Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The List.
Unfortunately, this was a huge disappointment. I can't describe exactly why I disliked it so much without spoiling it but I will try.

Beth is out running when she finds a list with 5 names on it and hers is the 3rd one. Spooky!

The suspense started off good but quickly began to feel like it was just DRAGGING on! I did not care for the switch between the 3 characters and really didn't like the changing from 1st to 3rd person perspective. The "big secret" Beth was hiding was so infuriating that I nearly quit listening! I feel like the author wanted the reader to have some compassion for Beth but I just couldn't. I really hated her and found the ending to be extremely frustrating. I also felt like the "bad guy" could've been a number of other people who would've actually made sense to the story but instead was just a WTF for me.

My thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape for allowing me to review this audio. Unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

Description was very appealing. Beth Beaumont is running thru the woods and finds of list of names. Hers is the third, the first 2 are dead, and more names follow. Is she going to die to? Great set up. We get a look at Beth s current life with her boyfriend Josh. Still appealing. However, then story digresses to a girl Ruby in a mental hospital talking to a psychologist. Now I'm lost. Eventually the WHY of the list is revealed early on that links to a disturbing event from Beth's past. My interest still held but then story got very odd. I didn't not like the execution of the direction in took, then a very abrupt ending. Did enjoy the narrator but can't highly recommend this.

Ah! This thriller had so much potential but the suspense that was built very well in the first half was quickly squelched when most of the mystery was revealed very early on in the book. By the time the last reveal made its appearance, I was bored. The ending fell flat for me giving the overall feeling of "meh."

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for my honest review. The List is available August 12.

Thank you to NetGalley and Carys Jones for the Audio-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Beth is a runner. One day she stumbles onto a piece of paper under a tree. This paper has hers and others names on it. She is thrown by this. The first two names on the list are dead. Why is Beth's name third on this list?

This book to me was a slow burn. I did have a hard time paying attention to the story and had to go back over a few times. The book is well written but just did not keep my attention unfortunately.

2 stars

The blurb for The List drew me in with the promise of a tense mystery that would lead our lead character Beth to confront demons she would rather remain buried. What I found instead was a book with a dual POV that advertised practically every big twist and eliminated any sense of mystery.

I can sort of see why Jones wanted two narrators, but it simply took all of the thrill out of this thriller. Keeping the narrative to just Beth's perspective would have really ratcheted up the tension and given more weight to the events. Waiting for the two narrators to meet was honestly the only thing that kept me listening. I wish that I had nicer things to say about this because the potential was certainly there, but it just did not work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I felt like the concept of this book was good but the execution was not. I didn’t enjoy the characters and the storyline didn’t go where I expected. This felt like a miss for me but I’m sure others will like it.

You run every day, through a forest by your house and it's so familiar you could run it with your eyes closed. On a normal day, while on your run you notice something out of place, a slip of paper tucked under a log. On the list there are five names, the third is yours and the first two are dead. Are you next?

I was automatically drawn to this book not only for the cover but the gripping synopsis. This book isn't simply about Beth possibly being the next person on a hit list. The mystery and suspense dive even deeper into Beth’s past as the story continues.

I loved the narrator of this book. She did so well in conveying the emotions of the characters. She didn't just simply read this book in a monotone but I could feel the anxiety and worry of the character. It really felt like Beth was telling us this story. In the narrator's voice, you could feel the paranoia and uneasiness. I think that the narration for this book truly aided the telling of the story. it helped me to get ever more involved in the story and to feel more of the tension and apprehension.

I also thought that the suspense and buildup were very well done in this book. Throughout the book, we are slowly gathering more information and this kept me hooked on everything that happened. Sometimes I find it hard with thrillers if the only shocking moment comes at the end with a grand reveal. I find that these types of books lack in the suspense during the core of the book with a star's grand conclusion. But in this book, you are always being thrown curveballs. And I loved when new information came up a lot of the time it wasn't simply given to you. Suspense and time were given to build your heart rate up before it was revealed. You could tell when something important was about to be uncovered and you can feel the tension rise with a wonderful choice of words and writing in the book.

I do have to say that a lot of the supposed secrets that are in the book which are supposed to eventually be revealed I already figured out. So for me, this book really wasn't shocking when reveals came because I already had a very good idea about what was happening. So I enjoyed this book more for the story and the way that the book had me hooked and had me feeling the uneasiness that Beth did.

I struggled with the narrator. The three voices sound so similar that if I wasn't paying complete attention I had a hard time distinguishing between the three characters. I was interested enough in the story to keep listening, but it was not as enjoyable as it could be with either more distinct voices or three separate narrators..

I LOVED the sound of this one! You find a list of five names while out on a jog, the first two people on the list are dead and your name is the third. YIKES! Sounds like an amazing thriller! Sadly for me it wasn't. My favorite part of the whole thing was the narrator. She did such a wonderful job and was easy to listen to. I think the story was too much of a slow burn for me and honestly it started off a bit odd as well. I found myself pretty confused for a good bit in the beginning until things fell into place. I didn't really find that I liked any of the characters either. So while the premise of this story was pretty good and I loved the cover I think the overall story just fell a bit flat for me. I still would encourage people to give this one a go you might find that you love it!

I really found myself enjoying this audiobook. I felt that the author did an excellent job with developing her characters and that the plot was well written, filled with many exciting characters and primarily focused on a dark friendship with at its core some hidden secrets. I really enjoyed the twist at the end! I'm a sucker for those type of endings! I really enjoyed the narrator and felt that they did an excellent job with the reading of the book. I definitely recommend this novel.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the audio book - The List by Carys Jones.
The narrator did a very good job - however, i did find this book a bit long.

The story is centered on a woman who finds a list with her name on it - and she soon discovers that two of those individuals are deceased. She is terrified that she is next on "the list".

Good book with a solid ending. Narration kept me engaged because i did find it a bit too long for me.

3 stars.

The plot was well written with many exciting characters and focused on a dark friendship and hidden secrets. I enjoyed the twist at the end. The remainder of the book, while filled with a lot of tension, did not enthrall me as much as I had hoped it would.
Thank You to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group

When Beth finds a list with her name on it while on a jog, she is unnerved. She decides to dig deeper and discovers that the names above her have recently died. While Beth has a stable life with a loving boyfriend, she has a past that she has been hiding. Her history comes to light as time is running out to avoid the same fate as those on the list.

While this was an entertaining read and I did want to find out what the ending entailed, it dragged a bit and I didn’t connect well with the characters. We knew too little about Beth to feel her plight. Overall, a decent summer read.

***Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book took a while to get to the root of the story. Then, I would say, around the 30% mark, it became a page turner. After 50% it slowed down. I felt like I was reading closing credits at 1.00 speed in the middle of a movie. Around 80% it picked back up again and I understood why I spent eleven hours with this book.

This book reads like someone saying, "to make a long story short" then doesn't.

This definitely had a.... unique.... twist to the thriller genre. I feel like Jones really tried to write a character we could sympathize with, but after the 'big reveal' I felt more and more disconnected with our main character and wanted it to end - almost developing a disgust in place of the warmth intended.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The List by Carys Jones

Beth Belmont enjoys running in the woods on a trail near her home each day.

One day she sees something white on the ground...a piece of paper...curious she picks it up to take a look!

A list!

There are five names on the list!

The third name is hers!?!

The other four names mean nothing to her, but there must be some connection, not?

Should she just toss the list or figure out why her name is on it?

Paranoid she tries figuring out the people listed...the first two...are dead!! Is she next??!!

I enjoyed the narrator!

I was really excited for this book, but honestly felt like it was very repetitive, but I guess Beth being paranoid it would bother her that her name is on it. Just feel like that thought behind the book could have been even better. Not enough thrills for me. And seemed to move along too slowly for me. For the most part I was kept interested though as I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Thank you Carys Jones, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio to listen to this book in return for my honest review!

Well this will be short and semi sweet. The idea behind this was fab-revenge or redemption? However, the execution could have been a little better in that it was about 2 hours too long. There were so many repetitive details that were completely unnecessary and made me want to skip over it to move on to more action, And there were a lot of characters to keep straight and though I enjoyed the narrator very much, there wasn’t a lot of difference in the various voices enough to be able to distinguish one from the other. The premise of childhood secrets that are never left behind was well thought out but there weren’t as many twists as I would have hoped for.
Beth has secrets from her childhood. As a result, she is extremely introverted and has no family or friends other than her boyfriend, Josh, who she met at a club and has no knowledge of what Beth is hiding until one day when she’s out for a run, she finds a list of names in the woods and hers is on it. Beth struggles to figure out what the list means by trying to find out how the names are connected while josh tells her she’s being obsessive and over the top. Because of her secrets, she’s even more jittery than a normal person would be in this situation and that tends to be a bit much. Can she figure out what the list means before whoever wrote it gets to her?
I went into it blindly and that was helpful for me because I had no expectations for it, and while I wasn’t wowed by it, I did enjoy it overall. It does make you think though about how much you can really hide from who you truly are.
Thanks to Orion and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

First, I want to say I loved the narrator of this audiobook! As for the book, I think the concept was really good, and parts of it were really exciting. However, I found myself not really liking Beth around half way through the book. I did like how the realization about Beth and Ruby became more and more obvious. It was something I was suspicious about and then was more and more confident in until it was confirmed. I thought the ending was alright.

Beth Belmont is an average woman. She works at a cinema, has a regular boyfriend, and enjoys running, but she suffers from crippling nightmares. It's on one of her daily runs that she finds a list with five names on it. The third one is her name, and as she investigates the list, she finds that the first two people on the list are dead. Paranoia grabs hold of her as she fears she's next. However, the more she digs, the more she worries that her own deep dark secret may soon come to light.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this audio ARC. I had actually purchased this book a couple months back, but just hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. The narrator, Charlotte Worthing really brought this book to life. She did an awesome job distinguishing the different characters as well as making Beth's paranoia really shine through. As far as the story itself, I just want to say first of all, when the truth about the list was brought to light I had to put this book down and say, "That is messed up." Who thinks of these things? There were also a couple of reveals that I picked up before they were revealed, so good job with those plants. There was also one I didn't get, so good job leaving a little mystery. I didn't like that the book ended set up for a sequel. That's a personal preference of mine as I usually exclusively read standalones. In the end I still can't tell you whether I liked Beth or not because I went back and forth so many times. There were times I just hated her and other times that I felt bad for her.

This is a hard review to write, as I feel that if I say much, I’ll be giving away spoilers. . None of the characters were particularly likeable (except for maybe Beth’s counselor) Not much of a mystery except trying to find out WHO wrote the names on the list and WHY - which lead to all kinds of paranoia and suspicion on Beth’s part and no seems to give a rat’s rear-end since she’s not even being threatened.

The story was repetitive, the lines were repetitive, the story pace was way too slow, and honestly, I just didn’t get the author’s message here or the feelings they might try to inspire. Perhaps it was that actions have consequences no matter how old one is/was?? But the feelings “of entitlement” with the main character - almost seemed as if she were trying to justify something very serious that happened when she was young, may certainly be a sore point, unable to produce care or sympathy with the reader.

The narration by Charlotte Worthing was a high point; the excessive use of f*bombs were tiresome and another low point to express the constant fear, frustration and anger of the character(s).

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an Audio Digital Copy of The List, in exchange my an honest opinion. All opinions are my own.