This book was interesting but it wasn't for me It didn't keep my attention as well as other books like it and I would not recommend it

DNF :(

Thanks Dreamscape media for the chance to listen and review this one. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I always listen to my audiobooks on my way to work and was not expecting how descriptive the sexual scenes would be in this one. I'm no prude, but just not my jam when trying to wake up and go to work. The story itself was fairly interesting, but moved a bit slower than I would have preferred. I could tell there was potential here and would have revisited if this one didn't archive.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I despised this book from the very beginning. I'm serious that this is one of the worst books I've ever read. The sex was WAY overdone to the point of it not being believable. 10% into the book and I was over the sex already. It overtook the plot. The misogyny in this book made me think it was written by a man. I'm sorry but I can't believe that a woman would write other women like this. I've read many books with unlikeable characters, but these women were so stereotypical that it was laughable. I was so disappointed.

The writing style wasn't bad, but the content was awful. I actually had requested the sequel unknowingly and I will not be listening to that or reviewing it. By 20%, I wanted to run as far away from this book as possible. I had to force myself to finish it. I actually skimmed the rest at 3x speed just to get through it. There will be people who like this book, but I wasn't one of them.

This book was not an enjoyable time. I found the characters to be a one dimensional. This made for a brutal 10 hours. This book maybe for some just not me.

While billed as a “thriller” it hardly kept my interest as such. This was a glimpse into the making and sustaining of a long running soap opera, but the book sounded like a soap opera as well.
   It all focused, as per the title, around woman and what they conspired to do to retain their prominence in the TV domain. There were the affairs, the many plastic surgeries, the underhandedness, back stabbing and how all their histories were intertwined over the years.
   Her colorful descriptions of the various characters allowed the reader to conjure up a precise visual concept of the cast of this motley crew.
   The bombshell at the end was worth listening to all the drama that occurred leading up to it.

10% in and couldn't get any further. The audiobook is not the way to go with this book... I couldn't find the mystery/thriller aspect. It was written in the context of a soap opera and I truly tried, but found it uneventful and uninteresting.

This book wasn’t for me but I can see the appeal for some people. It’s definitely more steamy than I had thought and for some reason that’s always hard for me when it comes to audio books. I would much rather read it than listen to someone read it to me. Overall I didn’t feel like the characters had much depth. It was a miss for me but I would recommend to my dark romance lovers.

Ruthless Women
Melanie Blake
This is not a pleasant book. I listened to several hours and gave up. The plot had potential but fell way short of my expectations. The women in this book are self-absorbed and self-defeating. I can find no redeeming qualities in this tale. Even the sex scenes left a lot to be desired. Perhaps the behind the scenes of shows really are this ruthless but I doubt it.
I do not believe I have ever given a book a one star but there is always a first time.

GROSS! Having lived in Hollywood for many years, and having a close pal who is a woman casting director, I was eager to read a story about women getting even in a male-dominated industry… what I’ve been given is paragraph after paragraph describing 🍆 and sex. I really wish books came with a warning if they contained graphic sexual details so I didn’t waste my time. I don’t understand how anyone wants to read about someone thrusting and putting fingers in various places. I’ve never quit a book so fast.

This was not a good book I did not like it.
It was hard to get through. I have to write a 100 words so that's that

DNF @ almost 2/3 through.

I was expecting to kind of love this one, but I really didn’t. I didn’t like most of the major characters at all…there was little that was particularly empathy-inducing about any of them. The plot just didn’t catch my attention as much as I’d thought it would either. A lot of women had a lot of sex with a lot of people (and good for them! it sounds like everyone was on board!), but I guess I was just looking for a bit more of an actual story. I probably could’ve stuck it out until the end of this one, but it just didn’t feel worth it right now. Ah, well. On to the next one.

Set on an island where a famous soap opera is filmed, this book focuses on the personal interactions of cast, crew and management. The characters are vividly constructed and the story line flows easily. There are several strong female characters and each has their own struggles to overcome in order to reach their goals. The events leading up to the final plot climax are suspenseful enough for one to imagine several different outcomes. I enjoyed listening to this book, but could have done with a bit less graphic description of the sex scenes.

After reading the synopsis I found myself looking forward to this listen. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.

The synopsis makes it sound like a mystery and I guess it is - but the mystery is overshadowed by the ridiculous amount of drama. It’s just pages and pages of drama. Okay I get it - it’s a soap opera in a book - but oh my goodness. The ridiculous drama of a tv show just isn’t translating well into a book - or in this case an audiobook.

The narrator did a great job though. That’s definitely a huge plus and one of the only reasons I finished as quickly as I did!

⭐️⭐️

Great concept and something that I would read but I just did not like this book. I don’t know if it was the narrator or the story. It was not horrible but it was not my favorite either.

This was quite the book! Wow. So much drama, sex, and terrible people. For some reason, this book was under “mystery and thrillers”. I would definitely not put this book in that genre, so that could be why I didn’t fully enjoy it.

This book was soooo long. Listening to most of the beginning was actually a bit boring. It was long winded and I hated how the narrator said “schedule”. Drove me insane. The book only started to pick up around like 80%. I truly don’t think there was one character I liked (hence the title of the book, I should have known). Sometimes, that works for books, but this wasn’t one of them.

I gave it 3 starts instead of 2 because of the ending. It finally gave it some shock factor that didn’t have to do with who slept with who.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy
DIdn't love it and didn't hate it.

Check it out for yourself









***

"Ruthless Women" centers on the behind-the-scenes dramas of "Falcon Bay, a soap opera filmed off the coast of the channel islands, with declining figures. Trying to reclaim its spot as the number 1 soap, the stars and crew work to get the tv show back on top again. Through soap-worthy plots, it's clear that the off-camera lots are just as scandalous as what goes on in front of the camera. This was trashy, raunchy and a quick read.

Not my usual genre but enjoyable for summer as a beach read for trashy escapism, this is recommended for fans of tv shows like "footballers wives".

Like most of Melanie Blake‘s books this was long but goes by in the flash. When the cast of falcon base it’s told to come up with a concept or they’re all getting fired the casting producer comes up with a great one hire a devious woman to stir things up on the bay and after a debate whether she should be young or middle-age like most of the women on the cast it is determined they will hire a younger woman to come and shake things up. Then they are told they will have a Christmas shell… Done live on Christmas Day. When it comes to deviousness it will not be the young actress they hire nor will it be strictly on there that things get shaken up. With only certain people doing their dude due diligence to keep everything running smoothly and with the American investors watching their every move it may not be the ratings that brings them down in the end. Can they keep the homes they love to live in or will these women being ruthless ruin it for everyone? I love Melanie Blake‘s books and this one is no exception. I also love that most of the characters were middle-aged or older. The only thing I couldn’t keep up with everyone’s names there was so many people in this book but having said that I still listen to it and I loved it and if you love behind the scenes inner fighting, love affairs, Eagles and more you’ll love this book. It is glamour personified. I was given this book by Nat Galli and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

I listened to this audiobook and the narrator wasn't my favorite. It would have been great if she varied her voice when narrating different characters. Or if they hired at least one more person to read different parts of the story. Unfortunately, that really took away from the story for me.

The story was about Ruthless Women who were all involved one way or another in a soap opera that was about to celebrate it's 40th year anniversary. I never read or listened to a book about a soap so that was new and kinda neat.

I feel like certain parts of the book were given too much page space and others that should have gotten more page time didn't get nearly enough.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘐𝘧
🧼 you like fictional books about soap operas
🧼 you read books about catty women
🧼 inflection and/or tone of narrator's voice doesn't impact your audiobook

Sadly I couldn’t even finish this book! I was trying so hard to get into it but I felt like nothing was happening besides explaining that their show rating was down . I don’t know I just couldn’t get into the story I didn’t feel like it had any thrill to it. I feel bad being so honest but the book just wasn’t for me .