The Girl from the Sea

By: Shalini Boland

Narrated by: Gemma Dawson

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Washed up on the beach, she can't remember who she is. She can't even remember her name. Turns out, she has a perfect life - friends and family eager to fill in the blanks. But why are they lying to her? What don't they want her to remember? When you don't even know who you are, how do you know who to trust?

©2016 Shalini Boland (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"I was immediately drawn into Mia's story from the first sentence.... The twisted, shocking end had me speechless!...I would definitely recommend The Girl from the Sea as a great summer read." (Truly, Jennifer)

A Bit Disappointing

I don't particularly care to write negative reviews unless a book is just horrible and this book was not. I respect it requires a tremendous undertaking of ability and creativity to write a book and entertain us readers, which I would not be able to accomplish. However, since I rely heavily on reviews, I feel it fair to warn readers that this story starts out great, with all the elements of a good book, but sadly goes downhill and the end just sort of fizzles out. There were loose ends left hanging which could have supported a strong plot had they panned out, but they simply were left unaddressed with no explanation of why they were mentioned to begin with, ie: the deleted emails. This story had a great story line and started out strong, but was not fleshed out to it's full potential. The plot twist was good and should have been expanded upon, but the story just seemed to end abruptly.

The holes in this story involve more than amnesia.

The narrator was great in that she didn't try to overdo the male voice roles. The story was thin and in most ways predictable.

Very well told, but not memorable.

It kept me interested, but after it was over I wasn't wowed. It's not the kind of book that sticks with you.

I didn't see that coming!

Gemma Dawson was an excellent narrator. I find I'm partial to an English accent in my audiobooks but despite this Dawson was excellent. I read this book in one day at work. The story was top notch. I didn't see this ending coming and I was trying to guess it. I would recommend this book if for no other reason then for the twist at the end. Pick a snowy weekend , stay in bed with your choice of drink and listen to The Girl From the Sea

I don't know if it was the narrator or the auther

I listened to chapter 22 and still didn't care what happened. I felt no connection with any of the characters.

Creepy and Delicious

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a great job letting the story unfold at a good pace that builds tension, and the main character was well-drawn. I liked the author's portrayal of her memory loss, it was realistic and interesting. There were some genuinely scary moments- i don't mind saying that i wouldn't listen with the lights off! Awesome twisty ending that I didn't see coming. Highly recommend- great narration too!

Well done!

The surprise actually surprised me, which I love. The performance was lovely, nuanced and believable. I will look forward to reading more by this author.

twisted

my Husband and I enjoyed listening to this . it was a great book to listen to when driving .

Yup, I liked it!

Any additional comments?

I judge a story by how it holds my attention. This story did just that. Was it super good? Nah, but it had twists and turns and I couldnt stop listening. I would def recommend it.

Twists and Turns

What if you could start from scratch all over again, but you didn’t know anything of the players from your previous life?

Wonderfully suspenseful! Wonderfully written. Wonderfully performed. Enjoy!

Tried twice - couldn't do it.

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I had two attempts at this story. Perhaps it was just too slow for me but I couldn't work up any interest in the character at all. Plus the voices were not very good. In fact, a doctor with an accent - possibly supposed to be eastern european ... had me gagging! Truly awful.
This is one I will return.

Has The Girl from the Sea put you off other books in this genre?

No.

What didn’t you like about Gemma Dawson’s performance?

There didn't appear to be any empathy with the characters. Personally didn't feel she had enough range for 'voices'.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not for me it didn't.

Any additional comments?

I am pleased that Audible has a return policy.

Disappointing

This started off promisingly enough but quite quickly became predictable. I worked out what was going to happen and couldn't be bothered listening to the end. Not a big fan of the narrator either.

Excellent

Loved this story. Just kept swinging in different directions. Unexpected twists. Lustened to it all in one go

Story was quite good but spoiled by narrator

I almost gave up on this book early on as the narrator was so flat and emotionless. She sounded like one of those voices you get when you type and a computer reads it out. I’ll never listen to another book that she narrates. I cringed every time she said “body” or “memory”.
However, the story was fairly good though I guessed most of what was going to happen. It was good having this unusual sort of main character.

Obvious

Right from start to finish all a bit too obvious and thin plotted .
It's like something written for readers digest.

Good, final twist.

I struggled to get into this book as I found the narrator's voice monotone and dull to listen to. A good story though overall.

enjoyable story but narration let it down

i really enjoyed the story but it was hard to get past the narration which was quite wooden and the accents were off-putting.

Great storyline

Loved this book! Fantastic story and it kept me gripped from the start.
Wasn’t sure about the narration at first as I found it emotionless and I nearly gave up but I’m glad I persevered as it grew on me. One of those books you miss once it’s ended! Highly recommended.