WOW what a listen. When it started off I did think to myself that it seemed a little slow paced but then it draws you in and what a rollercoaster of a story that really keeps you on your toes. Loved the dual storyline told from both Anna and Jacks perspective along with snippets from the killer thrown in which really added to the listening experience. Loved the different narrators. The story flowed as it should with a lot of short chapters that left you hanging but waiting 🤦‍♀️🤣. Its that kind of story that I had everyone in the frame as the killer which isn’t easy as I usually have the killers pegged early on. I’m not going to lie my mouth gapped open a few times throughout 🙊. Really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend.

The Netgalley app seemed to have improved greatly since my last listen with it only stopping and starting 3-4 times so fingers crossed the glitches are nearly sorted.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to the ARC and review that will be published on the 28th of July.

Alice Feeney's novel, His & Hers, is a solid whodunit with the twistiest of twists. You keep guessing who it might be, but find yourself changing your mind from chapter to chapter. Even from paragraph to paragraph, toward the end when things ramp up into an explosive encounter.

To be honest, I usually don't enjoy books where the characters are all terribly flawed. Not that anyone needs to be perfect, but when everyone is selfish, self-centered, or a hot mess, I tend to check out and start making grocery lists in my mind instead of focusing on the story. But in this novel, I found myself intrigued and feeling compelled to read on, despite the fact that all the characters are people I'd never want to hang out with. They were wholly unlikable characters, all of them really.

Unlikable characters aside, what really elevated this story and brought it to life was the writing. Alice Feeney gave me exactly what I love about a good fiction novel: insight. I love a book that hosts a trove of quotable gems. His & Hers provided them in abundance.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"We rarely deserve the lives we lead. We pay for them however we can, be it with money, guilt or regret."

"Patience is the answer to so many of life's questions."

"Sometimes I think I am the unreliable narrator of my own life. Sometimes I think we all are."

"I think when we finally get what we think we want, it loses its value. It's the secret nobody ever shares, because if they did, we would all stop trying."

"People who get to know the real me are the ones I need to learn to hide from the most."

"People get preoccupied with the fiction of 'truth'. The lives we lead need to be gold-plated nowadays, a series of varnished truths for the sake of how we appear on the outside. Strangers who view us through a screen, whether on TV or social media, think they know who we are. Nobody is interested in reality anymore. That's something they don't want to like or share or follow. I can understand that, but living a make-believe life can be dangerous. What we won't see can hurt us. In the future, I expect people will long for 15 minutes of privacy, rather than 15 minutes of fame."

"Tell a person they're wrong, and they'll cover their ears. Tell a person they're right, and they'll listen to you all day long."

I’ve seen this book everywhere and new I had to read it as well. There’s a serial killer and the serial killer is killing childhood friends of Anna’s and Jack’s. Also, Anna is the reporter on the case and Jack is the detective. Coincidence?

Plot: This was such a fun story that kept me guessing constantly who was guilty. I didn’t want to put my headphones down (yes, I listened to the audio book – more on that later). I needed to know what happened next and the author did a great job keeping me listening. I thought I knew who the killer was, but I was very wrong!

Characters: The characters were flawed and real. They weren’t the perfect protagonist that’s sometimes found in books. They both had issues they were working through, but this just made them more real.

Writing: This was told in duel perspective… kind of. It was told from Jack’s point of view and from Anna’s, but once in a while we also got to hear from the killer’s point of view as well. This was done amazingly well, because I accused so many people of being the murderer.

Narrators: This was narrated by Richard Armitage and Stephanie Racine. They both did a phenomenal job! At no point was I bored. Also, since I’m familiar with Armitage as an actor, Jack absolutely looked like Armitage in my head. So that was fun.

Overall: This was such a fun read. I highly recommend it to thriller lovers. There were some trigger warnings – animal cruelty and hazing.

I give this book four stars.

Character development is very good.
Plot is amazing, and all the while the author leads you down a few paths that twist together until they break.
When you find out “who dun it?” as the odd voice narrative speaks to you, you thought you had it figured out, but you didn’t! That is what makes this a good story.
On a personal note, I did not enjoy the graphic nature of the adolescent activity. Granted, that part is an important part of the story, motive, if you will. I also couldn’t bear the thought of animal cruelty.
I read and listen to a lot of shocking things, but those two topics both made me cringe. As a result, I ended up not liking this as much as I could have. Authors have a job to make their reader engaged, uncomfortable even. However it made me uncomfortable to the point I considered stopping the listen. I didn’t, I finished the audiobook, and in truth, I’m glad I did.
The twisty plot is great!
Note triggers: animal cruelty, rape

Well hot damn. This was so engrossing I finished it so quickly. The voice actors were spectacular. Feeney wove together a disturbing and riveting story. This had me obsessed until the very end! Highly recommend.

This thriller started off a bit slowly, however, the twist at the end was unexpected. Anna, a TV news presenter, and Jack, a police detective used to be married. Now they are drawn back together for a case that has to do with their youth. Anna's high school friends are being murdered one by one and the reason has to do with the past. As the book progressed, I became sure it was many of the different characters, only to be proven wrong. This was a book that became more enjoyable the further you got into it.

Wow!! What a ride this book was. Two flawed main characters both dealing with issues. A killer on the lose trying to right the wrongs from the past.
I listened to the audio copy of this book and I’m so glad I did. The voices were all very different and the views of his, hers and the killer had me guessing to the very end. The killers voice was done with a voice changer too so you really had no idea who this killer was. I thought I had it figured out but all the twists and turns proved me very wrong by the end.

Dark, twisted and at times down right disturbing. The unknown narrator in this has a voice that would make Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs proud. There are always so many sides to a story but this one truly delivers an ending you won’t see coming. At the finish of this incredible read I hated the majority of the characters but found myself applauding the author for her ability to write a novel that will surely have people talking this year! If your book club doesn’t mind a few graphic scenes this is definitely a book that is discussion worthy.
***the three stars are due the the violence and triggering content
A solid 4 stars if basing only on the writing and ingenuity.

I really enjoyed Sometimes I Lie, so I was excited to get staged on this. It was definitely a slow burn though. Sometimes that can be great - if there’s really great backstory or character development, but unfortunately with this book, it just made me want to get to the next major interesting thing that happened. It ended up being very predictable, which I’m not always against (sometimes the journey is the fun part), but as someone who doesn’t try to figure out the endings in thrillers, I still did pretty early on simply because it made trying to figure out the why a little more interesting.

I also thought that the alternating perspectives was a little strange in this. Either Jack was completely unnecessary as a narrator or the unknown killer as a third narrator was unnecessary, but to to have all 3 really didn’t serve much of a purpose other than to be different & ended up doing a disservice to both points of view. I would rather have had only 2 perspectives but had the non-Anna perspective been more in-depth.

All that said, I did finish this rather quickly & the narration was excellent. It definitely kept me engaged from beginning to end, I will still be on the lookout for Alice Feeney’s next book 🙂

I would like to thank NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Alice Feeney for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3457678728?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Overview:

This book is told from 3 alternating perspectives: his, hers and an unknown murder.
Him:
DCI Jack Harper, a detective assigned to investigate the murder of a woman. He had slept with the victim the night she died and is desperate to keep that from being revealed in the course of the investigation.

Her:
Anna Andrews, a news reporter who recently had to step aside as a news anchor as her predecessor had returned from maternity leave. Anna has a bad habit of drinking heavily during the day, and after work... well just about, all the time.

unknown:
we don't know much about this person except the internal monologues in sporadic bursts that elaborate on why they kill and how they're not going to tell anyone their deepest secret.

the story:

Jack and Anna are divorced, due in majority to the death of their daughter Charlotte, it is not known how she died in the beginning the book, but Jack alludes to his belief that Anna blames him and Anna's point of view is less than a flattering portrait of Jack, but in equal parts acknowledges her own flaws.

Jack and Anna butt heads as they are working on the investigation with very different goals, Anna is looking for the scoop and to break the story and prove herself as a worthy reporter, after the stinging replacement by her predecessor. Jack is trying to solve the murder while at the same time struggling to keep his own name out of the investigation. It becomes clear that both Anna and Jack know the victim.

I can't say much more about the plot without spoiling some major points, BUT I will say that this is an expertly crafted thriller, with an ending that you truly will not guess and will leave your mouth agape and your mind reeling as you struggle to comprehend what you just read. It's like getting off a rollercoaster and struggling to get your feet back under you.

the writing:
This is the first book I've read from Alice Feeney but it absolutely won't be the last, her prose is incredibly evocative and immersive. I have several favourite quotes saved:
"I think when we finally get what we think we want, it loses its value. It's the secret nobody ever shares, because if they did, we would all stop trying"

"grief is always sharpest at the point of impact"

Those quotes made me sit back and take a deep breath because for me, they rang true.
Alice Feeney is an author to watch, because her prose is only going to get even better and her ability to tell stories will become even sharper.

I did take one star off for the graphic depiction of animal cruelty, it seemed necessary and for shock value. But other than that, absolutely fantastic book. I also found the continuous description of the "thin controller's" speech impediment a bit unnecessary. There seemed to be other ways to show that he's an incompetent and irritating boss, it didn't hit the mark for me.


Content warnings:
graphic depiction of animal cruelty, rape and graphic violence, as well as death of a child.

***I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio!!***

This audiobook was just another in a long line of underwhelming thrillers for me this year. It had a lot of promise but it was just never realized. At least the audio of it was well done otherwise I probably would have stopped halfway through.

Both narrators did a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed their reading and felt that they did the book as much justice as they could. I have no problem with anything related to the audio. The problem this book had was a plot problem and a disappointing twist.

So the synopsis lays out that Jack becomes a suspect in his own investigation. Unfortunately for everyone that didn’t actually happen until about 80% of the way through. Anna was also supposed to be a suspect, but that comes up very late in the story too. The lead up to the finale was alright. There was nothing earth shattering about it but nothing overtly bad either. I found the characters lack luster and I had a hard time connecting with any of them.

The ending of this book is where the wheels really fall off. The entire last two hours of the audiobook were an equivalent of a ping pong match. Ten minutes on giving us reason to suspect Jack, then explaining that and giving us reason to suspect Ann, then switching to Priya, then switching to Kathleen, then back to Jack, then back to Priya. And then at the end it’s a whole chapter of the killer breaking the 4th wall to explain to us (the readers) who they are and why they did it. It didn’t work for me. It was such a bizarre explanation that I just kind of sat there listening to it with a very puzzled expression before exclaiming “WTF, that doesn’t even make sense!”

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

There are three sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth. In Alice Feeney's latest, His & Hers, there is his, hers, and a killer out for vengeance.

Narrators Richard Armitage and Stephanie Racine skillfully bring Feeney's thriller to life as a detective and his news journalist ex-wife who are separately trying to solve/report the murders of people from their past while trying to stay out of the crosshairs of a serial killer on a mission. The chapters alternate between DCI Jack Harper and Anna Andrews, which allows us to see the story from both sides as it unfolds. The killer, using a voice disguiser, breaks the fourth wall to explain his/her reasons.

Because of Feeney's clever writing, I was unable to figure out the killer until the big reveal. I switched suspects with each suspenseful chapter I read. Her red herrings were flawless.

Richard Armitage is an actor and audio-book narrator known for his role as Thorin in The Hobbit trilogy. Stephanie Racine narrated numerous novels, including Feeney's three best-sellers, Sometimes I Lie, I Know Who You Are, and His & Hers.

Goodreads lists Feeney's next novel, as of yet untitled, to be released in 2021.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 7/28/20.

This is hands down the best thriller I’ve listened to this year! The story is dark and disturbing but it will keep you guessing until the end. Both narrators were excellent. If you love dark thrillers, this needs to be on the top of your list. This is my favorite Alice Feeney book so far!

Book Review⠀
His and Hers by Alice Feeney ⠀
On publication day....what!?⠀
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⠀
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His and hers, two sides to every story.⠀
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Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out Alice Feeney pulls the rug out from under you. ⠀
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I listened to this and highly recommend the audiobook version. The narrators were great and contributed to the creep-factor. ⠀
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His and Hers was a quick-paced, twisty turn of a read and I recommend you pick it up today! ⠀
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Thanks @Netgalley and @macmillanaudio⠀For this free audiobook
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This was an amazing book that kept me on edge the entire time. Not only was the plot great but the audio was amazing as well. I love when audio books have voice changes. Plus, the voice effect made it even better.

Thanks Netgalley and Flatiron books for giving me the chance to listen to this new audio book.

I was lucky enough to win a paperback ARC of this book, as well as, listen to the audiobook early! Being able to listen while following along in the book was so fun! This book was amazing, possibly my favorite Alice Feeney book to date, and that’s saying a lot because they’ve all been 5 stars books for me! The twists and turns just kept coming and with every single one I was shocked to find out I had been wrong in my predictions! Don’t miss this book, and if you have the chance listen to the audiobook! You won’t regret it!

This book was a trip! I loved everything about it. I never do audio books, but this is an audio I recommend for everyone. The killer’s voice in this is SO CREEPY! I always got anxious when a chapter was coming to an end because you never know when he’s going to pop in there! I was convinced I knew what was going on the whole time. Nope! Start to finish this was brilliant and I legit had nightmares for the two nights I was listening to it! If you’re going to read this one, I 100% recommend the audio!

Thank you NetGalley and McMillan Audio for a free ALC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I think this was put together very well. We have alternating POVs between Anne, Jack (they’re divorced) and the killers. I loved the parts where we went back in time to see Anne as a 16 year old in an all girls school and how all of these murdered girls were her friends at a point! I loved the twists in this story. At the end, the author had the killer clearly explain why they did it. The voices for Jack and Anne were wonderful! I enjoyed listening to them which kept me even more engaged into this audiobook. The killers creepy voice was eerie but perfect because it hid the gender of the killer.

To me, I found the killer right away because of amount of mentions and how suspicious some things were around that character but none the less, I was still excited to get to the end to see if I was correct. At one point I thought I was totally wrong since another character looked like they were the killer.

My first Netgalley audiobook. The excitement! Getting all comfy in the only quiet place in the house (a.k.a. the toilet in the bathroom), dropping my pants, dimming the lights. Putting my noise cancelling head phones on and waiting for the Netgalley app to start playing. It starts.
I was lucky I already dropped them or I would've shat my pants from the sound that came through the speakers. Holy goddamn hell, it's what I imagine 'voices' sound like when I read about people who mention the voices in their head "made them do terrible things". Was the app crap? My headphones broken again? The diabolical voice continued and that's when I realised this was the distorted voice of the killer. In-ffing-genious!

After this shockingly great start, I pretty much devoured the rest of this audiobook, which has three narrators: one for 'him' a.k.a. DCI Jack Harper, one for 'her', a.k.a. news reporter Anna Andrews, and one for the killer, who could pretty much be anyone. *insert suspenseful music*

I honestly can't say much else without revealing too much. The blurb mentions " <i>His & Hers is a fast-paced, complex, and dark puzzle that will keep listeners guessing until the very end. </i>" Damn rights it is. I even laughed at the end of the book. Not because the situation became a laughable matter or anything, just...*mind blows*. I found out I'm a huge sucker for plot twists and this book is a valhalla for plot twist lovers. I think the term might even be twisted plot here.

Why not 5 stars, you might wonder? Because A. frugal is my middle name, and B. I zoned out a few times when stereotypical shit became too stereotypical.

Recommending it? Hell yeah. Especially the audiobook. If you're an audiobook newbie, this might be the one to pull you in (and make you too lazy to use your eyes for reading afterwards).

<i> Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an early copy of the audiobook via Netgalley </i>

His & Hers - Alice Feeney
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Book synopsis: When a woman is murdered in Blackdown village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Anna's ex-husband, DCI Jack Harper, is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone is lying, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.

Happy #pubday to this book!

This thriller is unlike any other I have read this year. Told from multiple perspectives, never knowing if you are being lied to or not, and full of red herrings and misdirections: Feeney has crafted a truly engaging thriller. Nothing is ever as it seems, and Feeney drops tiny hints and clues all over the story, making you think you know what’s going on, when you definitely don’t. This novels biggest strength is the way that it interacts with the reader through the prose and narrative.

That being said, I didn’t find myself enjoying the time I had with this book. It was fun to try to guess what was going on, but every character in this novel spends the majority of their time miserable, and I found that to be a bit off putting. The two main perspectives are both hurt and grieving, and so much of that pours off the page, that it is hard to have a “good time” reading this book.

In addition to that, some truly horrifying and awful things happen in this book. Some passages were truly sickening to read, and while I enjoy a good thrill, I don’t enjoy feeling disgusted- and I definitely was multiple times in this book.

That being said, if you can handle some heavy material and are looking for a book to keep you on the edge of your seat with a head full of questions, this might be the book for you.