Sandie Jones' latest novel, "I Would Die for You" was a good book but not her best. While it was just ok, the narrator really made it better.

Audiobook definitely helped me gain more interest in the story. Really good. Held my attention and kept me guessing what was going on. Enjoyed the characters and the plot. Flew through this book in 2 Days. Definitely recommend for a good quick mystery! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I had a rough time with this book. I wanted to get hooked in, but just couldnt.

Thank you for this audio arc!

I guess this is a fangirl thriller??? I imagine the band as like a Beatles/One Direction hybrid, with a side of hard drugs.

The story has a dual timeline, and bounces from the late 80s to 2011. One sister (Cassie) is a major fan of a boy bad, and her older sister (Nicole) thinks it’s silly… until she meets the dreamy frontman and begins an affair she must keep secret.

Enter: drugs and drama! There’s a messy scene at a hotel, that sent Nicole fleeing her family and country. She’s kept her involvement secret from everyone - including her husband. But the past always has a way of catching up! (Dun dun dun!!!)

I Would Die For You was just ok. While I did like trying to piece together the lies/secrets to figure out what was real and what wasn’t… I felt the story was SO long and then it just ended very abruptly. The “excitement” wasn’t even all that exciting.

3 stars.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the audio ARC for review!

I absolutely loved this book! With a dual timeline, the story begins in 2011 with Nicole who lives in California with her husband and young daughter. She is working as an activist in the community trying to help save the seals. One day there is a knock on her door. Before her is a woman who begins asking her questions about her past. A little while later, she goes to the bus stop to pick up her daughter, but she is not on the bus. Her daughter's friend tells her that her "aunt" picked her up from school.......except, she does not have an aunt. Panicked, Nicole calls the police and a search gets underway. Thankfully they find her safe and sound, but this is only the beginning for Nicole and what is about to unfold.

The story then brings the reader back to the 1986 where we are introduced to a younger Nicole and her little sister, Cassie who is 16 years old. Cassie is a super fan of the hottest band on the scene and has huge a crush on the lead singer, Ben. Cassie goes to all of the concerts and events, working her way backstage with the groupies to try to be close to him. Unbeknownst to her, Nicole encounters Ben in a bar. The two hit it off and start secretly seeing each other. This love triangle is a recipe for disaster.

Moving back and forth between the 1980's and 2011, this fast-paced tale of obsession unfolds set to a rock and roll backdrop. The book struck a chord as many of us can remember that one heartthrob or celebrity crush we pined after.... though maybe not to this degree!!

The only disappointment I had was with the ending. The buildup was so intense with everything happening so quickly which was exciting, but the end of the book itself was abrupt, and I was left disappointed wanting more. This led me to think, was I disappointed because I didn't like that it ended the way that I did? Or was I disappointed because the flurry of events had me so wound up that I just did not want it to and was simply left wanting more. I guess that will be up to you to decide :)

This was my first book by Sandie Jones, but definitely not my last!

I would like to thank MacMillan audio for the ARC copy of the audio version of this book to listen to and review. The narrator did an absolutely tremendous job bringing the different characters to life!

This comes out March 25, 2025!

WOW, this was a wild ride of a book. This was face paced, gripping, edge of your seat the whole time you are listening leaving you breathless, heart racing listen. This is a perfect mix of wild psychological thriller and mentally unstable characters. At first the dual timelines had me confused, but I picked up on that really fast. This is a case of celebrity fandom gone wrong, with obsessive groupies and fans that makes me think twice about how I idolize certain celebrities.

Brief backstory:
So we start out in 2011 with Nicole and her ex-Army husband Brad and their daughter Hannah who is 9, in Coronado California. Cue Zoe, a young writer who wants to talk to Nicole about the downfall of Secret Oktober, a 80s British band. Zoe is digging into the lead singer Ben Edwards, and as soon as Nicole hears that name she freaks out and kicks Zoe out of her house.

Here we get to the worst part, Nicole and Brads Daughter is missing from her school. She finds out that Hannah was taken from her school by her aunt. Brad doesnt have a sister so shes starting to panic more because who has her child. Hannah has been kidnapped, but by who, does this have ties to Nicole's past?

The next timeline in the book is set in London 1986, Nicole is singing at open mic nights and is a bartender. Nicole left h0me because of her overbearing father, leaving behind her mother who has cancer and her 16 year old sister Cassie. Cassie since Nicole left home had fallen into a dangerous crowd with her new friend Amelia, a groupie always looking for her next thrill. Amelia became obsessed with Secret Oktober's member Michael, while Cassie was obsessed with Ben Edwards. Nicole meets Ben leading to the chaos that goes onto happen in 2011.

What exactly happened in 1986? Why was the band torn apart? What happened leading to the death, and who did it? Will this come back to haunt Nicole's life in 2011? Get ready to be on the edge of your seat while reading or listening to this book.

Read this if you like:
Psychological Thrillers
Celebrity Fandom gone wrong
Mystery
Dual Timeline
Secrets
Deadly Obsession
Tense Fast Paced


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the ALC(advance listening copy)
I wrote this review voluntarily

This book started out a bit slow for me, I was somewhat confused on how all of the different POVs fit together, but when I did figure out the connections I was hooked! I really enjoyed the past and present timelines and felt that it really helped to progress the story. I felt the overall story was intriguing with the idea of band members stringing along groupies and how their lives were intertwined. All of these positive details fell apart at the end of the story. The ending was just confusing and had a what the f*** feeling to it. I don’t know what made the author and the publishers feel this was a good idea because frankly I felt it took away all of the build up that it could have been. The ending also didn’t tie up a lot of questions about who some of the characters were and how they related to others. From reading other reviewers opinions this author has written other good books but apparently missed the mark with this one.

This started out really strong and then just fell apart throughout the rest of the book. Also detested the ending. I dud like the audiobook narrator.

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
Present- Nicole Forbes enjoys a peaceful existence in a quaint coastal town in California, sharing her life with her husband and daughter. She never anticipates that a writer would arrive at her doorstep, seeking her perspective on the decline of the most prominent British band from the 1980s, which would force her to confront a past she thought she had left behind. On the same day, her daughter mysteriously disappears, and the school insists that her aunt picked her up, a claim that leaves Nicole puzzled since she has no sister. This unsettling coincidence compels Nicole to delve into long-buried memories to safeguard her current life.
Back in 1986, a sixteen-year-old Cassie is completely captivated by the sensational band Secret Oktober, particularly infatuated with its charismatic frontman, Ben Edwards. Eager to catch his eye amidst the sea of adoring fans at the band's notorious backstage gatherings, she is determined to stand out. However, when Ben stumbles upon Nicole, Cassie's older sister, performing at a local bar one evening, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, igniting a series of events that threaten to unravel their family ties.
𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
I'm a bit torn about "I would die for you." It wasn't terrible, but it also didn't leave me amazed. The narrative unfolds across two different timelines, which I found manageable at first, but by the end, I was a bit lost and still unsure about Zoe's true identity. While the story kept me engaged for most of the book, the conclusion felt a bit underwhelming and left me feeling confused. On a positive note, I absolutely loved the narrator! She did a fantastic job with various accents and brought each character to life with distinct tones and speech patterns, making it easy to tell them apart.
Thank you @Netgalley and @macmillan.audio for allowing me to review this ALC.

Sandie Jones takes readers back to the 80's music scene with her new book - I Would Die for You.

"Nicole lives happily in California with her husband (Good Guy Brad) and daughter. 'Til one day a woman knocks on her door, wanting to ask Nicole some questions. about her role in the death of a British pop star. Nicole thought she had left that behind and has no intention of answering anything. But now her daughter is missing and her husband (Good Guy Brad) is furious about her deception."

This is a dual timeline story. It goes back-and-forth between Nicole and the band - Secret October - in the 80's and 2011 when someone is trying to disrupt Nicole's life. There's a lot of Cassie, Nicole's younger sister, and her obsession with Secret October - and the Fantasyland she lives in regarding her relationship with the band.
Lots of internal dialogue with current Nicole trying to figure out what's happening. And lots of tension. My favorite parts are when Nicole is making music.
Pretty wild ending - SJ keeps you guessing. And then leaves part of it vague. I would rather know what happened but you can fill in your own blanks.
And finally - a Brad that's a good guy. He's a Navy Seals instructor.

Good job on the audio by Imogen Wilde, especially the ending.

Fans of Sandie Jones will enjoy this domestic thriller.

I was intrigued by the idea of someone smitten with a rock band from the 80s and how that impacted the life she has now. However, this book wasn't near as exciting as some others I've read by this author. I preferred the 1986 timeline over the 2010 as I found the modern story not all that interesting. I couldn't really get into the characters that much, they felt underdeveloped to me. The ending left a lot to be desired!

The narrator did a great job and kept the POVs easier to differentiate, but overall, this is just not a book I'd recommend.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for this ARC. Would still read this author again.

I'd not read anything by Sandie Jones before I would Die For You, but I doubt that I'll be moved to try another. This story of two sisters who manage in the most improbably ways to become entangled with a boy band in 1986 London and the subsequent death of one band member, stretches credulity. Because the novel is all about the plot, rather than being a character study or one in which the location plays a major role, it just doesn't really work. The "mystery" such as it is will not confound even the most casual mystery reader and the "romance" elements are too unrealistic to be of much interest. And the ending, which is unclear, is a further letdown. There are germs of what could have been an interesting book, but this one just fails to launch. The best thing about I Would Die For You is the narrator, who does an excellent job.

Apparently boy band crazy girls was not where my lore started. Sure as a 90s baby I had my fair share of boy bands (thank you very much Gen Z, I have been there done that), but I don’t think my interest in them wasn’t more than my interest in their music. I will still pull that invisible mic to sing along Bye Bye Bye or I Want it That Way (yeah I did not discriminate), but I won’t scream my lungs out just seeing their image

Nicole’s sister was polar opposite of me. She did not only fall into platonic love with a lead singer of a boy band, she took it a step further and started stalking. Back in the 80s it might have been way to go, but now they put you under restraining order for that. Things would have been fine if this was only in her mind. When she managed to get involved with this star and Nicole somehow got tangled in this mess too, things went south.

If you like boy bands and murder mysteries with same level of passion, maybe this is the book you are looking for. It was little too predictable and rushed for me.

This gave a lot of 80s pop music nostalgic vibes. The audio was fast paced, and although it took me some time to get into the story, the middle and end of the book was very interesting with many twists and turns. It was however, a little unbelievable. The ending felt very rushed and since this is a standalone novel, I was unhappy without a sense of finality.

I Would Die for You was not what I was expecting from Sandie Jones.

I want to start off by saying I am a fan of Sandie Jones. I really enjoyed The Other Woman and The First Mistake, so I was really excited to dive into I Would Die for you.

I would say this was just middle of the road for me. And when you read/listen to books as often as I do, I need the book to stand out more than the average, run-of-the-mill thriller/mystery novel. And this was just that, average.

The story kept me interested, but I figured out what was going on pretty early on, and I don't like books that end semi open-ended. The other thing that I would say was slightly irritating was the use of the phrase, "she blew out the breath she didn't know she had been holding". This was used 3 ! times in the last quarter of the book. And I am pretty sure that she is a more talented writer than that. That to me says, "lets end this and get it over with asap and not use imagination or inspiration." For those who haven't read my other reviews, I know books take A LOT of time, energy, effort, money, and inspiration to finish, but that doesn't mean giving up at the end.

So, like I do in many of my reviews, I would suggest trying this for yourself if you like the following:
✔ engaging story
✔ dual timelines
✔ multiple points of view
✔ you're in your 30-40s and want a bit of nostalgia

Maybe skip this one if you need:
❌ an ending with a definitive ending
❌ solid timelines

This won't be the last Sandie Jones novel I read because I think she is a great author, but I don't think this is her best work.

London 1986 - Cassie a 16 year old is infatuated with Secret Oktober one of the hottest bands. Cassies meets some girls that have an "in" to the band and she gets back stage at a concert. There she meets Ben the lead singer and the one member that has captured her heart. After a night of drugs and drinking at a hotel Cassie along with her friends and band mates are arrested. Now Ben has sworn off the bad boy image and meets Nicole, Cassie's older sister while she is singing a song she wrote for her mother. Nicole and Ben keep their relationship under wraps however, Cassie finds out and what happens next will change everyone lives.

California 2011 - Nicole Forbes is living the life of her dreams on Coronado Island. She is married to Brad, a Navy Seal and together they have a daugher. One day a journalist shows up on Nicole's doorsteep asking to tell her side of the story that led to Secert Oktober's demise. Nicole who just wanted to forget the past 25 years ago now has to confront her skeletons in her closet. When her daughter is picked up by an aunt from school Nicole's worst fears are becoming a reality. Now Brad is losing patience with Nicole for not being 100% honest about her past and why she fled London all those years ago.

While i was drawn in to the mystery that surrounding Cassie and Nicole and then Nicole and Brad the book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. It just kind of left you hanging and I'm not sure since this is the first book of Sandie Jones that I have ever read/listened to that I'm not sure if this is her regular MO. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook.

2.5 Stars

When Sandie Jones comes out with a new book, I have to read it. As a general rule, I've enjoyed all of the books I've read by her and this one was no exception - until the ending. There was no real closure and it just sort of stopped leaving me with more questions. If there's going to be a sequel, then I am there for it, but if this is it - I'm disappointed.

If you enjoy being left with questions at the end of a book - then grab this one. If you like closure, it's probably not a great fit.

The audio narration was excellent though and up until the end, I really enjoyed this one. Just that ending... Ugh.

This was an interesting one for me.
The audio is fast paced which keeps your attention.
I love the idea of young girls getting obsessed and following along with a band. As a girl from the “Bieber” generation I know so many girls who waited in lines to catch a glimpse of him.
The way the stories unfold together is great and I needed to know what happened and how it was going to all tie together.
Not my favourite thriller of the year but it was enjoyable

Books set in the late 80s are always a fun setting as those were days of my youth. The current time being in quaint city of Coronado added extra intrigued for me. The story is told in current day with Nichole whose daughter goes missing when was picked up by an aunt. The past is told in England about Nichole and Cassie's encounter with the upcoming boy band.

The story was pretty entertaining and the mystery of the aunt kept me vested. This didn't feel like a thriller but more a mystery of what happened to the boy band and what happened between Cassie and Nichole.

The ending was a bit of a let down for me.

Imogen Wilde did a good job on the narration and I felt the tension for Nichole with her missing daughter.

Thank you @macmillan.audio @minotaur_books for a copy of this.

Writing styles have to fit readers and now that I’ve read two books by this author, I think that this “fit” is off. I do think that other readers will connect with the style so I am being thoughtful of that. In this book, the main character, Nicole has created a mess by keeping secrets and lack of communication with her husband and others.in the dual timelines, Nicole is currently living in La Jolla under a new name and is actively involved in her community. In the past timeline, she is a young adult in England and accidentally gets involved with a famous rock star who just happens to be the object of her teen sister, Cassie’s delusional obsessions. In both timelines, the lack of communication between family members wreaks all kinds of havoc. The story is fast-paced and mostly entertaining but just not believable at all. This use of “poor communication” to create a thrilling mystery is exactly what I didn’t like in The Guilt Trip. Unfortunately, repeating this phenomenon in another book indicates some lack of creativity. I’ve rated “up” for entertainment value but I don’t think this will be a repeat author for me.
I listened to the audio version of this book and found the narrator to be adequate. Nothing stands out in negative or positive way in the narration.