Short Story Sunday: Audiobook Review: Just a Girl by Alyssa Cole
Just a Girl
Series: Obsession Collection #6
Author: Alyssa Cole
Narrator: Kimberly Woods
Published: July 25 2023
Audiobook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Listened To: April 11, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 1 star
Short Story Description:
Social media can be a dangerous game. A young woman’s world teeters on the verge of implosion when trolls push too far in this disturbing short story from New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Cole. Tiana Carter has just started college and is determined to make the most of it. She’s thrilled to be posting videos about dorm-room cooking and campus fashion for a small but loyal band of followers. When she dips into the online dating pool, her first swipe right raises a huge red flag. Tiana’s polite rejection is met with scorn, and now a group of self-proclaimed “high-value men” are hell-bent on ruining her life.
Just a Girl is part of Obsession, a collection of compulsively readable short stories about people pushed to their extremes. They are so addictive you won’t be able to put them down—read or listen to each story in a single sitting.
Jessica’s Review:
This was a short story that focuses on social media and online toxicity (online trolls). We have many stories and books that focus on the negativity of social media and this one didn’t work for me. That was all this one showed (with escalation) and I actually ended up skipping close to the ending to see what happens. I was tired of hearing everything that was focused on her being trolled. And I just can’t remember the ending, that’s how un-memorable this short story was for me.
I would say if you are interested in reading this one to listen to the short story version, the narration did enhance the story.
Book Review: The Sacrifice by Indrajit Garai
The Sacrifice
Series: Volume 1 collection of short stories
Author: Indrajit Garai
Published: August 25, 2016
218 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: July 2-22, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
In this collection, meet:
Guillaume, who gives up everything to protect his child; young Matthew, who stakes his life to save his home; and François, who makes the biggest sacrifice to rescue his grandson.
Jessica’s Review:
The Sacrifice is a collection of three short stories: The Move, The Listener, and The Sacrifice. I could tell this was an earlier written novel of short stories. His writing has improved as I really enjoyed The Man Without Shelter which was published in 2022, and I gave 4 stars to.
I did not really connect with the characters in The Move and The Listener. I was also confused at the book description says that Matthew stakes his life to save his home, but it was not his home. It was a beloved tree he fought for. I did connect with the characters in The Sacrifice. The Sacrifice actually ended too early for me. I wanted the story to continue!
All of the stories have a commonality: The sacrifices that people make for those and the things they love above everything else. Being an earlier work, I think this one could be edited again to be improved upon. It seems that English is not his main language, which could have been some of the problem I had with not connecting to the characters in the first two stories. Do give Garai a chance and see how he has improved over time!
Many thanks to Estelle, a friend of the author who sent me a e-copy of the novel to read in my own time.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Audiobook Blog Blitz: Love, Loss and Life in Between by Suzanne Rogerson
Today I am taking part in the Audiobook Blog Blitz for Love, Loss and Life In Between by Suzanne Rogerson. It was narrated by Sandie Keane. This audiobook was released in January and I am sharing my review.
About the Audiobook:
This collection of short stories gives a glimpse into life, love, loss, and the inexplicable in between. Includes themes of grief, finding hope, second chances, facing the consequences of your actions, and getting help from the unlikeliest of places.
- As Cecilia helps the dying, she questions what happens to their spirits. But is she ready to find out?
- Can a mother’s race through the New Forest save her son?
- Will visiting a medium bring Christina the closure she needs?
- Can an intruder help an old lady with her loneliness?
- Will the start of another wet and miserable Monday morning end with Maeve’s happy ever after.
Love, Loss, and Life in Between
Author: Suzanne Rogerson
Narrator: Sandie Keane
Published: January 17, 2023
Audiobook: 2 hours 13 minutes (83 pages)
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: March 1, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Jessica’s Review:
I enjoy short stories, and had the opportunity to go on the blog blitz for this one, so I signed up! This is an audiobook blog tour and I listened to it over the course of one day.
There are 10 short stories, ranging from around 5 minutes long to up to nearly 20 minutes. It is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time for reading. As the title suggests the listener deals with several parts of life: love, loss, and life in between. Several of the stories deal with death and moving on. Rogerson did a great job with capturing the emotions of a story in just a few words!
The narrator Sandie Keane did a good job with her narration of the short stories.
I’m sure the reader or listener will find a story or two that stays with them! I did!
About the Author:
Suzanne lives in Middlesex, England with her husband, two teenagers, a crazy cocker spaniel and an adopted cat that thinks she’s the boss.
Suzanne’s writing journey began at the age of twelve when she completed her first novel. Giving up work to raise a family gave her the impetus to take her attempts at novel writing beyond the first draft, and she is lucky enough to have a husband who supports her dream – even if he does occasionally hint that she might think about getting a proper job one day.
Now an author of four novels including the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy and her debut, Visions of Zarua, plus three short story collections, Suzanne hopes the dreaded ‘W’ word will never rear its ugly head again!
Suzanne collects books, is interested in history and enjoys wandering around castles and old ruins whilst being immersed in the past. She likes to combine her love of nature and photography on family walks, but most of all she loves to escape with a great film, binge watch TV shows, or soak in a hot bubble bath with an ice cream and a book.
Contact Suzanne:
Website
Twitter @rogersonsm
Goodreads
BookBub
Amazon
Instagram @suzannemrogerson
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About the Narrator:
Having attended Drama school in Liverpool as a teenager Sandie moved into a variety of jobs varying from Hotel Management/Merseyside Police/Motherhood to name just a few but for 25 years she taught worldwide as a Pilates Tutor Trainer.
During lockdown Sandie’s interest turned to Audiobooks and it was from there she embarked on her own journey as an Audiobook Narrator.
Contact Sandie:
Website
Instagram @sandiekeane