Left Drowning

Left Drowning, Book 1

By: Jessica Park

Narrated by: Arielle DeLisle

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

What does it take to rise from life's depths, swim against the current, and breathe?

Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn't expect - an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she's been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family's traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.

This audiobook is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.

Note: Due to mature content recommended for Ages 17+

©2013 Jessica Park (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

WOW

This was quite an amazing story. I have found a new author to follow! Thank you

Re read

So I decided to re read book one before I read the second book that I just downloaded. That's the problem with series, they are much better to read back to back so it's all fresh in the mind.
I think I liked it better this round.

Fantastic story!!

4 stars — OK, I’m about to disappoint my friend Joooood. While I enjoyed Ms. DeLisle’s narration, she wasn’t my favourite. She was fantastic during normal narration, and with Blythe’s thoughts, but I was only meh on her other character dialogue narration. I think I’m really picky about that. It was partly that I wasn’t keen on the way she voiced Chris…it’s a personal taste thing, not something inherently wrong. But it was also partly that I occasionally found the differences in voices for characters wasn’t consistent. She was good with Blythe, Chris and Sabin…but maybe it just became too many characters after that? Sometimes her Estelle was great, but sometimes I would think it was Blythe talking, and then find out it was Estelle. Again, not a huge deal, just something I noticed. Honestly, I think it’s Ms. Park’s fault for writing so many secondary characters that had a huge part in the story! *snort*

This book went in all sorts of directions, and I LOVED so much of it, but there were also things that bugged me. So I’m going to preface the rest of this review by saying that while I can’t help but want to mention the things that bugged me, this was still a fantastic book! I really did enjoy SO MUCH of it, I just inevitably end up focusing on the things that prevented this from being a 5 star read. So read the rest of the review with that in mind…it was still 4 freaking stars…it just…wasn’t 5. *rolls eyes*

One of the major things that bugged me was the way depression was depicted and addressed….BUT I might be thinking of it in normal depression ways, not situational depression, which I know less about. It’s just that the fact that Blythe never sought any outside help irked me…it might work that way for some people, but it might also contribute to the unhealthy way we view mental health as a society. I was glad that at least the rest of the cast eventually sought out help by the end.

The rest are pretty minor…and probably just Lenore specific, you know? Like, occasionally I was uncomfortable with Blythe’s body image and the way she talked about it…and then with the running. There was this teeeeeensy tiny element that almost felt…preachy? No. Judgey? I can’t figure it out, it just twigged me I guess. I also found the relationships depicted in this story to be really unhealthy. Which…is kind of the point in some ways…but I wished they’d more openly realized that. Then there was the odd fate stuff…I’m not big into that, and it definitely felt like there was a bit of woo-woo going on at the end there. And finally, I read a friend’s review that remarked on the sex, and I laughed it off because that’s typically not a problem with me…but there really was a LOT of sex in this book. I think it stood out more in an audiobook though. When you’re listening to a 20 minute sex scene, and it’s one of many, it gets a bit much, you know?

OK, now that that’s out of the way, onwards!!!

There was a very rich and interesting set of characters in this one. They were ALL damaged, and damaged hardcore, but I still liked them all. I liked them together too, even as they were a bit crazy and occasionally unhealthy. I appreciated the way they were there for one another. I wish I could have seen more gradual growth in Blythe, but I still felt like she had an almost coming of age story. They were all likable people that I’d enjoy observing. I truly felt the depth of their caring for one another. I liked that not all their interactions were picture perfect — Sabin was all kinds of f’d up, and Thanksgiving was crazy…like super duper crazy. And the Christmas revelation with her brother was also f’d up, but I appreciated how she could be mad at him but still want to make sure he knew she still loved him.

I feel like I had other thoughts, but apparently I got sidetracked while writing this review and no longer remember. Ms. Park always writes about trauma and f’d up people really well…she enjoys taking a strange situation and delving into it. I do believe I will eventually tackle Restless Waters, but I’m not feeling a rush at this point. I liked the stability that was finally semi-achieved at the end.

Overall Very Good

I found this book somewhat predictable and rolled my eyes at dialogue I considered over-the-top, but overall it was very good. Perhaps the difference between me and those who rave about it, is that I don't have a past tragedy in my life that continues to haunt me.

highly recommend

loved the story line! the narrator made it easy to follow, conveyed emotion in all the right places. lots of swearing language, for anyone who may not like that, and also a small handful of scenes with a lot of description involving sexual tendencies. overall, a great read with a few surprising links between characters!

Applauds for Left Drowning

Let it be known that this is getting like a 4.75 stars instead of what is shown as a 4. Hopefully, Audible will offer it's customer base the ability to fraction stars in the new look. Anyway, this is a powerful story of the struggle to deal with, work through, handle, manage or otherwise grow through not only tragic loss (Blythe's parents) but also unspeakable abuse (Christopher's family). How their lives cross paths, only to grow together, fall apart and move forward is a beautifully conceived story full of twists and turns that will have your heart racing and your emotions at the surface. The ONLY issue (which prevented the full on 5 stars) FOR ME was the over-done sexual encounters. After the first 10 or so, it got old and felt gratuitous; how many times do I need to read Christopher say "I want to hear you come" before it gets redundant and meaningless. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude and enjoy erotic and sensual encounters a LOT but this was just over the top. With such a strong STORY of loss, love, loss, love and redemption, the sexual abundance did not add substance or meaning. This story was extremely moving and so beautifully crafted, don't let my wariness of the sexual content stop you from listening to it. Heck, I listened ALL NIGHT long to finish it--just could NOT stop until the story was done.

The characters of Blythe, Christopher, Sabin (perhaps my favorite character), Estelle, and Eric were so richly written and performed, I felt like I knew them and ached so for them.

About the narrator, reader, performer...Arielle DeLisle, well, I have one word for her. MAGNIFICENT. She handled many voices with ease, individuality, emotion, depth, believability and substance. As we who are devotees of the spoken book, the narrator can make or break. In this instance, Ms. DeLisle ABSOLUTELY MADE this book.

This is a very very worthy read.

OMG...Can't find the correct words to describe

Heart-stoppingly beautiful. From the start, my thoughts were spot on the moment I heard the 1st story. My thoughts were so inline and I didn't even know it. Which was quite surprising in the end.

But, this was really intense. Both stories were very sad, but Chris' story was more than I could take. Yet...it all worked out in the end. Couldn't ask for anything more, honestly.

I believe all things are possible

I love this story! I've listened to it a half a dozen times. Things are meant to be and the story proves that.

Loved it!

Incredibly written plot with heartbreak, romance, steamy sex, and a reminder we all need to make time for healing!!! Narrator was wonderful!

amazing story. so glad I found it.

amazing story glad i found it. the author really brings the characters to life. stunning