Daisy Chains

By: Lynn Vande Stouwe

Narrated by: Louisa Krause

Length: 1 hr and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A chilling thriller that puts listeners inside the mind of a teen sociopath on her prom night.

This content contains sensitive themes of suicide and mental illness that may be disturbing to some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling with these issues, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: [phone].

There’s a dress in Daisy’s closet. Silver. Low-backed. Tiny spaghetti straps. She’ll wear it to prom on the arm of Harris Zandari, the most gorgeous senior at her school.    

How did quiet, barely-there Daisy, land Harris Zandari? She watched him. She watched him so closely, and for so long, that she saw things no one else did. She saw through his charm, his bright, smiling face, to the sad, broken person underneath just waiting for the perfect sad, broken girl to complete him.    

Daisy was that girl. Not only because her mother died and everyone still felt sorry for her. But because she made herself perfect for him. She fashioned herself into his broken dream girl, and now, they were going to prom. And Daisy was going to make it a night she would never forget.

No one but Daisy knows this, but there’s another dress in her closet, buried in the back. Tea-length. Little cap sleeves.    

Funeral black.  

©2020 Lynn Vande Stouwe (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

Disturbing

Not something that should be rated G. I can see this giving teens bad ideas.

Shocking

You knew eventually it would catch up to her but you find out how twisted she is

An interesting take on a true story

First off I have to say the performance of this story was really good. I really felt like the performance of Daisy was spot on for how someone like that would act. I loved the addition of the text notifications and the sound of the ocean. it was such a nice surprising touch. As for the story, I'm conflicted. While the story was told well and it was interesting seeing the story focus on Daisy as the main character and the fact that ahes clearly a sociopath made the story more interesting and a true thriller. Now this story os about suicide sp its not something that everyone can handle so beware of that. The one thing that bothers me is that this story was almost an exact copy of a true story just with some of the details changed. I didnt see anywhere on the info of this book that thia was based off a true story. They made it seem as if the writer thought up the story all on their own but considering how similar this book was to the true story I find that extremely hard to believe. I dont think its right for the author to act as if she came up with this story all on her own. an actual teen boy died due to the encouragement of his girlfriend. a family lost their son due to this girl coaching him on and encouraging him to end his life. The author should be honest about basing thia book off of that tragedy.

*Suicide... Should have a trigger warning.

Written and performed very well. When the plot emerged, I won't wreck it but to say it involves teen suicide, I was a bit shocked and saddened. I just feel there should have been a trigger warning I guess. It's such a prevalent issue, so sad and heartbreaking.

Interesting!

Twisted! But a good listen for sure! I definitely think it’s not for everyone and does have some very triggering things.

Surprisingly Entertaining

very interesting story. kept my attention and felt like I got a new perspective on love. the wrong kid of love lol

Captivated, despite myself

Not sure I found any of the characters likable (hands down, Templeton, the rat, was the best of the lot) with Daisy obviously being the worst. It's not just that she's a sociopath; I can appreciate a story from that angle. But, despite a tragic back story -- presumably serving as an explanation for her behavior -- I still found her to be lacking depth. As a comparison, I think of Amy, from Gone Girl, who was far more three-dimensional and interesting. (Then again, it's also a short story versus a full length novel.)

Aside from an almost exclusively shallow cast of characters, the writing was engaging. Despite being pretty consistently disgusted, I couldn't stop listening. But, I think what really sold this story was the performance. Louisa Krause's narration captured, not only Daisy's narcissism and malevolence, but also the more mundane teen characteristics, such as indecisiveness and insecurity; in short, it was a credible performance.

Good short listen but nothing I’d want my daughter to listen to...

This is just a little too close for comfort and far to similar to the Conrad case. But it is a true reflection of the lengths in which young ppl today go for attention and popularity. It was well written and narrated. I think the father character was over developed and a bit unbelievable.

Could not stop listening.

Was hooked from beginning to end. Best novella I've listened to in quite a while. Bravo to the author and narrator

very good but tough subject

as always there will be no spoilers in my reviews
this was actually a fun listen despite subject it was short enough to finish in an afternoon
I probably would have bought it if it was a decent price. steady paced not a beat is really missed. Narration was a little high pitched at first but grew on me easy enough.