I dnfed it about 1/4 of the way through. It started strong and just got worse. from what Joanne did with the characters to how the narrators voice was super annoying. It was really hard to get through

Thank you Net Galley and Orange Sky Audio for providing this audio ARC. This was a third in a series. I wish I would have caught that, I think that I would have enjoyed it more. This book seemed to have too much of a meaty middle. It dragged. The story got a little confusing for me with the way the narrators narrated it.

Thank you to NetGalley, OrangeSky audio and the author for the ARC audiobook!

What is it about boarding schools that immediately make you contemplate secrets in addition to traditions? So many of the people you meet in passing can become friends and acquaintances, but those you create a special and everlasting bond with will stay with you for a lifetime; whether they are good or bad, only time will tell.

How far would you go to protect your friends? Some may say a true friend is a friend that will help you bury the body, but what happens when they get tired of keeping a secret? Who can you really trust?

This story takes you back and forth between two characters perspectives while also weaving between past and present timelines to uncover what really happened. As it was one character telling their past story to another, I became similarly intrigued and concerned as the story times went on.

There is a lot that goes on in this story, but I became immersed in the sides and could picture it inside my mind. It touches on many issues such as inequality, mental health, and racism that tie in to past and present. No one’s story is ever completely black and white.

It is quite a dark story dealing with the disappearance of a child and how others learned to cope with what happened and the consequences of their own actions. It makes you think about what they’ve done in their lives and question if the actions were justified.

Joanne Harris never disappoints but A Narrow Door might even be better than Gentlemen and Players, which I definitely didn’t expect. This is an absolute must read: exquisite prose, masterful plotting and misdirection (and not just for its own sake but to legitimately enhance the plot), and unexpected yet fascinating character development. Do. Not. Miss. This. One.

DNF 30% It started off ok but I could not get passed the narrators irritating voice. I did also did not like the way she tried to do other characters voices.


Thank you to Netgalley and OrangeSky Audio for this arc.

This is the third book of a series and I only got know about it when I decided to post about it on Goodreads 😅. Safe side to say you can also read it as a standalone.

❄The thriller mystery has great plot within plot development with a focused section of how you come to terms with one's past. Few chapters into the book & you will get a feel of what's going on - exactly then the author crumples all that away 😀 from reader's engagement perspective its great!
❄The book was somehow mixed paced with start and end being the most happening parts of it. In the middle I did feel a bit 🐌 ish...

❄Somehow the narration of the story did not click well with me and often it depreciated the experience of the story. Right now I feel like just a good mystery story. But there could have been more depth in it.

❄❄❄/5 Winter chills for my last read of 2021

I wish I had realised that this was the third book in the series but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. The narrators were absolutely incredible but I had a hard time following along with this one and I think it would have been better as a proper read than an audiobook, at least for me. I was definitely confused at times and needed to go back to listen to certain parts over again to make sure I was following the 'mystery'. I can see how Harris is an accomplished writer though so I'm going to go back and start from the beginning of the series and reread this one too. Thanks for the opportunity to listen!

Thank you NetGalley, for the advance audio book in exchange for an honest review.

There are two narrators in A Narrow Door - Rebecca Buckfast and Roy Straitley. Rebecca is the first woman to be headmistress at the formerly all-boys school of St. Oswalds, while Roy has been teaching classics for many years. In fact, he knew Becky's brother, Conrad, who mysteriously disappeared when Becky and Conrad were children. There is tension between Roy of the old ways and Becky of the new day.

Becky is a complex and well-developed character with an interesting background that is woven throughout. As a teenager, she had a child and she worked hard to make it to where she is today. The book examines the role of women and the fight for equality in the shadow of a long-standing patriarchal society.

This is the third book in a series about St. Oswalds, and I haven't read the previous books, which may have worked against me. This book was clever and referenced Greek mythology throughout.

I didn't love it. Some parts seemed to drag and did not keep my interest, possibly as a result of not reading the other books in the trilogy, and it was hard for me to get into at first. Once it got going, there were twists and turns. Roy and Becky alternate as narrators, so the audio book has two narrators also. They are narrating from different time periods which was confusing to me at first.

Overall, I would say to give this audio book a try, but maybe read the first two books in the trilogy prior to this one for a better frame of reference.

To anyone wondering if you need to read the first two books? You don't. The narrators are brilliant. Very gothic, disturbing feel that I didn't expect, at all. Brilliant use of having the female MC address the readers directly. LOVED THIS BOOK. First by this author (I know, I know) Definitely won't be the last.

This audiobook was provided to me at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

This book is dual POV, with one perspective from Rebecca’s (“Bex” for the most part), who is arguably the main character and also arguable the villain. (I think the “real” main character is Roy Straightley, who is the other POV and who the other two books in the series are about, but I did not read those books, and I don’t think you really need to to understand this book). It’s told over various points of her life, from when she was just starting to become a teacher and when she finally became the headmistress at St. Oswald’s Grammar School. She is haunted by when her brother disappeared/was murdered when she was five when he was possibly killed by a childhood monster called Mister Smallface who is absolutely a metaphor for something else, possibly the fact that she herself killed him. She also has a six-year-old daughter in the timeline when she is just becoming a teacher.

The other POV in this book belongs to Roy Straightley, who is the Latin teacher and haunted by the fact that his best friend was a child abuser and also possibly a murderer. He also tells a gay student that “he doesn’t care as long as it doesn’t interfere with his Latin” and also when a trans student tries to come out to him he has a heart and/or panic attack (it is unclear) and is like “pronouns are confusing, I’m very old!”, which certainly is Some Kind of Social Commentary. Get good, Roy Straightley.

Also they find a body on school grounds which we do not follow up on until after 50% of the book. (This is the Hook of the book but it does not seem super important to literally anyone).

Starting out, this book felt like Dark Academia But Told From The Teacher’s Perspective, but actually there are no secret societies and barely any murder and also it takes place at an elementary school.

This book skips around in the timeline a lot and repeats a lot of its stuff to the point where I was really confused where I was in the book and thought that I had accidentally repeated part of it, but actually it is just like that. I was very into “the monster of Mister Smallface who lives in the drain” the first three times and then after that my suspension of disbelief was kind of shattered, especially with how the word “fruitily” is frequently used in reference to the drain gurgling.

I listened to the audiobook version, which is narrated by Steven Pacey (Roy Straightley), who is perfectly serviceable. Bex’s perspective is narrated by Alex Kingston, who played River Song in Doctor Who! She’s fantastic as an audiobook narrator.

I would not say that I necessarily enjoyed this book but I was not as wildly disappointed by it as I was by IN THE WOODS by Tana French. This book gets 3 stars from me.

A slow burn mystery with dark psychological elements and utterly real characters.
I was hooked from the very first chapter. The dual narration helped me to understand both characters much more fully (as it should) and both were such realistic human people. They made me empathize with them even as I saw and despised elements of who they were. While the ending was what I suspected from the beginning, the author kept me invested with unexplained mysterious circumstances and gradually revealed twists that formed vital story pieces
I read this book without realizing it is the third in a series, but it works perfectly well as a stand-alone. I never felt like I was missing important information that would have helped my understanding of this book's events.
Alex Kingston and Steven Pacey could not have done a better job with the narration for the audiobook. Both their spot-on acting and the very quality of their voices brought Rebecca and Roy immediately to life.
If this is how Joanne Harris writes, sign me up for more!

"A Narrow Door" audiobook begins with Rebecca. Her brother Conrad has gone missing on her birthday.. She does not understand what happened and grew up very confused. Things were never the same for her family. Her parents ignored her and focused on finding Conrad. As a adult Rebecca has become the first female head mistress of the "St. Oswald's Academy" She is very head strong and dead set on having things her way. Additionally, employeed at the school is a Latin teacher named Roy. He struggles with demons of his own. Suddenly, a body is found on the grounds of the school and the story takes a different direction. Will there ever be a resolution in Conrad's mysterious disappearance?

This is a mystic and somewhat dark story. I am conflicted on how to rate this book. I enjoyed listening to the book but felt it was a little bit hard to follow at the beginning. I have not read the other books in this series so I was listening to it as a stand alone. I am very excited to read more Joanne Harris books. "A Narrow Door" audio book will be published January 4, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for this free audio book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Interesting story and I didn't realize until I brought it up to review it was the final book in a trilogy. Rebecca Buckfast, Becky Price, is the first woman headmistress at St. Oswald's and she is determined to bring about changes and allow girls into the school. This is a twisty story that weaves from past to present and through the story told from Rebecca to Roy Straitly after he suffers an illness that leaves him hospitalized and then recuperating at home for a bit. Her cunning and determination overcome all.

I was unaware that this was part of a series. Since I did not read the previous two, I will not be able to give this a fair rating.

I always enjoy a Joanne Harris novel and especially enjoyed this narration by Alex Kingston and Steven Pacey. A fun psychological thriller with an English prep school setting. Although this is the third in the series, this can easily be read as a stand alone.

It was great to revisit St. Oswald’s and get reacquainted with Roy Straitley, the Latin classics teacher, now definitively past his prime. But things have changed and the once all-boys school is now open to girls AND has a woman “headmaster” as Straitley refers to Rebecca Buckfast. This is the third in the Malbry series but can be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the first two books, especially the first one, Gentlemen and Players, and was eager to dive into this audiobook. It’s the start of a new school year as Straitley is prepping for the first day of class, he’s informed of a discovery in the schools grounds and rushes to share the information with the head. This kicks off the storyline with the two narrators - Straitley and Buckfast - in current time and in the past. About Buckfast - when she was five years old, her brother Conrad Price went missing on her birthday, and has never been found. The events of that fateful day has consumed and haunted Becky all her life and has made her who she is today. The book is about that mystery and what unfolded as she remembers… or not. The book is a clever psychological thriller - it’s even paced and thoughtful. If you’re looking for a fast-paced taut mystery, this is not it. Rather, this books gets deep into the psyche - what do we want to remember and how and what we remember. It calls into question how reliable witnesses really are in true live cases. This is a finely written enjoyable thriller, which kept me hooked till the end. Nicely done! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 stars

I definitely didn’t realize that this book was the third in a series when I started it, but that didn’t seem to matter; I don’t think it affected my enjoyment too much. This was a bit of a weird story that took me a while to get into, but it was pretty good, and there were definitely moments that were tense, suspenseful, and just plain creepy. I saw parts of the ending coming, but the last few scenes had some nice additional little twists/information- not entirely unexpected, but satisfactory nonetheless. There was a mix of characters in this book, and I truly do love a good unreliable narrator, especially when that narrator doubles as a strong female co-protagonist (antagonist? anti-hero? all of the above?); I was less a fan of the other main character. Strange but interesting story; I’m glad I was able to experience it!

Fantastic addition to my collection as got the kindle version and audio. Love this author! The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life.

The main character in this book has all the right characteristics that I want in my female lead roles! She is smart, fierce, a breast cancer survivor, and a murderer. The book also has a super creepy boogeyman, “Mr. Smallface.” The way the narrator says the name is enough to give you nightmares! Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy this book. It was slow and I felt like there were parts that could have been cut out completely. It held my attention just enough that I was able to finish it, but not enough to be an enjoyable read. I’m super disappointed that it was not for me because the premise sounded right up my alley. I’m not sure if the fact that I have not read the first two books in the series has made an impact on my thoughts about this book. I do appreciate NetGalley and Orange Sky Audio for allowing me to listen to an advance recording of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was just . . . not that well done. It didn't feel as if it were breaking any new ground, and the social commentary didn't quite work.


Review copy provided by publisher.