I would not have guessed was going to happen! I was shocked: I actually had to relisten to that chapter when I got to a certain point in the audiobook!
The narrators did a good job with their narrations, I did like Tamsin Kennard’s voice more than Nathaniel Priestley.
Many thanks to the publisher Bookoutoure Audio for granting me an alc to listen to and review! I enjoyed this very quick listen!
Audiobook Review: The Coworker by Freida McFadden
The Coworker
Author: Freida McFadden
Narrator: Alyson Krawchuk
Published: August 29, 2023
Audiobook: 8 hours 12 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 20-22, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can’t be taken back
Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.
So when Dawn doesn’t show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell—beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running—is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything…
It turns out Dawn wasn’t just an awkward outsider—she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who’s the real victim?
But one thing is incredibly clear: Somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.
Jessica’s Review:
This is McFadden’s newest book and I listened to it on audio. We have two very different narrators who tell their side of the story: Natalie and Dawn Schiff:
We have Natalie, the office place ‘golden girl’ who can do no wrong. She’s a beautiful blonde, knows it and uses it to get what she wants (which she always does). She’s also the top sales representative for the company. Her best friend Kim and boyfriend Craig also work for the company called Vixed.
We also have Dawn Schiff who is a complete 180 of Natalie: She is plain, awkward, extremely observant and a stickler for being punctual: You can know exactly what time it is based on when Dawn does certain things like eat and even using the restroom. Dawn Schiff seems to have signs of the Autism Spectrum but McFadden never says if she actually is.
Oh and… Dawn really loves turtles. This love is to an extreme. Turtles are constantly mentioned throughout the book. If you made it a drinking game and took a shot every time turtles were mentioned, you wouldn’t live through to make it to the end of the book! I do say this with humor. I knew turtles were mentioned a lot before I listened to it, but damn it really was a lot! It didn’t bother me though since the love of turtles is part of Dawn’s character. Just be prepared for extreme turtle usage!
This time around McFadden takes on the office workplace and deals with office bullying. We see both sides of what is happening through both Dawn Schiff and Natalie’s narrations. Dawn’s perspective is given through emails to her longtime best friend who writes her back.
Dawn is always at work at 8:45 am and Natalie just kind of comes in whenever she wants. I know where I work that would just not happen! But I also work with the public and we have those set hours. One day Dawn doesn’t come in and Natalie is surprised, and maybe just a little worried about her. Then she answers a phone call where the caller says ‘help me’ and hangs up. This starts with a roller coaster that Natalie can’t get off of and it just keeps going and going! And not in a good way either!
For most of the book it was going to be a three star for me: I wasn’t really attached to either character and it was just really an average read for me. Once it does get moving, I was really into it over halfway. I had a theory and I was actually mostly correct with it! Usually, I hate when I figure out a big twist but this time around, I actually enjoyed it because there was still more to figure out as I didn’t have the smaller details figured out. At about 65% in I was fully invested. Of course, we do have a final twist that I wasn’t shocked with it.
The narrator Alyson Krawchuk did a good job with this one. I have now listened to three of McFadden’s books and all of the narrators have northern accents which make me think this is where the author lives. I did enjoy The Coworker and plan on reading or listening to McFadden’s complete book line up. Her books are quick reads/listens so they can be finished quickly. I just wish I had the time to read her books in one sitting!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: The Sight by Melanie Golding
The Sight
Author: Melanie Golding
Narrator: Ella Lynch
Published: September 5, 2023
Audiobook: 9 Hours 53 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 11-15, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Audiobook Description:
Look into her eyes—she can tell you how you’ll die . . .
As a child, Faith acquired the ability to see when and how people would die—a “gift” she neither wanted nor could get rid of.
After foreseeing a family tragedy and being ostracized, Faith learns to control her visions, and returns to perform in her family’s traveling carnival. But when an unruly customer attacks her, she has a vision in full view of a crowd.
She is banned from the carnival she loves—and loses her only source of income to support her dying mother. Desperate to support her mother and with only one friend standing by her, she sees no reason to continue hiding her ability and goes to dangerous lengths to earn money. But when she sees herself in a man’s future death, Faith must face her own fears of her powers and tune into her gift to fight against a future that would ruin her life—and end someone else’s.
With The Sight , celebrated author Melanie Golding delivers another suspense-driven masterpiece with unforgettable characters and an ending that will leave you stunned.
Jessica’s Review:
This was another novel that caught my attention with the book description, but wasn’t totally for me. It took way to long (at least halfway) for me to be really interested, and for the book to get moving. The Sight is extremely slow moving, it was almost painfully slow for me. But again, I was just curious enough to see what was going to happen and continued it.
We have Faith who can see people’s deaths. Forced out of her job at a carnival, she is made to do readings for people wanting to know how they die. Faith doesn’t know when these people will die, she just sees the death. She can guesstimate if it is soon or far off by the way the person appears in the vision. One day she sees one person’s death and that she is the one who killed that person. What are you to do with that kind of information when you see that?!?!From the setting and tone of the book you would have not thought it took place in present day! Until cell phones and You Tube are mentioned, I thought I was listening to a story that took place in the past. I listened to the audiobook and did like the narration.
The big twist that occurs happens right at the end, which was just too late to really save the story. When it happened, I was a little shocked and had to listen to that chapter again! I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything since I was listening to it for my commute to/from work. If I was interested in having a different perspective knowing the full story now, I might be tempted to read/listen again. And some readers might just do that! And knowing the ending twist does change the beginning half of the book, so it might not be as slow moving with a second read/listen!
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review in my own time.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK