2.5- 3⭐️

I’ve tried sitting after I finished to let my thoughts settle but I am struggling to write this review. I’ve never come across a book before that was so slowly paced but that had my attention. It picked up at the end but as the saying goes….it was too little too late. The age gap was creepy because Tom is introduced to Catherine when she is 14 and they’re married within a few years 😬 I feel with how Tom is supposed to be this big mastermind of who knows what but he’s barely in the book and there’s hardly any interactions between him and Catherine. While this one didn’t do anything for me, I am still curious about the author’s back catalog.

What an amazing read! Kept me on my toes the entire time, and I couldn't stop listening! Highly recommend!

.75⭐️ thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this Audiobook.

I will say this book didn’t have the normal plot setup that most domestic thrillers have and I appreciated that.
This was my first book by Cole Baxter and I’d be willing to read another by them.

This story follows Catherine and Tom who have been married for 5 years. They go out to a nice dinner for their anniversary and Tom pressures Catherine to celebrate with alcohol which she knows she shouldn’t do. They get into a car accident that changes the trajectory of their relationship and life.

Ugh. I can't remember the last time I actively despised every single thing about a book, like I did with this one.

The only positive thing I can say is that grammatically The Anniversary seemed intact, even though it's hard to tell with an audiobook. Regardless, bravo to the copy editor on that feat.

Everything else? Crap. Crap characters doing crappy things. Unbelievable scenarios that never resolve with something that makes them even slightly palatable. Overall, this book carries all the triggers and none of the satisfying resolution. If you loved Jane Doe as a great revenge story against an example of a horribly entitled and controlling man, you will certainly NOT love The Anniversary.

Did I finish it? Yes. Do I wish I had bailed after the second chapter, when I knew in my gut I was going to regret sticking with it? Also yes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Cole Baxter for this pre-release audiobook of The Anniversary narrated by Stephanie Cannon. This review will be shared on Goodreads and NetGalley.

2/5 stars.

After a beautiful anniversary dinner ends in murder, how could the man she loved ruthlessly blame her for it? She wasn’t even the one that was driving the car, why is he making these false accusations?

The story started off promising and I was wondering what direction the book would take, but as it went on I found myself zoning out a bit. Stephanie Cannon did a good job narrating but the storyline just didn’t pull me in and keep me focused.
I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters unfortunately. The story had potential but it felt unrealistic. Overall it was not executed as well as it could have been.
⭐️⭐️/5

It definitely kept me on edge the whole time, but seemed too similar to the housemaid and the perfect marriage. It was very much a tug of war between what seemed realistic and what was just a spiral of the story especially the last half of the book.

DNF at 26% this is not a very well written or thought out story. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

First I’ll start with the positive… The narrator did an amazing job and was by far the best part of this audiobook. Her voice was perfect for the main young, naïve character, Katherine.

The Anniversary had the potential to be a great thriller in the first quarter of the book. However…
**Spoiler**After Katherine got into the car again with Tom is when this story lost all credibility. The dude tried to frame you for murder and tried to kill you and you’re still sticking around?!

Also, the word “cacophony” was overused to the point of distraction. I’m not sure why this bothered me as much as it did, maybe because there are many other words and phrases that could have been used to convey the same message.

This Audiobook had my emotions all over the place. I never hated a man more than I hated this husband!! He was very cunning and calculating in his moves against his own wife. She was so blindsided that she had no way to defend herself. It was an edge of your seat can't wait to see how this is going to play out type of book. I really enjoyed it! I would recommend it to all my book friends.

I enjoyed getting to listen to this book as an audiobook and I definitely think it helped me fly through this book. I struggled with how I wanted to rate this book. As for the plot, I struggled with it. I love a good thriller and I really enjoyed the idea behind this story but I had some moments that I just couldn’t believe would ever happen even with small town corruption. There were moments I was so frustrated/upset on behalf of Catherine. Overall, good read, happy I finished it but I don’t know if I would reread.

Narration:
The narrator did a wonderful job of differing the voices for the characters, male vs female. I think the narration for Catherine was very true to her naive personality.

**Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The Anniversary starts out with an interesting premise. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was fantastic. The relationship between Tom and Catherine was bizarre enough at first, but the story itself downright flabbergasted me once you threw in the townsfolk. It’s unusually written. This is my first Cole Baxter book. I’ll check out his others and see what they’re like.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookature Audio for providing with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I don't think I have every despised a character in a book as much as I have in this one. I absolutely want to strangle Tom as his conniving and condescending attitude just about sent me over the edge. Then I stopped to think that if an author can make this character get to me that much, then the Author must have done an amazing job writing this book. I did need to take breaks from reading at times because of Tom but it was like a train wreck where you just had to keep reading to see how in the world this crazy story would end. I think part of it was the audio version of the book. I loved the narration of the book but when it jumped to the voice of the characters, I was not a fan of that as Tom was just annoying and Kathryn was too wishy washy and meek. Enjoy!!! This once gets a 3.5 star rating for me just because of how the author made me feel about the characters!!

I'm afraid to say that it took me a while to plod through this. Something about the pacing and plot timeline choice destroys the suspense and believability and unfortunately the unlikeable characters were not enough to keep my interest.

I generally rate on the high side, but this book barely got 1 star. I don’t like to give such a low review but it just dragged on and was not suspenseful at all. The main character seemed ditzy and whiny and her husband was like a cartoon evil villain. Too predictable and drawn out. I had to force myself to finish it so that I could give a full review. It also didn’t help that I did not enjoy the narrator. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book.

I received an advanced audio copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The cover and plot description had me interested...it all went downhill after the first 5 minutes. I think if I wasn't doing this as an audiobook I absolutely would have DNF'd this story. It was beyond unrealistic and every time I thought it couldn't get worse or more far fetched...it did. The narrator did a good job with what she had and had it not been for her narration I absolutely wouldn't have stuck it out until the end. Mainly because I was convinced the story could redeem itself somehow.

I received an arc of the audiobook from NetGalley. I was very excited to listen to this book after reading the description of the book. The story came out strong and hard. I was immediately intrigued.

After a few chapters in something changed. I felt like it was too much going on to try to add action that wasn’t realistic for me, and took away from what I thought this book would be like. I’m not sure I would personally call this a thriller. I couldn’t get past some of the none sense to really enjoy this book. It wasn’t for me and I give this book 1.75⭐️.

Every time I thought... it's going to get better.. it, in fact, did not get better

Katherine and Tom are married. They are celebrating their 5-year anniversary. There's champagne, the best money can buy. Katherine doesn't want it, but Tom insists. On the way home, Tom is going way too fast. There's a crash. A woman is killed. Katherine is found in the drivers seat, although Tom was the one driving.
Tom picks out her clothes for her. She doesn't get to choose her attire for the day. He gives her chores to do while at home
No one sees the narcissist that Tom is
His friends praise him. Katherine has no friends who would believe that she wasn't the one driving. Tom has even taken account to have the neighbors side with him. He tells them Katherine is an alcoholic. They believe Tom and rally up against Katherine. They are trying to make her admit that she was the one driving instead of Tom
The more she relentless, the more they try to punish her and force her into saying she was the one driving
😴😴

This audiobook was a roller-coaster!

Tom and Catherine are out to dinner for their anniversary. After champagne and a lovely meal they head home but get into a car accident.

When Catherine wakes in the hospital the police question her as to the events of the crash. Her husband is telling the police that she was the driver not him.

Then it just gets wild! That the only word I can think of to describe it. Tom is such an awful person, I wanted to scream. I could not stand him.

Overall a great book but I was really hoping for another twist in the plot at the end.

Thanks Netgalley, Cole Baxter and Bookouture Audio for this ARC audio book.

Soooo.....
The plot on this one was TERRIFIC!
The opening on this was TERRIFIC!
The suspense and craziness was also terrific!

BUT...really????

I feel like this book could have been done in literally HALF the time. (See notes below...for my rant)

My review: Catherine and Tom have been married for 5 years! They are celebrating at a VERY nice restaurant. Catherine is a bit worried, as this is NOT their norm... Tom is spending a LOT of money tonite. And she's not sure why. He also coerces her to drink some champagne, although she absolutely does NOT want to, because it messes with her meds...(Then why are you listening to him????)
They leave the restaurant and Tom is driving like an idiot. Catherine implores him to SLOW DOWN...he does not. Then tragedy strikes...

This is all in chapter 1 (I think...it's the first few minutes of the book). Unbelievable start! But, then things take a huge turn...more like an about face...and all the crazy starts!
And that is what kept me glued to the book....

#TheAnniversary by #ColeBaxter and narrated beautifully by #StephanieCannon.

2 1/2 ⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 3. (Please see below for why I am giving a book I liked such a low rating...)

⭐️. Loving husband?? Gaslighting. Abuse. Much older… Powerful…
⭐️. Naive, much younger wife. Trusts his every word…
💫. Can anyone help her out???

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which releases on 4/19/24...so a little over a week from now!

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Thanks so much for reading! And if you 'liked' my review, please share with your friends!! 📚⭐️

Also, has anyone else read this? Thoughts??

My rant: The author goes all out on description...which is fine...maybe once or twice...but not 5,000 times. (EG: The sky is blue. Chapter 1. The sky is a light, beautiful blue. Chapter 1.25. The sky was glazed blue. Chapter 1.4. The sky was blue with some clouds. Chapter 1.5.....OK...we get it already! THE SKY WAS BLUE!!! You do NOT need to repeat the same thing a thousand times.... I cannot tell you how many times I picked up my phone thinking it somehow skipped back a chapter, or two...because I was hearing the EXACT SAME THING!!! But no, it was just repeated...ad nauseum.....

Now that I got that out of my system...I did love the book, as I said. It definitely had good bones!

But. also a lot of plot holes, as I've seen mentioned in multiple reviews.
One example is when Catherine is in the hospital. I am a nurse. Have been for years. When a patient comes in you take stock of what EXACTLY is going on. You note all the things you observe..in the CHART...for all time. THEY ARE DOCUMENTED! So the fact that her bruises were NEVER noticed is ridiculous...I don't care what the plot is!!

Some crazy stuff going on in this one....

3ish stars

This one was all over the place. The pacing felt kind of off to me; the first part was action-packed and dramatic, and while the second half was tense, it largely felt slow in comparison. Much of the story also felt unrealistic, but in drastically different ways- it fluctuated from things going unbelievably badly to unimaginably well at a dizzying speed. It might just be me, but some of the descriptions of the violence felt rather gratuitous, the depictions of the gaslighting were a bit heavy-handed, and I felt my attention wandering by the time I got to the conclusion. Although I usually feel like I know what to expect from this writer (and will still request their books when I’m in the mood for a quick, fun, so-called popcorn thriller), this one just wasn’t my favourite.