One-Hit Wonder

By: Lisa Jewell

Narrated by: Helen Duff

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

Shy and gawky, Ana has always daydreamed about living the life of her exotic half-sister Bee, a pop singer who had a number one hit single before she inexplicably vanished from the celebrity scene. 

When Bee turns up dead, Ana is dispatched to the big city to clear out her apartment. Instantly seduced by the second-hand glamour of Bee's baubles, bangles, and bottles of Pierre-Jouet, Ana takes up with Bee's wild club-hopping cronies. 

News of a missing cat and a remote country cottage soon convince Ana that her sister was leading a secret life. Now, she's is on a mission to discover what really happened to Bee Bearhorn, the one-hit wonder - and what is about to happen to the unremarkable Ana Wills.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Wonderful, with Qualifications...

Lisa Jewell's writing is beautiful, her characters are so well developed I can see them clearly as I listen. Helen Duff's narration is a pleasure to listen to. The story contains themes of facing one's false beliefs and taking steps to break out of old patterns to become unstuck. I enjoyed those parts of the book, but there was also an element of One-Hit Wonder that was so-very sad, I didn't like the heavy melancholic feeling the book left me with.

Important fact: Earlier books are NOT mysteries!

Lisa Jewell's writing is always excellent, and Helen Duff is a totally brilliant narrator. But if you got started with Lisa Jewell through one of her mysteries, as I did, then you need to know that none of her books before 2014 is a mystery.

The earlier books are all rather cutesy character novels - a fact I unfortunately did not discover until I had wasted my time on three of them. And this book is one of those. To make it worse, at the beginning you might think that a mystery is coming, but everything is actually just as it appears. And the syrupy sweet, wrap-everything-up-with-a-bow ending might make you sick.

So if mysteries are what you want, don't bother with this book. On a chronological list of Lisa Jewell books, the mysteries will start with The Third Wife in 2014. And all the mysteries are great!!

“Better Than Napster”

Napster; that 80’s/90’s music sharing database that turned the music industry upside down. And, “Better than Napster,” is a line in book by one of the characters. So, How does a middle aged man connect with Lisa Jewel’s stories? It’s lines like that and I guess I’m just a big ‘ole wimp or something. Hell, I’ve listened to nearly all of them now! And One-Hit Wonder is, as they say across the pond, Brilliant.

Over the course of 12 hours follow Anna and watch her bloom as she and her friends search for the mystery that led to her sisters death. It’s more than a coming of age tale. Read or performed on Audible, if it speaks to this old man, I think it will speak to you too.

One eye-roll after another

Entire book was irritating on so many levels. Shockingly mediocre and riddled with plot gaps - maudlin ending - absurdly stereotypical characters ... and it went on far too long. No substance, and a whole lot'a filler. Also a whole lot'a "yuh"s and "uh-huh"s.

Ms Duff's narration is good, but her vocal characterizations are cringe-worthy. Her attempts to capture a downtown-cool vibe simply sound like everyone's got a head cold.

I've read YA fiction with more nuances and character development than this.

Ugh.... What the H ???

Awful. And I like the author. 2 dimensional characters, corny writing, ridiculous. The narrator was good in her own voice but her other accents either sounded bizarre or too much alike. The story itself was weak and it’s too bad because I kind of like the premise.

Pretty good overall

This story is interesting and unique. The mystery is a little depressing but held my attention. The growth of the main character made me cheer for her and want to see things turn out well. Overall I thought it was sad but I enjoyed it.

Horrible, Boring

This was the worst book I’ve ever had the misfortune to listen to...the characters are flat, undeveloped, and the story isn’t remotely mysterious or spooky like other titles by Lisa Jewell. I am a HUGE LJ fan and have read five or six of her books and loved ALL OF THEM. This book was an incredibly disappointing purchase. I used to be married to a musician. The bands first album was insanely successful which prompted a big label contract (Capitol Records). Unfortunately because of this major label involvement, the band which was originally full of fire and hunger, fell into the dangerous trap of owing the label two more full albums. For this reason both follow ups to the original failed miserably because they were essentially required to produce this material. This book felt like the exact same trap. That she had some success and owed her publisher a book or two to fulfill an obligation. Thus, you have this absolutely shite book from an otherwise super talented super creative writer. It was very, very sad to see that even fifteen chapters in I was still bored, still wondering where the suspense and mystery had gone. The characters had zero depth, she never, even once, gave a sense of place with the haunting and beautiful descriptive language that I love her for. So totally flat, 2D. It felt like a short story that was stretched to maximize profits. Gross and underwhelming....

Different, enjoyable. Fabulous narrator!

Not what I was expecting at all. Loved the characters. The story kept me guessing, although the romance was a bit forgettable. Unexpected ending for sure!

F word

I return this book because several hours into it they introduce a character that seems to think they have to use the f-word every other word and I'm just kind of tired of it so I returned it.

The worst!

I rexpected the usual psychological twists that are this author's standard repertoire. Instead I got a teenage romance novel with stereotypical characters, predictable turns of events and a saccharine Hollywood ending. You have been warned.