Oleander

A Great Expectations Reimagining

By: Scarlett Drake

Narrated by: George Naylor

Caspien Deveraux was poison.

It took me years to realise that he hadn't been born like that. He'd been cultivated and nurtured by a careful hand and a bitter heart. When I first met him, he was a bud. One primed to bloom beautifully and deadly. One I should have torn out at the root.

I loathed him. I loved him. And until him, I hadn't known just how completely those two things could exist at once.

©2024 Scarlett Drake (P)2024 Scarlett Drake

Absolutely beautiful

I saw the amazing reviews and had to check this out. I barely ever leave reviews unless something blows me away and I read multiple books a week. This was probably my favorite book of the entire year. Absolutely beautiful writing. the character development was everything I want in a book. The writing style was just beautiful. Can't emphasize it enough. Don't even get me started on the insanely talented narrator. Everything about this book and the way it was narrated just blew me away. I didn't want it to be over. Don't take my word for it; check it out yourself and thank me later!

Absolutely devastating and hopeful

My heart was heavy throughout the whole book. I had a hard time relating to caspien until the last portion of the book, but Jude? Ugh! I just wanted to hug him. It was definitely a hard earned HEA and worth it. The narrator was amazing and I couldn’t believe how well defined each character sounded. Loved this so much!

Heartbreaking 💔

This book consumed me for two days. I could feel everything deep inside as the author read.

Perfection!!!

Whether or not Great Expectations is or isn’t a love story… this reimagination was beautiful!! The narrator was absolutely brilliant and I just loved Jude. Loved that this story was all from his POV.

This one will leave a mark.

Beautiful story, with lovely, almost poetic writing and an amazing performance. Anyone who has felt heartbreak will recognize it here. Strongly recommend - but only if you’re prepared to give up the next 17 hours to it.

Masterpiece story and narration

First - the narrator is Olympic gold medal good ! Absolutely perfect in his tone , the sadness of his voice , going in and out of different characters . Masterclass ! The writing is very lyrical , beautiful , and heartbreaking . I had moments of rolling my eyes and thinking this is not realistic but the ending and the lessons learned were just perfect and overall I thought this was one of the best MM books I have listened to !

Heartbreakingly beautiful

this book is the epitome of all the emotions. There were part where you would laugh. There were parts when you wanted to cry there were parts when you wanted to hit something you were so angry. There were parts when you wanted to scream at the characters there are parts when you’re so overwhelmed with joy that you don’t know what to do. This book is absolutely fantastic. I suggest everyone have to read it because it’s not just about the main couple relationship. It’s about everything it’s about second third and fourth chances it’s just about how life screws you whether you wanted to or not, and and sometimes in the best way possible, and I like the amount of time that passes the only thing is that I wish they would’ve done more with the ending, even though I thought the ending was also magnificent

This book has my heart!

I freaking loved this book, omg! It’s so heartbreaking and yet one of the best love stories ever! I cried like a little baby but honestly I feel like this book has fulfilled me more than any book has in a long time. Just read it, you won’t regret it!

❤️ loved it

Absolutely love the book, love the audio , love cas and Jude , adored Nathen and Finn and luke , hated Xavier , pitied Gideon. I also hope Ellie got a happy ending.

Narration was amazing

Holy shit. The narration of this book was immaculate. There wasn’t one second of it I felt like someone was reading me a story. He brought every character, every emotion completely to life. Amazing