By
Read By
Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn
Length
9 hrs and 37 mins
Overall
Performance
Story? Good. Narration? Good. Result? Fantastic.
Excellent, Unforgettable, Best of the nest
Very good, thoroughly enjoyed,
Good, Solid, Enjoyed many aspects
STAR RATINGS GUIDE
THE BIRDICT
🧡 I’m here to say all the good things about this audiobook. I think it is one of Jewell’s best and I’d bet even her grocery list is gripping so that’s saying something.
💚 This has everything you’d want in a creepy, clever thriller. There’s a murder-suicide, a toxic commune, multiple missing people and layer upon layer of mysteries. And it all starts with an ordinary woman inheriting a massive derelict house in one of London’s most expensive areas.
💜 What makes this so smart is that it is not a mystery/thriller for the sake of a whodunnit. Yes, it keeps you guessing, but it’s a thinky one. It explores what it takes for people to join an extreme community and the effects on the minds of the children within.
SQUAWKING THE TALK
🎧 Three narrators, all of them absolutely brilliant, not just great voices, but well cast for their roles. Libby’s voice was particularly good as she sounded like a relatable person not, as is so often the case, a haunted woman before anything’s even happened to her. The female voices are just about different enough to allow the listener to differentiate and it’s always nice to have multiple narrators.
🎧 The chapter listings need to be revisited to reflect the numbering correctly. This is mostly down to starting them as “chapter 1” instead of “credits” and “part 1”.
SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO...
This brings to mind the more sinister elements of the communes of the sixties, seventies and eighties.
