A well-paced story told across dual timelines, then and now across dual POVs from the Pool family. It got a little confusing with the back and forth, and the changing in location. I lost track a few times and reading this in print might be easier to follow. Three stars.

Audiobook production and narration. Amanda Troop did a fantastic job with all the voices and accents throughout the story. 4 stars.

Thank you Hachette Audio, Mulholland Books + NetGalley for allowing me to listen to Hard Girls before it was published! Hard Girls is out tomorrow, 20th February 2024 ✌🏻 #HardGirls #NetGalley

Book Review: "Hard Girls" Audiobook by J. Robert Lennon, Narrated by Amanda Troop

In the riveting audiobook "Hard Girls," author J. Robert Lennon takes listeners on a dark and suspenseful journey alongside estranged twin sisters, Jane and Lila, as they embark on a quest to track down their elusive mother. Narrated with skill and depth by Amanda Troop, this gripping crime novel delves into the complexities of family dynamics, secrets, and the shadows of the past.

Jane Pool, a woman content with her ordinary suburban life, is suddenly thrust into a world of mystery and danger when Lila reappears, claiming to hold the key to their mother's whereabouts. As the sisters delve deeper into their family's history, they confront long-buried secrets, deception, and a darkness that threatens to consume them.

Through a blend of genres including chase novel, espionage thriller, and domestic suspense, "Hard Girls" captivates listeners with its intricate narrative, unexpected twists, and atmospheric storytelling. J. Robert Lennon's masterful writing, combined with Amanda Troop's compelling narration, creates an immersive and unforgettable audiobook experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Such an unusual, high octane and entertaining family drama involving a CIA operative turned drug Kingpin mother and her two daughters who have an equally gray code of morals and reunite to track her down and get answers.

Full of complex characters, lots of action and unexpected twists, this book kept me guessing right to the end but was extremely enjoyable and good on audio too. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hard Girls by J. Robert Lennon, an audiobook narrated by Amanda Troop is a busy crime story/family drama full of secrets and discoveries.
It started strong! My interest was so intense, I wanted to know what the hell happened. But halfway through it started to fall a bit flat, felt a bit too stretched and I could not wait to find out the answers.

All in general I really enjoyed the storyline and how intense and active the book was but I would prefer if the book would be shorter and stay on focus.
I loved the narrator Amanda Troop! She was just perfect for this book! Her reading was clear and full of intonation and I loved her voice, it suited so much to this book!

Jane lives her quite ordinary life until her estranged twin, Lila, makes contact. Lila claims she knows where to find their mother but Jane can't decide if this is important enough to leave her daughter for the time being as she knows how it feels when a mother walks out.
Curiosity takes over and Jane is ready to meet Lila but she doesn't know how much changes this visit will bring to her life.

Thank you, NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Mulholland Books for this copy!

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley. I am providing an honest review.

The basics:
Twenty years ago, Jane Pool’s mother abandoned her family and all she’s ever known. Ten years later, her twin sister Lila did the same. In the present day, Jane is an exhausted mother. Her marriage is in shambles, her in-laws are toxic, her father is dependent on Jane’s support, and Jane is stifled by her routine and corporate job.
When Lila sends Jane a cryptic email with information on their mother, Jane drops everything for the chance to heal from her past.

My thoughts:
I listened to the audiobook version of this novel and I absolutely loved this narrator. She was energetic, dynamic, and entertaining. There was a very clear difference between the past and present, as well as clear differences in character perspective. Despite being a long novel, the narration was so interesting that it flew past

Additionally, I loved the plot basis of this novel. To me, the novel was reminiscent of Karin Slaughter’s style. I also thought each character was extremely unique and multi-dimensional. They each had a very distinctive personality. I loved the power dynamics between Lila and Jane, as well as Harry and Annabelle. I would definitely read a sequel to this!

I do have a few criticism. I felt that some of the details on Lila and Jane’s backgrounds really dragged. For example, I don’t think it was necessary to hear so much about their theatre summer camp, their mother’s affair, or their interest in spy toys. I also think their time on the run really could’ve been cut down, as it dragged in a lot of places. I also don’t think Harry’s chapters were needed at all (I think it would’ve been a larger plot twist without those chapters too).

Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to anyone that’s looking for a great thriller!

I didn't really enjoy this story, for the most part I"m not sure what the point was of the events that occured.

It was my first audiobook from Netgalley and the experience was very pleasant. The narrator’s performance is smooth and engaging. The plot is quite original and well-plotted. The two main characters are intriguing and their relationship dynamic is gripping; it is probably my favorite part of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Mulholland Books, and Hachette Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of this intriguing novel by J. Robert Lennon and perfectly narrated by Amanda Troop - 4 stars!

Jane Pool is trying to live a normal, quiet life, working in admin at the local college where her father is a professor. She's trying to keep her aging dad's life together as well as be a good mom to her daughter, despite constant criticism from her mother-in-law. Then she gets a cryptic call from her estranged sister, Lila, who says she has info on their mother, who left them years ago. So begins a clandestine adventure to find the truth.

This story is told from the past and present timelines. It has a little bit of everything - family dysfunction and loyalty, coming-of-age issues, espionage, cat-and-mouse chases, with lots of family secrets thrown in the mix. All of the Pool family members seem to be quite detached and a bit unfeeling, but I liked how the sisters were there for each other no matter what. A good read!

Thank you NetGalley and Mullholland Books for this ALC.

It has been a long time since I have seen this level of originality in a novel. This novel sweeps time periods and locations and is the perfect mix of mystery and family drama. This novel is layered and poignant, while funny. Through a feminist lens, the reader will examine ideas of sexuality, maturity, motherhood, sisterhood, self-identity and fulfilling one's goals.

It is a dizzying ride at times, as this novel moves quickly and there are numerous timeline and point of view jumps, however, there is never a dull moment. The way these various pieces come together is masterful and adds to the overall superb nature of this mystery!

University students are being addressed as "kids", mother-daughter relationship is nothing like any I've seen before, more like a sister-to-sister, a child is being tested for ADHD just to be diagnosed with sarcasm, a creepy professor who eavesdrops on his student and finds the university's mascot bear "strangely sexual".

Either the humour is lost on me or this book scores really low on the authenticity scale.

With all fairness, a lot of the initial creepiness and dysfunction is being explained in the plot but the book overall is written with a cartoonish quality and the narration only emphasizes that quality.

The writing is detached and unemotional and the plot uninspired and half baked. In plain words the book just didn't hold my interest. I couldn't help thinking that with the type of dark humour, aloofness, and a simplistic way of writing "Hard Girls" was meant to be a comic book and not a full size novel.

Super cool cover art though.

p.s. In this book withholding information from the reader while constantly alluding to said information is used as a plot device. A huge pet peeve of mine.

I was intrigued by the description of Hard Girls by J. Robert Lennon. Sisters, Jane and Lila, reconcile to find their absentee mother and unravel the secrets that bind them together. Unexpectedly, the plot began with the makings of a very cool spy thriller.

Jane Pool’s past has had a huge effect on her marriage and family life. As an ex-con she is beholden to her husband and mother-in-law’s heavy-handed approach to the raising of her daughter. She is unhappy with her life, her parenting, and her relationships. One day she gets a cryptic email from her estranged sister Lila. Lila has found their mother and believes they must seek her out together to put the missing pieces of their childhood together.
The novel progresses through the past and present, developing the backstories of the sisters and their relationships. Jane’s story takes the longest to develop and do not expect to find out why she spent time in prison until the final third of the book. Lila remains much of an enigma and there is a whole section of her story that is never developed.

I listened to the audio production of this book and the narration was extremely well done by Amanda Troope. Due to the narration, I remained captivated until the end. However, I felt no personal connection to any of the characters. I also did not care either way about Jane’s home-life predicament or her relationship with her daughter. This type of unfeeling may have been intentional, as Jane herself is unfeeling, but it felt more underdeveloped. Despite this, the story is worth the read.

Did-Not-Finish @32%

I tried 3 different times to really get into this, and I just couldn't.
I seemed to get lost every, damn time.
IDK maybe it was the narrator, maybe it's the story, maybe it's me.

Some people seem to enjoy this book; however, I cannot make it past this point.

I do want to thank #Netgalley and #Hachetteaudio for an advanced copy of this audio, I wouldn't have even made it to 30% otherwise.

Two twin sisters follow a scavenger hunt that seems like it will lead them to their long lost mother, but they get more than they bargained for. This book was wild and never for one second did I know where it was heading or whose side I was on.

Enjoyed this book very much—it was a thrilling dash, back and forth in the timeline, through lives of twins, Jane and Lila Pool. Had all the tropes I like: women rescuing themselves and each other, women doing crimes, women and espionage, etc. It was a lot of fun and seems to be the start of an exciting series.

The story is fine. There’s too much mundane details to hold my attention for either timeline. I like the characters and the story is easy to follow. I wish the author spent more time in the present and explored more of the current relationship of the sisters (some aspects didn’t ring true considering what happened in the past) and upped the urgency and thrills.

It looks like this book worked for a lot of people so if the synopsis sounds interesting to you, check it out.

Edge of your seat crime novel with interesting characters. Story drifts in and out of flashbacks without getting lost and demonstrating good character development. The story itself is a bit implausible (but what do I know of criminal activity). Narrator is quite good with natural speech and geographical accents.

I wonder how life would be like if I have a CIA agent for a mother. Would she continue being a normal mother who cooks, cleans, takes care of children or would she be like the mother these poor girls have? Because these hard girls mother would show up once in a while to check if they are breathing and leave without a goodbye. They grew up knowing that their mother was not so interested in parenting. They relied on each other more than anyone else.

Years later after one of the twins started a family, the other knocked on her door to say she found their mother. Leaving her family behind, she joined her sister to find some answers. This could mean losing her daughter in a custody battle but she had to know why her mother left her behind. When they found her though, she did not know if she made the right decision.

If you liked Narcos but want a version where women in charge, you might like this book too.

Jane Pool lives the perfect suburban life: nice house, nice car, nice husband, nice kid, but she’s not happy. Everything changes when her twin sister, who she hasn’t heard from in 10 years, sends a cryptic message to her email.

The Pool sisters then go on a hunt to find their long-lost mother, all the while Jane abandons her own daughter (talk about generational trauma, right?). Jane’s husband threatens to divorce her and take full custody of their daughter and her mother-in-law forbids her of talking to her daughter. Turns out Jane’s sister is hiding a lot from her, some of it might be helpful with the divorce, but some of it might be related to her mother’s disappearance.

I thought the story was very good, I like how there are some big revelations in each chapter that are treated like a normal thing. That is, there’s no build up to the revelation and suddenly the information is there, and you are like “wow I can’t believe this” I have to re-read this part.

I received the audiobook version of this book and Amanda Troope does an amazing job at conveying the voices of different characters. I like how she has a slight accent when reading the mother and aunts in the book.

One thing that I AM OBSESSED WITH IN THESE MYSTERY THRILLER IS: WHY IS THE HUSBAND ALWAYS ALWAYS AN ASSHOLE? Can we get a thriller where the husband is not a self-centered bastard?

Thank you NetGalley and Mulholland Books/Hachette Audio for the ARC and the opportunity to share what I think!

I read several chapters of this story but I just couldn't get immersed in the story. I wanted a cutting nior story and instead I found a rather flat story with one dimensional characters.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

On HARD GIRLS, two estranged twin sisters (being apart for over a decade) get reunited in order to follow some leads on their mother's whereabouts. Their mother disappeared from their lives when they were teenagers and since then the sisters' lives took on a chaotic turn and, eventually, their relationship fell apart.
But they team up again (over a heavily load of dirty laundry between them) and go track down their mother.
This book is being marketed as a thriller. In my opinion, that is a little exaggerated. The book only takes a thrilling moment in the final 30 or 20% of the book. For over half of this story we follow a dual timeline between the past - when the sisters were kids and teenagers and how their family dynamic worked back then - and the present with two adult sisters trying to figure out what happened to their mom.
What I most enjoyed about this reading was the fact that the two sisters have complete opposite personalities from each other, and the author doesn't make (in my opinion) the mistakes to make them cliché and predictable.
I gotta say...I listened to the audiobook, and I found the narrator to be really good. She did a great job voicing all the different characters throughout the whole book. Probably because the audio was done really well, I felt myself invested in the story the whole time. I pretty much listened to the whole thing in 24 hours. Otherwise. I'm not so sure I would have enjoyed this book as much as I did,
My only real and honest reservation here would be: this book is too long. There were times the author was trying to say and do several things at the same time and, to me, it didn't pay off. Too many 'flashbacks' and visits to memory lane.
Either way, I enjoyed it. And I do recommend the audio format.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a free audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review.