Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This story is WILD. It reads like an absurd three-part episode of Law & Order SVU. But this is real life! Lori Vallow is a devout member of the LDS church who becomes sucked into a doomsday sect (cult!) of the faith, led by Chad Daybell. Unfortunately, several people had to die in order for them to be together, including her husband, two kids, and Chad's wife.

I was completely sucked into this tale of cults and murder-for-hire-- I listened to it in only a few hours. My one complaint about this story is that it sometimes felt fragmented. I had a hard time keeping up with the huge cast of characters, and I think part of this was due to the writing style. That being said, I still rolled with the punches and took this for the story this was.

One thing that was.... weird... about this audiobook is that it's set in Hawaii, Idaho, and Arizona, but the narrator has a British accent. That really threw me off sometimes since it just doesn't make sense. The narrator also uses a cadence and tone that's sort of like a special news report at 9, but for an ENTIRE audiobook. The creative choices were strange? But I did still overall enjoy the audiobook for the story itsef.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kendra is a successful novelist who is struggling to write her sophomore novel after receiving a letter from a reader who was disappointed in the story she chose to tell. She moves back up to her late grandfather's Michigan cabin on the lake to write without distractions and maybe even figure out who sent her that letter.

She doesn't realize it, but she's completely spiraling after not really dealing with what happened to her "That Summer." When the translator for the German edition of her debut novel (That Summer) shows up to work on the translation with her, she is pushed to remember her past and figure out who she really is.

I enjoyed the slow burn of this story and how it so intricately (and easily!) wove together plot from so many years ago when Kendra was just a kid playing with her best friend Cami and the current day where she is ever-so-slowly starting to fall for her translator. There were a lot of twists and turns and some pieces I couldn't put together until right when the reveal was happening. The romance was sweet, the feelings of grief, nostalgia, and being out of place were so strong and helped me to immerse myself deeply in Kendra's head.

I would highly recommend this title for people who enjoy a slow burn "mystery" that is a bit literary and tends more toward the gentle reminiscence of what has been. Please do check the trigger warnings at the end of this review though.

Mia Barron's narration was fabulous throughout. I enjoyed her pacing and the slightly different voices she had for each character (without being silly). She also does a "wunderbar" German accent for Andreas, which had me smiling every time he spoke.





Trigger warnings:
-Rape
-Sexual coercion/sexual assault
-Sexual assault by one sibling to another
-Child sex trafficking
-Death of a grandparent
-Possible suicide

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Llewellyn is a bunny who has a lot of feelings. He wants to get rid of the bad feelings and put them aside. But soon he realizes that means he needs to put away joy and excitement and lots of other positive feelings too. Until one day he just can't hold them all back any longer.

This was a sweet story about handling your feelings. I think lots of children could find this beneficial. The audiobook was great, with lots of voice acting, music, and sound effects. I do think I missed out by not reading the physical book though since I bet the art is phenomenal (just based on the cover).

I'd give this a solid 5/5 for the narration, but a 4/5 for the story since I feel like this would have been much better in physical form than audio form.

3.5

Parts of this were really interesting. Definitely was.... pretty outdated though? It largely uses the term "Indians" when referring specifically to people of the Algonquin tribe when it should use Native American, Indigenous, First Nations, or even Algonquin. I felt a bit icky reading "Indian" over and over and over again