The Mistake

By: K. L. Slater

Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

You think you know the truth about the people you love. But one discovery can change everything....

Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later he is found dead.

Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy's death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother? Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, whom she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him...and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down.

Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger....

The Mistake is a completely gripping thriller that will keep you up all night, from the top 10 best-selling author of Blink, Liar and Safe with Me. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

©2017 K. L. Slater (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

How much do we really know about the ones we love?

I loved this story. It starts with a young, naive girl who falls for the first boy who shows her attention. His manipulation slowly makes her distance herself from her family and friends. Then when something bad happens, he’s the one they blame. But is he really guilty? Just when I thought I had it figured out, the end threw me for a loop. I read/listened to this book in just a few days because I just couldn’t put it down!

it was worth it

there were times when I found the main character to be annoying... And it was a little confusing at first with the going back and jumping forward.... but in the end it was a good story. I would definitely read more from this writer and I would definitely like to hear more from this narrator.

Don't be an a***** or you may be accused of murder

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. Halfway though this book I was thinking I was probably going to title this review something like "Guide to abusive/destructive relationships." I really wanted to punch this guy for the first half of the book (or has others have suggested maybe knock some sense into the main character) so parts of it seemed kind of frustrating to me, but it makes sense in the end why the author wrote the characters that way. There were two other things I thought could have been improved:
- The book switches back and forth between young Rose and Rose 16 years later. Older Rose helps take care of her neighbor who she trusts and was supposedly always a very good family friend, and who let a search for Billy when he disappeared. So why was he never even mentioned by young Rose? Not too big a deal, but seems odd that the author wouldn't put him into her younger life, even as just an acquaintance.
- There is a twist at the end, but I don't think the author really used much if any foreshadowing and so the twist didn't really have the same effect as most twists do. More of a "oh, that's weird" than a "wow, I can't believe I didn't see that coming, that changes everything and makes me want to read it again!"

All in all, I would recommend this, it is definitely on my short list of favorite books, but it's just not quite a 5 star book.

Conflicted.....some good elements But

Had some problems with the protagonist. I first had to think she was Extremely naive or stupid, then as an adult, so damaged as to be, unable to process information. That become a frustration for me and I actually started to hope the killer would put her out of her misery! It just missed being a good book and I did listen to the implausible, end.....

Buying The Mistake was my mistake!

This novel is boring and tiring. The Mistake is my third K .L Slater novel and the second consecutive bad one.

Lots of mistakes by main character.....

This is worth the credit as it was suspenseful and I really liked the very end. However (spoiler alert) I did want to throttle the main character through most of the book for being so meek, naive, and obtuse.

Really loved this book. Loved narrator too.

I've just started writing my reviews. This book held my interest throughout. It was a great escape yet not silly. Just a good, entertaining book with lots of twists and turns.

UGH - melodramatic tripe - no thanks!

Perhaps if ANY of the characters were believable, then maybe the melodrama wouldn't be so bad. I don't remember the last time I rolled my eyes so frequently while listening to a book. A few times I even groaned in exasperation at the idiocy of the characters and the lack of talent of the author. I mainly chose this book because Lucy Price-Lewis is one of my favorite narrators, and the book is in the mystery/thriller category I usually enjoy. True to form, Lucy did a great job - but even she can only read what the author has written, and NOBODY can turn this sow's ear into a silk purse. Not sure I’ll try anything else by this author.

I'm a big fan of "the willing suspension of disbelief” when listening to fiction - but there MUST be limits somewhere! The narrator (both at age 18 and also 16 years later) was unbelievably naïve, weak, just plain stupid sometimes; and even after 16 years had passed since "the events of that horrible time" she hadn't matured an ounce. The characters were all just caricatures: Gareth-the-controlling-jerk, Cassie-the-outspoken-and-brash-but-with-heart-of-gold-best-friend, Dad-the-overprotective-and-blind-to-his-daughter's-activities-father, the elderly-and-kindly-but-nosy-small-town-neighbors, the list just goes on and on. And – pet peeve – why switch from 1st person to 3rd person when Rose is the one narrating both the past and present storylines? That was very distracting (and annoying). Does the author think we’re not smart enough to follow past vs. present if she uses the same voice? Really? Even though each chapter starts with “Rose: present day” or “Rose: 16 years earlier”? Come on.

There was insufficient development of Rose's early relationship with Gareth to explain his appeal – we saw nothing in her first 18 years would have led her into a destructive relationship like that. The description of her bulimia and the motivations behind it made no sense (e.g., why did she hear Gareth's voice calling her fat and ugly, when at his worst he called her stupid or a “b”? I only ever heard him compliment her appearance, although that was creepy by itself). And while bulimia might be a normal short-term PTSD response as a way for Rose to regain control back then, why would it continue or resume 16 years later? Why would finding Billy's blanket cause her to fall apart so completely? And what ever came from the council's inspection of her library? Will they close it down & she'll have to move to a new town (the thought of which sends her into an inexplicable panic); or let it stay open? After making such a big deal of the upcoming library inspection and how it went, why drop that storyline completely? But...I don't actually care if the library stays open or not. I don't actually care about anyone in the town. The author completely failed to pull me in. Sure, some bad things happened, and those things sucked, and some people had trouble getting past them, and ….blah blah blah, I’m already boring myself. I don’t often send a book back for a refund, but this one I did. Yuck. It isn’t even good beach reading. At best, it’s a low-budget B movie on Lifetime, which I would have turned off at the first commercial.

Hard to stop listening

The narrator was spot on and not annoying at all. I got on edge a couple times due to the main character's lack of sense but hey that was the intent to keep you listening and hoping that one day she will be smart enough to realize the truth. would definitely reccommend. I did not see the end coming!!!

Couldn't Wait To Continue Listening

K.L. Slater is definitely one of my favourite authors. Does she have a rhythm to her novels? Yes. Does she follow a formula? Yes. After reading her books do you come to know what to expect? Yes. Are all of these things good when combined? Absolutely!

The Mistake deals with Rose, 16 years ago and present. Her brother was abducted and murdered, and her best friend was raped, and she had a horrible boyfriend experience around 16 years ago. Presently she is rather depressed and alone in the world with a job that's hanging by a thread. Her whole world becomes unraveled when she finds a key piece of evidence in her brother's murder which doesn't point to the suspect who was convicted of the crime.

Lucy Price Lewis does an amazing job as narrator of this psychological thriller which doesn't disappoint. I was engulfed in the story from beginning to end. I will look forward to her next thriller!

-Wendi

A Tragic Coming of Age

K L Slater is making a name for herself writing what I would describe as relatively low-key psychological dramas and infusing them with quality writing and believable characters. This one is no exception, the whole thing revolves around the death of a young boy and the flawed relationships that surrounded his life in an old pit village.

It's a dual timeline story split between the present day and the events leading up to the tragedy some sixteen years earlier. Rose, a slightly awkward teenager struggling to come of age meets an older man Gareth triggering a tragic series of events. It's a very human drama, it's not full of action and it doesn't have any real blood or gore and minimal violence.

Powered by Lucy Price-Lewis;s classy narration it's a listen that simply washes over you with quality writing. Price-Lewis is a smooth and classy performer though judging by her accents in this one I think she should probably avoid books set down under!

In all I'd rate this more a drama than an out and out thriller but it kept me entertained in a smooth and accomplished fashion. It signals the danger of controlling relationships particularly set against the hardships felt by former mining communities. It's say the other side of what most young people might have faced compared to Billy Elliot!

No hesitation in recommending it if you like low-key mystery thrillers based on flawed human relationships.

Disappointing

I have a real problem with the females in K L Slater's books, they are so spineless and portrayed as helpless victims. Rose in this latest book needed a shake, she was so wet I got totally fed up of the dialogue which was on a loop about her she was disempowered and helpless. I think I will give this author a miss in future unless some more gutsy females are portrayed.

In spite of the characters I thought the narration was good, and I did enjoy the twist at the end.

great listen

I really enjoyed this book. the story flowed and seemed to happen quite organically. Not entirely unbelievable

dull

I was drawn in by the reviews but left baffled by them. I found it drawn out and monotonous and ended up skipping to the end to find out the conclusion. requesting my credit back!

Brilliant book

This was a gripping book from start to finish. Performance was flawless. Very accurate tale of grooming (I was groomed as a 15 year old) and I’ve never found such an accurate story as this one.

The mistake indeed

I think maybe the book was ok but the narrator was irritating and I felt so bored by the combination of both that droned on and on that I had to abandon half way through and fast forward to the last chapter to see the conclusion to save myself another few hours of my brains mental capacity having its time wasted. Not fast moving enough basically not gripping enough. Not saying it was terrible and not sure if it was the narration that caused my issue or the plot...but narration certainly didn’t help me. It’s a matter of taste. Others may love it for the same reasons I didn’t but I got a refund

struggled to listen to this.

example of how to drag a short story out and repeat information until the reader can barely take any more. I only finished because i was sick in bed but it just annoyed me. The narrator had the most rediculous voice for the boyfreind. Made me think of the obvious villans in old black and white movies.

Wow

This book is so good, I could not stop listening or thinking of getting back to listening when I wasn't. It goes back 16 years at exactly the right time, and then in present time again.
You will not be disappointed, and the ending is absolutely brilliant. Hurrah for Rose.

Hard to like the female lead

What did you like best about The Mistake? What did you like least?

It was quite predictable and the protagonist Rose wasn't very likeable and she needed a good shake. The red herrings didn't really work, couldn't really work out what the mistake was meant to be either, Rose makes a lot!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Added some unpredictability

trigger warning. domestic abuse!

very well written, people who havnt been thrpigh, or dont understand how women or young girls end up in domestic abuse relationships have written our protagonist off as 'weak' she isnt weak, she is vulnerable. Theres a difference. the writer got this awful grooming relationship spot on and i should know! I didnt enjoy the ending!