Into the Darkest Corner

Overall I almost enjoyed this book, but the strong desire to turn off happened more than once. The two different narrators was confusing especially when at one moment Sylvia was being done in a woman's voice and I knew who she was, to being done in a man's voice during the chapters done in court. Also the constant naming of who was speaking every time the character changed in the court chapters was just simply annoying, we should not need "Miss Bartlett", "Mrs Scott" etc etc before every sentence to know who was speaking, the narrator should be able to convey this. Not sure why the narrator changed, would have been preferable for the female narrator to continue throughout the whole book. I also found the great overuse of the "F" word thoughout the book completely unneccesary. I could see the point in the darker sides to the story but at the beginning and throughout most of the book, using bad language was not required. All in all I persevered to the end of this book but would not recommend unless you had nothing better to listen to.

We got this on the strength of David Thorpes narration, sadly he only does the last 15 minutes of courtroom dialogue.
A not very engaging book, you might like it, but find something else to read first.

I was unsure what to say in this review. To say I enjoyed listening to this seems wrong somehow, yet I really did enjoy it. At times it had me in tears and is quite harrrowing in places, especially thinking about the thousands of people going through abuse like this every day. I am not sure it really needed the two narrators as I thought the main one was very good.

I feel misled by the critics' plaudits: this book is just dull - any tension there might be is drowned in the interminable detail. Of course, the reality of domestic abuse must consist of a long slow descent to the unbearable - but the way this was strung out over the two time periods - and, worse, the lack of any wit or invention in the language - was just tedious: I got through part 1, then could no longer be bothered. The main character is so vapid that the initial sympathy wanes swiftly. And the narrator does not help: her version of the Lancaster accent simply does not have the depth to convey any real emotion at all. And please , please, Audible - if the vast majority of a book is read in one voice - do not give us a sample in another, vastly more amenable voice, which lasts but the first 15 minutes - even more misleading!

I was expecting great things of this book but for me it just didn't deliver, in fact I only finished the first part because I couldn't bear any more narrative around her "going out with her mates". I seemed to listen to it for hours on end and didn't even reach the point where she "plans her meticulous escape". This book needed to get a move on, it was way too slow for me...maybe if you stick with it it will improve, not my cup of tea I'm afraid.

This was a very good book well written and very well read. If I have one critiscism it is that too many four letter words were used. I have no objection at all to strong language in fact it makes the story and characters more believable but in many cases less is more.However, I will watch with great interest for the next novel from this author.

I strongly recommend this audio book. It was captivating from beginning to end. An absolute delight to listen to

I loved this book. the author really built the suspense up throughout starting with seemingly innocent events happening to the main character by her new boyfriend which she shrugged off and made excuses for until she was totally under his control. I also loved how the book was split into alternative chapters four years apart, telling of her life from when she first met him to a few years later trying to move on and come to terms with the hell he put her through. highly recommended.

I am falling in love with this writer. She writes contemporary fiction with a real twist, i.e., not your standard dribble. This book is full of suspense. The research into her characters was excellent and I really believed in the characters although sometimes it was a little uncomfortable for my tastes but for this writer I will persist. Loved Revenge of the Tide too even more.

This is without doubt the best book I have ever listened to and would highly recommend it. It is a gripping, harrowing, tense listen that portrays the absolute hell experienced by a sufferer of domestic violence. Every time I thought I knew what was happening and where the plot was going there were further surprises. This book completely took over my life for a few days and I absolutely applaud the author.