SO GOOD!!
The twists kept in coming and the very last page-!!!!!
If you like a good page turner, this one’s for you!
If you are a parent, this will remind you of how easy it can be to lose your mind, even though you’re trying to do your very best all the time!

I am grateful to have received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Penguin Random House Canada of this book in exchange for a review. I had previously read the author's earlier book and enjoyed it.

The plot of this book centers on three families living on the same street, each told from a distinct narrative.

**Whitney**:
We explore into the life of Whitney and her husband. Their son is discovered in the backyard, having fallen out of a window. It's uncertain whether he will survive, as he sustained a severe brain injury.

**Rebecca**:
Rebecca is a physician who has suffered multiple miscarriages. Her husband, Ben, is hesitant to keep trying for children, but Rebecca wishes to continue.

**Mara**:
Mara is an older neighbor on the street. She has a son who is notably withdrawn.

Throughout the story, each of these characters experiences traumatic events. The book's direction was quite unexpected. I purposefully avoided many reviews and plot summaries, wanting to enter the story with few preconceived notions. I'm glad I did. However, potential readers should note that there are several triggering moments in the narrative. If you're sensitive to certain topics, I'd advise checking for trigger warnings before delving in.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even more so than the author's previous work. I found myself engrossed, and often, the revelations in the story presented more intriguing questions. I would rate it 4.5 stars and highly recommend it. If it isn’t already on your reading list, I suggest adding it.

I received a free copy of The Whispers from Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Another amazing domestic thriller from Ashley Audrain about the women on Harlow Street and the life of a child hanging in the balance.
I love reading books that make me question reality and I’ve found thrillers are the best at doing that, and Audrain is one of the best in my opinion. Chilling and shocking, The Whispers explores the very different lives of the women who live on Harlow Street. Motivations, desires, and who is telling the truth? What a phenomenal read.

This was an addictive read filled with drama. I was captivated through it all and it kept me hooked all along.

Hmm. Wasn't really a fan of this. I felt it was way too packed with unrealistic drama. Unfortunately I felt the same way towards Audrain's other book 'The Push'. So maybe her books just aren't my cup of tea.

I think I should absolutely start this review with a big content/trigger warning that the novel itself did not have: content/trigger warning for infertility and miscarriage. I was disappointed that the book did not warn about this in the beginning, while it did mention it in the synopsis, “Rebecca, the ER doctor who helps treat Whit­ney’s son, has struggled to have a child of her own.”, I feel that some readers may unknowingly pick it up without knowing just how detailed the depictions will be. More consideration should have been taken as this is a book marketed to women and many women face this struggle and would need this type of explicit warning.

So, please, if you are reading this review and you are sensitive to those themes/topics, be aware that there are many very detailed mentions about it throughout the book.

The story begins at a summer barbeque on Harlow Street, a gentrified neighbourhood with a lot of secrets. Whitney, Blair, Rebecca, and Mara tell their own stories and we get their perspective on what may or may not have happened when Whitney’s son has fallen from his bedside window, now in the hospital in a coma.

I was very excited to be able to read this novel, as I loved Ashley Audrain’s first novel, The Push. It did not disappoint. I had no idea what was going to happen in the beginning, middle, or end.

I loved the different viewpoints of each of the women, I found myself caring very deeply about where their stories were going, rooting for them all at some points, hoping for the demise of a couple of them at other points. It was a chilling look at friendship, marriage, motherhood, and your neighbours. You never know who is watching, who is hurting, and who is inflicting pain on others. It truly showed that you never know what is going on behind closed doors with the people you think you know.

I had a slow start with it, but once I got going I could not put it down. And that last line?!

Overall, I would recommend this book but I would be careful who I recommend it to due to the content. I do not think this will be a book for everyone. For myself, I know that I will pick up every single book that Ashley Audrain writes. 4.5/5 rounded up.

3.75 Stars

A very dark family drama, that tells the stories of four different women and their families. The lies and their lives unfold during the course of the book and we see how entangled their lives are. As someone who is not a parent, I could see this story being too much for those with children or those who want/are trying to have children and families. I had a hard time sympathizing with most of the characters as they were not very likeable. I thought the writing was good, and if you like a dark, emotional read this may be for you. I’m just not sure I’m the target audience for this one. This was my first Ashley Audrain book and while I thought it was good, I think I may enjoy The Push more from all the reviews I’ve seen. Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Ashley Audrain for the ARC.

What was happening that whole time 🤯

This was one of the most anticipated reads for me this year and it didn’t disappoint!

In this one you follow a neighbourhood (multi POV) when little Xavier falls out of his window and ends up in the hospital. Know one knows what happened or what will happen too him, but thought out the process of them worrying and trying you learn all their (not so little) secrets.

I didn’t know where this one was going for a bit. But, I think that’s what made me enjoy it so much. I literally couldn’t put it down. I loved the dynamics of all the different characters and how their lives were tangled into each others to create the perfect story. I think all the characters added so much when you got their dialogue. I have The Push on my bookshelf and I think I’ll need to get to it asap.

I give this one a 4/5! ⭐️

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I loved The Push by the same author, but this story just wasn't what I expected. Maybe it just wasn't a good match for me. It was marketed as a thriller and it was absolutely not thrilling or mysterious in any way. A domestic drama is how I would describe this novel.

I simply did not care about any of the characters. I kept getting them mixed up for the first 40% of the book. I couldn't remember what the deal was with each woman, which husband was who's, what the point was....I was honestly so bored. I forced myself through the second half of the book as I saw another review that said it got better (it didnt).

Perhaps if I had life experiences that would have connected me to any of these women, if I was a mother myself, if I could relate to anything they were feeling or going through I would have enjoyed it. The writing was excellent. I enjoyed the tone and the quick way the story was told. I would perhaps recommend this to a stereotypical suburban white mother in an unhappy marriage but I'm not sure who else.

Also this very much requires a big TW for miscarriages.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an electronic copy of this novel.

“But more than any proof she has, is a feeling.
She'd once heard them described as the whispers-- the moments that are trying to tell you something isn't right here.”

Once again, Audrain has captivated me with her ability to write from the darkest and most uncomfortable of places of motherhood, those places so many of us have been, or can relate to, but don’t dare to talk openly about.

In The Whispers, we follow 4 very different women who happen to live in the same neighbourhood and are linked to one another in ways they aren’t even aware of. We have Blair, the stay at home mom to one daughter who is unhappy and unfulfilled in her marriage. Blair is obsessed with Whitney, a mother of 3, who lives across the street from her. Whitney is your quintessential, upper-class, working mother. She’s the mom other mom’s love to hate and love to judge. Rebecca is a doctor and desperately wants to be a mother. But Rebecca has suffered from an unimaginable number miscarriages. And then there is Mara, the woman in her 80s, who mostly just observes these other woman from her doorstep. But Mara has her own painful past as a mother, one that she carries the burden of blame for.

One night in September, at a family BBQ Whitney hosts, the guests are all given a glimpse of Whitney at her worst (or is it her norm?) when she verbally berates her son in the privacy of his own bedroom. When Whitney realizes the bedroom window that looks down on the BBQ was open, and all the guests heard her, I could literally feel the colour drain from her face. 9 months later, Whitney’s son is in the hospital after falling from this same bedroom window. Whitney won’t leave his bedside and everyone else is left to speculate on what really happened and is Whitney to blame? And so begins our story, told from alternating POV of these 4 women, where Audrain pushes deep into the secret lives they lead; their flaws, their uncomfortable truths, their coping mechanisms, and what pushes them to make the choices they do.

This book hooked me from the get-go, kept me reading late at night and sent chills down my spine with it’s very last sentence. There is no dark corner Audrain is afraid to go down, so be prepared for a very dark, very raw and sometimes even crude ride.

I can’t wait to read what she comes out with next!

Huge thanks to Netgalley for the digital arc.

I definitely enjoyed this book much more than her debut, The Push. It kept me wanting to read even though it had a bit of a slow start. I was expecting it to be a thriller, but it’s more of a domestic drama. The characters are will written and keep you interested. Overall, my rating simply comes down to the lack of twists, especially with chapters that make you think something crazy is going to happen.

Thank you Ashley Audrain, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the eARC! This story starts out at a backyard BBQ and families from the neighbourhood have come to enjoy the event. As we are introduced to the 4 families at the centre of the story, there is a theme of motherhood intertwined with friendship, drama, mistrust, jealousy, desire, suspicions, and tragedy. It is recommended to review the trigger warnings prior to reading. This book had me turning pages to see how these families were connected and how the drama would unfold. And the ending!! If you read and enjoyed The Push, Ashley Audrain’s first book, you will enjoy The Whispers as well! Add this one to your TBR! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this character-driven book depicting various women living on the same street and delving into all their experiences as wives and mothers. Their secrets, longings, and distinctive personalities really enhance the plotting with the mysterious accident that lands Xavier in a coma, along with the other mysteries surrounding each woman.

Four women living in a well-to-do area are faced with a nightmare. During a neighbourhood barbecue, Whitney loses her temper with her son and everyone hears her screaming attack on him. Then she has to come out to the back yard and face her friends and acquaintances.

Shortly thereafter, late one night, her son falls from his upper story bedroom window to the lawn below. He’s in a coma and no one knows exactly what happened.

Blair, Whitney’s best friend, suspects everything is not as it seems. Rebecca, the ER doctor who treats him, has struggled to have children of her own. And Mara, an older neighbour, watches everything unfolding and unravelling around Whitney and the others, while hiding secrets of her own.

For me, while the story was well written and the author’s style is excellent, I couldn’t get invested in the deeply flawed characters enough to root for any of them, with perhaps the exception of Rebecca. The author offered great insights into many issues women confront, but none of these characters took on those issues in a positive manner. I wanted to cheer for them, hoping each one could find something affirmative to achieve or build from. But none of them seemed to find that side of themselves or even really searched for that side of themselves. None of them are women you’d want to be friends with…to count on.

5+ “best book I’ve read all year” stars!

The Whispers is the perfect title for this phenomenal book!

You know those deep, dark, hidden thoughts us wives, mothers and longing-to-be mothers have? The brutally honest ones we whisper to ourselves when we are alone and would never dare say out loud? This novel explores these female secrets and normalizes the not-so-pretty parts of being a woman. The beauty and burden of motherhood. The love and sacrifice of marriage.

This story revolves around a tragedy that has the neighbourhood on edge. A young boy is in the hospital after a freak accident as thoughts, concerns and questions whirl in everyone’s mind.

Told through multiple perspectives, this delves deep into the dark, disturbing, raw, vulnerable parts of being a woman. Stay-at-home mothers, career mothers, women longing-to-be-mothers, mothers who have lost a child. This multi-layered book is heavy hitting and explores a variety of female relationships. Hope, privilege, settling, societal expectations, judgement, infertility are among many of the topics explored within these exceptionally well-written, mesmerizing, unforgettable pages.

This won’t be for everyone. The heaviness is gut wrenching. It needs to be read in the right mindset. There are a multitude of triggers. It isn’t easy or happy. Yet it completely consumed me from start to finish and is the most impactful book I’ve read this year. The pace was solid, never once leaving me feeling less than fully invested. I was blindsided by shock after shock.

This authors’ debut, The Push, is on my All Time Favourites List. This novel has easily been added to that list as well. This author knows how to write unique, memorable, uncomfortable, impactful, thought-provoking storylines and characters revolving around the intricacies of being a woman. I was quite literally hanging on every word, completely glued to these pages.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys books about female relationships and womanhood. It is one I will never forget!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy!

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

I read a lot of thrillers, which sometimes makes it hard to remember specific details from a given title. what can remember about Ashley Audrain's books The Push, The Whispers, even years later, is this slow, creeping sense of dread that permeates within. It's not overt: you know the ball is about to drop, but when and where is anyone's guess. Audrain expertly layers themes related to motherhood such as the limits of a mother's love, fertility, and societal expectations of moms to drive home the complex nature of this role
and the according relationships. This one is not for the faint of heart, and the last 20 pages come at a breakneck speed with a satisfying twist.

‘The Whispers’ was my most anticipated book of the year. Like so many others, I loved the ‘The Push’, and being a new mom I was curious how this book would resonate with me. Well.. I was a bit disappointed.

‘The Whispers’ follows four suburban woman and centres around a mysterious incident that leaves a young boy Xavier in a coma.

What Ashley does so well is depict the dark and bleak sides of motherhood, marriage and just womanhood in general. She isn’t afraid to go there and I appreciate that above all in this book. The characters are all deeply flawed, and mostly unlikable but also relatable.

What didn’t quite work for me was the pacing. There were parts in the middle that felt quite slow, and lacked direction. The ending picked up a little bit, but it ended so quickly I felt like we didn’t get a final resolution for most of the characters. I wasn’t totally invested in the mystery of what happened to Xavier, so the final reveal didn’t really pay off for me and wasn’t all that exciting. The chapters are short, which I like but each chapters jumps around in time a lot - I found it a bit confusing. Also huge TW for miscarriage, infertility, child loss and infidelity.

Overall it was still a solid read for me. After the huge success of ‘The Push’ I’m sure there was immense pressure for this book. I will still read whatever she writes next, I enjoy her honest commentary on motherhood so much! Please keep that coming!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this author's debut novel 'The Push', so I was very excited to give this one a go!

Synopsis:
The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives.

I love a good suburban drama, and this summer's new releases seems to be full of them. While this one didn't quite stick out as well as The Push did, it was still a pretty good read. The messy, horrible main characters are always fun to read, and the plot kept me hooked the entire time.

Overall this was a great read!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the gifted copy of The Whispers in exchange for my honest review.

The Whispers is a suspense/thriller genre read which is a well balanced mix of plot and character driven writing. The chapters alternate between distinct narrators and the author did an excellent job of writing the different narrators and including the name of each narrator at the start of each chapter so the reader knows which characters point of view they are reading with the start of each new chapter.

This book kept me turning the pages and the short chapters with alternating narrators made for a bingeable read. Each of the narrators in this book had their own secrets and though I wouldn't describe any of these characters as likeable, I definitely would say that these characters are what made the plot and the writing so compelling and is what kept me reading. I can't say anything else, but wow that was a crazy ending designed to leave the reader asking, what happens now?

I definitely enjoyed both The Push and The Whispers and I look forward to reading more books by Ashley Audrain in the future.