While I have always wanted to read one, this is my first from the author. A twisty family drama that spans a plane crash in the past and the unraveling of secrets in the present. Such a great premise that grabbed me.

I knew from the start that there was something up with the story the sisters were telling about their time after the crash. I just couldn't figure which, if either, were reliable. I'm not sure if it is officially a trope, but I am a big fan of only knowing part of something and having all the facts slowly trickle out. It was done well in this one. I had all kinds of ideas of what happened back then and every time I was sure figured it out, bam, some nugget of info changed all of my thoughts. This continued right up until the very end.

I liked the part of the book in the past. I was intrigued by this family surviving a plane crash in the wilderness. But since it is so character driven, I could have benefitted from having a connection with the characters. I was interested in the backstory, but didn't really care a lot about any of the characters. Not sure if that was due to the plot or the fact that I listened to this one.

Jennifer Aquino, Christina Ho, Naomi Mayo, and Kenneth Lee are the narrators of the audiobook and I enjoyed listening to their emotions and tensions as the book played out. I liked that there was a cast of narrators for the cast of characters.

So I am a little torn over what to rate this one. It had pluses and minuses, but I never thought about DNFing it.

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the ALC and Over the River PR, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Alone Time in exchange for my honest review.

As a fan of Elle Marr’s books, I was excited for this one and wasn’t disappointed. This was an incredibly bingeable and intense story and I loved how complex and layered it ended up being. This is definitely a case where nothing is as it seems and the further you get into the story, the more you realize that. I’m always a fan of stories about sisters and the dynamics in the relationship between them and I think Marr shows us quite an interesting one here. They have a shared trauma that both bonds them together and repels them from each other.

This book kept me guessing as to where it was ultimately heading and I loved how suspenseful and atmospheric it was. There were quite a few unexpected twists and turns and I definitely did not see that end coming. For a quick read, this one sure is entertaining and thrilling!



Audio thoughts: This is narrated by a full cast – Jennifer Aquino, Christina Ho, Naomi Mayo and Kenneth Lee – and they all did a fantastic job to bring this story to life. Their pacing and intonation were all spot on, making this a great book to listen to.

I struggled with this one. It just didn’t really make sense to me and it just didn’t hold my interest. The narrator tho was fine and I had no issues there. I just wasn’t invested.

Thank you to NetGalley, Brilliance Audio & Elle Marr for an audio galley of The Alone Time in exchange for an honest review.

I was hearing some buzz about this book & very excited to listen to the audio.

I was a bit disappointed. First of all, everyone surviving the plane crash is incredibly unbelievable. Second, the survival scenario they were in also seemed unbelievable. I never saw any convince evidence given as to why at least one of them could not trek down the mountain to find help. I believe this whole story was built up around the father's PTSD from war. I absolutely HATED the cannibalism aspect of the story. And then adding to the unbelievability was that the father also had multiple personalities and the "bad" personality (a female personality - I cannot remember her name at the moment) is what made him act weird and do the bad things, not the PTSD.

The story is told in multiple POVs - mom, dad and the two sisters and is supposed to tell the story of what all the sisters endured to survive until they were found and it did, but I think the focus was supposed to be the sisters coping with everything and I just didn't have that as my takeaway.

The entire story was poorly executed & the author was extremely tone deaf with the writing regarding PTSD & then a personality disorder.

It didn't work at all & I hate that I also have to feature this book on my IG for a book tour. I guess I'll have to figure out something nice to say.

Solid 3.5 stars

The Alone Time follows Violet and Fiona Seng 25 years after they survived a plane crash that claimed the life of their parents. Their father, Henry Seng, was piloting a Cessna, which crashed and he, along with their mother, Janet, died instantly, but somehow, the girls (aged 7 and 13 at the time), were able to survive for 12 weeks on their own until they were rescued. This is their story and has been accepted as fact until new details emerge regarding their father's secrets when his mistress begins making the media rounds with salacious claims to draw the reclusive sisters out and reveal the "true story". Violet has been trouble and is trying to get herself together. Fiona is an artist poised to make her name in the art world. This mistress is threatening everything they have built. Reporters, journalists, and filmmakers are approaching them and questioning their version of events.

There are multiple points of view--Janet and Henry in the past and the sisters in the present and past, including Violet's journal. Slowly, the details of what really happened are revealed. There are a lot of plot holes--the main one for me being HOW were there survivors of the plane crash and HOW were they able to survive in the wild. Without spoilers, even the POV from the past do not explain this in a way that was plausible. In the present, it is not clear why this mistress emerged 25 years later and why anyone cares.

The story starts out strong, drags in the middle, and the ending double twist was just a little bit too much. The depiction of a mental health disorder is not the best. A decent read but could be a little shorter--there was a lot of rambling to get to the point.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was my first book by this author. I wasn’t sure what to expect but wow!! That plot twist was not what I was expecting lol it was so good!! Very well written.

The Alone Time was definitely an intriguing read with an interesting premise, did it live up to it, unfortunately it did not for me. They're are so many inconsistencies in this story. So many things that just do not make sense and that I could not get over.

The mental health rep in this book was not good, it was described as multiple illnesses and then just chucked out to supernatural causes which honestly entirely destroyed the book for me. I had such high hopes for this story, it just fell flat for me.

The ending just left me entirely unsatisfied and possibly even more confused. I don't feel that it was a proper ending to this story. Also, at the end it triggered me that the author states Calgary is in British Columbia.. no no it's in Alberta.. I mean that's something that is easily researched or edited. This one just completely missed the mark for me.

🎧 The narration by Jennifer Aquino, Christina Ho, Naomi Mayo & Kenneth Lee was good. Janet & Henri’s characters I had a hard time with, I truly didn't feel any type of pull to, I felt their voices were a little boring. The others truly played their roles well and I could feel the emotions in their voices. It would've been a DNF if not for the audio production.

✨️ Thank you to @netgalley & @brilliancepublishing for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.