I really liked this book - the characters felt very nuanced and richly developed, and the plot was well-paced and kept me interested.

I absolutely love Natalie Naudus as a narrator and this one sounded interesting (plus I've enjoyed Henry's books before in the past) but sadly not even the amazing narration from Naudus could keep me interested in this story and sadly it ended up being a DNF less than halfway through. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audio of Name Not Taken by Madeleine Henry.

Henry really gets into the head of the reader with this book, and the narrator does a great job. Throughout the first 30% of the book I wondered if it was going to be pretty drab, but then everyone started to go insane, including myself. A good story of how a fiance thinks her future in-laws are out to get her, but the family thinks she's mentally unstable -- which is true? Maybe both.

This was just an okay one for me. I was definitely intrigued and wondering who was telling the truth, who was reliable and who wasn't. Truly in the end though I felt like it was all a little too predictable. I just wanted a little more.

I’m torn on how I feel about Name Not Taken by Madeleine Henry. I appreciated the dark and moody atmosphere—it definitely kept me engaged—but there was something missing for me personally. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I felt like I needed more to fully connect with the story or characters. That said, I’m still intrigued by Henry’s writing and will definitely try more of her work in the future.

The narrator did a great job and I enjoyed her story telling.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Little A and Brilliance Publishing for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest book by Madeleine Henry, with the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Natalie Naudus. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 3.5 stars rounded up!

Devon and Richard are engaged, but come from two very different backgrounds. Devon's was traumatic, being raised by a single mother with mental health issues, while Richard comes from a very wealthy family. But after dating and living together, she had still not met his family until now. And it is not going well - the family seems to question everything Devon does and are making Richard question her as well. Let the mind games begin.

While domestic suspense is usually one of my favorite genres, this one was just okay for me. I felt bad for Devon and wished she could have stood up for herself better, plus there are so many unreliable narrators that you will be questioning everyone. I switched to listening to the audiobook and enjoyed it, but was a tad confused with the ending. I'm blaming it on maybe too much multitasking when listening. This was also an Amazon Prime First Read selection so try it out for yourself!

So as I was listening to this I was literally like what is going on at the beginning. I did not want to stop listening because I knew something was going to happen. I felt so bad for Devon because her in-laws were nuts and even Richard her boyfriend was on their side. But as the book progressed Devon seemed to be a little less than sane. I was here for the ending which I will not spoil. There is a lot of lying going on in this book and the characters or really unlikeable but I listened to this in one day if that tells you anything.

*ೃ༄*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Impassioned artist endures almost complete mental collapse — or does she?

“𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎—𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎—𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 ‘𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚎,’ 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚗.”

Opposites attract. She’s a right-brained loner starving-artist pursuing her passion. He’s gregarious, charming, in finance, and from a wealthy family.

Devon and Richard seems to have the perfect life: newly engaged and about to meet his parents for the first time. Then everything goes downhill, in a very sinister way.

Fast paced as expected from a psychological thriller, but what a surprise to find beautiful writing as well. 💘

I spent so much of this book wondering who was actually sane. Things felt creepy and deranged from the jump, and I suspected almost everyone at some point.

I know some people found the ending ambiguous, which is interesting as I loved the ending and felt I knew exactly what happened! (So if you read this — let’s chat!)

I do suggest going in blind. I enjoyed wondering if all of the characters were suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder or whether everyone is just a lying liar who lies. I found this highly addictive and loved the twists and turns.

🎧 added an extra ⭐️ for Natalie Naudus’ excellent performance on audio! She brought the voice of Devon to life impeccably.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.25/5)

“Sometimes, you need to let things go to be happy.”

Thanks so much to Madeleine Henry for allowing me to check her book out before the rest of the world gets to dive in. This book literally landed on my doorstep and I immediately started reading it and had a hard time putting it down.

This one is about a future monster-in-law from hell and has an unreliable narrator. Love it!

As soon as Devon meets her future in-laws I wanted to jumped into these pages and rage with her. The audacity!!!!

Things aren’t always what they appear and Devon starts to question her reality. Are they gaslighting her or is she crazy!? 🎨🖌️🖼️

This one had elements in it that were similar to Kiersten Modglin (my fav author). The only thing I struggled with in this one is the ending…I was confused by it. I only dinged it a partial star for that though because the book was really entertaining and enjoyable even though it stressed me out.