Unfortunately, this download never worked so I can not leave a review as it wouldn't load. Sometimes there is a major glitch with Netgalley so this is a one-star for the lack of download and not the book.

Amazing, gripping thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is a great audiobook and I really enjoyed it. A woman called Milla is invited by her friend Curtis to a reunion in the French Alps resort, where she previously had a snowboarding career, She goes there and meets up with Curtis, Dale, Heather and Brent, who she had spent time with there ten years previously, before their friend Saskia disappeared. There is a lot of tension as the group reunite and they try to work out what really happened all those years ago. Who sent them back here and what happened to Saskia? There are so many secrets and a lot of suspense in this thriller. I had to keep reading, as I was keen to find out what happened and I wasn't disappointed. The narrator of the audiobook was good at creating a chilling atmosphere and the NetGalley app worked well for me, as always.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A locked room mystery set in the snowbound Swiss Alps. Though I disliked the characters, the icy setting and the pace of the story was.enough to keep me reading.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hachette UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

I have discovered I really love winter thrillers. Something about a group of people being trapped in the snow and dealing with a threat makes for a very enjoyable atmosphere. Shiver is definitely a solid take on the formula, with the snowboarding aspect adding a nice unique spin to it.

A group of friends reunite after a 10 year gap caused by the disappearance of their friend Saskia. Now in a mountain resort, things are starting to go wrong as it becomes clear someone is messing with them. Meanwhile you get flashes back to the past as the story of what really happened 10 years ago is uncovered.

Right off the bat, I really liked the unique aspects to this thriller. I've already mentioned the snowboarding but it really does provide an excellent backdrop for drama, as well as a solid reason for all the main characters to know each other. For this reason, the flashbacks to the past were my favourite parts because I really felt like the interpersonal dramas and general competitive atmosphere were executed so well. It gave the characters a lot of depth and made you care about the nuances which is so important in a thriller like this.

As an audiobook, this was a great experience. The narrator does a good French accent for one of the characters and has a lovely clear voice which was easy to listen to. I didn't get lost as to whether I was in the past or present and it was very easy to follow key plot points.

Overall, Shiver is a solid thriller with a lot of strengths to offer. It is the perfect read for a chilly day or if you fancy a thriller which really focuses on the character drama and dynamics. The ending is satisfying and makes sense, the tension is there and it doesn't overstay its welcome. For your next wintery read, Shiver is definitely worth a try.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I think Allie Reynolds deserves a round of applause for this brilliant debut novel!
 
As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew that I had to read it. It’s been a while since I read a thriller and it was just perfect.
 
The protagonist Mila is invited to a reunion at a mountain top resort based in the French Alps. The reunion consists of Mila and 4 old friends from her old professional snowboarding days in the which they haven’t seen each other for over 10 years, ever since their friend Saskia mysteriously disappeared. When the friends arrive, they soon realise that there are no staff and they are the only ones at the resort. This is when mysterious things start to happen. I will stop there as I do not want to give anything away but I could keep going on about this one!
 
The book is set in two timelines: 1 in present day and the other, 10 years ago. I loved flipping from past to present as it really helped me to understand the characters and their emotions.
 
It had everything you could want from a thriller; fast paced, full of suspense with the perfect who done it storyline. I kept changing my mind on who was guilty throughout the book and could not have predicted the ending!

Overall, it was absolutely brilliant and you cannot ask for more from a debut novel.

This audiobook drew me in from the first chapter. Usually I’m not gripped by audiobooks, as my mind wanders too much but this was great. The narrator was believable, and the story atmospheric, scary and enjoyable. I would have preferred to read the book ultimately but this kept me entertained nicely while crocheting a lockdown throw!
It helps I love the mountains and that I’m a snowboarder too, but nevertheless I would recommend this audiobook to others.
Thank you to Netgalley for my audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a brilliant snowy thriller. With a plot very similar to a very popular recent release I was worried about reading them so close together but this was everything that I wanted from that read. With suspicion and intrigue from the get go, reasonably likeable characters and an isolated setting- it was a great fast read.
However, I did guess the ending pretty early on and some of the actions of the characters were somewhat questionable and unrealistic.
The audiobook was also really great, being British I don’t usually like British narrators but she kept me engaged through out!
But if you are looking for a snowy lodge based isolated mystery this is a much better one than others currently on the market.

Touted as a twist on the ‘locked room’ mystery, this was a debut that definitely piqued my interest.
Our focus is a group of friends who came together as they train for the British Snowboard Championships. Tensions run high amongst this group of ultra-competitive young people, and some of their behaviours definitely show the cut-throat element that many feel is necessary to succeed at the highest level. When one of their party goes missing, shining star Saskia, nobody is sure what to believe.
Ten years after Saskia’s disappearance the group are brought back together. They are taken to a remote hotel up on the same glacier where Saskia disappeared...mysterious events start to occur and it is clear that someone has brought them together for a reason.
I loved the alternating chapters between past and present. This kept the tension high as they struggled to work out what was happening in the hotel, but it also revealed that every one of the group had something to hide. It was an assured way of revealing the dynamics between the various group members and - without us realising - preparing us for the reveal.
For someone who spent their formative years skiing, the Alpine setting and the description of the on-lists activity was exhilarating. I always envied snowboarders their seeming freedom from rules and convention, but the stunts they pull off terrify me. Seeing just how this competitive edge could spill into real life issues made for a sobering story.
I confess to finding my attention wandering a little as we were given a couple of plausible scenarios for what had happened. However, I didn’t see the revelation and think this was well handled. None of the characters were without culpability, but this was an interesting read.
I listened to this on audiobook though I had an ARC too. The narrator was engaging and lent a real warmth to the story.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this due to the narrator's voice. Some people should not narrate audiobooks and Olivia Vinall is one - her voice is so grating and you can hear her lips and tongue way too much, I literally couldn't focus on the story.

Wow. What an adventure. Tense writing throughout with a number of twists. Really captured my attention and kept me gripped throughout

https://lynns-books.com/2021/01/25/shiver-by-allie-reynolds/
5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Wow, such an impressive debut.

ShiverI loved Shiver. I part read and part audio listened and I can heartily recommend both versions, the audio is simply superb and I find reading both versions is such a great experience.

To my review. This is going to be a review that doesn’t focus too much on the story itself. Fundamentally this is a mystery and I don’t want to give anything away unwittingly so this will be short and sweet. Basically, as the story beings we meet up with five friends as they get together for the first time in ten years. They meet up at a ski resort in the French Alps which immediately provokes a flood of memories for our narrator Millie and, after a rather startling icebreaker it soon becomes apparent they they’ve been brought together for ulterior motives. Ten years ago one of their (then) party disappeared mysteriously. Now declared dead it seems that somebody is interested in finding the whys and wherefores behind this disappearance and with secrets running rife everyone is a potential suspect.

What did I love about this. It’s a great combination of compelling mystery, superb setting and intriguingly ‘grey’ characters.

On the face of it we have five characters in the mix, Milla, Curtis, Brent, Heather, and Dale, but given the dual timeline you can add in a further two characters, Odette and Saskia. All at their peak in terms of pro snowboarding, competition is tough, some will take risks, determined to win, others are more adept at pushing buttons and causing conflict. I like some of the characters more than others, which I think is inevitable in this sort of story, probably my favourite was Curtis. I enjoyed Milla’s narration and think telling the story from one pov was a really great idea. I think including more povs would have been very messy, not to mention would add to the potential to giveaway secrets, and what really worked just hearing from Milla is that she has her own shady backstory so that even though you’re privy to her thoughts it doesn’t leave her entirely in the clear.

The setting is great in more than one way. Firstly, the venue, which is creepily and curiously completely empty. The cable car is mysteriously out of operation and other means of communication have also been removed. There’s an ominous feel to such a deserted venue. it puts me in mind of the Overlook Hotel with all the long, door lined corridors. There’s just something insidious about such a large empty place isn’t there? That horrible feeling of somebody sneaking around, or watching you, the prickling on the back of the shoulders or the notion of seeing something out of the corner of your eye. Basically the atmosphere and suspense is really well done and the setting adds to this tremendously. Secondly, the outside is no more a refuge than the inside. Freezing cold temperatures and the possibility of falling into life threatening crevasses are just two very real dangers. Add to this a sense of rising panic and things fairly quickly start to spiral out of control.

There’s not too much more that I can add really. I really enjoyed this. It’s an impressive debut, smoothly written, well plotted and to be honest, gripping to the very end. Very impressive and an author that I will watch with interest.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Shiver is based around the world of competitive snowboarding and follows five friends who are reunited at the resort they used to train at. Ten years have passed since they were all together at the resort for a competition, and where their lives all changed forever.
Told with alternating chapters, revealing what happened the last time they were all together and the events that are unfolding in the present, this is a slowly unravelling story that kept me guessing right up until the reveal.
All the characters, although not all likeable, are all believable and the setting is suitably wintery!
Definitely recommended if you like mystery/thrillers.

I was torn when listening to this audio book between wanting to go on listening to find out 'what next!' and pausing to save the joy of discovery later and thus make the book last longer.

Set in the snowy alps, if has been a perfect winter read. I now know alot more about snowboarding, in particular the training involved and will be watching championships with renewed interest in the future. Aside from that this is a cracking mystery thriller with alot of suspense and changes in direction throughout. There are two time periods going on which the narrator deals with admirably. Indeed Olivia is excellent as such and adds to the enjoyment of the audio version.

A very enjoyable listen.

Shiver is a locked room mystery, with an atmospheric setting and realistic characters. I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the narration.

I have just finished listening to this outstanding debut by Allie Reynolds, in addition to increasing my knowledge of snowboarding threefold, it also proved to be a highly entertaining and engaging novel!

The story starts with the reunion of friends who met during a snowboarding season in France 10 years previously. We quickly learn thst this resulted in the permanent paralysis of one friend while another went missing, presumed dead.

Suspicions are instantly raised when there is ambiguity about who initiated the reunion, quickly followed by an ice-breaker game which suggests there is a darker motivybehind the reunion. Someone clearly believes there was foul play involved and wants to flush out the offender!

This audiobook goes deep in character development - I really felt I got to know these characters- not all are likeable, but they are authentic.

There is a lot of action (not surprisingly given the snowboarding theme!) and a nice to and from of past and present timelines.

The narrator does a fantastic job making the story very listenable and easy to follow.

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an advance copy.

I had been looking forward to reading Shiver for a long time so when my request was approved, I was excited beyond words! I mainly read novels in book format but listening to it on audio meant that I could look forward to getting my daily fix while I was cooking dinner or relaxing in the bath! The novel was everything I expected and more and I love Allie's writing style and the way that she managed the duel timeline perfectly. The characters were horribly loveable and the tension built from page one but the final revelations came at the very end so this was a real page-turner. If I was reading this as a book, I'm sure that I would have finished it within a day or two because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next! Thank you so much to Headline and Net Galley for the chance to read and review Shiver and I look forward to reading more by Allie.

This is a locked room mystery set in the French Alps. Five competitive snowboarding friends are reunited at a resort in the Alps ten years after the disappearance of one of their group, Saskia. Who has gathered them together at this isolated, eerie and empty resort and what secrets are they keeping from the past ? The story moves between present day and 10 years earlier when they were last at the resort. The audiobook is read beautifully by Olivia Vinall who really conveys the mystery and menace present among the group. She differentiates well between the characters and sustains the pace of the novel. I loved the setting and the author conveys this well. Allie Reynolds writes about what she knows as she is a former competitive snowboarder herself. However, as someone with no interest in snowboarding I found I lost interest in the snowboarding sections and I found it hard to like any of the characters. I think I have read too many locked room mysteries recently and although this was a good listen, for me it is not a stand out of the genre. However if you love this sort of crime genre I would recommend a listen.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC

“It’s that time of year again. The time the glacier gives up its bodies.” - Prologue, ‘Shiver’.

My thanks to Hachette U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook of ‘Shiver’ by Allie Reynolds in exchange for an honest review. It is narrated by Olivia Vinall and has a running time of 10 hours 26 minutes at 1x speed.

This is Allie Reynolds debut novel and is receiving well deserved prepublication buzz. It was one of those novels that once started I ended up reading/listening in a single day.

As for the plot, I shall just give a taster as I always feel that thrillers are best read cold. Milla is surprised to receive an invitation to a reunion in the French Alps resort where ten years ago she had reached the peak of her snowboarding career. Personally she would rather forget the events of that winter but as the invitation comes from Curtis, the dishy brother of her former rival Saskia, she drops everything to attend.

Aside from Milla and Curtis, the group is made up of three others: couple Heather and Dale, and Brent. The five friends haven't seen each other since that time and the disappearance of Saskia, who had recently been declared dead in absentia.

It isn’t long before they realise that they are alone at the deserted luxury lodge high up the mountain, and that they don’t know who really had gathered them there. A series of unsettling events occur that further isolate them. It seems that the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

Reynolds divides the narrative between the present day and ten years ago, slowly revealing the events of the past and developing her characters, including the enigmatic Saskia. I found it well plotted and a highly compelling read.

Snowboarding is very central to the plot. While I am not particularly interested in sports of any kind, there was no doubt that these scenes made for exciting reading. From her biography I saw that in her earlier life Reynolds had competed as a freeform snowboarder, which accounts for the vividness and immediacy of this aspect of the novel.

It proved a very atmospheric whodunnit that kept me guessing and glued to the edge of my seat. She also very effectively created the sense of the alpine cold. Brrrr. I needed an extra jumper and plenty of warm drinks while listening/reading.

In terms of its audiobook, while I am not that familiar with Olivia Vinall’s career, I found her narration excellent with a delivery that was very crisp and clear.

Overall, an exciting, immersive mystery that I am confident will be a bestseller. It’s certainly one that I plan to recommend widely to my friends who enjoy intriguing mysteries with plenty of surprises.

Got this by mistake - I now have the book so I will review the book thank you.

I have to fill this with 100 words