All That's Left of Me

A Novel

By: Janis Thomas

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

From the author of What Remains True comes an emotionally captivating novel about a woman who wishes away her troubles but doesn’t anticipate the cost.

I wish...

It starts with a simple wish, and Emma Davies hardly notices when it comes true. She’s too preoccupied with a life she isn’t happy in - the spark in her marriage has fizzled, her career is headed nowhere and her boss is a misogynist. Her teenage daughter has grown distant, and her heart breaks daily for her teenage son with cerebral palsy. But soon Emma discovers her wishes are coming true, and she realizes that she has been given the power to change her life. Either that, or she’s going insane.

Emma begins testing her newfound gift, making calculated wishes and learning one important rule - once granted, they cannot be undone. Over time, she grows bolder as she builds up to the one wish she both fears and desperately longs to make. But when Emma finally gets everything she’s asked for, will it be worth the price?

©2018 Janis Thomas (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Dang!

Ok, so the beginning is hard. You have to wait that out. I actually skipped a few minutes because it was too deep for me. I understand necessary development of character, so it fits.

It's a gripper. Don't start this if you need to sleep. I kinda knew what would eventually happen, but for once I was happy to just listen and let the story get on with its self. A rarity.

The narration was awesome.

Made me cry a lot

Strange and unbelievable story. Frightening even sometimes. But well worth reading. Good reading for a mother. Get the Kleenex.

Starts out interesting, ends predictably

I really enjoyed the first three quarters of this book. The ideas were fascinating, and the unintended consequences of the choices the main character made were very interesting. But. The last couple of chapters were predictable to the point of silliness. I would have enjoyed it more if the ending she chose were forbidden and the author would have to resolve the crises created by the choices at the beginning of the book a different way. Or that the end was extended more.

Wow!

I love this Audible book. The story gets more interesting. The characters feel so real. If you’ve ever wished for something please read or listen as I did to this truly amazing story.

The end justified the means

If you are like me, and find the negativity of others exhausting, you may not listen to this whole book. Several times I came very close to stopping the book because I seriously doubted I could handle waiting for the negativity to just stop already! It was the high ratings and positive reviews of other listeners that gave me just enough hope to keep on going. The narrator was so good at using exactly the tone that the author intended, that the depression experienced by the main character was palpable. So, you may be wondering if the review you are reading is correctly matched to the number of stars used for the rating. I'm not sure I can explain it myself. But when the character's suffering, and therefore my suffering, finally eased, the relief I felt actually provided a kind of pleasure. Additionally, there was a poignant message effectively being conveyed. If I were to have rated this book 1/3 of the way through. I probably would have given 2 stars all round. But the last third brought it around to sufficiently warrant the 4 stars. The narrator, who so adeptly sounded down-trodden and depressed, was ultimately very effective at performing precisely the part she was given.