I was not prepared for how emotionally devastating I‘d find this dual timeline family drama.

Reliably dark as hell. I thought Tender is the Flesh was much stronger but still had to finish this in a single day.

Blake is kind of a dink. He loses his job for selling secrets and has a wandering eye. He and his fiancée Krista need to take on a tenant so they don‘t lose their brownstone with Blake out of work. Things go south as soon as Whitney moves in and chaos ensues. The narration was really solid and easy to listen to. The pacing was as fast as it always is with McFadden. The twist was just meh.

The world building was excellent and I enjoyed Odessa‘s story so much I can ignore the times the male lead made confusing decisions seemingly only so the plot would go in a certain direction. The romance was a slowwwww burn. I‘d read the next one.

Burnt out Emelie leaves the city behind for the Swedish woods. She inadvertently comes upon a colony of misfits who live outside the confines of society. The ending was rushed, but otherwise a solid read.

Utter chaos - but mostly in a good way. Wally (based on a real person) and Judith (based on a fictional character) shine in this tale of Klimt x Jung x Frankenstein. I‘d like to know more about the incorporation of Inuit culture into the story from someone of that background.

The scandalous demise of one of NY‘s oldest art gallery. I‘m an absolute sucker for art true crime. This one moves fast and tells the story of the gallery more so than the story of a person. The author‘s narration was serviceable and suited the voice of the book. Thanks #netgalley.

What a voice! Sky Daddy does such a good job of articulating MC Linda‘s unusual desire and search for acceptance. I really really liked it.

This was darkety darkety D A R K dark

Bachman‘s writing is so beautifully and brutally straightforward that it reads like a fairytale. This story of four friends is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. Keep the Kleenex handy!

The voice actor who narrated Wally did a phenomenal job. It was exaggerated wholesomeness that came across as so creepy. Loved it. While I enjoyed the listen, the book itself is too obvious, which meant the twist was a huge letdown. Still appreciated the chance to listen. Thanks #netgalley

I‘m obsessed with hockey romance and curious if pickleball romance would scratch the same itch. It didn‘t. Shaw is a capable narrator breathing life into plucky MC Bex. The chemistry between the two characters didn‘t quite work for me - the grumpy/sunny vibe that I know loads of people will really love. Similarly the fake dating stakes felt low. My review makes it sound like I liked it less than I did.

I‘m consistently a sucker for a book about cults. Bex has escaped from the cult and started a new life. A visit from her former BFF brings up strong feelings, opens old wounds, and threatens Bex‘s new life. Since the audiobook features two MCs, I would‘ve preferred two narrators. Julia Atwood is an excellent and emotionally charged reader. Thanks #netgalley

It‘s very rare that I‘ll have the opportunity to listen to a full 10+ hour audiobook in a 24-hour period. Because I did with this one, I wasn‘t able to overthink anything and I enjoyed it loads. The narration was particularly strong. John Pirhalla did an excellent job as the fish-out-of-water blue collar father of the bride - I‘ll look out for more of his voicework. Apologies for the late review #netgalley - I‘d slept on a fun thriller.

Hani, an 11-year old boy sets out with his donkey to find his missing father and sister. It‘s set after the fall of Troy. At first I was surprised by the choice of a female narrator for the audiobook, but the performance was so affecting I couldn‘t imagine it any other way. It‘s short but packs a huge emotional punch. Thank you #netgalley

Baker absolutely knocked this book out of the park. It‘s dark, it‘s timely, there‘s genuine love in it, and genuine frustration too. I often find third person narration more tricky in audiobooks because there‘s more distance between me and the author in my mind. Not this time though - I was right there every step of the way. One of the best cold opens I can remember reading and surely one of my favourite listens this year. Huge thanks #netgalley

Chose this bleak but enjoyable read because it is on this years #womensprizelonglist. The MC is an almost wholly unlikeable character fixated on the fact that life has shortchanged her at every turn. She has to reckon with some of the trauma of her past when police discover bodies at her family‘s former house.

After the death of her father from cancer, Claire found solace in Algonquin Park and canoeing. She becomes obsessed with a bear attack in the park - the inspiration for her novel bear. This brave memoir juxtaposes a reconstruction of that attack with Claire own fight with the same cancer that killed her father. Read by the author and not to be missed. Thanks #netgalley

Having attended uni in Moscow in the late 1990s, I‘m a sucker for a coming-of-age memoir against a similar backdrop. Many of the touchstones were familiar to me so I gulped it down in greedy, nostalgic bursts.

AI is bad. Dictators are bad. AI dictators are bad. At least I think that‘s what I read. Not my favourite Nayler.

Picture it: British Columbia 2025. A bespectacled librarian comes upon a cozy mystery featuring beloved characters from a tv show that was ubiquitous in her childhood. Was it a little too St. Olaf heavy? Sure. But it was also tons of fun.

Was it just me or were there simply too many suspects in this murder mystery set in a cooking school?

I think I liked the Broadway musical and film too much to ever be fully immersed in Maguire‘s version of the characters - particularly Nessarose. This one was just okay for me - but I do appreciate the ARC #netgalley

This was exactly the romance I wanted to read. I loved Riley and Lucky. I loved Adam. And I loved them all together. Hockey romance at its finest.

This book is everywhere on my feeds right now! It was heavier on the domestic abuse than I‘d expected and the author has imposed a lot of constraints on the way the story is told. Still an impressive and well-narrated debut.

Too soon! ❤️‍🩹

I listened to this one while down with a particular bad cold. The cold happened to go perfectly with this fever dream of a novel where lived trauma becomes literal horror. Thanks #netgalley for access to this audiobook.

This novel feels like two separate books. In the first half Julie Chan semi-inadvertently steals her dead influencer twin‘s identity. It was absurd, but I was keen to see how/if she‘d get her comeuppance. The second half was more of a closed door thriller (with a possible dash of inspo from Awad‘s Bunny) and much less of a compelling read. #netgalley - thank you!

After Malibu Rising I thought I was done with TJR. My kid recommended this one and I was sceptical- I don‘t know anything about tennis. Even so, I tore through this keen to see the heights Carrie Soto can hit in her comeback season.

A new Brian Selznick book always feels like a special event - and this is one of his best. Angelo and Danny are young and falling in love against the backdrop of Rome.

Effie‘s world is small - her uncle is a renowned but reclusive painter who keeps her close to home and discourages her ambitions. Joseph is a writer who comes to Ettie and Tata‘s to write about the artist and his work. His arrival expands Ettie‘s world. I really enjoyed this one.

I was instantly sucked into Semiramis‘ life. Like many other readers, I found this book a tad uneven - for me the first two thirds were more satisfying than the end. Either way, she is a formidable character and a pleasure to commute with.

England is in the brink of WWI and the Prime Minister, who is in his 60s, is completely besotted with Venetia, a girl in her 20s. He writes to her obsessively - and his correspondence included in the novel is historically accurate- to the point that it interferes with both national security and his ability to do his job. A fascinating read.

Queer sci-fi cozy mystery that takes no time at all to read.

As a young boy, Christian dreamed of being a fashion writer for Vogue and living in NYC. This is the story of how his dream came true. It was kind and hopeful and I loved it. Thanks #netgalley for a copy of this audiobook - it felt like a friend telling you a story.

I‘m grateful to my writer friend who called this collection a must-read. O‘Neill muses on the lessons learned passed down from her father - an eccentric sometimes criminal who taught Heather to love whimsy and to live with her whole heart. I cried.

Read because of the #womensprizeforfiction shortlist, but this one was really not for me. Strong, evocative writing but utter aimless characters and plot.

I bought this brand new book from my library after spilling a full bowl of chicken noodle soup on it. I loved the peak inside the 1978 Met Gala and the Egyptology. The characters held my attention. As the improbable coincidences piled up, I lost interest but read on because: expensive soup accident.

I‘m genuinely surprised this didn‘t make the #womensprizeforfiction shortlist this year. Three generations of women are shaped, torn apart, and brought together by their secrets and tragedies. I‘m not usually one for reconciliation-after-estrangement narratives but I teared up at this one.

Tara lives November 18th over and over and over. I realize this is meant to be a seven-book series. The movement in book one is almost entirely internal - not bad, but not what I was expecting.

My daughter highly recommended this bonkers thriller and it did not disappoint. Survivor, some reality tv dating show plus a dash of an Agatha Christie closed door mystery. Loads of fun.

A failed Pitbull impersonator tries to give his life structure and meaning taking cues directly from the movie Scarface. Oh, and kind of befriends a captive orca named Lolita. This was my kind of awesome and I was surprised at the low ratings.

A virgin with a disability that keeps her indoors has a filthy inner life and strong resentment of able bodied folks. The narrative voice is so unrelenting and strong that I couldn‘t put it down. I‘m not sure what to do with the ending though. Are you? #manbookerinternational

A palate cleanser of a mystery that was slightly too easy to guess.

Absolutely lives up to its name #ManBookerInternational

Gen X catnip

I really enjoyed Lily and Matthew‘s love story and was surprised when it changed to Nick‘s generation. I soon grew to love Nick‘s youthful idealism and felt for him as he got to know his biological father. I was less sucked in by May‘s storyline and the end felt a tad rushed. A light pick.

Grateful to #netgalley for access to this horror novel. On paper it‘s exactly my thing: Malerman, a demon, an unreliable narrator. In reality, the child narrator was repetitive and I wanted more demon than I got.

Absolutely fabulous audio narration by the actor playing Anita. And the dual timelines stories are well done too. Highly recommended.