This book definitely twisted up and surprised me. A few times you think you have it figured out, only to learn new things. Bringing more awareness to PTSD and how intensely it can affect someone is amazing, while weaving it into a mystery.

This is a dark, intense mystery regarding drugs and child trafficking. The story is based around one student, Destiny, and the teacher that tried to save her. Lucy Jane Dixon does an excellent job as the narrator, able to create the tense moments through the inflection of her voice. The victims seem to have no way out. It's
depressing to know this sort of thing goes on in the world on a daily basis.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, LLC for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't like this book. I think it was mainly because I couldn't understand any of the characters or their motivations. It just wasn't logical to me. A woman kidnaps a kid to keep her safe? That just doesn't make sense. Because of this lack of understanding of the characters motivations lead me to not get absorbed into the story. I found my mind wandering a lot. The narrator didn't help matters. She was kind of boring. All in all, this wasn't what I was hoping it would be.

I read about a third of this and then just couldn't get motivated to keep reading it. It just didn't work for me.

Wow! This book was like no other thriller 8’ve ever read! Jenni is a badass solider turned badass teacher whose number one concern is her students education and their safety. She doesn’t care what the rules and procedures are for reporting suspected child abuse after learning that her student Destiny is going through unbearable times in foster care. But things aren’t always what they seem and people aren’t always who they seem. This was a time sensitive hunt journey that Jenni wasn’t sure would end well but she was determined to get Destiny away from the people who were hurting her. But who are they? And what is Destiny hiding?

This psychological thriller will keep you surprised as you go through the twists and turns. Be prepared to be caught off guard as this book closes. The story is told in the thoughts of the two main characters, a teacher and her student that she is trying to save. You get to know the characters well through their perspective of what is taking place. Trigger warning, this book contains human trafficking. I loved the narrator’s beautiful accent and she did an amazing job acting out this story.

DNF @ 45% or so.

This one just wasn’t working for me. I could’ve finished it and might not have totally hated it all, but my attention was wandering pretty quickly, and after a couple chapters detailing fairly graphic past abuse as well as an antagonist assaulting an elderly character in serious detail, I had just had enough. I have a pretty good feeling I know where the story was heading but also wasn’t intrigued enough to find out for sure, so here we are. This one was a miss for me.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was not what I was expecting, but in a good way. Action right from the start, but there were parts that I felt dragged a little, and the main character was not my favorite. Overall a good, quick read. The narrator was good as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to this audibook early! However, if this wasn't a Netgalley book I would've DNF'ed it. This book is about a teacher, Jenny, who sees one of her students, Destiny, in an attempted kidnapping and she knows she is not safe. Social services isn't doing much for her so Jenny, an ex military soldier, decides to take matters into her own hands and run away with her. The premise of this book sounded so interesting. I also enjoyed that nobody is reliable and you have no idea what the truth is or if you can trust any of the perspectives given in this book. However, the rest of the writing style made this SUCH A SLOG for me. You get a lot of different perspectives, even from characters you don't need. I also feel like we didn't know enough early on in the book to create tension so the chase felt kind of boring. We didn't know why people wanted Destiny. We got a lot of hints as to why Jenny took it so personally, but I just felt a real lack of tension. This book is also VERY graphic with violence, sex, and a bunch of other things I didn't want to know about. I thought the timeline was confusing and the writing style was so dull I just had a really hard time getting through what should've been a really fast paced thriller. I feel like I'm seeing either really high or really low reviews for this book, so I'd recommend giving it a chance and if you get super sucked in, go for it! If you struggle from the beginning, let it go.

A very dark and tense psychological thriller that will leave you questioning everything and nothing is as it seems…

I was super excited to read this book. Jenni, ex-military now teaching, struggling to makes ends meet and support her father. Jenni suffers from alexithymia, the inability to identify feelings which therefore leads to a lack of emotional awareness making teaching rather difficult for her. When one of her students arrives to school with a black eye, acts fearful towards a phone call, and is almost abducted at gun point, Jenni knows she has to step in to help protect Destiny…but is Destiny really who she seems?

This book fell a little flat for me. I think a big portion of that was the fact that I did not enjoy Jenni as a protagonist. I found her unlikable and stiff, unfortunately not in a way that helps develop the plot either. You can tell from the very beginning she is untrustworthy and something else is going on with her than we know. I felt like the “twist” was very predictable as well which was a let down.

All and all, a solid 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ARC of the audiobook. Publishing Release Date is June 30, 2022.

To Keep You Safe is a compelling thriller about a teacher who goes beyond the job description to keep a student safe from danger. Jenni is a 40 year old new teacher, in her second year on the job after a military career. Most of the chapters are told from her perspective, but we also hear from the point of view of several other characters.

Early in the novel, we are introduced to Destiny. She’s a 15-year-old girl who has spent her life in foster care and when someone comes to the school to check on her and it turns out that they are posing as a social worker, Jenni decides to take matters into her own hands.

The action is quick and consistent through most of the book Jenni takes Destiny and through some extreme circumstances including a harrowing train encounter, does everything in her power to keep the girl safe. At around halfway there is an unexpected twist that turns the story around. The action in this novel kept me reading and the only significant break from the action was character building of Jenni and Destiny during a long car ride. Their conversations were important as the story progressed.

I really enjoyed the book until about the 80% mark at which point I felt that the back half dragged. The resolution at the very end of the book didn’t feel as satisfying as I would’ve liked. The audiobook was well narrated with excellent voice acting. Overall, I think this is a very middle of the road thriller with some commentary on important issues facing vulnerable people such as those in foster care. I would read from this author again.

This one was twisty and dark and not what was expected. Jenni is ex-Army and now teaching Math but when one of her students shows up at school looking like she has been abused and terrified she takes action. When Destiny tells her she is going to run away, Jenni decides she is going to act first and help. Who is really the victim? This is the question throughout and is not brought out until the end. Twisty thriller this one!

There are a lot of triggers in this book, so reader/listener beware. I really wasn't a fan of the narration and so it was difficult for me to enjoy the book (and finish) because of that. I DNF'd because ultimately this audiobook was just not for me. I might try reading the book instead and see if I can get into it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for access to the audiobook of To Keep You Safe by Kate Bradley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: pedophilia, statutory rape, emotional abuse, physical abuse, gun violence, sex trafficking, kidnapping, mental illness, see full list on StoryGraph

A teacher is out of her depth when she attempts to keep one of her student safe from her abusers. Little does she know that the student has been groomed and believes that she is in a consensual, loving relationship with the man her teacher is trying desperately to protect her from.

This was alright. Definitely not the best thriller that I've ever read, but not necessarily the worst either. It took me while to become invested in the story. I can't pinpoint whether this was because I was listening to the audiobook too fast for what was suited to the narrator's British accent or because the exposition was poorly constructed. Either way, I wasn't all that interested in the plot until about 25% of the way through, which is simply too late. I didn't find the twists particularly interesting in this book, and frankly the plot devices used were pretty disgusting. Not the best thriller. Wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, there's a lot better out there within the genre.

I listen to an early version of this book, which was published in 2019 but has a new audio version. It was a different spin on the idea of how far would you go to save someone. A teacher tries her best to save her student. But did the student really want to be saved? The book was full of twists, especially the ending. It was a fun listen and would be great to listen to on a summer road trip.

Wow. The twists and turns in this one just don’t stop! There are surprises packed all the way up to the very last chapter.

This story is honestly so sad at the core of it. A girl who grew up with a very troubled past gets involved in risky business and shady characters, and ultimately makes a lot of really bad decisions to try to find love. She saw so many terrible things when she was young and I genuinely think this shows the impact that a bad home life/ absent parents/ drugs can have.

Also though, the soldier. The one who we at first think might be a little crazy, turns out to be the most courageous person just trying to do what she thought was the right thing to do.

This will have you surprised all the way up to the very very end.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

An Ex-Army teacher saw a student confronted by 2 men in a van that had a padlock on the door and a gun, she instantly went to the principal and reported what she saw.

It seemed like no one else really cared, except Jenni, the teacher. Once Destiny, the child, said she was going to run away, and the van kept showing up, Jenni felt like she had no options but to help Destiny get to somewhere safe herself.

Destiny has been jumping from foster home to foster home causing trouble, so no one wants her, including schools. She has been in survival mode her whole life and has gotten really good at it.

Jenni, has a disability where she struggles in social settings, reading people, and sticks to her routines like clockwork.

I found this book to be very predictable. The beginning-middle was very slow for me. It felt like it was all background stories on every character that jumped around a lot and was sometimes hard to follow.

However, the last quarter of the book, it really picked up and was interesting. The last page I actually read twice to fully digest because it surprised me.

Overall, I would say 3 🌟 of 5.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for being able to listen to this audiobook early for an honest review.

When Jenny Wells makes it her priority to protect her student destiny she will be risking everything including her life. What began as a teacher wanting to help a student will eventually become a fight to the death but will it be destiny in Miss whales death? This book from the beginning was so good I did think the teacher inner dialogue with sometimes go on and on, but once the other characters became the narrator the book took off like a flash. Miss Wales suffers from a disability that causes her not to read signals that people get bowl such as sarcasm humor agitation etc., but when her student destiny shows overwhelming distress to the point she relieves herself on the classroom floor just from not being able to answer a phone call she takes it upon herself to help this child. When does school seems to lack in its ability to protect destiny and destiny said she’s going to run away Jenny decides to throw caution to the win and help her. This will lead to a cat and mouse game that will end in tragedy but who’s tragedy will it be. As I said this book is so good and although it starts off a little slow by the fourth chapter AutoZone and running. More than once in this book I got hurt palpitations and was praying to the book gods to say destiny in Miss Wales. I love this book and highly highly recommend it. As far as the narrator goes she was top notch , I love me a comfy accent and she had a great one. If you love an action pack thriller with OMG moments you definitely need to listen to this audiobook. I was given this audiobook by Nat Gally in the publisher and I’m leaving this review totally voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.#ToKeepYouSafe, #NickGally

My thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape for this audio.

How far would a teacher go to protect a student of suspected abuse? Will she risk her life, job,reputation? That's what Jennie Wales does for Destiny Mills.

I cannot give this any more than 3 stars. Description said Mystery/Thriller. Did not see Mystery at all. More thriller. First half of book was just a teacher on the run with a kid. It picks up a bit half way thru with a very heavy topic that may bother some. Lots of jumping around from different perspectives to fill story in was a bit confusing. Could not connect with narrator with some words. Can't recommend.