Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey Narrator: Caitlin Kelly
Published by Brilliance Audio on January 1, 2020
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fiction
Length: 8 hours, 34 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.
All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.
One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.
I have been on a kick with mystery/ thrillers lately. Unspeakable Things is set in Minnesota in the 1980s. I lived in Minnesota for many years and I know the rural country where the story is set. I lived nearby during the same time period actually, but some things felt much older, more like the 1960s.
I enjoyed the historical aspects, even the rural aspects since I grew up in a rural community and rode the bus to school. I loved hearing about the kinds of food they ate, the shows on tv, songs on the radio, and movies in the theater. It was very nostalgic for me.
The person telling us the story is a 12 year old girl, the younger of two sisters, Cassie. She is a smart girl, doing well in school but she lives in a precarious situation. The whole family has to walk on eggshells around the father’s moods. The mother is a teacher and provides most of the income. The father is an artist. They also live on a farm and have a garden and chickens to help with food. The parents pride themselves on both having masters’ degrees and the house is full of books.
Cassie, for all her book smarts and efforts to stay under the radar with her father, is a little daring. She does a few things which scare me as they put her at a great risk. I was on edge the entire book waiting for all the bad things to happen. And they do happen. At the end, I wasn’t exactly certain of everything which did happen. Luckily, I was checking on Goodreads and found out there is an epilogue on the author’s website. If you need more definitive closure, you will want to read the epilogue.
Narration:
Nearly all of the story is a young girl’s voice and this narration felt appropriate. I don’t think I have heard this narrator before but she was clear and easy to hear. I did listen a bit more slowly than usual at 1.25x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Jess Lourey
Jess Lourey writes about secrets. She is the bestselling Agatha, Anthony, and Lefty-nominated author of the critically-acclaimed Mira James mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.”
Jess also writes nonfiction, edge-of-your-seat YA adventure, magical realism, suspense novels, and thrillers. She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a Psychology Today blogger, and a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk for the surprising inspiration behind her first published novel). When not teaching, reading, or dorking out with her family in Minneapolis, you can find her dreaming of her next story.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Glad you enjoyed this one, I love a good mystery thriller myself. This one sounds good.
I would call it more of a mystery / suspense book having read it. It’s very different from the usual read as it is a 12 year old girl rather than an adult.
It sounds really intriguing but I wonder, how good of a narrator is a 12 year girl? Would you say she’s an unreliable narrator? I’m trying to imagine it.
She is a bit of an unreliable narrator, but she understands things way beyond her age because of her environment. She is also very smart and reads people well. So other than the fact she thinks she can take one birth control pill for one night and have it protect her, I’d say she is very reliable. Her deductions aren’t perfect because she’s young and a bit emotional on some issues but overall she’s good.
great post. as soon as i saw the cover, i thought bad things, making me think this would be a good read for me
The title is appropriate. I hope you like it.
Interesting that the story was told from a 12-year-old’s perspective. Glad to hear the narration fit the POV. I like closure, so I’d definitely out the epilogue on the author’s website!
I was thrilled I found the epilogue or I wouldn’t have been as happy with the book. Overall it was well written and rather nostalgic on some things for me.
Great review. I’m now curious about this one. And thanks for the heads up about the epilogue.
It was a great read but I was happy to have more clarification with the epilogue and glad I found it.
I enjoyed your thoughtful review, Anne. It’s interesting that the author added an epilogue. It sounds like she may have integrated feedback from readers which is nice.
Thank you! I was just thrilled to find the epilogue as it made the whole thing more understandable, more definite.