I Will Break You

Best International Thrillers

By: Daniela Arnold

Narrated by: Ariel Royce

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Some secrets are best kept hidden....

The lawyer’s call is shocking: Charly’s best friend from childhood has taken her own life and left a decree that Charly care for her two-year-old daughter.

Returning to her childhood home on the coast of England, another nasty surprise awaits: Two more of Charly’s friends have mysteriously died. As suspicious incidents in Charly’s little house on the coast pile up, she investigates. She soon discovers that all the deaths were, in fact, brutal murders.

But Charly doesn’t realize the hunt for her has already begun as she’s plunged into a grueling psychological game....

©2021 Daniela Arnold (P)2021 Velox Books

Critic reviews

"An extremely exciting, entertaining, and psychologically nerve-wracking thriller." (Nisni’s Book Love)

I will break you

This was a very good book.I totally enjoyed it! Ariel Royce was an excellent narrator. Charlys former best friend leaves her daughter to her in her will.This is a surprise to Charly. It is also a deadly gift.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

"Going in circles both mentally and emotionally."

Charlie, a!ready well practised in getting involved with an unsuitable, abusive partner, is called back to England from her Berlin home to fulfil the wishes of the will of her long time friend from whom she'd been estranged for two years. She was horrified to learn that Immo had been a suicide, and Charlotte had been bequeathed not only most of her estate but also her daughter, nearly three. With no knowledge of how to look after a young child, and refusing to believe in the suicide story, Charlie feels that she is going crazy, living in the home that had previously belonged to her friend and little Josi

Somewhat repetitious and filled with self analysing angst, this is still an easy understanding read which somehow managed to hold the reader's attention right through to the end, despite being obvious from early pages. There is a small anomaly between the intro text and later statements (not here stated to avoid possible spoilers) and a wrong name is used later in one conversation, possibly a failure in translation, an drifting flaw. This is not a long book, only six hours, but would have been more impacting if reduced by, perhaps, half. And yet, this reader still enjoyed it!

The narration was adequate, if a little stilted. Ariel Royce's voice has a pleasant timbre but little flow, her words crisply individual with an odd emphasis placed on some consonants, and an accent which delivers unexpected words, such as awfore (after), hawrier (horror), worch (watch), dawl (doll), settai (settee), and cher (sure), to illustrate but a few. This became distracting, occasionally puzzling but certainly added to the sense of unreality.

There is. a question one protagonist puts to another in this book: "Tell me, how stupid are you?" It just about sums up the whole story.. And though I would not recommended it, I still did enjoy this read.

Excellent Thriller!

This was my first Daniela Arnold's book, and I hope it won't be my last. I Will Break You is a suspenseful thriller, filled with mystery, and twists and turns. The characters are well developed, and intriguing. The mystery unfolds at a great pace, and it was impossible to stop listening. This is an excellent thriller. Ariel Royce is a new narrator to me. She has a beautiful voice, very pleasant to listen to. She did an excellent job with the narration. I enjoyed it. I received this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily written this review.

Emotionally gripping...

'I Will Break You' is one of those books that you won't be able to stop listening to while you've started.... It's an emotionally gripping thriller in which you yourself start doubting the main character's sanity at one point - is she really hallucinating all these, you'll start asking yourself... And although at the very end I had my suspicions as to the real culprit, I still couldn't fathom the real motivations of the killer... Good work, Ms Arnold:)

The plot, after the initial chapter or two of slower introductions, is really fast; the events pile up and we feel the growing frustration of Charly's at nobody believing her suspicions and suppositions. Charly, as a character, is very well-written, with the memory losses, an ex-boyfriend stalker adding to her anxieties... The other two main characters, Jake and Alice, are equally well-portrayed, and although some may think them a little less-developed we have to remember we see them through Charly's eyes, we only see them the way she does, so it's totally plausible for me.

Narration by Ms Royce is great; the pace is good, no need really to speed her up or slow her down:) Also, the voices she uses for individual characters are very well done and match the characters' personalities. In general, it's a fantastic interpretation of the book:)

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Somewhat interesting

"I Will Break You" (2021) by Daniela Arnold is a somewhat interesting novel about Charly, a young British woman who receives news that a childhood friend has died and left her two-year-old daughter to be reared by single Charly. Mystery surrounds the friend’s death—and her husband’s before her. Translated from German to English, some authenticity is lost when American terms are used (example: automobile “trunk” instead of “boot”). Too much of the ending is told, not shown. Ariel Royce’s narration is effective. It took me a while to get into this one, but recommended. At my request, I was given this free audiobook and have voluntarily left this review.

Kelvin L. Reed
Author of "Guilt by Association"

Somewhat predictable

I guessed the perpetrator nearly as soon as the character was introduced, but I didn't guess the motive. I found the story very suspenseful and the characters mostly believable.

Ariel Royce's performance was quite acceptable. She voiced the characters distinctly and appropriately. This was a thrilling listen.

Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A thrilling read

Disclaimer: This audiobook was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review. I love how the events unfolded in the book. There's a sort of tug and pull in the writing that was well balanced with character development and revealing of character backstory. I do think that the constant outbursts, and lack of care of certain characters was a little off putting at first, but they serve to drive the story forward so it was okay. At many points in the book, I was heavily reminded of the concept of unreliable narration, which makes the book a very fun read, because at a certain point, I felt myself questioning the characters the same way they questioned themselves and that was greatly enjoyable. The narration of the audiobook was wonderful. I have enjoyed it very much. The emotions, voice acting and characters were brought out very well by Ariel Royce, she was able to pull me into the grim setting of the book. Because I've only listened to the book and not read it, I believe there are some parts of the book where character names were misread, like the character calling her own name instead of someone else, but otherwise, still a very enjoyable audiobook.

Great Read

I Will Break You was a great read by Daniela Arnold. Charly is shocked when a lawyer calls her to tell her that her childhood best friend has taken her life and wants Charly to take care of her two year old daughter. She returns to the coast of England to her childhood home town where another nasty surprises waits for her. Two more of her friends have mysteriously died. Suspicious things happen in her little house and she starts top investigate them. She finds that the deaths were actually brutal murders. I really enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.