Bury Me

By: Tara Sivec

Narrated by: Stephanie Willis

Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

I hear screams in my head. I see blood on my hands. When I look in the mirror, I see a stranger.

How is it that I can remember bits and pieces of my life, but nothing of any importance and nothing that makes any sense? Everything is twisted and nothing is right. I'm choking with every breath I take, suffocating on the unknown.

Two days ago, everything changed. Two days ago, the people I should trust the most became strangers in my convoluted head. The dreams I have can't be real. The fleeting memories that whisper through my mind are scary and wrong...they have to be. If they aren't, I have something much worse to fear than my fractured mind. I need to find out the truth, even if it destroys me.

I've been told my name is Ravenna Duskin. I'm 18 years old, and I live in a prison....

©2015 Tara Sivec (P)2015 ListenUp Production, LLC

Total mind F...!

The intrigue and speculation is of the charts. Up until the last sentences you're still getting shocked! Well done Evil Master Mind Sivec.

Not A Happily Ever After Story

The keeps you listening….waiting for the outcome of the next action. Doesn’t turn out the way you expected. I can think of several ways the story could have gone to make it a better story.

Excellent short psychological thriller

“My name is Ravenna Duskin, I’m 18 years old, I live in a prison and I’m pretty sure I’m not a good girl.”

The words keep ringing in your ears until the end of this creepy, dark, shivering book and the moment you’ve learned it and you too are repeating them, things take a huge 360 degree turn, the world around the story, everything that you had possibly imagined, all the dark thrillers you must have read take on a new direction with Tara Sivec’s mind-numbingly awesome thriller.

Don’t be fooled, the characters are pitiful, hateful and more or less annoying and yet you will end up with a wicked smile on your face. But to get all the chills, all you have to do is stick to it until the end, gather up all the pieces and have questions in your mind which will be answered, even the questions you wouldn’t have thought of.

Set in the 1960’s, a girl named Ravenna Duskin wakes up to a head injury and all she has been told by her parents seems out of place, totally wrong. How could their parents not know their daughter who has been with them for about 18 years? Everything that her Mom does is wrong, Ravenna hates it when she is told how she makes her hair, how she dresses up, who is her best friend? All Ravenna wants is to know the truth. All she wants to know is what happened on the night of the accident, why was she running in the woods, what had happened to scare her off so bad that her parents wouldn’t tell her about that night. Well my friend, just read this pretty thing and you are definitely bound to the edge of your seat while Tara Sivec takes you on an extra-ordinary journey of a messed up girl.

The narration by Stephanie Willis is a little high-pitched, sometimes annoying, especially when Ravenna is yelling but you’ll get used to it and to be true, the characters needs such a voice. Besides that, all the other characters are given a slight variation in the voice with brilliant chuckles and giggles when required. Overall, the production and the narration were good.

Excellent short psychological thriller, highly recommended.

Audiobook provided for review by the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Entertaining, addicting, and cringe-worthy!

Would you consider the audio edition of Bury Me to be better than the print version?

Yes

What did you like best about this story?

The unpredictability

What about Stephanie Willis’s performance did you like?

The way she portrayed the characters and their confusion, terror and shock.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Mind-blown!

Any additional comments?

My review: Bury Me is a chilling mystery about Revenna Duskin, who lives in a prison and has recently suffered a traumatic event, yet has no recollection of the event or the hours immediately preceding it. She's in a state of confusion... doesn't know what happened to her, who did it to her, and whom she should and should not trust. Trusting one person one minute, then another the next, this story is a filled with twists and turns in Revenna's head that will leave you utterly lost and wanting answers right along with her.

My name is Revenna Duskin. I'm eighteen years old. I live in a prison and I will find out the truth, even if it destroys everyone around me.


As Revenna was filling in the blanks and trying to figure out the answers to her memory loss, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for answers myself. She was much better at figuring it out than I was, that's for sure. And I was completely shocked by how this story unraveled. It was terrifying, disturbing, and all out jaw-dropping.



I've been on a big "creepy reads" kick lately, so when I was contacted about reviewing Bury Me I jumped at the chance. I've heard such great things about Tara Sivec's writing, and seeing a book outside her normal genre really spiked my interest. An entertaining, addicting, and cringe-worthy story that will give you chills, wanting answers until the bitter end.


Audiobook Impressions:

I've been finding more and more lately how much I prefer listening to a mystery/suspense/thriller book on audio rather than reading it, especially when it's narrated by a wonderful narrator that brings the story to life. I loved the way Stephanie Willis added so much to this story. The way she portrayed Ravenna's shrill screams, terror, and confusion gave me chills. I think with a story like this, the audiobook is really the way to go to bring this story up another level.

(Thanks to ListenUp Audiobooks for the review copy!)

Wow.

This is the polar opposite of what o think of when I think of Tara Sivec . It was dark and twisted. There are no words to describe how I feel about this book. It just, was.

Whoa!! Very dark suspenseful mystery

That was the most bizarre, crazy, unique, dark and well thought out book I’ve ever read. There was one particular dark part I didn’t like, but that is my opinion. This is not a romance and not for every reader. But if you can handle “dark suspense” you’ll like this. Excellent narration!

What did I just hear?

This book was amazing! I don't normally read/listen to dark books but this was amazing. it has me in the first sentence and didn't let go...

If you like dark stories this is for you, if you are open to them this is for you, if you just need a change this might be for you.

Amazing!

This was amazing! Tense, gripping and mind blowing, it's a must read!

Ravenna Duskin is 18 and lives in an old prison. She wakes up one day with no memories, covered in scratches and with a head injury. Her parents fuss over her but won't answer her questions properly. They keep telling her she is a good girl, but why is she having these strange dreams, why does she feel like this isn't who she is?

"My name is Ravenna Duskin, I’m 18 years old, I live in a prison and I’m pretty sure I’m not a good girl.”

Ravenna doesn't know who trust or who to believe. All she can do is try to peice together snippets of her memory and reactions from others. She has to find the answers before it drives her insane.

"My name is Revenna Duskin. I'm eighteen years old. I live in a prison and I will find out the truth, even if it destroys everyone around me."

Anyway, I finished this a few weeks ago but with my boys being sick, I never got around to the review till now, but this book wouldn't leave my head! I kept thinking about it and wanting to write my thoughts. Saying that, it's hard to say much about the plot because I could spoil something!! It's an incredibly intense and thrilling one, and the whole way through the book I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens. I honestly couldn't see where it was going and the ending was a shocker!! I had thoughts and ideas of what would happen and why she felt the way she did, but it never entered my head what really happened!!

Ravenna was a hard character to like but once you read it, you will understand why!! She is one of the most complex, intriguing and fascinating characters that I've read in a long time. I didn't fully understand her till the end and when the big reveal came, it broke my heart for her!!!

The plot was amazing. Creepy setting, tense, thrilling and often times creepy plot, makes for a great read!!! I loved it. I loved the little flashbacks with get from Ravenna and really thought it added to the mystery of the story.

In all this was an amazing listen. It's my first by this author, but definitely won't be my last!! I loved everything about this and can't recommend it enough!!

Stephanie Willis was amazing. She really brought Ravenna to life. She portrayed the helplessness that she feels perfectly and gave me chills while listening to it. It was like she lived what she was talking about!!! She was simply that good!!!!!! If you want to read this book, I'd advise giving the audio a go.

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affects my thoughts.*

Twisted story I couldn’t stop listening to

If you like unusual mystery stories give Bury Me a try. I don’t want to give too much away but I was so confused what was going on much like the main character that all my guesses were wrong! But I couldn’t stop listening. I had to find out what the hell was going on. Why can’t she remember anything? Why did her father hate her so much? Why did her personality change so much? What did that doctor do to her? There is a twist that I didn’t expect and after going through her process, I definitely didn’t think of what would happen or how the story would end. Not your usual Tara Sivec story but just as great!

Excellently twisted and mysterious!

Set in 1965, Ravenna Duskin, who recently completed high school, doesn’t feel quite like herself. Two days ago, she had an accident that left her with scratches, bruises, and a head wound. Her parents dote over her as she recovers, but her memories are not returning as quickly as she would like. Violent dreams haunt her sleep. She just doesn’t fell like herself at all.

My, oh my! This is one of the best Suspense genre books I have listened to in some time. I was hooked from the beginning and engaged the entire book. Ravenna and her parents (Tanner and Claudia) all live in a prison (Gallows Hill) that was turned into a museum/tourist attraction some years ago. Ravenna grew up in this prison, her father having worked there since before she was born, back when it actually held prisoners. As you can see, we have an interesting setting for this nail biting story to play out in.

We enter the story two days after Ravenna’s head wound accident. However, everyone is being rather vague about events of that day and it’s pissing Ravenna off. She wants answers. Her mother is trying hard to soothe her worries by making her pretty pink bed, braiding her hair, and preparing snacks on demand. Yet all that does is raise angry feelings within Ravenna and she doesn’t know why.

Indeed, Ravenna has a lot of emotions in this book and they swing back and forth. At first, we don’t know why and neither does Ravenna. But there is a mystery here, one that Ravenna can’t ignore. As the story moves forward, bits and pieces of her memory break through, and at first, they don’t make sense. Or at least, they don’t match what she has been told. More emotions boil within her, and sometimes they are violent ones.

Now, if you are concerned this book is full of teen angsty behavior and emotions, that’s not the case at all. I think most characters in her position would have most of the emotions she lives through in this tale. Something traumatic happened and no one wants to be honest with her about it.

The cast is small in this story, yet still interesting. Ravenna’s parents have their own ideas of perfection, secrets, and regrets. Nolan,the groundskeeper, is also not telling all he knows, though, admittedly, he’s a bit confused over Ravenna’s changing personality. There’s a mild romantic interest between the two. Trudy, who was once Ravenna’s best friend, is now somewhat too perky and goal-oriented for Ravenna’s taste. Then there’s the rude and somewhat creepy Ike, who is also a groundskeeper. Toss in the shadowy character of Dr. Thomas, and you have an interesting cast, all with there own little dramas.

The ending was very well thought out. For a while, I thought the story would go one way, and it didn’t, then I thought it would end this other way, and that wasn’t it either. I was happily surprised that I couldn’t guess the ending. I was on pins and needles for the climax. Then we have an epilogue that explains things further and gives more insight into the main character’s motives. It was excellent. I haven’t been this satisfied by a Suspense story in some time.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: Stephanie Willis did a great job with Ravenna. She really brought forth all these emotions the main character is feeling without over doing it. I could really feel Ravenna’s confusion and resultant anger over the situation. Willis also had believable male voices and distinct character voices for the entire cast.