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Performance
Overall
Excellent, Unforgettable, Best of the nest
Very good, thoroughly enjoyed,
Good, Solid, Enjoyed many aspects
STAR RATINGS GUIDE
Mystery + Love Story + Drama + Thriller = Mind Blown
THE BIRDICT
💚 Fitting this book into a genre is like trying to stuff a plush toy into a brick. It ain’t gonna happen. This is a love story. At least one love story, probably three, possibly more. It’s also a masterfully authentic portrait of the marriage of Leo and Emma. And it is a tissue of secrets and lies. Drama, thriller, mystery, literary fiction, quite frankly, I was unprepared. And that was, on balance, a good thing.
💛 This felt incredibly real. Unlikely, rare yes, but real. And yet managed to be gripping and full of surprises. Seriously, every time I thought I was getting to the bottom of things, another layer was revealed.
💜 This is a slow build. If you struggle at first, persevere. By chapter 4 or 5 it’ll hook you in.
Big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.
SQUAWKING THE TALK
🎧 Gird your loins, ears on a swivel and, as the French teacher of my nightmares would say, attention, sil vous plait. This is a detailed, intricate plot. You need to keep focused. No drifting off and tuning back in.
🎧 The production is considered and well done. Two narrators - Imogen Church and Theo Solomon - give it that extra performative boost. The tone at the beginning feels a bit too melancholy for my liking, but otherwise both are excellent.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER: SIMILAR AUDIOBOOKS
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The Love of My Life
THE BLURB
I have held you every night for ten years and I didn’t even know your name. We have a child together. A dog, a house.
Who are you?
Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them. But almost everything she's told them about herself is a lie.
And she might just have got away with it, if it weren’t for her husband’s job. Leo is an obituary writer and Emma is a well-known marine biologist, so, when she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best – reading and writing about her life. But as he starts to unravel her past, he discovers the woman he loves doesn’t really exist. Even her name is fictitious.
When the very darkest moments of Emma’s past life finally emerge, she must somehow prove to Leo that she really is the woman he always thought she was . . .
But first, she must tell him about the love of her other life.
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