Very Bad Things

By: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Narrated by: Emily Durante, Sean Crisden

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any 19-year-old girl could desire. She's an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She's perfect. Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex. Then she meets her soul mate. But he doesn't want her.

When it comes to girls, 25-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about...until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six-year age difference. As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.

©2013 Ilsa Madden-Mills (P)2014 Tantor

Angst is only the beginning of the DRAMA

I am uncertain of my opinion of this book.

I would describe this as a survivors story for young adults perhaps.This story dealt with a high school senior who is 18 .... from a wealthy successful family .... but held dark secrets.

WARNING: This deals with incest/rape/mental abuse. Those difficult subjects were approached in a way I think would an inspiration to young people. HOWEVER, her attraction to an slightly older (24) year old male and his attraction to her was drawn out far too long ..... add that to the problems she faces with bullying at school, parents who are absent or mentally abusive .... her half-brothers rape and taunting .... the girl friend of her would be love interest being brutal ..... other girls in high school jealous of their boy friends apparent attraction to her, yet another rape attempt ..... you get way too much drama overload which is why I knocked it down to 3 stars. She does get her HEA ....but it was a long drawn out process.

The performance by Emily Durante and Sean Chriden is stellar as usual (I still don't care for Chriden's female voice). I used a credit for this book .... but recommend waiting for a sale.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love this story

Nora is so awesome. The storyline was amazing the characters. I wish mila would get a story.
I know Cuba is next I wish that had a audible I loved reading that one too.
Little x rated at some parts but I just skipped .
The strength and journey of this story just blew me away. Love her tattoo too
Awesome love story

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not really for me.

Would you try another book from Ilsa Madden-Mills and/or Sean Crisden and Emily Durante ?

Definitely! I've really enjoyed the previous books I've read of Ms. Madden-Mills, this one just wasn't much for me.
This was the first book, I think, that I've listened to by these narrators, but I'd for sure give them another shot.

Did Very Bad Things inspire you to do anything?

It didn't inspire me to do anything but it did make me want to reach into my phone and throat punch Nora's mother! What an evil, vile woman!

Any additional comments?

There was a lot of back and forth between Leo and Nora that started to make the story drag for me. I didn't care for how Nora would throw herself at him, just to be rejected time and time again.
I almost gave up listening at one point because of Nora's mother, I was so irritated and angry with her!
Maybe if I had read this instead of listened to it I would have enjoyed it more? Or read it when it first came out? I'm not really sure, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped. Will definitely movie onto the next books though, I can't wait to see when Spider is introduced!

True love

Was a surprisingly good love story. Starts out fast and my attention was captured the whole way.

Narration

I enjoyed the story even though it was a bit repetitive with the anguish each character felt. The female narrator was great with her voice inflections but listening to the male narrator was like fingernails on a chalkboard. I almost didn't finish.

Not A Bad Thing

A quest of self-discovery wrapped in angst and fraught with past issues of incest, rape and mental abuse. The sensitive subjects were dealt with in a sensitive manner. And we saw her grow up to find her HEA. It just felt too long, too drawn out... either that, or I just couldn't connect with it. The narration was high quality. If you think you'd like the book despite the multiple issues and drama, go for it. I'm going to take a pass on the rest of the series.

Great read!

It's a page turner as you follow Nora on her quest of self discovery. It's wild and dangerous! Awesome read :)