2/5

Upcountry started very interesting but I feel like it developed into the synopsis way too quickly. After that, every character felt like it was moving too fast and I couldn’t get as connected to them as much as I wanted to. I don’t know if it just wasn’t the vibe for me at the time, but I was dreading going back to it after putting it down that I ended up Dnf-ing around the 50% mark.

I liked the narrator, so it’s not that the audiobook was bad or made the experience worse for me - I just didn’t like the general movement of the book or felt too much for the characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!

A decent book that tried to tackle a lot of interesting issues but just didn't sparkle.



Review copy provided by publisher.

Stories of three women whose lives become intertwined. None of them were very likeable and I'm not really sure what the point of the whole book was--though maybe not having a point is the point?

3.5⭐️
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting going into this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It follows the story of three separate woman whose story’s are intertwined. It was a compelling story and the narration was pretty good. Will recommend.

This was a great audiobook. I was invested in the story of Claire, April, and Anna. Claire and her artist husband buy April's house. April is a single mother whose husband is involved with drugs and has recently been released from prison. Anna is a member of a local religious group called the Eternals and is pregnant with her husband's child. Claire's husband forms a weird obsession with Anna and it ruins his marriage with Claire and derails Anna's life and security within her religious community. This was a dark story of loss, illness, betrayal, and violence. It's also about womanhood and privilege. The three women's lives become intertwined and their lives have been derailed in different ways and they're all just trying to get back.

I dont know....I enjoyed the writing style but the story itself felt all over the place. I kept waiting for the huge link between everyone, but it kind of felt like solo stories for each person in town. I would read more from Lee though to give them another chance. Overall, just okay,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This one was ok. I kept expecting an actual mystery but there really was not one.
This follows the lives of three women who become intertwined and a house in a town that has a religious group called the eternals.
I feel like this was more of a character study than a mystery.
I did still enjoy the book as the writing is lovely and the author is able to keep you interested and hanging on.
Good job by the narrator.

The tension created in this was so well done. It had horror vibes and I had to keep reminding myself that there probably wasn’t going to be a supernatural mystery or that the Eternals were not going to turn out to be eating the babies. I will say, I loved all of the characters except for the one I really wanted to like, April, which ended up being very frustrating for me towards the end.

Thank you Unnamed Press & NetGalley for the review copy.

I listened to the audiobook. This is the type of book that I feel does not work well in audio format. Not because of the narrator- I have no issues with Michelle H. Lee's narration- but because the writing style.

This is told from three POVs- Claire, April, and Anna. The story switches POVs without notice. Not at a chapter break- there are only eleven chapters. There is no "Anna" or anything to signal a POV break. It just swaps and isn't always immediately evident. I assume that this is easier to determine in a traditional format. I assume there are page breaks or something to signify the change in POV.

Because I was so frustrated with the formatting, I didn't enjoy this one a whole lot. It is hard to determine how much the formatting impacted my opinion.

I'd say definitely stick to a print version if you pick this one up.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

First off the narration is perfect. That cannot be topped. The story is strange but in a good way. I love the way the book starts out with the purchase of an old house and the birth, and death, of a baby.
I loved the characters. They are flawed and realistic.

Upcountry written by Chin-Sun Lee and narrated by Michelle H. Lee is briliant. Grade A star, 5 star, gold riband brilliant.

Firstly, Michelle H Lee does a wonderful job of narrating this audiobook. Her voice is perfection and so well suited to the narrative, subtly conveying every change and shift in the flow of the storyline, changing between dialogies fluidly and consistently

Chin-Sun Lee has written an incredible story and it is essential to advise readers to take note of the trigger warnings. All events are in context to the narrative

The book follows three women, Claire, April and Anna, whose lives are interwoven in a series of events in the town of Caliban. Claire is the tightly wound attorney who moves to Caliban from Manhattan with her husband Sebastian. April, previous owner of the house that Claire and Sebastian and mother to a son and two daughters, and Anna, a member of the "Eternals" a highly private, religious community, trying to escape from the life she has found herself in

Lee weaves the three storylines of the three women elegantly, the core events pivoting around the house, the creek and small-town malice, birth and death. All three woman and their partners and ex-partners become entwined following a tragic accident in the creek which is reflected in events throughout the book. There is a consistent sense of balance throughout the storyline, for evey action, there is an equal and/ or opposite reaction and this is so very true in this book

Dark, atmospheric, relatable, utterly, utterly outstanding. If i could give 10 stars I would

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the incredible author Chin-Sun Lee and outstanding Narrator Michelle H. Lee for this fantastic ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own