Book Title: The Girl on the News
Author: Elisabeth Carpenter
Narrator: Zoe Mills
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: January 29, 2024
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 283

Story is told from several POVs in two timelines- Now and 1994
Jessie/Rosie, Hannah Jones Lauren’s mother, and Sadie Harrison, an investigative journalist who was the only one who believed Rosie was innocent.

Jessie and her husband Mark believe they have built a perfect life; they are happy and have a four-year old daughter Mia.
Jessie changed her name from Rosie to escape her past. When she was twelve years old she was sentenced for the murder of her best friend Lauren

Now thirty years later there is a post on Social media that Mia is missing, however Mia is right there in Jessie's sight.

I am a big psychological thriller fan –this story had me curious.
However I was disappointed with the ending- as it wasn’t the big shock which is typical of a Psychological Thriller. Whodunit was hinted at early in the story.
It was good but IMO it just wasn’t great!
I will read this author again as this was my first read and everyone deserves a second chance! Right?

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 29, 2024.

I love a book where the layers gradually peel away and then it all makes sense - this story definitely ticked the box there ✅

When Jess sees a Facebook post claiming her daughter is missing, I could literally feel her fear spreading into me as she raced to school to make sure Mia was safe. Terrifying!

The book switches across multiple timelines and we start to read the transcripts of 12 year old Rose’s interviews with a journalist after she was convicted of killing her best friend.

As those layers are revealed, I was gripped! The characters were relatable abs well developed and I couldn’t wait to find out the truth. And when I did… OMG! I would NOT have called that one 😮

I did feel the ending was rushed, which was a little bit disappointing after that mega twist, however, it’s still a recommended read from me.

Zoe Mills was an excellent narrator, she captured the essence of the characters well.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Elisabeth Carpenter and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this one.

The breakdown:
The beginning is slow and the multiple points of view could be a little confusing.
The 2nd half of the boom was amazing. Fast moving, chills...and I mean chills! I felt quite invested in the story and loved the Rosie/Jessie character.

The end: I figured out the "bad guy" from the jump, tho. I find that a little annoying even tho it happens a lot. 😜 The end and the epilogue were both pretty darn satisfying.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was not my favorite. She inhaled loudly and her character voices weren’t as distinct as I prefer. The premise was good but the storyline didn’t live up to my expectations. It felt like the presumed missing child portion was just a minor detail in the book. I'm sure this will be a favorite for some but this just wasn’t the book for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced audio copy of “The Girl on the News” for a review.

If I could sum up my experience with this book, it’d be ‘underwhelmed’. It had all the makings of a great story, and I was hooked from the description alone. The execution, however, was a miss for me. There were so many prime suspects in this story and the ending just fell flat. The final reveal totally changed my rating (I was originally tracking for a 3-3.25 ⭐️).

I guess this one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

This one goes between a couple of timelines and points of view. When Rosie is 12 years old she is convicted of murdering her best friend. There are eventually cries to reopen the case as it appears it could have been a serial killer. In present day a young mother sees a photo of her child on the news saying she’s been kidnapped. Her child is with her, but is this the work of the person who has been murdering young girls over the years? Everyone here is a suspect.

There are plenty of twists here. The story is fast paced and the narration by Zoe Mills is excellent. She had a lot of characters to voice and did a great job of making them sound different from one another. I’d recommend this one on audio.

Thank you @bookouture @netgalley #elisabethcarpenter for an advance listening copy of The Girl on the News.

Absolutely loved this audio book and was hooked from the first chapter. It was annoying to have to stop listening in order to sleep!
Great storyline which kept me switching my theories on 'who did it'. The characters were well crafted and appeared believable. I'm amazed the mother was still alive though, judging by how many cigarettes she smoked during the story!
The narrator was excellent: easy to listen to and her different voices made the characters clear.
I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good murder-mystery.
I was given a copy of this audio book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Girl on the News by Elisabeth Carpenter in exchange for an honest review. This was a lovely afternoon read. It held my attention and I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this. Fast paced, gripping and action packed. The writing style has a great flow and the narrator done an excellent job.

A story with a split time line, a child reported missing before she actually goes missing. A mother wrongfully convicted and spending her life living under an alias, there’s nobody to trust, apart from Sadie the investigative journalist with a personal investment in getting to the truth. There’s plenty given away throughout the book that really keeps you guessing just what the ending might be!

A well deserved 4 stars 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

The Girl on the News by Elisabeth Carpenter and narrated by Zoe Mills.

I’m enjoying listening to audio books while keeping busy – it makes doing certain admin work less boring and I can ‘read’ while crocheting. The narrator did a good job in switching up voices so you could keep track of the different characters. I enjoyed listening to this book.

A 12 year old girl is accused of murdering her best friend and is locked up for seven years. The story jumps ahead 30 years and a mother is looking at her phone where a Facebook alert is being circulated to be on the lookout for a young child who has been kidnapped. But the child in question is sitting next to her mother!

The storyline jumps between a journalist interviewing the young 12 year old while she is being held in the youth centre and present day.

9781529098013

This kept me listening through the entire book. It isn't a long one and it is kind of weird. There are some twists and sad moments.
The narration was lovely!
I just don't think this will be a book I will be thinking about in the coming weeks.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
A nice easy quick read lots of diverse characters and flitting back and forth but done well in a logical manner.
I did guess the twists way before they happened however still enjoyed the story all the same.

The first couple of chapters took some getting into but once past them I was hooked

I listened to this book in pretty much one sitting I throughly enjoyed the story. The narrator was nice to listen too and I thought they read the book well. I did get a wee bit confused at the beginning as I got my head around the characters but soon settled in. I liked the pacing of the book and would definitely pick up another from this author in the future.

🎧 3.5/5 ⭐️

I was originally drawn to the book because I thought it was about kidnapping or mistaken identity of a child. It turns out it was completely different, that was only a small piece of the story. It was a unique storyline with many twisted character stories that intertwined. I do Wish there was a more finalization in what happened or why. It eluded but I didn’t really understand what exactly happened. Rounding up since I did enjoy, finishing easily in one day.

Posted on Goodreads.

The Girl on the News
By Elisabeth Carpenter

Narrated by Zoe Mills

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture audio.

Narration was okay but at times hard to distinguish who was who. I may have liked this better reading it vs listening to it. I would still try another book by Elisabeth Carpenter.

Psychological thriller that is a fast and easy read/listen. There were things for me that were problematic and made parts of story hard to believe for me; so I’m glad it was a shorter listen.

I really enjoyed this. I felt the plot was believable and enjoyable and the characters felt realistic. The idea of being wrongly convicted is terrifying - especially if your family are implicated. Recommended.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

The narration on this book was spot on! So easy to get lost in the story for hours and Zoe Mills played every character perfectly! The story is about a young girl that her best friends is accused of murdering and jumps from the past to the present. There were lots of twists and I couldn’t wait to see where it was headed! I would definitely recommend this book if you’re into mysteries and psychological thrillers!

This book gripped me from the beginning. I really enjoyed the characters and their stories. Elisabeth did a really great job switching between the character's points of view at the perfect time. I kept finding things to do so I could continue to listen to the story. The audiobook was great, however, I did find it hard to follow along during many of the interview transcripts. I think it would have been much easier to follow if reading the physical copy. This book was near perfect until the end. I did find that it fell short. I loved all of the character building, but I feel like a couple of the characters that played a significant roll in the story were not developed. I actually went back a couple chapters in the book because I thought I missed something because all of a sudden, there was a reveal. I wanted more back story and meaning behind actions that just weren't there. I would still recommend this book to thriller lovers.

'The Girl on the News' by Elisabeth Carpenter - overall I enjoyed it.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
It's a fast paced and pretty short thriller with a very interesting premise. However, the description of the book does not quite match the actual story. I feel like Mia missing was actually a much smaller part of the book.
The main character is quite likable but there was a lot of characters and it was a times hard to keep track of them all. There was a lot going on for under 7 hours of the audiobook. Overall, I'm giving it 4 stars because the premise does not match the story and also I have some questions about the girl getting convicted with no evidence. The narration was great.
Thank you Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this audiobook.

Initially confusing, as i got my head around the who's who of the characters I was soon caught up in wanting to know what was going to happen next. An ultimately satisfying listen that genuinely caught me unaware with its reveal.