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33 Women

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Interesting audio book with lots of twists and mystery. Initially I wasn’t really drawn in but as the boom progressed I found myself intrigued and wanting to know what was coming next, so much so that I had a hard time putting it aside.

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33 Women
Isabel Ashdown
Two Cross Farm is a commune for abused women. The rules are very strict; there is no leniency, follow the rules or leave never to return. The three founding women formed rules for themselves and for the inhabitants of the commune. Fern the original leader was into numerology. The women became self-sufficient and lived off the land. The women allowed to live there must have something to extend to the others or need help to stay safe. Only thirty-three women can live there at a time; there is a waiting list of women willing to give up everything to live there.
It has been many years since Celine and Pip have seen each other but they are reunited upon the death of their mother. They had been alienated from their mother for many years. They have inherited their mother’s place, which borders Two Cross Farm. Fifteen years ago, their sister, Vanessa was violently murdered, her body was found near Brighton Pier; the murder was purportedly attributed to domestic violence. Now the body of another woman has been found. She has a tattoo of two crosses, the same tattoo that Vanessa had. The sisters know Vanessa had some connection with the commune. They turn to their friend Una a retired policer to help them investigate the commune. More and more similarities between the two murders become obvious. The latest victim was a cook at Two Cross Farm. The residents of the commune became suspects. A third murder is discovered, and it too has similarities.
This is an intriguing psychological thriller. The setting is Arundel (England). Two Cross Farm has the feeling of a cult, but it is actually more of a commune. The residents of Two Cross Farm stayed to their self. Everything about Two Cross Farm was suspicious and creepy. This tale is told from alternating viewpoints, the history of the commune, the residents up to present day. The story moves along at a rather slow pace. The first half was difficult to get into but the second half was more interesting.

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33 Women by Isabel Ashdown s a murder mystery filled with decades of secrets and emotions. Sisters Celine and Pip are shocked when a woman is found dead in the same place as their sister was 15 years ago. Her killer was never found. Is it a coincidence both bodies have two crosses on them? Does it mean anything that both bodies are found near Two Cross Farm, a gated community of 33 women who want nothing to do with the outside world? What about their leader Seed who forbids any males through the gate?

Narrators Imogen Church and Candida Gubbins empathetically portray the pain these sisters and 33 women feel and the sacrifices they are willing to make for peace. The author has written a twisty thriller. My advise is do not listen to the end while driving because the reveal at the end will cause you to crash. I never saw it coming and broke a dish I was drying when I heard it!

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

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33 WOMEN. *Sisters Celine and Pip return to the home of their recently deceased mother to help clean and make arrangements for her funeral. Someone is missing from the trio, Vanessa, their middle sister who was brutally murdered and left by the side of the river in an unsolved murder case. During this time, another woman is found murdered and shares some similarities with their sister’s case. Are they connected? And what is the women’s commune down the road hiding? Is it related to the murder cases?*

WOW. I blew through this book in a matter of a few days and was hooked from the beginning. It jumps back and forth between the past and present, slowing building the story and then takes you on a wild ride right until the end. Would definitely recommend.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4 star

Sisters Celine and Pip meet up at their recently deceased mother’s home to deal with the estate. They try to find out what happened to their sister Vanessa who was killed 15 years ago and also determining if the neighboring women’s commune was involved. The story goes back and forth in time from different perspectives. I enjoyed the audiobook with fantastic narration by Candida Gubbins and Imogen Church.

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I loved this book. Whole I won't be recommending it to my middle school students (definitely not the intended audience), I will be recommending it to every book loving adult that I know!

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When sisters Celine and Pip get a call telling them their reclusive mother has died, the women are reunited at her riverside home in Arundel to pick up the pieces. But someone is missing - their middle sister, Vanessa, brutally murdered years ago and the victim of an unsolved case. As the sisters confront ghosts from the past, the discovery of another body in similar circumstances throws new light on Vanessa's death.

This was an intriguing book, with a cultish women's commune at the epicenter of several deaths besides Vanessa's. Told in alternating POV and tense between Celine and a founding sister of Two Cross Farms called Bramble, the story weaves out a complicated mystery about the dead women and who killed them. The loss of Celine and Pip's mother is little more than background and doesn't directly tie into the plot. Pip also plays only a small role until the climax of the book, as Celine is more actively helped by family friend and retired detective Una, who is one of the more entertaining characters in this book.

The threads tying the various women together are carefully woven, and there are a few surprises along the way. However, the final twist about Seed, the charismatic leader of Two Cross Farms, was so obvious I expected it back when she was first introduced, making this chapter rather anticlimactic. And the final revelation about the death of Robin (whose body is the impetus for Celine's investigation of Two Cross Farms) felt like a MacGuffin--it really shouldn't take a medical examiner two weeks to determine the manner of death. But beyond that, the story circumstance felt fresh and enjoyable, and the two narrators did a fine job--especially with Two Cross Farms founder Fern, whose voice sounded so unique I could fully picture her.

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Thanks #netgallery for this book. Good story and easy to follow transition between time frames. I enjoyed this is women focused. Thought provoking.

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I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. Very interesting story! I honestly couldn't put it down. Great murder mystery. Highly recommend. The narrator's did a great job!

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33 Women is the eighth novel from thriller writer Isabel Ashdown, but the first I have read. I will definitely be looking for other books in the future. This story is set in and around Arundel, and is an atmospheric, psychological thriller. The book opens in the 1970s when Fern is starting Two Cross Farms, a refuge for women. There are six founding members and 33 is the ideal number of inhabitant. Fast forward to May 2020 and sisters Celine and Pip have come "home" to deal with the dispensation of their reclusive and estranged mother's estate. The problem is, one sister is missing, Vanessa was killed fifteen years earlier and her boy dumped near Brighton Pier. It was assumed that she was killed by her brutal partner, but he was never found. They are joined by family friend, Una, an ex-police officer. The sisters and Una decide to see if they can find out what happened to Vanessa 15 long years ago. With the help of a friend and former colleague, the investigation ramps up. The women are sure that the neighbouring property known as a Two Cross Farm has information about her death.

This is a compelling, character-driven family drama with enough of a mystery to keep me listening. I was not sure what Two Cross Farm was all about, and it had so much secrecy surrounding it, that I also believed there must be more to them than just a refuge for women. This was a slow burn story, with two timelines. When another body is discovered and the woman's father mentioning that she was also investigating TXF, the police pick up the pace of the investigation. I enjoyed the twists and multiple layers of this story as they were peeled back. The details of the refuge/commune were fascinating to me as it is presented as a mysterious organization and I had no idea why it was so mysterious, secretive and sinister. I was sure I had figured out what was happening, with the banishments, turning over of all possessions and stringent rules that had to be followed, but, alas, I was wrong. The story had a cast of strong female characters in both timelines, but I did enjoy the present story a lot more. Having said that, the past point of view was very important to the development of the plot and story. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Candida Gubbins, Imogen Church. I have to say that the expression and tone used by the narrators ramped up the suspense and mystery a lot. The voices were well done and I certainly enjoyed listening to this one.

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33 Women was a very interesting book with a concept I haven't read before! Although sometimes frustrating, I liked the characters and identified with one. The suspense and pacing were good. The narrator was great!

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Yes, please. Oh, I want more stories like this. There are alot of characters; however, they are developed and work well. I always have trouble with unfamiliar names. With this being an audiobook, the narrators could roll names with a British accent, and it meant I had to pay attention. The narrators were fantastic. They worked seamlessly with the author's words.

The story is odd, but believable. The family dynamic was also written realistically. Each character had their own depth, and I appreciated what felt like nonfiction relationships. Once I quickly settled in, I was listening to a radio theater, and at one point found myself wondering if 33 Women would be on Masterpiece Mystery. Seriously, I would watch, put Helen Mirren in the Mother role, and I would buy the DVD.

Towards the end, I had an eye-roll, shake my head, are you kidding me few minutes. However, I confess I once again didn't calculate there were plenty of pages left to turn my thoughts around. Smiling and shaking my head, I liked the ending.

The cover is gorgeous. The foul language earns this four stars.

Thank you Dreamscape Media, Netgalley, and Isabel Ashdown.

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Secrets, murder and deception! When sisters Celine and Pip reunite to settle their estranged Mother’s estate, the discovery of a woman’s body nearby brings back the the pain and questions in the unsolved murder of their sister. Add in a secretive woman only farm community next door and a possible serial killer, now you have a story. The narrators, Imogene Church and Candida Gubbins do an excellent job voicing all the characters. The story is entertaining although it does move slowly in a few spots, but it is well worth the read.

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This was my first read from Isabel Ashdown and now I feel like I need to get my hands on all of her books! 33 Women was written so well and you can tell Ashdown is a talented writer. It is such a unique story, filled with twists and turns that will keep your mind reeling from beginning to end. I did think this psychological thriller started as a slow burn, but the latter 2/3 of the book are filled with exciting anticipating and twists I never saw coming. I really loved how this switched between the POV of the 33 women and the POV of the sisters who are investigating their middle sister's death many years ago while also grieving the recent death of their mother. The cast of characters seemed pretty complex at first but it was easy to keep track of the relationships due to the separate POVs and I found each character to have so much depth. I find that with many psychological thrillers, I love the book but hate the ending, and I am happy to say that was not the case here. I thought the ending answered so many of my questions and wrapped things up nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This one was surprisingly twisty. I did not see most of it coming! Although I sort of seen a couple things coming I could not guess the explanation and overall reveal!

I enjoyed it and really liked the dual timelines. I feel like I may have enjoyed it more if we got a different perspective on things in the past, but I understand why we have the perspectives we did.

Very well done if you enjoy cult vibes, missing people, and secrets being kept!

At no fault the book book, the arc version of the audiobook was very echoey when sped up, and this also affected my enjoyment.

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I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the voices and the story itself.
The only thing that I was a bit disappointed in that we did not get a clearer picture of what made the mother the way she was, a bit more background (good and bad) on that character would have been welcomed. The only person that had anything good to say and tried to soften the personality of the mother was Una her long term friend.
We didn’t really have a typical cult situation here but it easy to see why the local population would think that way about 33 women living together, dressed the same and except for the farm stand during market day was keeping distant from all outsiders. I can understand the desire of some woman to join this kind of arraignment. To feel protected from what had been harming them previously or simply needing the structured live offered. Not much different from living in a convent except for the religious aspect.
Both sisters a bit estranged from each other, each person dealing with their own set of problems and emotions are trying to find the way back to each other as sister before they drifted apart. Family relationships can be complicated in the best of circumstances, add the extra baggage that these sisters carried and the result can be destructive and full of self-doubt.

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This is my first exposure to this author and it definitely did not disappoint! This is a well-written, suspenseful, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot of which there are many. Her characters are well-developed though not necessarily likeable. None of them are whom they appear to be. This provocative, somewhat dark and twisted story grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing until the very end where the author inserts a deliciously wicked twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

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The first half of the book was very slow and it was hard for me to get into it, but I liked the second half and I'm glad I stuck with it. Though I wasn't completely surprised by the ending, I thought this was a good suspense novel.

The narration for the audiobook was great. Imogen Church is a treasure.

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This book tells the tale of many strong women, jumping back and forth in time from the past to the present, with two different story tellers. I liked the family dynamic between Celine and here sister, Pip, although it did take me a while to get into their characters and really come to like them. Whereas family friend and mother-figure, Una, was instantly likeable. Una was strong, surprising, reliable and the glue that holds the family together, and I wanted to be like her!

While the three women are working at clearing out their mother's house they learn the news of a woman who is found dead and it is considered a suspicious death, bringing up the painful memories of the past and their own sister's death 15 years prior. Is the new case related to their sister's case? And what does Two Cross Farm and the women who live there have to do with any of it? As the mystery pans out and the clues fall into place, I was still trying to figure out who did it and I failed to do so, which is always a lovely surprise. I listened to the audio book version and the narrators did a fantastic job building a very steady pace that had me listening for hours at a stretch it order to learn new clues and pieces of the puzzle.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audio book version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Thank you Netgalley for this advanced audio edition of 33 Women by Isabel Ashdown.

Cult books are super popular right now, and it's no wonder, they're fascinating! And I think deep down we all wonder if or how we could be lured into one. I've read multiple fiction and nonfiction books about cults, and they all terrify and intrigue me.

This one unfortunately, just didn't do it for me. In all honesty, sometimes books just don't hit you at the right time. But I attempted to get into this multiple times, and I just could not get it to stick. It jumped around a lot, and was just a LOT. There's also something that's hard for me to embrace about a caustic, all female cult. I don't know, it just wasn't for me.

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