Thank you Netgalley, Cole Baxter, and Bookouture Audio for the aidiobook!! What a wild listen narrated by Stephanie Cannon! Honestly, I still have whiplash and just can't get over how crazy things got! You have to listen or read!!

I personally did not like this book. It is important for me to bond with the characters and there was nothing there that could keep me involved. I did not finish it. I for about half way through and realized that I was just going to annoy myself if I kept going.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

Well, this sent my anxiety through the roof! I was on edge, chewing into my fingers whilst everything just fell apart for the MC. I saw the twists coming but that's fine with me as I like to be proven right.

Looking forward to reading more by Baxter.

Truly enjoyed this audio! A new author for me, and will definitely be following.

If you're looking for a thriller with believable characters and plot, lots of twists and turns along the way, this is the book for you!

This story is really captivating and has several twists to it. The characters are believable and pulled me in. Great writing, that kept me wanting to continue listening even when I didn't have time to! This doesn't happen to me often, but with this story, it certainly did! I found myself listening every chance I got, so I could find out what happened next!

Thanks so much for allowing me to listen and review, I'll be watching for more!

AJ

I read this book as an audio book-I can see why the ratings are all over the place!

So even though this book was "enjoyable" it just felt very unbelievable. It was very hard to get through because there is no way this would ever happen. Nobody has this much power! I hated how he treated her but I did enjoy how she finally put him in his place!

The narrator for the audio book was amazing!

Catherine is married to Tom who is 15 years her senior. From the information in the book it seems he's been grooming her for many years and married her as a teenager (yuck). After their anniversary dinner a car crash leaves one woman dead and the question of who was driving? Was it Catherine, as her husband and everyone else claims.....or was it Tom, as Catherine claims???

The premise of this book was great. The prologue sucked me right in. The first few chapters started off strong but then it really got off track for me. The writing style seemed a bit immature and everything was overly described - with it appearing as though a thesaurus was used to choose descriptive words. I found it rather distracting.

The story itself takes on so many wild twists and turns that none of it seems believable. At all. I understand twists and turns are expected in a thriller, but these ones were to far fetched that they legitimately didn't make any sense.

There were a lot of characters - a lot. It was a bit difficult to keep track and many of them had minor roles and seemed perhaps entirely unnecessary.

As I said - the premise of this story is really good - I think it could just be streamlined a bit - cut out some of the twists - remove any repetition and then this book would be better aligned with my typical thriller reads.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator did a great job switching between character voices. I found the main character was made to sound like a child which was a bit unnerving with the grooming theme in the book. At 23 she could have sounded more "grown up" but perhaps that wouldn't have suited her character.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to review the audiobook for The Anniversary.

The narration was really good on this one, and the story was easy to follow along with. I found Catherine’s story to be sad, as she was clearly victimized from a young age. This was a slower read, with some repetition and extra details that did cause some mind-wandering, but this was a lighter mystery, so to be expected. I would have liked more depth for the characters and a more tightly woven plot, so I am giving this one 3 stars.

This book started off strong and exciting but quickly took a discouraging turn. It had great promise, and the narration was well done, but because of poor writing, over-the-top dialogue, and completely unrealistic situations (no blood alcohol taken? no camera footage used?), this book missed the mark for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio, and Cole Baxter for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book started out a bit slow but picked up pace around the 20% mark ! it was my first audiobook , it kept me engaged, there were so many twists and they were absolutely shocking I couldn’t put it down it was my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading more by them!

Marriages based on lies, traps, and false pretenses will likely never end well. This action-packed thriller hooked me right from the start, and that momentum continued until the second half of the book, where the story line seemed to change and the characters seemed to become flatter and less intriguing. The narrator, Stephanie Cannon, did a beautiful job giving voice to each of the characters, though I felt like the characters could have been developed a bit more. This was evidenced by the main character, Catherine, who, though she was young and impressionable, seemed to come as dull and less developed during the second half of the book. I am unsure if this was intentional on the author’s part, perhaps intending to portray Catherine in a different light, based on her life experiences and current circumstances.

There were times in which the characters’ words did not match their actions and that left me conflicted and less invested in them. I typically favor psychological thrillers and LOVE a good twist at the end but felt as if I could see this one coming and the ending was not as momentous or shocking as I would have liked. The narrator did a great job creating a good flow within the story, but at times there were just too many extraneous events occurring in addition to events that were not necessarily believable, at least to me.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Cole Baxter, and Bookouture Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great! The book itself I struggled with. I kept waiting for something unexpected to happen and it never did. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but this was a miss for me.

Hmm. I am an avid thriller reader & listener, and this was interesting and intriguing but does not make my list of top 10 thrillers ever. I was into the deception and intrigue, also loved the action and fast pace, but felt that it didn't all come together as a masterful whole. I don't love when thrillers get too far-fetched (somehow we put up with Freida McFadden doing it over and over again, but that's a whole nother story).

This book is full of misogyny, gaslighting, grooming and unrealistic events. Catherine comes off as a total pushover and is very immature which I guess is maybe the point. Tom is a grade A arse and I immediately hated him which I also guess is the point.

The police were totally negligent, he story was all over the place and I just felt this whole book was totally unbelievable and not in the good way. The ending was somewhat satisfying but this was a tough read for me. I had so many negative notes and eyerolls in the first 20% I'm surprised I finished it but I plowed through since it was an audiobook and I listened while doing chores.

This was an audiobook and I do feel the narrator, Stephanie Cannon did a great job.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Fun suspenseful read. It definitely has a similar vibe to Perfect Marriage. Jessica ended up being my favorite character.

3 stars is because the narrator did fantastic with a rough story. This is my 2nd Cole Baxter and I was hoping it would be better than The Patient but it was just as incomplete in my opinion. The main female character was whiney and not realistic he made women look weak and unable to handle the world alone. The male main character was a butthole from the get-go and we all knew he was in the wrong there was nothing good about him. It was unrealistic because I couldn't believe a woman would fall for that or fall in love with a monster like that. This author sent me another one of his books to review but I can't stomach it it's awful.

CHECK TRIGGERS!!!

I struggled with this book and nearly DNF'ed it twice. This book needs trigger warnings for domestic abuse, emotional abuse and other forms of abuse. If those warnings were on the description then I would not have requested this book as those really trigger me after being in an abusive relationship.

Regardless, I have rated the book on plot line and put my feeling about that to the side. I want to give this book a 1* based on the triggers but plot wise it is 4*. The plot is very in depth and well thought out and wrote. The characters have depth and you root for the main female character and her accomplice.

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately I just couldn’t get into it. It has the elements for a great thriller, but I found the writing to be a bit erratic- random quick storyline jumps. I’m sure there’s an audience that will enjoy this book. It just wasn’t for me

2/5 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this audiobook of The Anniversary by Cole Baxter narrated by Stephanie Cannon.

The narrator did a pretty good job but the story just didn't do it for me. I pushed through and finished because I had made it too far to quit. Catherine and Tom has such a gaslighting and abusive relationship that it just made me angry and annoyed. The book started pretty interesting, but then the characters just got annoying. It just felt unrealistic towards the end and the ending was just okay for me. This is my first book by the author too so I'd like to check out and give his other novels a try before completely crossing him out.

The Anniversary follows a couple after they are in a bad car accident after an anniversary dinner. Catherine remembers her husband Tom was the driver, but now she's being accused of the crash. I thought this premise sounded intriguing but I found the husband to be a bit overly diabolical for my tastes. Cole Baxter is an interesting author, so I will be sure to pick up one their next books. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC...

I really tried to like this, gave it a good go as loved the narrators, but it just didn't do it for me as the characters didn't grow on me and TBH i didn't really care what happened to her