I enjoyed this narrator more than I've enjoyed any audiobook narrator so far. Her voice was very soothing. The two timelines is always thrilling to me to see where the timelines converge. I could tell where the story was going, but didn't realize how far. The ending!! What happens next?

Audiobook Review 📖🎧

thank you so much macmillan audio for the gifted audiobook!

I Would Die for You
by Sandie Jones
Narrated by Imogen Wilde

About the book 👇🏽

California, 2011: Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in the small seaside town of Coronado with her husband and daughter. She is not expecting a writer to knock on her door asking for her personal insight into the downfall of the biggest British band of the 1980s—unveiling the threads of a life she left behind years ago. The same day, her daughter goes missing and the school claims her aunt picked her up . . . but she doesn’t have an aunt. Convinced of a link between the two, Nicole is forced to revisit long-abandoned memories from her past to protect everything she now holds dear.

London, 1986: Sixteen-year-old Cassie is obsessed with Secret Oktober, the hottest band of the moment. Harboring an intense crush on the leading man, Ben Edwards, she will do anything she can to capture his attention among the throngs of groupies at the band’s scandalous backstage parties. But when Ben discovers her older sister Nicole singing at a local bar one night, he can’t help but feel drawn to her, setting in motion a collision course that could tear their family apart.

🎧 My thoughts:

I really had trouble getting into this story. I thought the narration was fine but overall the story did not hold my attention. I preferred the 1986 timeline but even still, I wasn’t in love with it all. I didn’t find the characters to be likable and I wasn’t invested in the story, which really bums me out. I really wanted to love this book but it fell flat. I am so happy to see there are other good reviews for this book though!

Happy reading 📖 🎧

NetGalley ARC

I am honestly struggling to find a single nice thing to say about this one. Every single person in this story was absurd.

This book was a recipe for nonsense:
- 2 Delulu teens who think their rockstar idols are in love with them, and seem to think that matters more than family or ethics
- 1 Teenager with zero faith in her boyfriend
- 1 Husband who never noticed that his wife has been dying her hair for years (!) - does his wife not have roots she has to dye? c'mon.
- 1 Overbearing father
- 1 Enabling mother
- 1 Poor child who through no fault of her own was apparently never taught not to talk to strangers for her entire 8 or so years
- 1 Police force who bought a poorly staged crime scene
- An entire cast of characters who may well be compulsive liars
- Random occurrences of things being in American measurements instead of British, which, I'll admit, is mostly just a pet peeve of mine

I was bored out of my mind. Nothing in this story made sense, the POV transitions were confusing because everyone sounds the same, and every single twist beggard belief to the point that I was starting to worry I'd sprain my eyeballs with all the rolling they were doing. This is my third Sandie Jones book. I didn't like the other 2 that I read any more than this one, and I think it's time I admit that Sandie Jones' books are simply not for me.

Often times the audiobook narration helps lift a book like this for me, but it wasn't enough here and the accent switching just didn't work for me.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

3.75/5 (rounded up)

This was one wild ride! I was hooked from the start—which is impressive, considering most of the characters were downright insufferable. I couldn’t help but feel for Nicole, even with her flaws, while Cassie was, as another reviewer put it, utterly deplorable. There’s truly no better word for her—she was downright delusional at times.

I love a good band story, and this one delivered. Secret Oktober’s rise to fame was explored from every angle, showing how it impacted each character in different ways. The twists and turns kept me engaged—some were predictable, but others genuinely shocked me. The ending, while chaotic and fast-paced, didn’t quite live up to the build-up for me, but it was still a thrilling ride.

This book was perfect for a long day in the car. I have only read a few Sandie Jones novel so far, and I definitely enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more of her work.

Audio Comments: Imogen Wilde was fantastic. It was amusing to hear her narrate such a dark, twisty story right after a smutty romance, but if anything, it proved she can do it all!

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC & Macmillan Audio, for the advanced listening copy!

3.75/5 rounded up

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

This was one wild ride! I must say, I was hooked from the very beginning, which is saying something considering most of the characters were utterly insufferable. I really felt for Nicole, even though she was flawed, too. I saw another review that described Cassie as "deplorable," and I think there is no better word for her. She was truly deluded at times.

I really love a band story of any kind, and I thought this one was well-executed. We kind of saw every side of Secret Oktober's fame and the ways in which this affected each character differently. There were so many twists and turns throughout, though some of them did end up being predictable, others caught me completely off guard. The ending, while insane and fast-paced, was a bit of a letdown to me after the chaos and build up of the rest of the story.

I can easily say that I was latched onto this book from start to finish, finding excuse to do household chores or take walks just to finish it. I enjoyed it more than other Sandie Jones I've read and definitely makes me want to pick up more of hers moving forward.

Audio Comments: Imogen Wilde did a fantastic job narrating this. It was funny to hear her voice this dark and twisty tale immediately after listening to her narrate a smutty romance, but after these two I can confidently say she can do it all!

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-----------THIS COULD BE A SPOILER -----------

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but this reminded me of A LOVELY LIE in some ways, and that did make me predict certain parts of this (though they were still twister than even I expected!) earlier than I would have otherwise. -------

2.5 stars rounded up.

Nicole Forbes has tried to hide her past as an unintentional groupie of the hit band Secret October for 25 years but it all comes flooding back when someone posing as a reporter shows up at her house one day asking questions about the band. The very same day, her daughter goes missing when a supposed aunt picks her up from school. Little does she know that everything is tied together and will come unraveled…

I did not find any of these characters to be like-able in any way, shape, or form. The story bounced back and forth between 2011 and 1986 and multiple perspectives. And I found the last 1/4 of the book to be very convoluted and hard to follow. I’ve enjoyed many of Sandie’s previous works but I wouldn’t put this one high on any list. I listened to the audio and found it hard to distinguish when each character changed other than a small time stamp or name drop at the beginning of the chapters.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an arc of this audiobook in exchange for my review.

Nicole is living her life with her husband and daughter when a writer knocks on her door asking about the downfall of a popular 80s band Nicole was involved with. Flashback to the 80s and we find out that Nicole's sister, Cassie, is obsessed with the band, especially the lead singer, Ben. She doesn't know that Ben heard Nicole singing one night, and one thing led to another, and Ben and Nicole have been seeing each other and recording music in secret. This dual timeline novel jumps back and forth from the present to the 80s as we see the effects that fandom and obsession can have on some young girls. Things quickly escalate in this novel, and everything comes to a head at the end. This was ok, even though there wasn't really any closure, just not my favorite by this author. The narrator did a great job!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Enjoyable mystery with good narration.

Loved this! Fans of Mayluna or Daisy Jones will enjoy this complex story about a band, its members and the ones who are closest to them. Such a great read.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.

I listened to the eaudiobook edition, but I didn’t love it. It required me to really think about the characters and the time frame the story was in. There were lots of characters, and it bounced around more than I expected.

The ending was good, because it left it open but if you don’t like to create your own thoughts for the ending then you might want to skip this one.

This was an interesting one. There were a few times that I could not keep the characters straight, and I had to relisten to parts. There were a couple surprises, but the biggest surprises seemed farfetched and just too much. The evilness of one of the characters seemed to come out of nowhere.

The narrator, Imogen Wilde, does a nice job narrating both English and American accents.

The narrator earns 3.5-4 stars, but the book falls flat with 2.5-ish stars.

Engaging, entertaining, and well-narrated. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

Thank you for the opportunity to read I Would Die For You. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading others by Sandie Jones. I loved the musical themes and the time hopping was well done.

Woah, this was a wild ride. I really liked the time jump between the 1980s and 2010s, and found the plot completely captivating. There were parts in the first half that were a bit slow, and some characters that I got confused, so I had to go back multiple times. But overall, this was a thrilling journey of love, jealous, revenge & chaos.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC opportunity.

#netgalley #arc

Another one that had potential but falls short in the end. I think this was my first book by Jones, and I'm not sure I would pick up anything by her again without a recommendation from a friend. The plot had some holes, and it just required you to suspend disbelief overall. The character development was all over the place, and their arcs were not consistent. There are better thriller options out there to read.

SANDIE JONES HAS DONE IT AGAIN! You may be familiar with her more popular book "The Other Woman", but her NEW thriller "I Would Die For You" (coming out on 3-25-2025) is undoubtedly a FIVE STAR read for me.

The book begins with Nicole, who is living a quiet life in a small California town with her husband (Brad) and daughter (Hannah). Nicole's world comes to a screeching halt when Zoe (a writer) knocks on her door and asks her if she knows anything about the infamous tragedy of a rock band from the 1980's. When Nicole goes to pick up Hannah from school and someone informs her that Hannah was picked up by her aunt, Nicole's blood runs cold - Hannah doesn't have an aunt. Nicole can't help but feel that Zoe's sudden appearance is connected to Hannah's disappearance.

"I Would Die For You" is written in the perspective of two timelines - current day, and the 1980's. We learn more about Cassie (Nicole's sister) and her love for a popular band "Secret Oktober". She develops an obsession with Ben, one of the band members...and she would do ANYTHING to get Ben's attention.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - what separates a four-star rating from a five-star rating (for me) is predictability. If the story is entertaining but has a predictable end, it’s four-stars. However, a five-star rating is a book that is undoubtedly entertaining and has multiple twists and is unpredictable to the end. This book slapped me SEVERAL TIMES with SEVERAL different plot twists. Sandie Jones keeps you guessing RIGHT until the end.

The dual timeline perspective is GOLDEN - making you plug in so many different details for ALL your theories. I was hanging onto the edge of my seat up until the very end. I feel like everyone in this book has something to hide, and we genuinely see them all weighing the pros and cons of their decisions. NO ONE is safe, and EVERYONE is guilty of something. The only thing missing from this book was a movie screen and a LARGE bucket of buttery popcorn.

Thriller readers - RUN, DON'T WALK to to the bookshelves when this baby comes out.

Okay, very cool! I went into this one with moderate expectations, anticipating a traditional "past catches up with the protagonist" thriller. And while that is the general formula, I actually ended up surprised with how things unfolded, in a way that didn't feel cheap or underbaked. The "now" timeline has much less flesh than the "then" timeline, but it was enough to keep me going. One note about the audiobook-- narrator was great but her American accent was not so good.

Sandie Jones presents another well-plotted, red herring-ridden, twisty thriller. Told in dual timelines, until the past and present finally collide and the shocking truth is revealed.

Sandie Jones is an 'auto buy' for me ever since I read The First Mistake. I love a thriller that goes back and forth in time. Interesting thing about this story is the back is 80s and the life of Cassie (think Almost Famous) and the forth involves a missing child and a reporter asking questions about Nicole's past!

Nicole is living a peaceful life with her loving husband and adorable daughter. But one day, her past comes back to haunt her.

This was a pretty cool thriller! Here's what I liked:

The format: The book jumps back and forth between past and present. This worked really well for the story. You find out about a traumatic time in Nicole's life when she was younger while also following her current day life. Both weave together perfectly to give you a full picture of the mystery.

Nicole: I felt so bad for Nicole most of the time. She has such good intentions, especially in the past, but kept getting the short end of the stick. But still, she's strong and keeps going.

The settings: Both are well-drawn and really help with the fullness of the story. I especially liked the music scene in the 86 timeline.

The narration: Imogen Wilde was perfect for the one. She bounced back and forth with the accents so well.

All in all, this was a great thriller!
Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!