Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this title. This had a good narrator and I really enjoyed the story. I would recommend.

I want to thank RB Media and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review the audio of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water, written by Erin Bartels and narrated by Mia Barron.
“I was a child of the lake.”
Kendra, the main character of this story, is writing a letter to her best childhood friend Cami.
After eight years Kendra returns to her summer cottage at Hidden Lake in Michigan to see if she can overcome her writer’s block and author her second book. A big influence is Andreas who has come to finalize the translation of her first book into German.
There are so many secrets and questions to be uncovered.
Who wrote the anonymous letter to Kendra?
Why do Cami and Kendra’s mothers avoid each other?
What is in the book that Cami’s father wrote that is so important for Kendra to read?
What is the background of Cami and her brother?
And finally, where is Cami now?
Mia Barron narrates this compelling story very well.
This suspenseful tale published in January 2022.

Format: audiobook
Author: Erin Bartels ~ Title: The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water ~ Narrator: Mia Barron
Content: 2 stars ~ Narration: 3 stars

Kendra Brennan is a bestselling author who used her personal story to write her first book. She gets an anonymous letter from A Very Disappointed Reader, which says that she didn’t tell the story the way it happened. After many years, Kendra returns to Hidden Lake, where the unpleasant story from her novel took place. There she plans to write her second book. This is a slow-paced mystery, so I expect some readers will have an issue with that.

Even though The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water has its potential, I concluded that this (audio)book is not for me.

The whole thing with the German translator was improbable and even creepy. But Kendra didn’t notice that, and I'm surprised other readers weren't bothered by that fact. So this was another issue for me that Kendra was too naïve most of the time. The next one is my personal preference, I guess. The romance part sounded too sugary for my taste.

Mia Barron is a very good narrator. I listened to her narrations before. But here I am convinced that a narrator that speaks German fluently would be better. Those German lines sounded very unnatural to me.

Thanks to Recorded Books for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

Wow. When I started hearing buzz about this book, I felt like it was definitely interesting enough to check out. But even after reading the book jacket and blurb, I still didn’t know what to expect. This was definitely nothing I could have even imagined. The flashbacks of Kendra, Cami and Tyler at the lake as children, the present day moments shared between a grown up Cami, Tyler, and Cami’s translator Andreas, and other characters like Kendra’s mom & granddad, Robert, and Ike (who I loved immediately) are truly unforgettable. While I would not call this a work of Christian fiction, it absolutely dealt with some pretty heavy subjects (there are a number of potential triggers, so research if you think this might be an issue for you) in a sensitive way, and I found some pretty amazing universal truths peppered throughout the book. I agree with the recommendation to be sure and read the author’s note at the end. The audiobook version was excellent and I loved the narrator. I hear you, Erin Bartels, and I believe you.

Got half way through this and just didn’t connect with it. Am curious what others thought. I will be DNF-ing

The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water is so far the best book I've listened to in 2022! I enjoyed trying to piece together the different secrets of the characters throughout the novel. The narrator does a good job bringing the narrator to life and delving into the mystery. Definitely one I will be going back to listen to again.

Reviewing
The Girl Who Could Breed Underwater
By Erin Bartels

A beautiful written story about life choices, perspective, and the power of our actions. Who doesn’t love a book about a novelist?!? Readers will enjoy the unexpected roads Bartels leads them down as long as they are willing to stick around long enough to get there. With a casts of unsavoury characters, this slow pace mystery my have a hard time holding readers interested.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 slow moving stars for this well written but long winded release. 14+ rating.

Dear The Girl Who Could Breathe Underwater,
Wow. There is so much packed inside this story. I was amazed at the depth and layers of your whole story. I absolutely loved the overall idea that perception is only one side of the story for anyone, and that there are so many layers to any experience. You also shared the experience of the horrors of human trafficking and sexual abuse. The process of writing a second book that Kendra has to pull herself through was so fascinating to me. You left me wanting to read "Beautiful Fools" and "That Summer" to enhance the book even more! You were a unique kind of book; part family drama, part thriller, part women's fiction. I was so excited to read you and you lived up to expectations for me!!

Kendra is a novelist. She’s written one successful book, and desperately needs to finish her second. However, due to a note she received from “a very disappointed reader” she is experiencing writers block, and can’t find a way to move forward.
She returns to Hidden Lake, her favorite summer childhood spot. She needs to confront Tyler, the inspiration for the antagonist in her novel.

Erin Bartel's story of Kendra's journey to ultimately find herself involved more than a few issues that sadly, many people deal with [in some form or another] in life. Honestly? This was a hard book for me to get into... but the story is good and speaks to failures in our lives. [Ours and other's.] In the end it is so full of forgiveness and reconciliation... And I truly believe we have to forgive in order to live with peace in our lives...

While this book was well written, it was still a pain to finish. None of the characters are likeable, the book moves so slowly it’s easy to forget there is an actual plot at many points, and the story just felt pointless. I don’t feel as if I gained anything from reading this. On the bright side, the narrator was awesome and that helped me get through the book. Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Beautifully written, well developed characters and so much going on. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels.

Firstly, the narration was great! I love a good voice actor.

I give this book a solid three stars. It's a story about an author who receives a startling and very personal review of her story, a story that closely resembles her real life. Anxious to find out who wrote it and why, she journeys home to confront her past, as well as some difficult truths.

This was a very middle road story. I appreciated the nuance, and the author's resistance to fully villainize or pedestalize any character. I thought the atmosphere was well structured. My biggest complaint was the pace, just toooo slow. Like when you're walking so slow that eventually you just fall over and quit moving at all? That's how it felt a bit, which led me to lose a bit of plot along the way.

Oh my heavens! I thought this was so good. A beautiful descriptively childhood told with warm sunny days spent at the lake. But under all that was broken, fragile people. A million mistakes and a million blessings.
This reminded me that no matter the pain and the scars, life still goes on. And we have a chance to start doing the right thing.
The author captures the essentials of a human soul. It was raw and I felt emotional. The writing made me care and I just wanted to hug it when I finished! I highly recommend it.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and Mia Barrow narrated this and she was amazing.
Thanks Recorded Books via NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for an audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a story about trauma and family dysfunction. You follow a woman who goes back to her childhood vacation home to write a sequel to her big hit book. She revisits old traumas, abuses and relationships while there. Mysteries are revealed and characters grow.

I thought this was done really well and was a heartbreaking story. The audiobook was also produced really well and was easy to listen to.

Tons of CWs.

3.5 stars, rounded up
A well-written character-driven mystery

The beginning was a bit confusing, as one doesn’t know who the first-person narrator/ main character is talking to, but hang in there, things will make sense. This “mystery/ thriller” is character driven. A death does not occur until halfway through, and that is just a thin layer in the well-plotted narrative. We don’t know what happened That Summer. That Summer is the successful first book written by narrator, Kendra, through whose eyes and observations the entire story unfolds. I really liked the many layers to the story, but the reader/ listener needs to pay attention way for everything to come together and make sense.

The characters were good, but a tiny bit predictable. I wish they were a bit more nuanced. The translator, Andreas, happened to be both nice and rich, but I did like that he had no fashion sense. Kendra shows growth from the timid teenager she was to hesitant woman to knowing what she wants and needs. The romance part of the story was predictable and clean. The Michigan summer cabins on a lake setting was lovely. Trigger warning: there is sexual abuse as an explanation for what effects the characters, but the book is not graphic or violent.

The narration by Mia Barron enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Her voice was clear and easy to listen to. (sped up to 1.25) Unlike many female narrators, she really nailed the male voices. Her German accent was perhaps a bit overdone for someone as educated as Andreas. The tiny bit of German (with translation) was spot on. I would definitely listen to other books narrated by Mia Barron.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this!
Every once in a while, a book comes along that tears at the walls around your heart, rips it out and hands it to you in such a delicious and polite mannor. A book that makes you question all the rules of life you thought you know. There was so much here to process and digest.
This is a story you have to get inside of and follow along with the characters, to be inside their heads to understand their complexity and intention.
The characters were well thought out and all earned their place in the book . Kendra is such a lost soul , but honest to her core.
I loved the fact this ticked so many boxes, yet no one plot took away from the other. Several issues running parallel with the same characters binding them together. I would love a sequel to this.
I'm not a fan of comparing books to other authors but I have to say I loved the "where the crawdads sing " vibe this had going on.
This was a brilliant book that I will certainly be gifting to bookish friends.




I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

First time novelist Kendra Brennan moves into her grandfather's old cabin on Hidden Lake, trying to come to terms with her past so that she can write her second novel. A letter from A Very Disappointed Reader touched a nerve with Kendra, giving her a severe case of writer's block. As she digs through her memories and confronts the long-ago secrets, will Kendra finally get some answers? Complicating matters, an unexpected houseguest potentially has the power to distract Kendra from her ultimate goal.

The biggest problem that I had with this book was the sheer number of side plots. There were multiple characters with both past and present threads, which led the book astray. The author tried to do too much in one book, giving readers a romance as well as a mystery to solve. The beginning was very confusing, written as though Kendra was telling the story to "you". Perhaps the printed version of this book was less confusing, but it was hard to follow in the audio format. I did like the narrator, Mia Barron, as she did a good job of bringing Kendra to life. The narrator had good inflection and was able to convey Kendra's anxieties quite well. Overall, The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water was a little too convoluted to be cohesive and it was hard to form a connection with the characters.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by NetGalley and the publisher, RB Media. The decision to listen to and review this book was entirely my own.

It took a while for me to warm up to this book. There are many unlikable and unrelatable characters and it was difficult for me to want to discover who the letter-writer was. However, two-thirds into the book the characters started to show development and were less self-absorbed. In the end, I found it fairly enjoyable. I'd give it 3.5 stars.

While I enjoyed this book, it doesn't compare to the author's other books! I struggle with how to rate it because had it come from any other author, I'd give it five stars, but it's hard because I had such high expectations!

An emotional and riveting story that I couldn’t put down. I picked this up on a whim, with no previous knowledge about the content, just solely attracted to the cover and title. It’s similar to Kristin Hannah’s writing… a character is put through unfathomable situations, in order to find out who she really is. Written through a unique perspective, the main character writes to her childhood best friend, recounting her experience and memories of their summers growing up. So many sides to this story with multi-faceted layers, and rich in discussion. This was a 4.75 star read for me and I highly recommend it. Loved the Audio and thought the narration was amazing too