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The Girl She Was

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The Girl She Was

By: Rebecca Freeborn
Narrated by: Cecelia Ramsdale
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Summary

For years she outran her past, turning away from the town and her friends. Now her past has caught up....

Seventeen-year-old Layla was just like any other teenager in the small town of Glasswater Bay – she studied hard, went out drinking with her friends and worked at the local cafe. But when she started having a relationship with her older, married boss, everything changed.

Twenty years later she's living a quiet life in the suburbs with a husband and two children, a life far removed from the girl she was. Until she receives a text message: I know what you did.

©2020 Rebecca Freeborn (P)2020 Bolinda Publishing Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Fiction
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Definitely LOVED it! Not the sort of genre I usually am into so it's great to take a risk, broaden my horizons and be rewarded with an absolute gem. Some decent twists and turns, and so enjoyable to have it written by an Australian author, placed in an Australian setting, and voiced by a really first rate narrator. So far with all my Audible purchases I have found the Australian voice actors (and most of the British) to be far superior to the vast majority of the Americans. I think there is a style that the Americans might actually prefer which really grates on my nerves. The Australians have for the most part a far more morecadenced and natural approach which is far easier and enjoyable to listen to in my opinion and Cecilia Ramsdale is no exception. She does an excellent job on The Girl She Was and is now on my list of narrators to look out for. Also, Rebecca Freeborn has earned herself a place on my list of authors to try again, especially when I need to step outside my comfort zone. A solid outing, tying together some contemporary themes for girls and women that need to be talked about far more often. This had me with tears in my eyes. I was most definitely triggered. However I don't believe that it's a reason to avoid the story, it was more a reason to embrace it. It was morehealing to read about it than not. Thankyou Rebecca.

REFRESHING

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...self reflection was a valuable outcome from this. Whilst Im not a Scott, reviewing my life shows some nasty traits.

Cecelia is a brilliant reader.

A brilliant book

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A painful but well told view of being a teenager going through something awful. Very much polarizing male characters stereotyped into misogynist and post modern man. Still it was compelling, raw - the lead character throwing herself into a train wreck and the secret drawn out. I felt the author at every turn trying to make a point - mental health, body image all thrown in for a penny. At times I was thinking my daughter must read this and at other times a bit creeped out. It did seem unbelievable towards the end.

Captivating but felt a bit like a manifesto

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I did enjoy it but it was a bit gritty and brutal in places. If you don't like bad language and blow by blow sex scenes then you won't really enjoy this book. Having said that the language and sex were not out of place or gratuitous they were an integral part of the story and without them this story would not have carried the punch that it does. I would definitely listen to this author again and the narrator was excellent.

Good Story but a bit hard to listen to sometimes

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Great story and well received.
I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't stop listening.
Narrator kept me very interested.

Loved this

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