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A review by corinneschapterchatter
Break me down by Anna Downes
3.0
Well… I wanted to love this dramatic audio, especially listening to the author conversation with the cast that comes at the end of the book. You saw how much of herself (the author Anna Downes) put into the book and what she was going for. However, the execution just wasn’t there.
First, the narrators: Aimee Horne, Airlie Dodds, Alan Chu, Angela Tran, Elisa Colla, Jeremy Waters, Lyanna Kea, Remy Hii, Taylor Owens, and Yael Stone, did a great job with their performances. While this was classified as a full cast dramatic audio it is not a typical one and or that I was grateful. There were sound effects and the use of podcasts and voicemails etc.. that sounded like they were what they intended to be with the sound engineering. It had a full cast of characters but they didn’t sound like they were “acting” and going overboard in the way that dramatic audios usually do (unfortunately). They sounded like typical narrators just with sound effects and such.
So for the audio production and narration it would be a 5⭐️ production. The problem lies in the prose. I had read Ms. Downes “Red River Road” and really enjoyed it. It was well reached and well written. While this one is well researched it struggles with cohesiveness and didn’t meet its intended goal.
It is described as a thriller and while there is an underlying suspense unfolding, you don’t feel that. It comes across like a bland biography. The narrators talk about the depth of the characters and the industry and all great things that would make a great read but it’s not shown in the work.
I want to stay away from spoilers so I’m not going into depth but I felt like the author had this vision that she could not quite capture. The only emotional movement personally that I got was questioning who was based in reality or not. The ending was really abrupt and makes the reader feel really unsatisfied. You know so how some books that never find their footing can be described as “meandering”? Well this was the exact opposite. While the material wasn’t the layout was repetitive and lacked an arc.
I’ll leave it at that as I can’t say anything more without spoilers . This book comes out August 19th 2025 in audiobook only. I do think the format is correct for the type of book it is . And while I was frustrated with it there was part of the experience that ai enjoyed . My suggestion is to listen to the authors “note” at the end. It gives so context that can help the reader power through the book.
I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
First, the narrators: Aimee Horne, Airlie Dodds, Alan Chu, Angela Tran, Elisa Colla, Jeremy Waters, Lyanna Kea, Remy Hii, Taylor Owens, and Yael Stone, did a great job with their performances. While this was classified as a full cast dramatic audio it is not a typical one and or that I was grateful. There were sound effects and the use of podcasts and voicemails etc.. that sounded like they were what they intended to be with the sound engineering. It had a full cast of characters but they didn’t sound like they were “acting” and going overboard in the way that dramatic audios usually do (unfortunately). They sounded like typical narrators just with sound effects and such.
So for the audio production and narration it would be a 5⭐️ production. The problem lies in the prose. I had read Ms. Downes “Red River Road” and really enjoyed it. It was well reached and well written. While this one is well researched it struggles with cohesiveness and didn’t meet its intended goal.
It is described as a thriller and while there is an underlying suspense unfolding, you don’t feel that. It comes across like a bland biography. The narrators talk about the depth of the characters and the industry and all great things that would make a great read but it’s not shown in the work.
I want to stay away from spoilers so I’m not going into depth but I felt like the author had this vision that she could not quite capture. The only emotional movement personally that I got was questioning who was based in reality or not. The ending was really abrupt and makes the reader feel really unsatisfied. You know so how some books that never find their footing can be described as “meandering”? Well this was the exact opposite. While the material wasn’t the layout was repetitive and lacked an arc.
I’ll leave it at that as I can’t say anything more without spoilers . This book comes out August 19th 2025 in audiobook only. I do think the format is correct for the type of book it is . And while I was frustrated with it there was part of the experience that ai enjoyed . My suggestion is to listen to the authors “note” at the end. It gives so context that can help the reader power through the book.
I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again