Could be considered a Young Adult (YA) novel

This book was ok and held my interest, it is like a very mild, censored version of American Psycho but with a female college student. The summary makes it seem more intense and thrilling than it is. The main character really isn't that dark or with a disturbing past, to me, the summary implied her to be uncontrollable, doing anything necessary to get what she wants. However, she is more of a troubled girl with determination and unusual interests that will do what it takes to succeed in school. Not saying she is normal or typical, she certainly exhibits characteristics of a person with "sociopathy", but in a very tame way. But the more I think about it, she could be someone on the spectrum with learning or behavioral issues, rather than someone who is really disturbed. She comes from a loving family with supportive parents and cares deeply for her younger siblings so that alone is hard to detach from a supposed sociopathic person. She does do a few violent things – I think only 2-3 instances, but as I said, all quite mild compared to what I was expecting, almost a little "bubblegum" and they weren't even explicitly described, some were just implied. I was not impressed overall and it was extremely anti-climactic –– however, I was entertained and I will likely listen to the sequel just to see if there is more character development. I would not recommend it but this is good for those who like darkly themed books that are rather censored and not explicit.

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7 people found this helpful

Love Shane

Shane Ryan is a one of a kind man. He sees all knows all and watch out if your dead because you will be history. I learned that to keep someone from coming back from the dead their bones must be burned and god forbid don't leave even one tiny piece out.
I love this book and how the ghosts of his child hood home protect him. I do hope there is more to come but not sure that Shane can withstand much more from the dead...
I received this free for an honest review from the author or narrator.

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She's Crazy!

This was an interesting listen. The author spends a good amount of time letting us get to know Brooke and helping us see how normal she is. Little by little we are given small indications that things just aren't quite right with this girl. An absolutely fascinating story line. It kept my attention all the way through because you want to see where the author is taking the story. P.S. She's absolutely crazy; and even though you can sort of suspect where the author is going, things, it still creeps up on you unexpectedly. I enjoyed it a lot and really liked the characters. The author did a great job writing this one.

The narration was perfect for the book. The narrator gave an excellent performance throughout and perfectly captured the nature of the story.

I received a review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

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4 people found this helpful

Dark, for sure!

I forgot that I was listening to a dark psychological suspense. It started off as a rather innocuous listen about a beautiful but awkward girl attending college as a pre-med major. I was well into the listen before the first...incident. Even then the author didn't connect the dots; I had to do that myself. That's when the lights came on and I checked the book title and sure enough, bad people!!!

I was rather taken aback by that but only for a minute. Then I dived back in!

The narrator was pretty special. There were several POV's throughout this listen - some energetic, some frenetic, some somber, some sane. She handled them all.

The ending sets up nicely for book two. I can't help but feel sorry for Ethan though. He has no idea.

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2 people found this helpful

Everett

Overall I did like this book. Things really didn’t start getting interesting until chapter 12 and there were times that I thought the narrator was a bit boring. It’s a very interesting concept with a very unlikely villain. I will definitely be reading more in the series.

I was gifted this book at my request and my review is my own.

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Very unusual

Brooke is an atypical, somewhat unique character. Stephanie Dillard does a very good job of voicing her and all of the characters in this unusual psychological thriller. Although the story is open-ended, it ends with a satisfying conclusion. This could prove to be a very interesting series.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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3 people found this helpful

disturbingly dark :O

this was a dark very fast paced and suspenseful listen loved it and how it never let up can't wait for next one!

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2 people found this helpful

An Easy and Intense Listen

Ok. I had trouble liking the main character in this story, however as the series continues and the story line is heightened, I found myself half rooting for her and half wanting her to get her "comeupins." But I couldn't stop being riveted to this story and being on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out how things would pan out. Also, the narrator is extremely good. I will readily admit that she is a friend of mine in the real world, however, I found it easy to forget that I was listening to my friend....and from one audio book narrator to another, that is the highest compliment that I can give. It's a good series. One worth diving into!

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2 people found this helpful

Jessica's Dark Passenger

I don’t read a lot of suspense stories because I have to take a lot of breaks to calm my nerves. I did like Dexter, Hannibal, Gone Girl, and American Psycho is one of my favorite books. I got through this whole book in two sittings and would have done it in one if I had the time. I simply really enjoyed the story and the narration. For hardcore thriller fans this may seem tame as it takes a while before Jessica’s dark side really shows and when it does it is quite subdued compared to some of the popular thrillers.

What starts off as a young adult story turns dark and quite tense. The suspense in this story just keeps building and building. By the time I got to the end I was so anxious that I couldn’t move any further to the edge of the seat without falling off. I listen to mainly horror stories and so nothing here was too much for me, but I couldn’t relax until I knew how everything was going to turn out. It wasn’t tense so much because of what was happening, more so because of what could happen. The fear of getting caught is deeply ingrained in me so that was a huge stressor for me.

The character development was by far my favorite aspect of the story. Much like how Brooke teaches her exercise classes, the author lays everything out and does a great job building up each of the characters. Jessica’s increasing agitation and downward emotional spiral coupled with her escalating belittling of everyone around her was fantastic. She was by far my favorite character because I hated her so much. The author’s writing of her character was quite impressive as I rarely have such a strong emotional response to a character. While I didn’t sympathize with Brooke, I completely understood why she was doing what she was doing. I saw her as an anti-hero who will can quickly become the villain and that is a question I look forward to being answered. I really liked her inner thinking on trying to act as she thought she was expected to act while struggling with her compulsions forcing her to be the opposite of that. It was this writing style that made this so tense for me as I felt more like a character in the story versus an outside onlooker to it all.

The setting of a college really added to the YA novel feel, although I think that was a good setting for the first story in the series. It provided a great backdrop to see the characters mature and their true personalities emerge. I hope as Brooke moves on in life that we see her dark side really take over and the thrill really become intense. I am happy that this is a series and look forward to more of the story, there is just so much that is untold that I thinks needs to be.

Stephanie Dillard did an amazing job. She voiced all of the characters perfectly, but really nailed Jessica. Her snobby and snooty voice really was spot on for what I expected and added to my dislike for the character. I really hope she keeps up with the series.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

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8 people found this helpful

ok

ok story. nothing dark or suspenseful. story flowed well but not one I would recommend.

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