My first time….my audio book experience {Dear Wife}

About a week and a bit ago, I was out of interesting books to read and I thought, maybe I should try an e-book. I sampled an e-book on an app, and I just could not do it. I can’t read on a phone or tablet, it’s just not the same experience for me. Down the rabbit hole I went and discovered audio books. One thing led to another and next thing I know, I was on Audible signing up for a free 30 day trial. During the free trial, you can select one free audio book, and then also 2 ‘original books’. I assume original books are much like a Netflix series, created just for Audible. I chose the audio book, Dear Wife, so today I’ll chat about audio books (#NotSponsored), as well as review the book for you.

What is Dear Wife about?

For nearly a year, Beth has been planning for this day. A day some people might call any other Wednesday, but Beth prefers to see it as her new beginning–one with a new look, new name and new city. Beth has given her plan significant thought, because one small slip and her violent husband will find her.

Sabine Hardison is missing…

A couple hundred miles away, Jeffrey returns home from a work trip to find his wife, Sabine, is missing. Wherever she is, she’s taken almost nothing with her. Her abandoned car is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play.

As the police search for leads, the case becomes more and more convoluted. Sabine’s carefully laid plans for her future indicate trouble at home, and a husband who would be better off with her gone. The detective on the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened and bring this missing woman home. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The only thing that’s certain is that someone is lying and the truth won’t stay buried for long.

The Audio book experience

The biggest thing I was concerned about was, how do you deliver a twist, that would normally unfold as you’re reading pages?? I’m not quite sure this is the book I can confidently say I got that question answered with, because I figured the plot/twist out pretty early.

What I enjoyed about the audio book and Audible app

1. You don’t need a bookmark, as the app picks up where you left off listening last.
2. There’s an option to go back or forward by 30 seconds, in case you need to listen to something again or you want to fast forward something.
3. The sleep function was my favourite! I could set the app to stop reading to me at the end of a certain chapter, or after a certain amount of time.
4. You can actually bookmark points in the audiobook that you perhaps need to make notes on, for a review or book club.
5. The voices of this particular book were so soothing! I would pass out within 10 minutes of setting up my sleep timer.
6. I hate driving in silence to work, so this really gave me something to look forward to every day.
7. There’s a ‘Driving’ setting, so the screen won’t lock or dim and you’re able to exit the app easier if for some reason you need to exit.

What I didn’t enjoy

1. I missed turning pages.
2. The voices can sound a bit monotone, so it did take me a while to get into it.

I think the pros sort of outweigh the cons. I don’t know if I’d pay monthly though and choose an audiobook as a first option. A physical book will always be my first choice, but for falling asleep at night, and driving for long periods….I think this is a fabulous escape from either silence, the radio or music.

Review of the book, Dear Wife

This had a really interesting plot, where a wife, Beth is on the run from her abusive husband. We are introduced to Beth at the same time that Sabine Hardison goes missing. We move between Beth’s POV, Jeffrey’s (Sabine’s husband) and Marcus, the detective trying to bring Sabine/Beth home.

The point of this book is to make you think/believe/wonder if Beth and Sabine are the same person. If they are, will she be found? What was she really running from? If they aren’t the same person….how are they linked? Are they linked at all?

I really can’t say too much about this book without spoiling it. This is more of a slow burn type of  psychological thriller, and it all really only climaxes towards the end. I think I had 6 chapters left…and I was wondering: WHEN WILL THEY REVEAL ALL??? I found the book pretty one tone in pace, but I still listened for hours. Overall, I enjoyed the story, it gripped me and I needed to get to the ending. I did figure the plot out early on, but I still enjoyed finishing it. There’s secrets, lies, drama….what more could you want in a book?

My rating

Dear Wife has a Goodreads rating of 4.08 stars, which is pretty good. I personally rate it around 3.5 stars. I would be interested to read the actual book and see how it compares to the audio book, but ain’t nobody got time to read a book you already listened to. lol. Let me know, are you a fan of audio books? Will you be signing up for a free trial to try it out yourself?

PS Don’t forget to check out some of my other book reviews! I reviewed The Bad Place last week 😉