Have you ever read a book and hated/disliked every single character in the book? This was that for me. Every time I remembered this was supposed to be a retelling, I cringed. The Jane Eyre I know wasn’t anything like this. Not even a little. The narrators in this audiobook were great! There voices worked well for the story.
This mystery thriller that had way to many liars and schemers for my taste. The women were at times to much because of their very foul mouths.

If the author had left out the “retelling genre” I might of went into this differently. I just didn’t care for it.
It had the feel of a Gillian Flynn, sorta. I’m not trying to give anything way so if you like mystery and don’t know the Jane Eyre story you might like it.


Thanks Macmillan Audio for this audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to give a higher rating to this audiobook but I couldn't find anything redeeming about it. I know how harsh that sounds. But a Goodreads two stars rating is "It was ok" and this was not. It was not ok. By the time I got to 75% I was ready to launch my phone (reminder: audiobook) across the room and stomp on my headphones.

So what issues did I have with the book? Well, I will do my best to avoid any spoilers but some might get spoiler-adjacent.

Let's start with the narrators. There were three of them. One for each of the female POV characters and one for the male. The male narrator I'd heard before and enjoyed just fine. Eddie has a tiny portion of the book from his POV which was narrated in a pretty much emotionless, excruciatingly slow cadence. The narrator for Bea was meh. The narrator for Jane had that constant "I'm irritated with everything and breathe-too-heavily-and-too-often" thing happening that ended up being super annoying and distracting.

Now lets talk about the story. This is where it might be more information than you want so if you're still interested in maybe reading with your eyeballs to avoid the narration issues, be warned.

I'm usually fine with an unreliable narrator but this book has three of them. Yes, all three POV characters. Which might still be ok except so much of the book had my BS meter screaming off the charts. So many absolutely unbelievable twists that I eventually got to the point where I only wanted it to end.

I know I can be rough on books that push my ability to suspend disbelief too far but the combination of the narration, not being able to trust a single person telling a part of the story, and the total unbelievableness (yes, I'm using a pretend word because I need it) of most everything, I have to go with the one-star review.

I received the audiobook from the publisher and NetGalley.

I just cannot give this audiobook anything other than 5 massive stars. Love me a good domestic thriller, and this sure as heck counts as one.

I think what I loved about this book the most is the combination of uniqueness and seductiveness of it. The story follows Jane, a new resident of a very rich neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama who is quite broke herself. One day, she meets a wealthy resident called Eddie, whose wife and her friend had drowned in mysterious circumstances during a girls'. trip Jane is attracted to the rich and protective man, and the two fall for each other. But Bea's story keeps haunting our heroine, like a red flag she tries to bury in her mind.

Bottom line is, everyone has SECRETS. And those can be dangerous ones.

I am a sucker for love triangles, especially ones as unique as this; in addition, we're not reading about rich people in NYC or LA, but Alabama, which is a truly unique setting for this kind of story. In addition, the audiobook was truly expertly narrated, amplifying the suspense and the emotions even more than the text alone.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

“There’s a trick to spinning lies. You have to embed the truth in there, just a glimmer of it. That’s the part that will catch people, and it’s what makes the rest of your lies sound like truth, too.

First the quote, then the first line. That was the best way to open a book. I thought, “oh, this is going to be good. I can tell.” It did not disappoint.

Eddie made me yell major stranger danger from the jump. This plot took some absolutely WILD jumps. I’m talking, I did the same “WHAT” as I did when I read Verity. This gave major Verity vibes. Some of the jumps could have been a bit more thought out or executed better, but, regardless, still a wild ride.

But oh a serious note, Bravo, can y’all give me a RHOB, please? This brought me back to my college days, and my sorority sisters. (I went to school in Alabama, I’m from a town in Georgia that’s on the AL/GA line... we take our college football very seriously here) These we’re just the adult version of the conversations we would have at school. We’ve got old money Blanche and new money Bea. Bea’s mama confirms the new money status. They try so hard to be rich, to be successful, but something always stops them from becoming that “elite” status. I hate how that’s the status quo here, but trust me, I know Blanche and Bea, minus the whole missing bodies part. 😂

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I read it in one day as I was really intrigued to get the real answers. I’m still kind of left with a few unanswered questions, but that’s okay. I did listen to some of the audio, and thought the cast of narrators were perfect. Bea’s voice was obviously the best for me. It really sold the character. The inflections and tone were great.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the gifted copy. This one is out Jan. 21st!

This book seriously had you guessing what the flip was going on from beginning to end. This author is so so good at suspense was really the amazing plot twists that have you saying what the heck? I seriously could not figure out who the bad intent person was in this scenario. The book was written so beautifully descriptive and from all angles my mind was just spinning. And the end. Oh my goodness the end. I did. Not. See. That. Coming. This book is a beautiful beautiful piece of work. A poor dog walker catches an eye of a widow - his wife has recently gone missing, presumed dead with her best friend who was also presumed murdered. But who killed them? Everyone has skeletons in their closet they are trying to hide from each other. But everything comes out. Literally. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.