Interesting format. I really liked the combination of story and music. I don't normally enjoy historical fiction but this was a lot of fun.

4 stars

Hannah: The Soldier Diaries by Steve Wallis
Narrated by Zoe Wright

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a unique and engaging story told from the perspective of Hannah, a young hairstylist still figuring out her path in life, and her brief but intense romance with Jack, a dedicated young soldier.

Hannah and Jack fall passionately in love while he’s on leave from the British Army. Coming out of a toxic relationship, Hannah discovers for the first time what a healthy relationship feels like. But after only a few weeks, Jack is called back to duty, leaving Hannah to navigate the emotional aftermath of his sudden departure—and to face life-changing news that comes as a consequence of their whirlwind romance.

The story is divided into 11 chapters with a conclusion, each ending with a musical-style production that adds a fun and lively touch to the experience. While this format was engaging, the story felt quite short; it might have been better suited as a multi-part podcast series. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself really connecting with Hannah’s character. She’s funny, relatable, and feels like someone I’d love to be friends with.

The narrator does an excellent job, capturing the perfect mood and tone throughout—it genuinely felt like a friend sharing a personal story. She brings Hannah’s emotions to life, from gushing over the romantic moments to tearing up during the sad parts, even adding a touch of humor to the more risqué adventures.

The story ends in a way that invites listeners to interpret the outcome for themselves. It’s thought-provoking: how did it make you feel, and how do you need it to end?

Due to mature themes and language, I’d recommend this for adults or with parental guidance. But even with the serious themes, the musical theater-style production brings a sense of fun and lightness to the story.


Thank you to #BooksForwardAudiobooks & #NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this audiobook and can't express how eager I am for the next installment! Everything about it was fantastic—the music, the captivating story, and the flawless narration. The audio production truly elevated the experience, making it impossible to stop listening.

Hannah The Soldier Diaries and part one in this series by Steve Wallis qnd narrated by Zoe Wright is a wonderful and magical audiobbok that gripped me from the beginning till the ned.

SO..........Close your eyes and immerse yourself in a story of love, separation, and uncertainty. Experience the magic of the theatre. WoW, this audiobook was special, especially as I was sitting in my gardin on a lovely sunny day listening to Hannah. Set in 2012, in Englsn. A young woman called Hannah meets a young Army soldier named Jack, who is on leave before deplyment to Afghanistan. They only have just four weeks together, and they make the most of their time before everything vhanges.

Hannah, is an excellent audiobook. The music was brilliant and went well with the story. I loved it.

A very unique book. The voice actors were fantastic and made the story even more impactful.
I went into reading / listening to "Hannah" without any expectations at all and can only say it was an experience.
I find it quite hard to put my thoughts into words with this audio book. The only thing I can say with 100% certainty is that it was worth listening to.

Hannah: The Soldier Diaries (Part 1) was the most unusual audiobook I have ever listened to. I didn’t read the plot summary before I started to listen to this audiobook so I was quite surprised when I heard a song being belted out after the first chapter. Hannah: The Soldier Diaries. After I got over my initial shock, I settled back and enjoyed this musical audiobook. When I closed my eyes, I felt like I was experiencing a live theatrical performance with musical accompaniment. Narrator, Zoe Wright, brought this audiobook performance to life for me. Her performance was perfect.

Hannah: The Soldier Diaries took place in England in 2012. Hannah was a twenty something year old woman who was at her place of employment taking care of one of her steady customers when a very tall, handsome and blonde haired man in uniform walked into the shop where she was engaged in conversation with her client. Hannah assumed that the handsome stranger was her client’s date. She was so wrong. The handsome soldier, Corporal Jack Webb, appeared to be staring at her. Jack approached Hannah and did two things. He introduced himself to her and asked her out on a date. Hannah learned that Jack came from a military family. He was being deployed to Afghanistan soon so he was home on leave. It didn’t take Hannah and Jack long to fall for each other. Hannah did not want Jack to go to Afghanistan. She feared for his safety and his life. As much as Hannah wanted to change Jack’s mind about going, she knew it was a fruitless act. Shortly after Jack was deployed, Hannah learned that she was pregnant with his baby. Then Hannah’s worst fears come to fruition. A plane was shot down in Afghanistan. Was Jack on that plane? Had she lost him before they were even able to start a life together?

Hannah: The Soldier Diaries by Steve Wallis was hopeful, sad and even a bit funny. It proved that being in the right place at the right time can be very rewarding. For me, some of the songs were a bit much but the production of this audiobook was definitely an original idea. I look forward to listening to the second audiobook in this series since the first one ended with a cliffhanger. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this audiobook and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Book Forward Audiobooks for allowing me to listen to Hannah:The Soldiers Diaries by Steve Wallis through Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this audio book and cannot wait for the next installment. The music is fantastic, the story is engaging the narration is perfect. Please Mr. Wallis hurry up and finish the next bit, I am on tenterhooks waiting:). Very highly recommended and if I could give more than five stars I would. 5++++ stars.

Hannah: The Soldier Diaries is a captivating musical audiobook that weaves love, separation, and uncertainty into its melodic narrative. Set against the backdrop of the Afghan War, it follows Hannah’s whirlwind affair with Lance Corporal Jack Webb.

Very unexpectedly, I loved this book! I hadn’t read the description properly and didn’t realize that the audiobook had a musical element. I hate musicals—unless it’s a West End show, in which case I love it, but watching one on TV or in the cinema is not for me. I’ve never come across a musical audiobook before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve also never encountered an audiobook with sound effects in the background. For example, in Chapter 6, when they are at the beach, you can hear the sounds of the beach in the background, which really helped bring the story to life.

I married someone in the forces, so I know the feeling of having someone go away to be in dangerous situations and exactly how it feels to be the one left behind. I felt the story was really well-written and believable—so believable that it brought tears to my eyes on a couple of occasions, and I don’t cry easily.

I enjoyed the musical part of the story. The songs provided added insight into how both Hannah and Jack were feeling about the situation, and the songs were, surprisingly, good. That’s a hard-won compliment and much deserved!

There was one inconsistency in the story relating to Hannah hearing Jack and questioning his mother about whether he was there or not—he was calling her every couple of days, so I felt that detail was added just to make the ending more dramatic, and it could have been handled better.

But that ending!! Brilliant!!

I also wondered how Ross Kemp had been persuaded to do the foreword—that was quite impressive, if a bit of a spoiler.

Overall, I was highly entertained! I loved the narrator’s voice and would definitely listen to something she narrated again.

1/5 stars. a musical in an audiobook--conceptually, it was intriguing enough to warrant me picking it up, but this unfortunately fell short for me in quite a few ways.

hannah: the soldier diaries tells the take of a young hairdresser who meets a soldier by chance, and their whirlwind, four-week long romance. for those who hate insta-love, this is the first sign that this likely isn't your cup of tea, as it wasn't mine. the characters fell heads over heels in a short span of time, feeling as if the reader barely got to know either of them or become invested in their relationship.

speaking of characters, i personally found hannah... eye-roll inducing, if not cringe. her 'love' was melodramatic and unfounded, and the tone that the narrator took only further cemented her as a mildly annoying teenager with a crush. perhaps this would have been better suited to a young adult audience.

finally, the production quality was a miss for me where the songs were significantly louder than the narration, resulting in either being unable to hear the story or having music blasting painfully into the eardrums every chapter.

in summary, i wasn't a fan of this one unfortunately, but the concept has potential.

i received an ARC of the audiobook edition in exchange for an an honest review.

Part audiobook part musical, Hannah is a modern wartime love story. The narrator was more of a voice actress if that makes sense, and the entire story was a legit performance. Reading some other reviews, some listeners have complained about the abrupt cliffhanger ending. I absolutely disagree and feel that the other review missed a huge clue earlier in the story where the twin brothers’ mother talks about their antics as identicals. There is no cliffhanger but a major twist if you really listen to it. Mind blown.

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Forward Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook ARC.

Thank you to Books Forward Audiobooks and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

I loved the unique format of this audiobook and would love to listen to more books like this. The narrator/performer was wonderful! I enjoyed the songs and performances and felt like I was listening to a musical. That being said, I really disliked the ending and have to say that I am not really sure I understood what happened. Hopefully there will be a sequel?

"Hannah: The Soldier Diaries" by Steve Wallis is an interesting audiobook with music accompanying each chapter. It's kind of a romance novella.

This is set in 2012 in England. A young woman named Hannah meets an army soldier named Jack on leave before deployment to Afghanistan. They have an idyllic 4 weeks of summer love together. Some of the music read more upbeat than the story seemed to warrant.

The book just kind of ends without resolution, which is just wrong. Books should have beginnings, middles, and ends. This was disappointing.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 3/5
Plot - 3/5
Pacing - 3/5
Unputdownability - 3/5
Enjoyment - 3/5
Narration - 5/5 by Zoe Wright
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 28/8 = 3 4/8
Rounded down to 3 due to lack of ending

Thank you to Netgalley, Book Forward Audiobooks, and author Steve Wallis for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Very unique. A musical audiobook. It is 2012 and Hannah meets Jack shortly before he will be deployed to Afghanistan. Each chapter tells a section of their story, such as first meeting, a date, meeting his parents etc. and the chapter concludes with a pop song. I like musical theater so this format worked for me. I could imagine this as a stage show. But the ending is either cliffhanger or ambiguous leaving me feeling the story is not complete. I just saw in the notes from the publisher there will be a follow up audiobook . For now I will say four stars with the possibility of it rising if or when there is more to the story.

I am so happy that I stumbled upon this delightful audio book about Hannah and her relationship with soldier Jack. It is set in Scarborough, which is about an hour from where I grew up, so I recognised some of the locations mentioned and this brought back happy memories. I loved the character of Hannah, she was so normal and down to earth.

Zoe Wright, the narrator, has an amazing voice and her tone (and accent) made it feel like I was chatting with an old friend. The background noises (seagulls, train station etc) really helped set the scenes and the catchy songs had me dancing round the kitchen.

It was funny and moving. I devoured it in one day and can’t wait for the next instalment in the story. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys musicals.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, author, narrator and all involved for this ALC.

Hannah, the soldier diaries, is a musical audiobook performance written by Steve Wallis. Hannah, our main character, and storyteller, meets Corporal Jack Webb one day while she is at work. Jack asks her out on a date, and it seems to go from there! I loved seeing the relationship develop, and really enjoyed the music throughout the book.
Hannah is honest about her feelings, her past relationships, and her fears about Jack being sent to fight in the war. As time goes on Hannah’s worries change, and she has to deal with Jack going to war, and not always knowing where he is and that she can not protect him.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book, especially, Hannah, Jack, and Jacks parents. I loved the music throughout the story, and the way it added to the plot development. Definitely recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley, and to the author, narrator, and publisher of this book for an ALC in exchange for an honest review

3.5✨
An extremely unique and interesting way of telling a story, for some reason despite knowing it was musical esc I didn't expect actual singing. The songs were very well-done and the narrators were great too. I felt it ended a bit abruptly and that it would have benefited greatly from being a little longer. I had a good time and it was a fun listen I'd definitely recommend to people who like musicals!

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me access to this arc!

This audiobook is unlike any I have ever listened to before. This was a short story musical audiobook. And it was so much fun. Each chapter ends with a song that adds to the story one way or another.
Hannah meets Jack and they have a whirlwind romance. All the while knowing that in a matter of weeks he will be deployed to Afghanistan. Hannah becomes close to his mother and leans on her in Jack's absence since Jack's father and twin brother have both been deployed in the military. When Jack goes missing, Hannah is distraught., finding comfort with Jack's family. The ending is shocking and ambiguous at the same time.
I would highly recommend this to audiobook fans. This is would be so much to talk a walk to!

Interesting story. It is a different way of portraying a somewhat historical fiction. It shows you the lives of people in war time.

Thank you Book Forward Audiobooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this gem.
Zoe Wright is excellent and I could listen to her tell stories all day.
I had no idea what this was about but when it says musical and “listen now”, I give it a try.
Now that I finished it I’m thinking, what the heck just happened?! I’m very unsettled.
It’s short but impactful. Music is good, a bit to pop for me, but hey, I’m 60!
No spoilers, but for all that is good, we need a sequel!