Saving April

By: Sarah A. Denzil

Narrated by: Sophie McShera

Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

A new family moves in over the road. The new family is acting strange. This new family has some secrets.

From the author of Audible's Thriller of the Year, Silent Child, comes another psychological thriller to keep you guessing until the very end. Performed by Sophie McShera, (Daisy Mason, Downton Abbey), enter the world of a family broken by lies, a woman traumatised by a dark past, and a child caught in the crossfire.

©2017 Sarah A. Denzil (P)2017 Audible Ltd

Not horrible

I was a little disappointed in this book as I had previously read Silent Child by Sarah A Denzil and thoroughly enjoyed it. This story, for some reason, didn’t grab me as much. It was not horrible...Sarah A. Denzil does well at describing characters and scenes so the reader is able to visualize the story as they read. I feel like this story could have been more interesting, but I don’t regret listening to it.

Gripping!!

This is the 2nd audiobook I listen to with a gripping story written by Sarah Denzil. Sophie McShera (known as Daisy from "Downton Abbey") did an excellent job narrating. I spent a good portion trying to figure things out. I don't mean that negatively. It becomes apparent early on that these women have secrets! I found myself feeling compassion for certain characters and then anger towards other characters. And then, what I love about any good book, just when I thought I had everyone and everything figured out......I discover that I was wrong! Who doesn't love a good book with an unexpected twist?!

Fantastic! Well worth the listen.

Sophie McShera does an incredible job and the story pulls you right in. Taut and suspenseful all the way through.

Not a Great Story

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

After listening to The Silent Child I was looking forward to Saving April. What a disappointment. It wasn't as exciting, or even as interesting. It was pretty easy to figure out the plot and to guess what the ending was going to be.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I'm not the writer. I was going by the other book she had written and expected the same enjoyable suspense and surprises.

Did Saving April inspire you to do anything?

Not to read any more of the author's books

Surprised

This story kept me entertained. I didn't figure it out. I would recommend it.

Page turner!

This book is totally binge worthy! I bought both kindle and audible versions but ended up listening to the whole book in one night. I loved Denzils book The Silent Child and it was so great. JoAnne Frogatt narrated that one so well. If you haven’t read that one and you liked this you would love Child. Denzil has an amazing gift at drawing the reader in from the first words. You get a kind on foreboding even though it starts off rather innocuous. The only drawback was the narrator didn’t differentiate between voices of characters. And if she did it was so minor that I couldn’t tell. It made it difficult to follow the story initially. You are in three women characters head, the main character a near agoraphobic Hannah, new neighbors mom Laura and daughter April. I was really confused at first because she would just go straight into the other characters without any change. I had to go back a few times and relisten. But other than that it was great 👍🏻

Yes!!!

ANOTHER GREAT ONE FROM SARAH! Yesss!!! I get sooo excited reading this woman's books!.... Love them....

3.75 stars

After having worked with people who have emotional issues and/or dysfunctional families, this story did not seem extreme to me. It was well presented from 3 different viewpoints, all of which seemed plausible. This was a short listen and kept me interested. This might not be the best of Ms Denzil's work, but it kept my interest.

A Good Read

If you could sum up Saving April in three words, what would they be?

Lack of suspense

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Nothing. Difficult to react when there wasn't much of a story to begin with.

What about Sophie McShera’s performance did you like?

Very good. Sophie embodied each character and gave them a voice.

Any additional comments?

The story follows two women, Hannah and Laura. Laura is an over-worked stressed mom, worried her family is falling apart. Hannah is a recluse struggling with anxiety caused by a tragedy she unfortunately (partly caused). The story is also about a young girl named April, who is implied to be suffering some abuse at the hands of her father (Matt) and mother (Laura). Hannah witnesses things in the Mason household across the street and she fears April is in danger.

There is nothing suspenseful about this book. No surprises or Ah huh! moment. Be that as it may, it was still a pretty decent book. Mainly, because of Laura and Hannah. We follow these two women as they struggle through their issues and they emerge stronger because of it.

One thing that confuses me, is there are snippets of stories of abuse. The unnamed girl (one assumes is April) is worried her drunk father is going to come through the door and then she'll get it. She'll get it like she has in the past. What was the point of this? When you read you'll understand as well.

keeps you guessing

Another good book from this author. The narrator is wonderful. I will get more from this author