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Heatstroke

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About this listen

 'Barkworth is excruciatingly good... An impressive first book' OBSERVER
'A sultry, stifling debut exploring power, consent and womanhood' COSMOPOLITAN
'The evocative one' HEAT magazine's READ OF THE WEEK
'Read next if you loved Three Women by Lisa Taddeo' WHISTLES newsletter

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Do you remember the summer that changed everything?

Rachel and her daughter never had secrets. Until now.

Lily is somewhere she shouldn't be. With someone she shouldn't be with.

Mia misses her best friend. But she let her down.

In the middle of a stifling heatwave, the three of them stand on the edge of irrevocable change. By the end, one burning question will remain... how could she let things go this far?

FOR FANS OF ZOE HELLER, EMMA CLINE, EXPECTATION AND MY DARK VANESSA.

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'I wanted to stay within its pages forever' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Stylish and sensual' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE

'A thrilling look at mothers and daughters, adolescence, sex, suburbia and secrets' NELL FRIZZELL

'I am addicted... dark and twisty with beautiful, poetic writing' EMMA GANNON

'Sexy and provocative' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS

'Pulls you into its sweaty interior and keeps you gripped' RENEE KNIGHT

'I couldn't tear myself away' ERIN KELLY

'Compulsive, sticky and full of gorgeous writing' KIRSTIN INNES

'Gripping and intensely atmospheric... you won't want to put this down' HEAT

'A summer sizzler... with twists, turns and revelations in all the right places' EVENING STANDARD

(P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2020 Hazel Barkworth (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Coming of Age Domestic Thrillers Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
One vaguely clever device in the telling but overall a tale barely worth recounting. Perhaps I am missing something, and I may well be, but .... I ended this audiobook with a shrug. It’s difficult to feel invested in the characters. Mother and daughter seem thin, unlikely and unlikeable. The central drama feels weak, amounting to little of anything worthwhile in the end. A disappointment.

Pointless?

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Thought it would amount to something that made me gasp. But it kind of just ended. Beautifully written and the narrator was perfect for it. But disappointed.

Disappointing

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Really don’t like that slow forced reading voice. Wish I could return this but it was already an exchange. Won’t be finishing it :(. Couldn’t get past 2nd chapter

Narrator :(

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I don't know whether I am going to finish this book or will get too irritated and return it however from what i can say so far:
- the plot could be good - the idea interests me however I haven't listened the whole thing yet and most likely will not be attempting to
- the narrator is super annoying, taking pauses in all the wrong places
- it is def. not beautifully written. I think it aspires to be but it feels somehow overbaked with too many adjectives actually sounds forced and contrived (or maybe it is just the narrator that doesn't make this book any favours?)
- too many 'Mias'!! 'Mia this' and 'Mia that'. I understand this is one of the main characters here but there are ways of replacing the name with other nouns to avoid repetition

Interesting idea badly read and written

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