I picked this one up because of the comparisons to No Country for Old Men and Killing Eve; I'd say that those are accurate to an extent but I'd also add "Orange is the New Black." The story primarily follows Florida and Dios; two female inmates who unexpectedly get early release because of the pandemic. Florida likes to believe that she just made some mistakes in the past and is nothing like the hardened and violent Dios. Dios believes otherwise and stalks Florida in order to show Florida that she is no better than Dios and they are both capable of violence. The second part of the book is a police procedural of sorts as Detective Lobos is hot on the heels of Dios and Florida after connecting them to a crime.

The exploration of women and their capacity for violence was interesting and there certainly is violence within the pages. I never really connected with Dios' reasoning for being so obsessed with Florida, perhaps because Dios' perspective is the least prominent. I didn't get "feminist Western thriller" as was marketed, but I did enjoy the audiobook narration by Frankie Corzo, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Sophie Amoss, Victoria Villarreal.

Special thanks to @netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of Sing Her Down. All opinions are my own.

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

I wasn't sure I was going to like this when I started listening but it eventually drew me in and kept me interested! Somewhat dark, and has its fair share of violence of all sorts but overall enjoyable. Good narrators too.

Sing Her Down is a stunning novel that simultaneously feels like a story you know, while being one unlike any you've ever read. Dios is painted as the hardened criminal from the get-go, but is it possible she's the only person capable of seeing Florida for who she is? This is one you won't want to miss!

I received a free audio ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

The narration was brilliant. The story, well this is different. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the mysterious quality of it. The southwest American setting added to the ambience of it. The characters, flawed but interesting.

The story overall, I don't know. I'm not sure I get it. Still, not a bad listening experience...

Audio: 5🌟

So, I wasn’t familiar with the author and I actually read the blurb prior to requesting the book. I must say that for me the blurb and the story is a bit misleading. The story is told in multiple POVs and it dealt in a world where the pandemic was taking place. Showing how newly released prisoners had to be quarantined and the paths that they take. Some of the crimes that take place can be gruesome from some but it just shows that women are capable of committing horrific crimes.
The ending for me was a bit confusing and abrupt. Perhaps it’s just something that went over my head. The narrators, Frankie Corzo, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Sophie Amoss, and Victoria Villarreal did a fantastic job creating a variety of unique voices, tones, and inflections throughout the book. They kept me engaged till the very end.

A very special thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Presented in the midst of one of our most recent societal shifts, the reader follows the twisty downfall of two women…girls, really…as they find their way post early release from prison. Written with an artistic voice and appreciation of the dangers some women face. I found myself enthralled in each character’s story. Their troubles. Their triumphs. Their messes. How much danger can one face before they become dangerous themselves?

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Ivy Pochoda for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“When do you become the thing you’ve kept at bay?
When do you become the abused or the abuser?
When do you become someone frightened in your own home, rage-numbed and cowering?
When do become the person for whom violence is easily within arm’s reach?
Trace it back. Every incident is a stepping-stone to this recent incident. Violence is rarely spontaneous. It almost never occurs in a vacuum. “

Joining the line of up of this years feminist thrillers that for me began with Meagan Jennett’s #YouKnowHer Ivy Pochoda’s latest character piece is a taut, violent examination of a trio of women on both sides of the law who are barreling towards an epic showdown. When we first meet Florence ‘Florida’ Baum she is newly incarcerated in Arizona, her past a mystery but to one other inmate, the beautiful and dangerous Dios. Pochoda takes her sweet time revealing the story that tethers these two women together while keeping us in the dark as to whether Florida is the hapless victim or criminal mastermind. When the two women are released early because of the ongoing health crisis one can essentially glean is COVID, Florence finds herself in a hotel used as a way station to reintegrate parolees back into society. Oh but you crafty thriller, it’s never that easy and soon Florida is both running for her life and running to her past, with an LA detective named Lobos on her tail, whose own history is filled with the kind of violence that makes her understand what could potentially drive a woman to acts of unspeakable brutality.

But in all of this is one more character that is vividly drawn and seeps into the story giving it spine and suppleness, and that’s the city of Los Angeles. Pochoda is obviously writing from where she knows and as an LA native she so accurately nails so much of the current climate since the lockdown. The tension, the unhoused, the simmering brutality shifting on tectonic plates, it’s Oz blended with Darren Aronofsky and she writes a brilliant bruised homage. It’s not a feel good read by any stretch of the imagination but damn I found it hard to put down and was so grateful to @mcdbooks for the #gifted copy and introducing me to this talented writer.

"Florida" and "Dios" are former cellmates from an Arizona prison, both released early due to the pandemic. Dios is obsessed with Florida and wants to reveal some dark inner truth she thinks the other woman is hiding. The story is in fact laid out in the beginning, when we're told that the two women face off in Los Angeles.

We learn a lot about Florida, real name Florence, and the journey that brought her to prison. The other main character is a female detective named Lobos who is tracking the two women after they were connected to a crime. Lobos has her own demons and her story was actually very interesting to me.

I'm not really sure why this is being tagged as a western - never fear, it is NOT a western. But also be aware it's being falsely advertised as an adventurous thriller, and that's not really what it is either.

Overall 3.5 stars for me.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very slow moving book. The prison part was interesting but I didn’t love this one. I’m not sure the end was worth the long read.

2.5 stars
I’m starting to get really upset the current book blurb writing process. It’s misleading to make books sound like they’re one thing when they’re not. I can’t punish the author for the publishing decisions being made outside of their control. So, I’m rounding this up to 3 stars, though my initial instinct was to rate it 2 stars because the blurb did not reflect the tone of the book at all— it most decidedly is *not* a blend of Killing Eve meets No Country for Old Men. Please stop this trend of trying to name popular books or movies/shows that share even the most remote similarities with your newer authors. It’s an unfair game that you’re playing with both authors and readers.
That being said, I don’t know if I’d have read the book if it had been accurately marketed. It’s not a genre/scenario that would jump out for me (post-jail crime spree). I do like to try new/different things though, but the book itself never really came together for me. I did like the narration and it definitely kept me going to the end where I might have just skimmed if I’d been reading.
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio & NetGalley for the advance listener copy for review.

This was compared to Killing Eve so I knew I had to read it. I enjoyed the first half and was enthralled by prison life. Florida's backstory was interesting and made you understand her behavior. The multiple POVs were unique and had a Greek chorus feel with the one narrator still in prison hearing ghosts. This is definitely a slow burn and at times I felt like nothing had happened in the past few chapters. The narration was great and did make the story very engaging.

This book kept me on my toes. Set inside and then upon release from a women’s prison, this book introduces you to 4 primary characters with unclear origins and origin stories. And to the final minutes, I wondered just how much we were going to learn. It was fun to watch the characters of Dios annd Florida operate with reckless abandon. Rarely do we get to see female characters act out the darkest parts of themselves without there being some sort of morality half of the story. The cat and mouse of this story kept me on the edge of my seat, and while I didn't love the narration, it was engaging enough to keep me listening.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listen!

Ivy Pochoda's newest, Sing Her Down, is intense. Opening with the POV of Kase, an inmate at an Arizona women's correctional facility, talking about a "moving" mural in Los Angeles and how it tells the story of tow other inmates, Florida and Dios, it becomes immediately apparent something big is about to go down between these two. When a pandemic-inspired twist of fate leads to the early release of the two women, it leads to a dark and deadly cat-and-mouse chase between them, while also drawing in Detective Lobos, a woman with her own troubles. Gritty and at times outright disturbing, and expertly narrated by Frankie Corzo, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Sophie Amoss, and Victoria Villarreal, this book draws the reader in and holds on as tightly as the bond between the three women. Hard recommend.

Florence "Florida" Baum is not a victim, as she'd have you believe. DiosMary Sandaval is out to prove it. When, due to COVID, Florida and Dios are released from prison early, Dios's obsession turns deadly, Dios chases Florida from Arizona (where they were just released) to the gritty streets of LA, trying to make her see the evil that lays inside.
This was extremely well-written and evokes an entire movie in your mind. However, it just wasn't my cup of tea. These 2 women were terrible and whether it was because of circumstance or their chemical makeup, I just wasn't interested in all their misdeeds.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Sing Her Down
Intense
Twisting
Dark
Psychological
Thriller
I really enjoyed this book! It was a sorta slow burn with a dark intensity that was building and building through the twists! I liked the multiple points of view and all of the characters! Great ending!
I had the audio book version and loved it!
Thanks net galley for the Arc!

I am not posting a review on this one- Quitting at 38%.
I appreciate the opportunity, but I just cannot imagine sitting through another 5 hours and 18 minutes of this.
Too slow of a burn for me- I still have no clue what the point is.

Thank you for the opportunity.

3.5 stars. Florida Baum has just been released early from her Arizona women's prison, right during the peak of coronavirus quarantine and paranoia. Desperate to get back to Los Angeles and pick up her car, Florida violates her parole by getting on a bus and crossing state lines. Unfortunately for her, Florida's former cellmate Dios is also on the bus and is on a mission to get Florida to crack. Dios pursues Florida as she runs, pushing her to confront her true nature and admit that she is evil inside. Detective Lobos is hunting both of them by this time, and when the three of them finally cross paths, at least one of them will be destroyed.

Firstly, I think this is mislabeled as a "Western" — just because it happens in the Western United States does not mean it belongs in that genre. But other than that nitpick, I loved the atmospheric writing of this story! It's dark, tense, and psychological. The story itself is original and interesting, and I enjoyed the backstories of each of the three women. Sing Her Down definitely did not end how I thought it would either! Check out this book if you love gritty suspense and psychological thrillers.

Thank you to Ivy Pochoda, MCD, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda is a gripping and intense novel that delves into the darker aspects of female psychology. Set in the American West, this feminist thriller is a masterful blend of Western and crime fiction.

The story follows the lives of two women, Florida and Dios, both former inmates of an Arizona women's prison. Florida is portrayed as a hapless victim, but her former cellmate Dios knows there is much more to her story. Dios is determined to bring out the darkness that she knows exists within Florida and help her unleash her true self.

When both women are unexpectedly released from prison, Dios's fixation on Florida becomes a dangerous obsession, and a deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues. From the desolate streets of Los Angeles to the barren landscapes of the West, the novel takes readers on a thrilling and suspenseful journey.

Both Florida and Dios are flawed and multi-dimensional, and their relationship is dynamic and constantly evolving. Pochoda's writing is sharp and incisive, and she does an excellent job of capturing the inner turmoil of her characters.

The novel's themes of gender, power, and identity are explored in a compelling and thought-provoking way. The female characters in the book are strong and independent, but they also struggle with their own demons and societal expectations. Pochoda handles these themes with sensitivity and nuance, making Sing Her Down a powerful and important read.

Sing Her Down is a beautiful written psychological thriller but I have mixed feelings about it. I loved the writing style. It was atmospheric and engaging. I'd love to read something else by Ivy Pochada. The blurb for this book had me expecting two woman on the run trying to survive as they're pursued by an officer for a crime they may be linked to, but that's not really what happened. This was a deeply character driven novel that focused on four women, Florida, Dios, Kace, and Lobos. I enjoyed Kace's pov the most. Florida and Dios were very interesting but sadly the plot was often very confusing. There were several times I couldn't tell what was real or not. Several things were too abstract and metaphorical. So while this one wasn't for me I'm sure others will love it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

At first I was listening to this like it was one of my dystopian novels and I was so into it and then it hit me that this happened, is still happening, and will continue to happen. Talk about a jolt to my system.
I almost forgot that I live in a dystopia.
It was so good. I don't want to reveal anything because you just have to listen to it to know.
I loved the performance too.
Five stars. Thank you for the ARC.