Gripping to a point

A good story, kept me engaged....a little disappointed in the ending....could have been a bit more complex but didn't see that coming if I'm honest

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2 people found this helpful

Well I thought it was excellent

Any additional comments?

Lots of negative reviews, which are a bit unfair to be honest. It is a great psychological mystery, with layer upon layer of things to keep you guessing right till the end. Well narrated too.

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4 people found this helpful

Great story, brilliantly narrated...

I Loved this book. Weird story, but so intriguing. The narrator's voice brought this alive.

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2 people found this helpful

Pretty Good

A slow start, but once it gets going there are some fun and interesting twists! Excellent narration!

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What??!**

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A really good editor to cut it in half, a narrator with half an ounce of talent.

Would you be willing to try another one of Julia Barrie’s performances?

No, never, ever.

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A page turner - but for the wrong reasons...

I bought this book - as an Audible audiobook- after hearing the author interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour programme. It's a strange tale in which none of the main characters act normally, in fact their behaviour is so bizarre that the plot of the novel seriously lacks credibility. There are some quick fixes to plot holes and I'm not completely certain that the timeline of events in the book is accurate. What was most unconvincing was the author's flimsy explanations (shored up by amateur psychology) for her characters' behaviour. There is a general lack of depth to all of the characters and a tendency to gloss over both situations and actions which are convenient to the plot. I just could not wait to get to the end of this book to find out how Sophie Hannah was going to tie up all the loose ends in this story. Unfortunately the denouement was as unsatisfactory as the rest of the novel

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4 people found this helpful

Lame

This is a very lame book, although it's hard to say quite why it is so dislikable, perhaps its the unpleasantness of Justine, I think it is a mistake to write a book in the first person when the narrator is simply awful. Mind you her daughter is ghastly grating too.

Warning plot spoilers:

Justine, it becomes clear quite early on is just as barking as Anne Dombervand, but what is really irritating is that we have to listen to her vicious inner voice.

Then there are the gaping holes in the plot, why would Olwyn go along with Justine's plan and help bury the body, she is a decent person.

Then there are the stupid things like Justine thinking the Chancellor's red box contains money and the way she goes for her mock interview with Stephen Dombervand without thinking of what questions he might ask her

I groaned when Justine says that a spade is too heavy for her to lift above her head!

I most disliked the sections where the bitch Justine is turned into insightful talking psychology primer.

It was only with great resolution that I could force myself to waste my time struggling to the end of this nonsense.

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1 person found this helpful

Losing the plot

"Always keep a grip on the truth." So Justine advises her 14 year-old daughter Ellen at the end of this story. It’s sound advice which Hannah would have done well to follow. A psychological thriller which 'A Game for all the family' purports to be must be anchored in credible reality. Despite some research in the psychology of fantasists and pathological liars which sticks out awkwardly in the narrative, Hannah's vastly over-complex plot totally loses sight of reality. We are asked to accept far too much that is quite simply ridiculously far beyond the realms of even distant likelihood. The stories written by Ellen and her 14 year-old friend George which form a spine of the story display insights and language far beyond their years - 'the virgin and whore theory of Sigmund Freud'; 'mayhem and redemption'; 'high principles and protocol'; the Holy Grail as a metaphor... A headmistress is persuaded to pretend to expel a boy and then lie about it; a sane and successful university academic digs a grave in his neighbour's garden. We are asked to accept that the police will not trace the murderer after the victim's clothes and bits of brain are found; that a 14 year-old girl will assert that she’s engaged to 14 year old gay boy. None of the incidents and scenarios has a shred of credibility and consequently the listener is not engaged except to see what further absurdities Hannah will think up. Listen to the end and you will be rewarded with the most ridiculous.
But it isn't just the story - it's the narration which adds to the lack of credibility and absurdity of it all. Ellen is 14 but is given the intensely irritating voice of a 6 year-old; super-precocious George, also 14, sounds like a 12 year old child. The Headmistress sounds like a rather silly 12 year-old and would you take an adult nuisance caller seriously as did Justine who sounds like a deranged child with a lisp?

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5 people found this helpful

15 wasted hours I will not get back

I have been listening to audiobooks for more then 10 years and this must count as one of the worst books I have listened to. I don't like being this negative but considering the overall positive reception in the press makes me wonder whether they read a different book from the one I have just been listening to.
All the characters were cartoon like, one dimensional and generally uninteresting. Given the fact that the people in the book never really come to life it is difficult to feel any interest or empathy with them and the story. The plot is so ridiculously contrived and long winded and it just goes on and on. I stuck with it because I hoped Sophie Hannah would somehow pull a rabbit out of a hat and safe this poor story somewhat. Unfortunately it never happened.
Sophie Hannah says that she loves Ruth Rendell, so do I, unfortunately her writing doesn't even come near to the quality of Ruth Rendell.
On top of that the voice the narrator gave to the different characters was clumsy and rather depressing to listen to.

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2 people found this helpful

I didn't like this at all.

What on earth was that all about? How did this book slip through the net? Not gripping. Not page turning. Narrator's voices for some characters were awful!
A really daft story that I only persisted with because I don't like not finishing books.
So unlike Sophie Hannah's other books. Disappointed.

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3 people found this helpful