Thoughts on 3 audiobooks : The Collective by Alison Gaylin – Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney – Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight
The first week of January, I ended up working on a very repetitive project that required almost no brain power. In order to remain somewhat sane and awake, I listened to 3 full audiobooks while working. Here are some quick thoughts about them :
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The Collective by Alison Gaylin
Narration : Vivienne Leheny
Genre : Thriller
Stand alone
About the Book :
Camille Gardner is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.
When her rash actions attract the attention of a secret group of women—the collective—Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss as well as their desire for justice. Fueled by mutual rage, these women orchestrate their own brand of justice through precise, anonymous, complexly plotted and perfectly executed revenge killings.
As Camille struggles to comprehend whether this is a role-playing exercise or terrifying reality, she must decide if these women are truly avenging angels or monsters…
My Thoughts :
Without a doubt, The Collective was my favorite of the three thrillers mentioned today – and good thing too, as it was my first book of 2022!
Going in, and considering the story is about a grieving mother, I was a bit worried the book would very dark and depressing. Luckily, it wasn’t ; yes, the subject is serious and sad, but the focus here is really on the plot and the group of women knows as “the collective”. The pacing is good (though on the slow side of things) and I was really interested to see where it would go. The book managed to surprise me, which doesn’t happen often with thrillers (the curse of reading too many!)
This was my first book by Alison Gaylin and now I’m tempted to pick up something else by her. Let me know if you have any recommendation!
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Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Narration : Richard Armitage, Stephanie Racine
Genre : Thriller
Stand alone
About the Book :
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
My Thoughts :
A few years ago I read Alice Feeney’s debut Sometimes I Lie. Though I enjoyed it, I never read another book by the author – until now.
My experience with Rock Paper Scissors is surprisingly similar to the one I had with Sometimes I Lie : I enjoyed it, the pace was good and it had some fun twists. However, I thought it was more predictable that I had hoped and felt it was a bit too far fetched. So many things didn’t make sense to me!
This being said, I would still recommend giving it a try, as I still had a good time reading it and almost every review I have seen was very positive, so it seems I’m the odd one out.
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Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight
Narration : Carlotta Brentan, Ewan Chung, Susan Dalian, Lauren Fortgang, James Fouhey, Stacey Glemboski, Joe Knezevich, Alex McKenna
Genre : Thriller
Stand alone
About the Book :
Everyone has those friends. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, or how badly they’ve occasionally behaved—you show up. No questions asked. Honestly, that’s how the five of us ended up here in the Catskills. We did have the best of intentions. Especially after what happened to Alice all those years ago, we can’t bear to think of losing anyone else.
In the end, maybe that’s what caught up with us. That, and the fact that we’re such a complicated group—so much history and so many big personalities. Secrets, too. Of course, we love each other despite all of those things. We love each other no matter what.
There’s something so beautiful about that kind of unconditional love. It can turn ugly, though. After all, we’ve already been through so much together. And we have so very much to hide.
My Thoughts :
I am shocked that I did not enjoy this one. I believe I have read all of Kimberly McCreight’s thrillers and have given all of them 4 stars – yet I had to push myself to finish this one. I think the only reason I was successful was that I listened to it and was able to up the speed.
There were too many characters and POVs for me and I couldn’t care for any of them. Too many secrets to keep track of, and little of it made sense to me in the context of the story. Clearly, it wasn’t the book for me, but I’ll certainly give the author another chance when her next thriller comes out.
