Audiobook Review: Where the Darkness Goes by Kiersten Modglin
Where the Darkness Goes
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Narrators:
Ellie Gossage
Jay Myers
Published: December 31, 2024
Audiobook: 8 hours 11 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: December 12-19, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Tessa Becker has several reasons to never return to her hometown:
She will have to face the man who shattered her heart.
She is terrified to confront her ailing mother’s condition.
That is where the murders happened.
Tessa Becker must return home for one reason and one reason alone:
Someone else is dead and it’s time to finally learn the truth.
Ever since the first murder, Tessa’s once charming and safe hometown has been infected with suspicion and fear. Back then accusations were made in whispers, but without proof, the killer still walks free. And now it’s possible they’ve struck again.
If things weren’t complicated enough, Tessa finds herself forced to stay with the one man she had hoped to avoid. Years ago, Garrett Campbell held her heart until he crushed it. Now, he’s a stranger. He’s also her brother’s best friend.
In an all-too-familiar place filled with secrets and devastating loss—surrounded by people and memories she’d rather forget—Tessa will have to discover the truth about what happened back then, and the threat it poses to the town and the ones she loves most before it’s too late.
Jessica’s Review:
I have grown to love Kiersten Modglin’s thrillers and learned to be leery of her romantic thrillers. They can be a bit much on the spice level for me, but I have listened to enough of hers to know what to expect. If Modglin writes it them most likely I will want to listen to it! And I am working on her back log of titles she has written. She just keeps writing more and more books!
We have Tessa who has to come ‘home again’ IE: the place where she grew up. She comes across old memories and old people from that previous life. This includes Garrett who broke her heart all those years ago. And get this: Garrett is her brother’s best friend.
We have a romantic thriller here with some smut in it. I was in this book for the thriller parts and we had some! The twist ending and twist villain with the motive was a bit unbelievable and ‘off the rails’ for me. This one just wasn’t really for me. After this one, I will keep listening/reading Modglin (As she is a must read) but will stay away from her romantic thrillers.
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review!
ALC Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Narrators:
Richard Armitage
Tuppence Middleton
To Be Published: January 14, 2025
Audiobook: 9 hours 19 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: December 26, 2024- January 3, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there… but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.
Jessica’s Review:
I have only read a couple of Alice Feeney’s books, but she is all over my TBR, and with listening to Beautiful Ugly, I really need to try and get her books moved up higher on my list. I was granted an ALC (advanced listening copy) from the publisher and also had an opportunity to read Beautiful Ugly with a physical book via my Book of the Month subscription.
I was glad I had access to a physical copy: There is a map included of the Isle of Amberly which is where Grady goes. I did reference the map as I listened to the audio. Another reason I was delighted to have a physical copy was towards the end of the book something is mentioned. I can’t say what as it could be a spoiler, but I did what was mentioned and I squealed as my reaction! Being able to do this added so much more to the book for me and added a half star to my rating!
Beautiful Ugly has two things to it that I really enjoy and one that can be hit or miss: dual narrators, dual timelines, and the unreliable narrator. With unlikeable characters (other than the dog), a missing wife, and the dual narrators being both Grady and Abby, at about 24% of the way in I texted some friends and said “I’m listening to a book and if it goes Gone Girl, I’m going to be pissed!” I am sure I am not the only reader to think this. We have a dog in this book and I was worried that something would happen to Columbo, as he was a main character along with Grady. Reader and animal lover, fear not: Columbo is fine!
The audiobook has two narrators and they both did a fabulous job. They performed really well with these unlikeable characters. There are also sound effects throughout the narration which enhanced the audiobook. The sounds effects consist of static of the handheld radios, the ocean, and some light music throughout the novel.
I did start this book at the end of 2024 and ended it in 2025, and I hope this is a great sign of the books I will be reading/ listening to this year!
I wasn’t entirely happy with ultimate motives that are uncovered, but dang the final twists were something! I really hope this becomes a mini-series for tv and it sticks with the book, that would be quite a thriller to watch! I won’t say if Beautiful Ugly went the Gone Girl route or not as it would be a spoiler alert. Just read or listen to this book yourself to find out! Many thanks to the publisher for granting me an alc to listen to and review.
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Audiobook Review: The New Single by Tamsen Fadal
The New Single: Finding, Fixing and Falling Back in Love With Yourself After a Break-Up or Divorce
Author: Tamsen Fadal
Narrator: Tamsen Fadal
Published: June 30, 2015
Audiobook: 7 hours 5 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 25-28, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Starting over doesn’t have to be so hard.
After the shock of a relationship change it can be tough to get out of bed in the morning, much less be at your best. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With a realistic and proven game plan to help you get where you want to be, The New Single is the essential roadmap to surviving the split-up and starting over, ninety days at a time:
– Embracing the person you are today
– Radiating confidence
– Taking better care of yourself inside and out, from career and finances, to home, health, and fitness
– Avoiding toxic patterns and dangerous missteps
Tamsen Fadal is empathetic and incisive about relationships and breakups: she learned many of the lessons in The New Single the hard way. Now, with candor and humor, she’s sharing her secrets, stories, and sometimes painful lessons.
Jessica’s Review:
This is going to be a bit of a personal review for me.
I never would have pictured that 2024 went the way that it did: My husband telling me something on January 6, 2024 that turned my life upside down. Couples counseling didn’t work and I realized the marriage was over. Being devastated, I had to start over and with the help of some great friends, I did. I found the apartment that God had meant for me (which is its own short story) and took two of the three cats (apartments only let you have two pets otherwise I would have taken all three). I have started over with my new chapter and I think I am doing pretty good: Yes, I still have times of sadness and I know that will continue, but I am getting better.
I discovered Tamsen Fadal in 2024 talking about her book coming out in 2025: How to Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before along with her documentary The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause that is out now and I have watched it. I am of ‘that age’ where I am beginning to experience peri-menopause symptoms, so I look forward to her upcoming book and learning what every woman goes through in their life.
I came across The New Single for free in my Audible account and it is also narrated by Fadal, so I decided to listen to it and it did help me! Everything mentioned in self-help books will not apply to every reader, which includes this one: Everyone is different and goes through their own life changes. This book is geared towards women who have gone through a breakup of a long-term serious relationship or a divorce, and a lot of it seemed geared for me. I didn’t have children with my ex-husband, so I did skip over the parts where children are mentioned.
Fadal’s book was written after her divorce and in some ways I identified with her. Her book is meant to help the reader/listener after their particular life change occurs and to empower themselves and learn to love themselves again as they start over. There were good tips and suggestions given to the reader.
This is a great self-help book for those who will need it. And if I could give Fadal a hug I would!
This review is posting on my site a little more than a month after I wrote it. It is posting on January 6, 2025, which is one year from when my now ex-husband told me “I love you, but I’m not in love with you” on January 6, 2024. I’ve come so far from that life changing day and looking forward to what happens next! If you are going through a hard time like I did, I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it really WILL get better! You will survive it and come out better in the end! It’s a new chapter for you like it was for me.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK