Author : Julia North
Pages : 216
Publisher : Hookline Books
Publication date : April 4th, 2017
After yet another shameful one-night stand Lissa has to accept that her sisters are right – she is an alcoholic and it’s time for rehab. She hates the idea of therapy, doesn’t want to examine her past, but just as she begins to see reasons for her drinking, life takes a brutal turn.
Who are her fellow patients? Why is one of them so damned perfect?
When Lissa wakes up one morning in a stranger’s bed with no idea how she got there, she finally admits to herself that she may have a wee drinking problem. Her sisters convince her to join a six week program in rehab and Lissa’s life will change forever.
Set against turbulent times in South Africa, we follow Lissa on her journey to becoming sober once and for all as she confronts some horrible events in her past. Not only does she have to deal with her own demons, there’s something wicked happening around her and the consequences are devastating.
Hear Me started off quite well but didn’t really turn out the way I was expecting and I must admit there were parts along the way where it completely lost me. While the historical background sometimes made for some disturbing reading, I had trouble understanding its relevance. And when the story then took an unexpected turn towards the supernatural, which is so not my thing, I found it all became a little too confusing.
There’s a mystery to be solved which I think might have worked better without so many other distractions. But for the most part, I wish the story had just focused on Lissa’s experience in rehab as I feel that would have made for a much better read.
As it is, the book deals with harrowing topics such as racism and alcoholism which the author handles well, but also the fight for justice, not just for Lissa but for those caught up in the apartheid regime. While this book wasn’t really my cup of tea, I’m sure it will appeal to other readers.
My thanks to Yvonne at Hookline Books for my electronic copy, which I chose to review honestly.
Hear Me was published in April.
Novel Deelights 
Oh, too bad 😦 When a story features supernatural elements, I want to know beforehand!
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Yes, me too! It’s not mentioned anywhere. I honestly thought this would be a book about rehab, which would have been far more interesting.
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Oh fiddlesticks! The blurb, the start of the review was getting me all excited and then it was: ‘Oh!’.. the supernatural? It does sound like a realistic rehab story would have been cooler… but.. never say never.. I might give it a go! 🙂
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Fiddlesticks! Haven’t heard that in ages! I love it! 😄
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XD yeah, it’s a cool one!
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Great review! I’m not sure if this would have been for me either. I like surprises, but when it all becomes too confusing it can just all get too much. It sounds like too much distractions on what could have been a very intriguing story… And the supernatural? I totally wouldn’t have expected that angle. It happened to me once before where an ‘ordinary’ thriller suddenly started to throw demons at me and trust me, it didn’t work there either. 😉
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😄! I probably wouldn’t have read it if I had known at the start. It totally threw me off.
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It happens. Sometimes we are just not the right audience 🙂 I appreciate the honest insight into why you did not connect.
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Thank you! I wasn’t sure about posting it at first so that helps. 😘
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Thanks for a very fair review! Given that lots of people (like me) don’t really like a supernatural element, it’s good to be warned. Something I feel the blurb should probably have hinted at, at least… 🙂
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