Very good story

This was a very good book. I enjoyed the story and the narration of certain voices were better than some. Overall I liked it and It was a suspenseful book . This is the first time I’ve read a book by Cathryn Grant and I definitely will look for more books by her.
The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because I had to do some fast forwarding with too much irrelevant information that was not necessary. Very long winded, however, once you get the point it was great. I recommend this book.
Thank you Audibles Plus for including this book.

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1 person found this helpful

Great storyline, not the best storytelling

I enjoyed the storyline but the plot was predictable, the storyline did hook you about 5-6 chapters in but most of my speculations ended up being correct. There were also a few of the 'plot twists' in the story that you wanted to find out that ended up being not as fantastic as one was made to expect them to be.

The narrating was a bit dry and the voice actors played several roles which I found made the book sound cheap and underfunded. If you're going to switch voice actors, each character needs its own voice or the author shouldn't bother using multiple voice actors.

There were several ends within the story that never concluded so one was also left wondering.

Overall not a terrible book but probably won't listen to again and probably won't recommend as a 'good book.'

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Variably Effective Suspense-Thriller

Cathryn Grant's exposé concerning a missing girl, an obsessed neighbor, and multiple families with devastating secrets is passably entertaining. I found myself interested in the story - despite a couple of reservations:

1. Grant's portrayal of police as invariably unreasonably suspicious of grieving families makes them look *terrible*.. to the point that readers are manipulated into distrusting law enforcement entirely.
2. Every single figure in this book is AWFUL. Why should readers care what's going on with these distinctly unlikeable people? It was hard to feel invested.
3. Some of the plot elements are frankly ludicrous (e.g: if you bury a junkie in a shallow grave, killing them with Fentanyl is nonsensical. The police aren't going to wonder if she overdosed and then buried herself)

A fun, twisty-turny plot and capable writing can't quite make up for the logical deficiencies and thematic flaws.

The production quality on this audiobook is likewise hit & miss. Both Steve Marvel and Emily Durante read commendably.. but too slowly (set playback speed at 1.10X for the best experience).. and Marvel occasionally overacts his portion of the dialogue.
In toto, Tantor Audio did well to cast two professionals to perform the book.. but could have gotten similarly credible results from other readers (don't expect anything *particularly* special from this tandem).

Altogether, 'The Good Neighbor' rates a reasonable 5 stars out of 10. As a 'Plus' selection, it's worth a download.. but other options would be a better investment for your Credit.

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Not terrible

So it wasn’t a terrible story. But it was a bit lacking. Had potential to be longer with better character development. The ‘good neighbour, was more like the ‘
annoying neighbour’

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Took forever to get through

I found this book to be a little slow. The characters were annoying as was some of the narration. The story did not hold up for me.

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Excellent book!

I enjoyed the storyline, it was well narrated, and I totally enjoyed the whole thing. I was a bit surprised with the ending, but that’s a good thing! Overall happy to give this book 5 stars.

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Tedious but Tolerable

It's not the worst I've read but it could be a lot better. The two narrators are tolerable, although each portraying several different characters who are only identified by name once at the onset of their chapter is confusing. Several of the characters speak 'from beyond the grave,' an idea I've always found repugnant unless in an actual ghost story. The overall concept of the story is decent but its delivery is lacking, and it does tend to ramble.

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Review

Slow read but decent storyline. Unexpected ending could have delved deeper into the characters but enjoyed overall

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Terrible stigmatizing language

Very predictable and slow to get started, but not horrible. What is horrible, is the gross amount of stigmatizing language and untruths around mental health and addictions.

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