Unfortunately I had problems with the audiobook player I listened to this with, so the book felt somewhat disjointed as it was frequently stopped at the end of chapters and wouldn’t play again. Nothing to do with the book itself but it did make the swapping from previous years to present time and back again difficult to follow at times. I’m not overly keen on books that jump back and forth to explain certain aspects of the story, preferring a prologue for this. However, for this book it was necessary as the experience of the characters unfolded during these jump-backs and heavily influence the listener’s understanding of the present.
The storyline itself was imaginative but it did feel dragged out a bit while listening. I realise that much of it is about creating the anticipation and feelings of disquiet & foreboding as we listen to the story play out, but it just felt like not a lot happened for much of the book with it peppered with interesting aspects at times.
The narrator handled the story well, voicing each of the characters expertly including the male characters’ voices. Pace of the storytelling was good with suspense built by the narrator.
I’m new to this author, but I’m not sure this audiobook has convinced me to buy others by them. It was an interesting listen but just didn’t grab me due to the (very) slow-burn of the storyline.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio and Mel Sherratt for an audioARC in return for an honest review.

Mel Sherratt is a new author for me and an author I will not forget. 'The Life She Wants' is a domestic psychological thriller. It is told from multiple points of view. There are more twists and turns then a roundabout. I had to listen to this in one sitting as I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. It is dark, scary, thrilling and gripping. It shows the true affects of 'gas-lighting' and the power an abuser can have. A thoroughly gripping and intense book. I highly recommend.

3.5 stars

Sarah thought Richard would be the one to give her everything she had always wanted....

Sarah, didn't you ever hear the adage "Be Careful what you wish for"?

Living her "perfect" life, Sarah notices that the home next door has been sold. She and Richard are going to have neighbors, will they be fast friends, will they get along, or will they invade their perfect life.

Juliette and Danny are still reeling from the death of their young daughter, they have moved in search of a quieter life. Away from it all, a chance to grieve and have peace. When their new neighbors invite them to dinner, they feel lucky - their neighbors are nice. They have new friends....

When Juliette notices a young girl in garden, Richard ties to convince her that she is seeing things, that her grief over the loss of her daughter is messing with her head. But Juliette knows what she saw, she wasn't seeing things was she?

Sarah worries that her perfect life is about to be turned upside down....

You may think you know what is going on but the author changes things up a bit, and readers begin to learn truths as secrets are revealed. Things get murky and I found myself getting more and more annoyed with certain characters. There are a couple in here that were horrific and give readers a chance to boo and hiss at them while feeling sorry for another.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator. This was a fun one for me as I kept shaking my head and thinking "how horrible" more than once.

This was a dark and twisted tale which entertained and had me quite angry at times.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love domestic psychological thrillers, and this one did not disappoint! I loved the twists and turns up until the very end. There was a ton of tragedy mixed with an abusive relationship, and I could not stop listening to this audiobook. It was a very quick listen, so my only feedback is that I would have loved more detail at certain parts of this book.

Mel Sherratt is a new author to me. After reading The Life She Wants I'll make sure I won't miss her next books.

This is a suspenseful, dark, domestic / psychological thriller that hooks you in right from the start and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole duration. It's fast paced and creepy, and the end is very satisfying.

I must pay my compliments to the narrator that did an incredible job: she succeded in giving every character their very own distinctive voice, so that you never get confused about who's talking. Great job indeed!

Since I listened to the audio version of this story I am going to devide beteween the narration, which unfortunately didn't work for me and the book itself, which I really enjoyed.
I had a hard time getting into it, but I am glad, I kept on listening.
Juliette and Danny have just purchased a house out in the countryside after the death of their daughter. Living in London with all the memories would have been to hard so they bought a house in a small village to try and get a new start. A house that had been sitting empty for some time. One whose neighbors have some secrets. And this is where the twists and turns start.
I do not want to give away too much of the story. Just devor it blind!
Thank you very much #NetGalley #Bookouture Audio, Bookouture for the advanced listening copy

I listened to the audiobook of this one and the narrator does a fantastic job with this one. The story itself is thrilling and entertaining as well. I really enjoyed this one.

Intriguing start to the book that drew me in to find out more about the couple who just moved to start a new life after the death of their only child. The people next door seem friendly enough and the hopefully new start in a new town seems to be the right thing. The wife of the newly moved couple starts to see a child in the garden so doubts are raised whether this is imagination or not, and the plot thickens. Couldn't put it down so got through it really quickly. Thank you #NetGalley for the audio book to review.

Great thriller! Loved the story and plot kept me guessing. Would definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

The Life she Wants was a dark psychological thriller featuring a strong theme of coercive control. I feel like I should also include a *trigger warning* that the book also deals with child loss, which having lost a child myself did make me catch my breath a little.

I enjoyed this book. The author intricately weaves the story across two timelines - the current timeline and also in the past showing how Richard became involved in Sarahs life and how they came to be where they are now. I did find the story hard to follow at times, but this might have been because I was listening to the audiobook and was struggling to connect to the narrators way of telling the story. This didn't stop me from enjoying the book however and as I continued listening everything clicked into place nicely. The characters were well developed and I felt a strong sense of connection with them, even Richard! I enjoyed the twists and turns and the ending had just the right amount of suspense.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC audiobook in return for my unbiased review.

The Life She Wants is a tense psychological thriller which has a great twist at the end.

Juliette and Danny leave London for a life in the rural midlands. Purchasing a remote cottage, their neighbours, Richard and Sarah, seem friendly although Juliette cannot quite put her finger on her unease about their relationship. It could be the age gap or the fact that Sarah is much less engaged than Richard.

The book runs two timelines. The present and the background to Richard and Sarah’s relationship. All of the characters are interesting although some of the backstory is a little convoluted. Suffice to say that Mel Sherrat does a good job in misleading reader as who they can and cannot trust and who may be controlling the narrative. A strong 3.5*

I listened to the audiobook which has professional, if not on occasion slightly annoying, narration

Thanks to Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for the advance audiobook.

The Life She Wants - Mel Sharatt

Juliette and Danny are making a new start in the country, their only neighbours are Sarah and her partner Richard. Richard is a gruff, older, successful artist, a lovable rogue or a womanising bastard?

This is the first book I've 'read' by Mel Sharatt, and the first audiobook I've listened to in a while. The voice acting is excellent, all of the characters are distinct and with plenty of character.

The plot is largely led by Sarah's determination to escape her early life and there are strong themes of coercive control. The inclusion of the neighbours was a original touch and it really works, the story of two couples, rather just a husband and wife.

I enjoyed it, a good easy listen with great voice acting and character.

I've read quite a few coercive control domestic thrillers, while I wouldn't rate this as one of the very best, it's definitely worth a read or a listen if you enjoy the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre

I enjoyed this audiobook, but I found it quite dark, which left me feeling uneasy at times. However, that means that the author and narrator did a good job, as it is a dark psychological thriller. The story made me feel emotional, as the main characters Juliette and Danny had lost their little daughter Emily, plus Juliette and Danny's new neighbours Sarah and Richard, held dark secrets, which were disturbing. Richard, who has a dark personality, freaked me out a lot. The story was quite fast paced, creepy, twisted, shocking and cruel. I wanted to protect all of the nice characters from Richard. The ending was good and it left me feeling satisfied and like I could finally breathe again after all the drama.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I didn’t like the narration. It felt over dramatic and therefore quite old fashioned.
The book itself was promising with a good concept and good understanding of the workings of an abusive relationship. However for some reason it didn’t grip me and I found myself hoping it would end quickly. Maybe I would have been better off reading the physical version rather than listening to the audiobook, because I can’t see what it was about the story that didn’t impress me

I really enjoyed this audiobook "The Life She Wants", it kept me rivited and I listened to it all in a day, it was well written and the suspense grew and showed really well how a coercive partner can destroy your confidence and mind. I liked and loathed the characters written and Emma Gregory the narrator did an excellant job reading the novel and I would defintely recommend.

Narrator 5 stars
This narrator was fantastic and did a great job with the individual characters

Story 3 stars

This story was a roller-coaster of emotions and there was so much going on behind the scenes with each character.

This is my first time coming across this author and I would definitely buy a differ book from the Kindle store and try her again.

3.75*
This was such a quick read for me; it was fast paced, the characters didn't mess around getting straight into the suspicious actions, and the change in perspectives worked to move the plot along where necessary. I loved the setting of the book, because the isolation of the British countryside made it eerier to read from Juliette's perspective when she was living alone and weird things began to happen, so you really could believe that anything could happen.
Sherratt easily made Richard unlikeable and you were left wondering how far he would go, and there were a few little twisty turns along the way, but the ending fell a little flat for me because it was sort of what I expected the whole way, and if anything I probably would have wanted it to go darker. The audiobook narrator did a great job differentiating voices for different perspectives, and I'll be interested to pick up from the author again!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The life she wants written by Mel Sherratt and narrated by Emma Gregory. A fast paced domestic thriller, told in three parts, first we have Juliette and Danny moving in to a quiet village next door to Sarah and Richard. The neighbours seem odd, Sarah is scared but then Juliette sees a girl in the garden, can she be mistaken? Part two delves back to when Richard met Sarah and how their relationship built to now. Part three it all comes to a dramatic conclusion where the truth pours out.

The plot is very fast , building the intensity with each chapter. This doesn't leave much time for character development but there is enough background for you to understand their motives. My favourite is Sarah, despite Richards treatment of her she still has a voice. Despite this being a short novel it covers many triggering topics, so not for the faint hearted.

The narration brought the characters to life, each with their own accent, pushing the differences between poor Sarah from Derby and grand Richard descending from money.

Overall, I enjoyed this fast paced domestic thriller. The narrator was brilliant, the plot was twisty and I liked Sarah. 4*
Thanks to netgalley and bookouture audio for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley UK for the audiobook.

Overall this was a good read. I would have liked more depth, character development and twists though than what it offered.

It was quite a short audiobook, only 5-6 hours so I finished it pretty quick.

A good, but not great read.

After losing their 4 year old, Julie the and Danny decide to move back to the Midlands to a beautiful cottage in a village with lots of friendly residents. Or are they? Some like t keep themselves to themselves for personal reasons which they don't want uncovered. I absolutely lived this book Mel. I think its one if your best. The thrills, suspense and darker side to it had me turning page after page!