Sobering cover art

Sobering

Lessons Learnt the Hard Way on Drinking, Thinking and Quitting

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Sobering

By: Melissa Rice
Narrated by: Melissa Rice
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

‘I don’t know if I was born with it, caught it or bought it; I just know that, at some point in my life, a line was crossed: I needed a drink to get through life, to calm the nerves and quiet the head, and I became reliant on alcohol to change how I felt.’

Sobering is the story of an insecure teenager turned Liverpudlian party girl, schoolteacher turned alcoholic and now recovering alcoholic turned award-winning podcaster. Melissa’s story is as dramatic as her unique voice, but her message is universal: mental health issues often drive vulnerable people to addiction, and working on mental health and personal development can help recovery.

Written with the expert help of rehab and addiction specialists, and with insights from other recovering alcoholics and addicts, Sobering covers everything from denial, isolation and shame to getting help and rebuilding relationships. This is a personal story with a mission: to help anyone worried about their drinking to understand themselves and move forward with wisdom to make that hardest decision of all - to stay sober.

©2021 Melissa Rice (P)2021 W F Howes
Addiction & Recovery Alcoholism Medical Mental Health Professionals & Academics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Health Substance abuse Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Accidental Soberista cover art
Wasted cover art
Quitter cover art
Dry cover art
We Are the Luckiest cover art
Glorious Rock Bottom cover art
Sober on a Drunk Planet cover art
This Naked Life cover art
I Forgot to Stay Sober: How I Nearly Died Kicking My Addiction to Alcohol cover art
The Sober Diaries cover art
Soberful cover art
One for the Road cover art
Drinking cover art
The Sober Girl Society Handbook cover art
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober cover art
Happy Healthy Sober cover art

Critic reviews

"Melissa’s unique combination of authenticity, personal experience and humour makes for an incredibly refreshing take on addiction and recovery. A much-needed book that will help individuals to find hope and society to rethink substance misuse." (Shahroo Izadi, author of The Kindness Method)

“Unique, honest, witty, occasionally shocking, you need this uplifting, amazing book in your life.” (Steve Bland, You, Me and the Big C)

All stars
Most relevant
Amazing audio book! I’d listened to all episodes of Hooked and was lucky to hit on this book. Exactly what I needed. As a friend of an alcoholic you can feel rejected and sidelined by the recovery process. I was told ‘no contact’ from the start. This gives a helpful insight into what the alcoholic is going through and the part on ‘boundaries’ gave me a better understanding of what is to come when my friend comes out of rehab. And Melissa is such a brilliant and lovely character. It’s not all serious and morose. Loved it. And Thank you!!

I’m a friend new to this world

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The author is an inspirational role model for the younger generation. This is the kind of sensible, authentic and helpful narrative for ‘muggles’ as well as those struggling to cope with modern life addictions. Can’t recommend highly enough to parents of teenagers to show the light workers out there who are being the change they want to see in the world. Great work 💕

Courage and bravery of Melissa

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Having a alcoholic in our family listening to this book is hard but also has made me feel like I’m not going mad or alone a very real powerful story thank you Melissa for sharing your story you should be so proud of yourself

Another perspective

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What a special read on your life before, during and after drinking. Inspiring woman!! I would recommend this to anyone who’s struggling.

Stunning and empowering

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved this and could relate to so much and I really do recommend this for anyone who is looking to get sober or is already sober. I think Melissa is amazing and is a great role model for others

Amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews