This Is Our Story

By: Ashley Elston

Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley, Eric Michael Summerer

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

No one knows what happened that morning at River Point. Five boys went hunting. Four came back. The boys won't say who fired the shot that killed their friend, Grant; the evidence shows it could have been any one of them. Kate Marino's senior year internship at the District Attorney's Office isn't exactly glamorous - more like an excuse to leave school early that looks good on college applications. Then the DA hands her boss, Mr. Stone, the biggest case her small town of Belle Terre has ever seen. The River Point Boys are all anyone can talk about. Despite their damning toxicology reports the morning of the accident, the DA wants the boys' case swept under the rug. He owes his political office to their powerful families. Kate won't let that happen. Digging up secrets without revealing her own is a dangerous line to walk; Kate has personal reasons for seeking justice for Grant. As she investigates with Stone - the aging prosecutor relying on Kate to see and hear what he cannot - she realizes that nothing about the case - or the boys - is what it seems. Grant wasn't who she thought he was, and neither is Stone's prime suspect.

©2016 Ashley Elston (P)2017 Tantor

Deep Fried Nancy Drew

This is a cute book if you can get past the suspension of disbelief issues. The writing style is good but the details leave the reader hanging. It was fun, but it had a little bit too much of
Scooby-Doo and Sweet Valley High for my taste. I half expected one of the characters to say “And I would gotten away with it I it hadn’t been for those meddling kids”
I think the narrator was trying very hard with her accent, but that is the problem that I could tell that she was trying very hard. 

You wouldn't guess the end

The story was great, and the twist and turns were interesting. Didn't care for the female narrators accent, but overall a good read.

Rewarding read, unpleasant narrators, so it’s worth listening to

I liked the story, it moved along quickly enough and held my interest. The two narrator’s fake Southern accents were just this side of unbearable. I wish people would just read books out loud, & not try to present them as some sort of Broadway play with fake, put-on regional accents. I can conjure up images and regionalist accents in my mind, all they need to do is just read the story, in my opinion. Or, if it’s important to the author that their story be read in, say, a Southern accent, then why not just hire a Southern reader?

Pretty Good

It was slow and seemed to go nowhere for a great many hours. But the end was unexpected so that's a plus.

I like this author. Hope she does more.

Great story telling. Enjoy the twists. First Lie Wins was the first of hers that I listened to and thought it was great. Always a good sign when I finish a book in 2-3 days.

An okay mystery that's really a romance.

The narrator wasn't the worst I've heard but most characters sounded the same, at least teh male characters did.

I gave the book an extra star because of Mr. Stone and his impairment.

Story-wise... the presentation wasn't the best and I couldn't connect with any of the characters and they seemed insubstantial. There wasn't any foundation or context for the characters or why we should care about them.

I did want to know who the killer was but I found myself skipping to the end of the story. While I won't give away the ending, how Kate got there was pretty contrived and very Perry Mason like.

The reason for the killing was clear enough but again it lacked the context of any backstory. I suppose the backstory was given in snippets at the start/end of the various chapters but these just didn't hold my attention.

The only other thing I'll say is that how Kate hooked up with who she did was so far fetched, especially given what this person did, was barely a step above the insta-love many YA novels feature.

Engrossing story

I liked the narration. It drew me in and kept me guessing. Surprised by the ending!

Love the story development.

I loved how the murder was speaking throughout the book. Can’t wait read any book of hers.

Enjoyable Read

I really enjoyed this book. It held my attention without being outlandish. Some of the female narrator’s southern accent was a little cheesy at times, but overall it was a solidly believable and entertaining story. I look forward to listening to more books from this author.

great

perfect mystery, one of the best books I've read in a long time. great author can't wait to read more