This is the first book of this author’s that I’ve encountered. Honestly, it wasn’t what I expected from the blurb- at least not from the beginning. You start with a domestic abuse situation, and then Winslow finds himself somewhere else in a place he doesn’t recognize. There’s a lovely, mysterious quality to it that keeps you guessing. Is he really in this place? Is it a hallucination of some kind? Did he die and he’s in the next life? I love looking for clues in books or movies like this; to try and pay attention to the details and figure it out. But it wasn’t the romance I was expecting going into it, and I must admit, I did lose interest after a while and stopping listening (I listened to this as an audiobook). I’m not saying it was bad, but it was not what I’d been looking for/expecting, and six-plus hours is a long time to dedicate to something I’m not fully invested in.
This book was narrated by David Allen Vargo and he did a fantastic job with the different voices- some of them I was very impressed with. I especially loved the older woman’s voice. I can’t wait to listen to more of his work! This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to that had background music and sound effects, and honestly, I didn’t like it. Sometimes the music gave a soft ambiance that created a dream-like quality to a scene that was very dream-like. But most times I found the background music and sounds distracting from the narration itself. I wish there was an option to chose to have it or not. And I feel a bit bad saying that because obviously time and effort went into it, but I wish it wasn’t there.
This is probably an audiobook I’ll go back and listen to again in the future, and in it’s entirety.
Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 3.5 stars