Unfortunately I really didn’t gel with this book. I found it quite disjointed and hard to follow. I don’t know if I might have preferred it if it wasn’t audio but overall it just wasn’t for me.

This book follows Anna , a primary school teacher navigating a school year of lock down. Anna’s son's gap year has been curtailed, her mother is in a care home and she is separated from her lover. Kennedy is highly critical of the Tory government and their handling of covid pandemic , and also comments on climate crisis. Had the book focused only on the above points it may have been an enjoyable read. However it is also interlaced with events from 1984, when Anna was involved in an anarchist activist group the Okestra. Particularly her relationship with a spy who infiltrated the group Buster .
Anna’s voice was told in the form of her diary which was often rambling due to her anxious state of mind and this made the story extremely hard to follow . I was quite frustrated reading the book as I could see what Kennedy was trying to challenge and kept reading to see if she made her point b; but for me there was too many loose ends. There was a beautiful passage about 1983 that explained a lot about Anna’s relationship with men towards end of the book but bit really didn’t make up for all the rambling.
Normally the narration either elevates or deflates a book for new but on this occasion it did neither. The actors did a great job of capturing the characters , but as Busters character was odious and Anna’s rambling and annoying, they couldn’t really lift it out of the prose.
In this theory this book was a good fit for me, feminist, climate aware and challenging current politics but it was too impenetrable. If you’ve read the author before you may well enjoy but for anyone else read an excerpt first 😉.

I’m not enjoying this audio title at all. The narration is excellent but I'm struggling with the narrative. I’ve restarted a couple of times to see if it makes any more sense, but I’m finding it incredibly drawn out and dreary. I feel as if I’m inside Anna’s head and I’m not sure that I want to be in that very narrow and singular perspective. I find her approach irritating and I just can’t buy in to wanting to know more about her story. I’ve reached a point where her theatre group is performing in Hunter Square at the Edinburgh Festival. I felt a sense of vibrancy as the scene around is described and the text kind of came to life. But it’s not enough to make me want more so I’ve given up.

This is a premise that I thought would be of interest. I deplore abuse of power and authority and wanted to know more about what went on with Anna in that respect. Maybe it’s my failure; there’s nothing wrong with the writing and the author’s credentials are outstanding. I was torn between returning as ‘not reviewed’ or posting a review based on a DNF. I’ve plumped for the latter as it’s honest and it’s very rarely that I give up on a title.

This was not an audiobook I enjoyed listening to. It wasn’t the fault of the narrator because they did a good job it simply was that the plot didn’t hold my attention and I found my mind drifting off to other things whilst I was listening.

3.5 ⭐

I have to start by saying I'm the sort of person that reads no deeper meaning into things, so I'm reviewing this very much for what I heard.
I mostly very much enjoyed it, though at times it felt overlong.
The narration was excellent, and at times I felt as if I was just listening to a friend tell their stories.
Anna was likeable and relatable.
Then along comes Buster, and puts a darker spin on things.
Both sides of the story were interesting, and I was always happy to have the chance to listen to more.
Glad I picked it up.

Ok this is my 3rd attempt at writing a review, and I lost the last one so please forgive me if it’s not great.

Last time I started off by saying that something weird occurs inside my mind when the word “literary” is attached to a piece of work, it has the power to make me feel inferior and not entitled to an opinion. That’s a very odd me thing, I should address it. Does anyone else feel like that?

The novel is essentially a powerful piece, it addresses the need to question authority including the government and most certainly the police force, in this case here in the U.K.

We meet Anna just as lockdown has hit, she’s struggling to teach via zoom, manage a long distance relationship and her relationship and welfare of her own son. It’s particularly moving in that the fear of the time is palpable. Anna is also suffering PTSD and using a diary to help her manage her mental health, it’s mainly within the pages of the diary that we hear Anna’s story.

Years ago, Anna was part of a theatre come activist’s group, and betrayal from infiltration is essentially what has led to Anna being where she is mentally.

The story is a loose take on Rumpelstiltskin (I had to take a Google dash to refresh my memory) enter Buster, the infiltrator and the downfall of the group.

The story was fairly slow to begin, and I have to admit to feeling confused often, however i’d always sort of regrasp the story fairly quickly. When Busters chapters initially begin there’s an immediately sinister undercurrent.

The book does deliver a strong political/anarchic message, with a coinciding psychological thriller type storyline, if you enjoy this sort of literature you’ll want to look out for this title in 2025. I found it interesting that the book was initially published in translation a year before its U.K. release, a little make you think talking point for sure.

The audio narration was excellent, Busters voice was particularly creepy. 3.5 🌟 rounded up. I think if I’d have come to the store when I had less going on iin my mind I’d have rated it higher.

My thanks as always to Bolinda Audio via NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧