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Member Reviews
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This audiobook was brilliantly narrated. The story was one of trauma's from childhood. With betrayal, and loyality.
Well developed believable characters keep you engaging with the book till the end.
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The story was quite different to any others I listened to recently, I thought was an interesting take on the standard thriller, the characters really drew me in and I was completely invested listening Till the early hours, the narrator was great and really brought the story to life for me.
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I don't usually listen to audio-books. The Judas Tree is a well-formed tale of childhood traumas and their effect years after the events. As always, Amanda Jennings creates in-depth characters and every scene feeds into the novel. An enjoyable and intriguing story.
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An interesting thriller dealing with the fallout from the savage regime of the English public school system. This is also a book about the difficulties of communication in marriage and the complexity of deciding who we want to be. The tone is often melancholy and as so often in this genre one longs for the characters to simply talk to each other. But as we all know this is tricky in real life as well!
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This is a powerful story about loyalty, love and betrayal in their many forms, and the various different stories are woven together neatly and tightly to form a really solid narrative. Although the twists and turns of the plot might not be unexpected, they are handled very well, with well drawn and believable characters which make this a gripping and moving story. I really enjoyed it. It's a thriller but it's also got a lot happening around the edge of this element of the plot which really fleshes it out.
I thought the narration was good on the whole, but I disliked some of the affected female voices which sounded like caricatures and distracted a little from the plot.
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Really enjoyed this audiobook. Fab narration and amazing dark and twisted plot. I would highly recommend this book.
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A really good listen
This book really did take my breath away.
The central characters are Will and Harmony – they have been together for years but recent events have caused a big rift which is only going to get worse when Luke a former school friend of Will's comes into their lives.
Will has never really spoken about his childhood and Luke opens a can of worms
The childhoods of both Harmony and Will are visited, and a tale of horrendous bully starts to emerge and Will is a big part of this
I disliked Luke's character from the start and although he never grew on me I can understand why he ended up like he did
Plenty of twists in this I listen to this in a couple of days
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Harmony is married to Will, they are very happy until Harmony has a miscarriage and their relationship changes drastically. Whilst they are both at a low ebb a friend of Will's, from his days at boarding school, turns up out of the blue. As a consequence Will struggles to deal with traumatic memories from the past, and whilst he tries hard to repair his relationship with Harmony a murder is committed and things begin to spiral out of control. Elements of the story sounded slightly far fetched but overall I enjoyed it. The narrator was great and brought the characters to life. Thank you to Net Galley for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.
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This thriller had me hooked with its complex narrative that pulls you in Instantly. The dark themes in this novel are dealt with sensitively and beautifully written. Everytime I thought I knew the ending I was proved wrong and I don't think I will ever forget that ending.
If you like a dark, complex then this perfect.
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I was unsure where this story was going for most of it but I was intrigued and once it got there, it had me hooked.
Will is married to Harmony; their marriage is somewhat strained and when they meet Will's childhood friend, Luke, at a party, things begin to unravel in spectacular style.
With increasing tension and a realisation that things are becoming more sinister, I found The Judas Tree almost impossible to stop listening to and this was helped by the narrator, Joe Jameson, who was great; he kept me engaged and really brought the characters to life.
This is a very powerful story of how bullying and trauma in childhood can impact the rest of your life and shape the choices you make and if ever there was an advert not to be a bully, this is it and I must give my thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen and share my thoughts of The Judas Tree.
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Will and harmony have been happily married for 20
years sadly though their lives are unwinding after a traumatic miscarriage of a child neither of them planned or in harmony’s case dared hope for. As things unravel, enter Luke, a ghost from wills childhood, back to seek his revenge, there’ll be tears before bedtime.
The narration on this was what kept me hooked on the story. For me it ebbed and flowed. When I was gripped I was all in, unfortunately though where it wavered I did find myself losing some interest. That said I didn’t consider dnf I rarely do, but this kept me on hold waiting to see what would become of them all. Ideal for a wintry night, dark, twisty and sinister.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.
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A superbly dark and disturbing story delving into the murky history of two old school friends. Meeting in present day a deep tension runs between Luke and Will; it seems impossible that they were once so close they were blood brothers. Both men are haunted by their school days and the trauma inflicted there. The past is refusing to stay hidden. It rages into the present with murderous intent. This was a gripping audiobook. The narrator expertly draws us in to the unsettling events and keeps us hooked until the end. #thejudastree #amandajennings #netgalley
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It doesn't happen often where an audiobook is just as good as the book, in my opinion. But this is one of the few exceptions. The narration is exquisite. Dark, emotional, and haunting from start to finish, I loved it!
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The Judas Tree is rather a dark book with some scenes and themes of abuse which would upset some people. I for one would certainly not want to recommend that this book is put in school libraries. I can't honestly say that I enjoyed the story, the journey or the ending. Having said that, if you like this sort of darker literature, it is well written and the characters are shaped and described in such a way that as a reader, you can picture them well.
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Harmony and Will are trying to navigate their marriage through love, loss and grief. Something hard enough for any couple. But when Luke re-emerges from Will's past, it throws the couple further into turmoil as the past drags itself back into the present.
Whilst I found this book rather slow in pace to begin with (although this may be from listening via audiobook rather than reading it myself) at no point was the story ever rushed in trying to fit every detail in. I easily got hooked and invested in the characters and their development. I couldn't stop myself from diving further into the story.
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This book sounded really good, however I listened to a few chapters and had no interest. I stopped listening. Not for me.
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The Judas Tree is a gripping psychological thriller set in the present day with reflections back to a boarding school where traumatic events unfolded twenty years previously.
Will and Harmony are happily married with successful careers, but a chance reunion with Luke, a friend of Will’s from boarding school causes their lives to quickly unravel.
I was quickly engrossed in this book and found the characters to be complex and believable. Even when the worst happened, I still felt sorry for the perpetrator and understood how events from the past had caused such long lasting trauma.
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Harmony is struggling to deal with a miscarriage when one of her husband Will’s former school friends appears in their life. Luke’s reappearance really throws Will off kilter, but he will not open up with Harmony as to why. A dark past links Luke and Will as will life begins to crumble around him, events that occurred at boarding school begin to unravel.
Personally this book was not for me. Honestly, all of the characters in this book are absolutely awful and unlikeable, they don’t listen to each others wants and needs at all, they hide things, constantly making idiotic choices. Harmony is totally self righteous and Will is uncommunicative, although the one thing he has communicated seems to be completely ignored and the inference is that he is wholly at fault. Luke is just a horribly damaged, manipulative creep.
The writing of the book was fine, I found it slow paced and obvious once it did get going, the plot just wasn’t to my taste.
The narrator was good, it was easy to tell each character apart and the emphasis was all well portrayed.
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Wow! I completed this in two sittings; it has a slow burn start which identifies and builds the principal players. Harmony and Will are married and have been together for some 20 years, but have issues following Harmony’s miscarriage. She’s aware of the time clock and wants to try again. Will is less keen an always made it clear he didn’t want children. Enter Luke; he and Will were at boarding school together and are inextricably linked by events 25 years back which resulted in Luke being expelled. He’s a successful lawyer and works for Ian, husband of Harmony’s best friend. He’s charismatic and soon inveigles his way into Will and Harmony’s life.
This starts off as a straightforward story of marital conflict, temptation and friendships. But as it progresses, the dark secrets of the past take it up yo a different level. It explores family relationships and the profound influence of boarding schools and the extent to which they shape their charges. The pain and damage if abuse lives long and eventually it becomes clear that there’s revenge, retribution and destruction as one character seeks to bring to personal justice a couple of those who let him down as children. It’s a compelling exploration of the way children may be shaped by trauma and childhood events. Particularly interesting as there’s a similar court case in the UK this week where a son is in court for taking revenge on parents who sent him to boarding school some 30 plus years ago.
The final chapters really pile on the pressure as events spiral out of control and one of the individuals is framed for murder. Brilliant construction which keeps the interest and a few surprising twists that are creative and touching. Really enjoyed this listen.
My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.
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The Judas Tree by Amanda Jennings Narrated by: Joe Jameson Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins. I really enjoyed this audiobook from the beginning till the end, it was full of great twists and turns and it's a very sensitive subject to talk or write about. Amanda wrote this story with great compassion especially as its a hard subject to talk about especially if you were a 80's child..
This book was mainly about 2 boys Luke and Will, they were best friends, who went to a bleak boys boarding school in Cornwall in the eighties this was when bullying is rife, They were involved in a horrific incident that results in Luke leaving suddenly and they lost contact with each other.
Until twenty-five years later, their paths cross again. So, many bad memories of their painful childhood all came flooding back to haunt them both, and they don't know how to deal with it.
Will is now married to Harmony, and she is struggling after a miscarriage and it's hit her hard, Harmony, wishes Will would open up about what happened and be supportive.. But, Will withdraws further, and she then finds herself drawn to the charismatic stranger from her husband’s past who she meets at their friends party,
Luke comes over all charming and magical towards Harmony and she want to know more about him, but he never tells her his name on the evening when they meet! Why? I wonder.........However, all three are caught in a tangled web of guilt, love, desire and revenge…..........Someone will get hurt But who?
This was So good, I didn't want it to finish as I wanted it to be longer.
The author notes at the end was a powerful piece of writing and rounded this book off very well. Sending bugs hugs to you all.
I highly recommend The Judas Tree it was a 5 star audiobook. I will be looking out for this author in the future.
Big Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, HQ for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a honest review.