Natasha Zar

I Can't Believe How Hyped This Book (and Movie Is)

Revisado: 01-07-25

This was really painful to listen to, but not because of the subject matter. It just drones on and on skirting around domestic violence, yet it really doesn't actually depict it truthfully. We are supposed to believe that Rile is just this broken man who really actually is good deep down, but because of his trauma, he "blacks out" and assaults his wife. Ridiculous. And only in a perfect world would an abuser hand over control to their victim and allow them to leave.

I downloaded this book after seeing all the good reviews and hype around the movie, but it was just BAD. Unlikeable and unrelatable characters and drippy writing.

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I Don't Get It...

Revisado: 12-18-24

I don't get what any of the male characters see in Mallory. She is a hot mess, but not even in a humorous way. Her personality absolutely sucks - she's not narky in a relatable, amusing way, she's just a downer. I can't see why anyone would want to spend time with her.

I didn't enjoy this book. Most of the time, I rolled my eyes and shook my head in exasperation.

Do not recommend.

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A Swing And A Miss

Revisado: 12-14-23

I always turn to Kristan Higgins when I am struggling to find an audiobook. Her books are generally light hearted and humorous enough to entertain me, even if they have a tendency to be a bit cookie-cutter cute.

I didn't enjoy this book. It went on for ages and having the 3 person point of view was distracting. I also found that Kristan really shoehorned in current, controversial subjects for the sake of it. It added nothing to the stories and if anything just made me roll my eyes at her for trying way too hard.

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Excellent Book!

Revisado: 11-30-22

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book, but from the story, the narrator and the writing, this was an excellent book in every aspect! Highly recommend.

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Mehhh It Wasn't Great

Revisado: 03-10-20

I've been a fan of J.R. Ward for a while and though I've always had my criticisms I've generally liked her and found her books an easy and entertaining read. But in the last five years I have definitely noticed a decline in her books which has made me reticent to keep reading/ listening to her new releases.

Consumed did nothing for me. It was overly drawn out with too many side stories and not enough substance. The characters weren't properly developed and it was hard to actually like any of them, let alone root for them. Between Anne and Danny there was no chemistry. Besides wanting to sleep with each other, you really didn't understand how they could fall in love.

J.R. Ward has created some fantastic characters in her other books, which is what made me like her in the first place. The men are sexy and hyper-masculine but they're still gentlemanly and respectful (unlike a lot of the Biker Romances) and the women are generally of strong character. But it seems that after Black Dagger Brotherhood she has started to recycle her characters through her new books and it's too obvious to ignore.

Going to have to ask for my credit back on this one.

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Eh, It Was OK

Revisado: 02-25-20

*Spoilers*

When I first started listening to The Wives, but the more it went on the more incredulous I got. They dated for a bit before she found out that he was married and ended it with him, but when then he "explains" that his wife doesn't want children and has agreed for him to get another wife, she just believes him? Not only that, she accepts him getting yet another wife and accepts everything on his terms? Nope. The characters and entire premise of the book was ridiculous.

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An Enjoyable Listen That Kept Me Guessing

Revisado: 07-06-19

I have had a bit of a bad spell with books lately, so when I started Dear Wife I wasn't expecting much. I was surprised! This book was great, it kept me guessing. I thought I knew what was going on, but then when I thought about it more, I realized that the details weren't really adding up and that piqued my interest. The story was going, the characters relatable and interesting. I think the narrator did an excellent job. I recommend.

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Far Reaching Story with Awful Narrator

Revisado: 06-27-19

I used to be a die hard Karin Slaughter fan, but her last 2 books have really failed to hit the mark with me. When I first listened to Triptych (my first Karin Slaughter book), I was absolutely blown away by the story and narrator (Michael Kramer). It is a book that stayed in my thoughts for a long time after I first listened to it. The first 3 Will Trent Series books became my all time favourites and I listen to them all at least once a year. But honestly, since Sara and Will became an item it's ruined the series for me.

The Last Widow just doesn't gel. Karin used to have a great way with words, laying down the foundation of the story for the reader, weaving her little web around you so that you are totally ensconced in the story. Her last 2 books (Pieces of Her and even The Kept Woman) and now this book are just far reaching. It feels like they are long just for the sake of being long with "twists and turns" thrown in for content rather than because it adds to the story. I found myself really not caring about Sara's predicament or whether she was going to be ok or not. I just don't like her as she has developed as a character since the Grant County Series.

Will started out as an interesting, multi faceted person who overcame a traumatic history of childhood abuse and neglect to become an intelligent and successful GBI Agent, in spite of his dyslexia. You understood his vulnerability and always rooted for him against whatever adversaries he came across. Since he and Sara got together, Will just seems like a caricature of a moony, love-sick teenager and it's such a 180 turn in the wrong direction that I can't stand him anymore. I find myself skipping over the chapters with Will and Sara because I just find myself rolling my eyes and getting annoyed. From the moment they got together, Sara has been moony in love with Will but always reflects on the things about him that she doesn't like - his (ex) wife even though she knew he was married when she became interested in him. His difficulty to communicate like a "normal person" (because - HELLO! - he was abused as a child!). She gets upset with him and flounces off, only to call him back again because she doesn't want to give up. They've been together a while now and they're both still insecure about how the other feels about them - it's ridiculous and pathetic. It seems like in every book they're together their relationship is in some kind of turmoil. Then there's the cringe worthy descriptions their sex life and them getting hot for each other. Ugh. It's exhausting and irritating and isn't what relationships should be like. I honestly preferred it when he was with Angie. Come to think of it, I am totally on Angie's side against mealy-mouth Sara.


The narrator was deplorable. Her voice was grating and shrill when narrating the female characters and for some reason always spoke in a nasal tone too and she made the men sound like red necks or dumbasses, no in between.

I hate to say that this will be the first Karen Slaughter book I will ask for my credit back.

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Unlikable Characters, Weak Story

Revisado: 05-30-19

I purchased this book because I love Teddy Hamilton's voice and the way he narrates. I'm not a big fan of Samantha Prescott, I find her too breathy and annoying.

The book started out ok enough to keep me listening. Anita is a woman down on her luck and wanting to help her elderly friend so she starts working at Spiked Roses. I thought it was a bit unrealistic that Kenneth would hire a woman who had no experience whatsoever in his supposedly elite Club, even if it was to start as a Cigar Girl. I found it even more unbelievable that he then let her work in the Tasting Room with one of his most powerful clients then was surprised when she screwed everything up by freaking out, taking the money and running. Well, no sh*t.

I could not get into the book. Both characters seemed very one dimensional and I didn't think there was any chemistry between them. I didn't like either character, honestly. They struck me as shallow, callous and selfish. Anita is always going on about how strong she is, how she will do whatever it takes to break out of the cycle of poverty and how she doesn't put up with any crap, yet she totally sabotaged herself. As soon as she ran off with the money and thought everything would just blow over and be ok made me roll my eyes. And Kenneth just sucks as an owner of such a club that he even hired this woman and allowed her nonsense to happen.

There was no romance or even passion between them. Their sexual relationship start with Kenneth sexually assaulting Anita and then she's into it. GROSS. On so many levels this book is gross. Even when the sexual stuff becomes consensual, they just f*ck. There was no tenderness, no chemistry. They couldn't even have a proper conversation with each other and I don't find that at all sexy.

Later in the book when Anita is returned to the Tasting Room to finish with Kenneth's client the scene made me sick to my stomach. The sexual violence of that scene was crude, graphic and totally unnecessary and I say this as someone who is very open minded.

Overall, I didn't rate this book at all and I will be asking for my credit back.

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Not The Best

Revisado: 05-16-19

Having listened to two other books by Kerry Fisher that I enjoyed, I decided to purchase After the Lie, in spite of the reviews. As most other people have mentioned, this book just drags on, taking boring detours into domestic conflicts, parent-child tension and an affair.

Taking in stride what happened when she was a teen and the impact it had on her family, I didn't find the main character Lydia sympathetic. What happened was bad, but not bad enough to hide from her husband, at least not in my opinion. When I first started reading the book I thought she had been responsible for the death of someone, so when it all came out in the open, I couldn't help but roll my eyes and shake my head.

*Spoiler Alert*
I didn't find Lydia to be a sympathetic character at all. I couldn't even empathise with her. Her affair and lack of guilt for it as well as her interactions with Shaun made me dislike her intensely. It was almost as though she felt entitled to the extra attention because she and her husband were of different opinions concerning their teenage son. It really grated on me that after being slut shamed as a teenager herself, she then goes on to slut shame a fifteen year old girl, calling her a trollop amongst other nasty names and making snide remarks about the length of her skirts and size of her boobs. All because she doesn't like the fact that the girl is seeing her son.

I was really disappointed with this book and will be asking for my credit back.

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