Red River Road

I’ve fallen behind in my reviews and I’m happy to have time to now catch up. I listen to Red River Road over the summer. The focus on a missing woman combined with the van life she led and the beautiful setting made for an intriguing read. I appreciate how the story brought together two different women and explored the circumstances that led them to each other. At times I did find the story lagged a bit. However, just when I would find myself drifting the tale would take a turn, and I would be right back into it.

The last quarter of the book is truly a wild ride and I found myself looking for any opportunity to listen to it. If you’re looking for a book with some darker elements and a few twists then I highly recommend trying this one. Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillian audio for both my DRC and my ALC.

I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator! The storyline caught my interest from the very beginning and I loved the author’s writing style. I loved all the twists and turns throughout, highly recommend this one!

I know no author likes hearing this; however, I almost DNF'd this book. I started it with lack of sleep and there are a lot of different POVs and it felt hectic. So, know that going into the book if you are not a fan of multiple POVs (I actually love them).

With that being said, I am so happy I continued. There are several things going on in this story and you will figure some out, but I sure didn't see the main plot twist coming at all.

There is an internet question that has been floating around, "would you rather be trapped in the woods with a bear or a man?" This book will clear that up for you.

This book was such an adventure. I received the audiobook from Netgalley and Macmillan Publishers in return for an honest review. I high recommend the audiobook for the experience and a fantastic coversation with Anna Downes and author Sally Hepworth (I recommend reading her books as well).

Oh my goodness, this book has to be one of my favorites of this year!

To be honest, at the beginning of the book I wasn't quite sure if this was going to be a book that I could get into. Australian thrillers seem to be a mixed bag for me. I am not quite sure what it is, but there you have it.

This book however, nailed it for me. It had everything I look for. Interesting plot✔, great narrator✔, and new concept I haven't seen in a book✔. And the ending, at least for me, did not disappoint and I had a lot of "fun" trying to figure out what was going on and how everything was going to be reconciled in this situation.

I think many people are going to be pleasantly surprised by this book and this author this year. Do yourself a favor and listen to this one. I think it's worth it.

If you are ready to question everything you think you know about these characters, this is the book for you!! Katy is determined to retrace her younger sister, Phoebe’s, van journey to locate her missing sibling. The authorities have run out of leads but Katy has to know how and why her sister disappeared. Along the way, she meets Beth, who is on the run from her own dangerous past. Told in alternating voice, Katy follows along with Phoebe’s blog to hopefully solve the mystery of her disappearance. What she uncovers will spin your mind. Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
I chose this book because I was expecting it to be similar to Liane Moriarty, Sally Hepworth or other Australian thriller writers and while this book was enjoyable it wasn't my favorite book of 2024. I did find the narrator to be likeable enough though. I may give this book another chance sometime at a later date down the road.
Many thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Connect with me for more reviews and content:
https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules
(includes links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, blog, and Substack newsletter)
If you're an author or publisher with questions about my reviews, stats, reach, or engagement, feel free to email me. I'm also open to book review requests. Thank you for taking the time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

“Red River Road“ by Anna Downes is a gripping mystery that takes readers on a thrilling journey through the Australian coast. The story follows Katy Sweeney, who is desperately searching for any information on her missing sister and travel influencer, Phoebe. As Katy retraces Phoebe’s steps, she meets Beth, a stranger with secrets of her own. With Beth is on the run and Katy getting dangerously close to the truth about what happened to her sister, mysterious trouble pops up around every turn. Someone is trying to warn them of danger, but which one of them is truly in danger?

Secrets plague both girls, but these secrets may be they key to unlocking the whole mystery. This story is an excellently crafted mystery that will appeal to fans of the genre. Its blend of personal drama, suspense, and unexpected twists makes for an engaging read that's hard to put down. Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from . This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

2.5 hearts

I started Red River Road on audio and just felt confused. There are three main characters: Katy, Beth and Wyatt. Wyatt is a child and seems a bit unconnected to the story for most of the book. Katy and Beth seem like unreliable narrators of the story which is not one of my favorite things. It also could have been mood, as uncertainty is not my reading preference right now.

So I tried again later, switching to the ebook version. This switch is the opposite of one that was effective earlier this month with a different paused read. So format can be tricky and works for me differently in different genres.

Katy is searching for her sister, Phoebe who has gone missing. Beth escaped her own bad situation and wound up in Katy's van. Together, they follow Phoebe's route and try to find people who saw her and talked to her. The method is not very effective. Eventually they get into Phoebe's accounts and emails at Beth's suggestion to figure out more of her interactions.

Meanwhile, we are getting flashback chapters to Wyatt and Beth's history. Beth and Katy haven't trusted each other completely so they solve the mystery from different aspects, which all comes together in the end. Domestic abuse and misogyny plays into the history strongly, so be advised.

Red River Road was not a fun or pleasant read. The women were not very careful and had only each other for support, for reasons. I could admire their strength and perseverance, even understand their unwillingness to get help. I struggled to read this one, on edge but tired of the unhelpful details until the last bit which happened very quickly.

Narration:
I'm sure that through no fault of the narrator, the style of the story did not work for me on audio. I felt like I was in a haze of confusion which I was able to handle by reading the ebook.

The viral #vanlife is a nightmare for two women traveling the coast of Western Australia. One is following the path of her missing traveler sister, while the other is on the run from an abusive boyfriend. But they're each harboring deep secrets as they work to help each other.

This book -- I listened to the audiobook -- sucked me in so deep. The characters, the plot, the setting were absolutely fascinating. This is a well written and unique psychological thriller. It explores the double standards of female solo travel and, stopping sort of giving spoilers, examines stigmas and misconceptions that still exist around mental health and neurological conditions.

I really enjoyed the narration. The author discussion between Downes and Sally Hepworth at the end of the audiobook is not to be missed.

This book really drew me in from the beginning, a young woman traces her solo travelling sister who has gone missing in her van in Australia. Unfortunately about a quarter of the way through it became a little too meandering for my liking. I stopped caring about the fates of the characters and that is never a good sign for me. The writing was really good however

A well narrated dark creepy story. Katy is determined to find out what happened to her sister Phoebe. She disappeared without a trace while on a solo road trip and Katy is desperate to find anything along the path she traveled that the investigators may have missed and may help solve the mystery. It was a bit of a slow start for me, but ultimately picked up with pace. This is a well crafted complex tale with a cast all with questionable motives and that had me with so many questions along the way. A terrific listen.

While this book isn't the kind that starts out with a pace at breakneck speed, it DOES grab your attention and hold on to it for the entire ride. When you get to the ending, you're going to want to force yourself to slow down and PAY ATTENTION. There's a lot that seems to happen all at once and it's so wild you might miss something.

The audio version was great (no weird breathing or mouth sounds that I noticed at 2x speed) and included an interview with both Anna Downes and fellow author Sally Hepworth.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio (ALC) and St. Martin's Press (eARCH) and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Love me an unreliable narrator. And this one had one. You think. It was one of those books that you spend much of the time wondering what was going on and who to believe. And that's what I loved about it. I was engrossed from the first chapter and couldn't stop.

Katy Sweeny is looking for her sister, an influencer and single female traveler in Australia. Phoebe vanished into thin air a year ago and Katy is determined to follow her route and hopefully find some clues to the whereabouts of Phoebe. When Katy’s path intersects with Beth, another traveler running from a dark past, Katy embraces the company and the two set out to discover just what happened to Phoebe. Downes leads us on a wild adventure leaving the reader unsure of what’s really happening along the way, what’s real and what’s not and just who the reliable narrator is. The twists and turns are done very well, but the book was just a tad bit slow and confusing on the uptake, but after that it was well worth the read. As a dual read/listen it was voiced very well by Maddy Withington. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.

Unfortunately this book was removed from my NetGalley shelf app and now I am no longer able to give feedback. I was sincerely looking forward to reading it and am disappointed that for whatever reason, the app is malfunctioning.

I do not want to take a hit on my review ratio simply because the shelf app deleted the book. I will give five stars for the sake of the author not being docked for my experience.

It’s kind of a whodunit but it’s a whereisshe.
A little creepy, a lot happening to capture attention.
I liked it well enough !

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review! Note: I received this pre-publication, but it is out!!

Synopsis: In Red River Road, Katy is on a mission to find her sister Phoebe, an Australian van lifer who suddenly went missing. Using Phoebe's social media posts to guide her travels and investigate what might have truly happened to her, Katy decides to set out on her own van life journey to follow the path along the Western Australian coast that Phoebe had set out for herself. Along the way, she runs into a grifter named Beth who tags along for the journey and, reflecting on her past and using her prior experiences as a van lifer, provides her own insights to Katy's search. We not only get to hear the story through both Katy and Beth's perspectives, but we also hear from another more mysterious character named Wyatt (whom I will not spoil their involvement).

If you're a true crime girly who also enjoys fictional crime, or a he, she or they who just generally enjoys crime thrillers, this is for you!! This psychological thriller kept me guessing at every turn! I personally felt that it was very well paced and was often surprised by the twists. I really enjoy multiple POVs, and this book certainly delivered on that front! Each of the main characters was well developed and had a unique and interesting hand in the situations at play here.

In relation to the audiobook format specifically, the speaking is clear and easy to understand, even when sped up – not too slow or too fast at 1x speed (just right), and sounds good! There could have been a bit more variation in voice between the different POVs as I sometimes found myself confused if I didn't catch whose chapter was who's at the beginning, but Maddy Withington's voice is nice and cozy and made the listening experience enjoyable!
Also in relation to the audiobook specifically, I will say that some of the chapters include Phoebe's social media posts, which might be better read in physical or eBook format (or doing a combination of physical + audio, which is what I often like to do when I read) if you want to actually see the pictures and posts in their visual/print format. That said, the narrator does a great job of describing the posts and comments in a way that is easy to understand!

Overall, a great read and I highly recommend it!!
___
TW: domestic abuse, sexual assault, violence

3/5

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

The premise of this book was super intriguing, and it started out pretty strong! While I was hooked from the start, my interest level wavered throughout this one. I don't love unreliable narrators, and Katy's drinking/black outs made me instantly suspicious. There were some really great twists in this one, though! The setting of Western Australia was pretty cool, too, and really set the scene. I think this book could have been a bit shorter but I'm still overall glad that I finished it!

SYNOPSIS --

Katy Sweeney's sister, Phoebe, disappeared just over a year ago while on a solo van trip across beautiful Western Australia. Now, with no leads in the case, Katy is taking matters into her own hands. While following along Phoebe's path via her social media, Katy runs into lone female traveler Beth, who is utterly determined to escape a mysterious past. The two join forces to find out what really happened to Phoebe, and to keep themselves safe along the way.

I've seen a lot of positive reviews for this one, but I personally did not like it. I thought it was too long, too trite, and just overall sort of blah. Not my favorite.

A full travel thriller set in Australia. Very immersive, very complex. I listened to the afterward from the author and definitely saw inspiration they drew from in the story, prior to hearing that's where it came from. Some fun Fight Club references without giving much away!
I appreciated the depth that the author examined missing women and the partner violence that often plays into that. Downes mentioned the story of Gabby Petito (which definitely sparked in my mind as I read this as I am from the US and it was major news here) and how that partner violence hides from so many people. That violence can intensify in travel as it is such a small and intimate space and there are not consistent people around to see how all the small things add up to a big problem. Without being pushy, this is a novel with a message.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook