An enjoyable story with good narration bringing it to life alongside a light and interesting history lesson about the highland clans. I didn’t wholly warm to the main character, Catherine Campbell, who seems to think she is perfect. She is responsible for innocent people being punished or killed to protect herself and doesn’t really show any remorse, just moves on. The story highlights the way women and girls were used as bargaining chips and how difficult it was to fight against it. Catherine takes up the challenge in order to keep her baby. Thank you to Net Galley for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly ultimately This book was not for me. I listened to this book over the course of one day, having initially been intrigued by the idea of the legend of the lady on the rock.
Ive read many books of this type, where historical events are reimagined. I find they are more successful when they are rooted in good solid relationships developing between each character. I never quite got a sense of that within this book. I think it has good bones from the point of view that it had the potential to explore the plight of a woman’s position in that particular time, in that particular place, and indeed there is lots of talk about what that is within the text, however, I didn’t really feel it. I think this was due in part to the main characters. lack of self awareness and pointed ignorance of the impact of their actions on other people.
There was also a tendency to go off on some kind of Mills and Boon direction, which felt shallow and out of context. Having said all this, though I did listen to the very end and the narrator really got into her stride and delivered a really solid performance.

Thankyou to the publisher and NetGalley

Listened to this on audiobook. A very good narrator.

The story is set in Scotland in the 16th century and tells about the Highland clans. Very interesting

I liked this book a lot.

Apart from well writte descriptions of Scottish life, castles, alliances, and marriages, Catherine Campbell was an intriguing character.

She comes across as spoiled, entitled, and difficult but really can't be blamed for her behavior. Married to a despicable man, who does everything under his power to make her miserable, flaunting his long-term mistress and natural son, being uncouth and unkind and to top it all, taking her daughter away just builds the steps for Catherine to break. She's been taken away from her family, her lover, her loving home, and thrown in the inhospitable Duart castle. Her only friend is a harpist, Lorna. So what's a woman to do when all she wants is her life of loving and caring back. She plots, she schemes, she avenges, and she fights.

Well written and fast-paced. I was thoroughly surprised. The narration was done well, and emoted the book the well.

#netgalley #LadysRock

Positives:
• The narrator does a good job and was probably the main reason I persevered to the end of the book.
• The descriptive writing style of the author helps you imagine the world the characters lived in.
• While most of the story feels a little predictable, there was one part that took me by surprise.

Negatives
• The main character Katherine is insufferable and unlikable.
• The pacing of the book feels a little rushed
• Some of the dialogue felt too modern and other parts were recapping events that had just happened (and the way Katherine never shuts up about Inveraray castle drove me mad)
• I think I would have preferred a book focusing more on Hector and Lorna, with Catherine's plot running in the background

DNF at 45%
I got the sense that this wasn’t for me pretty early on, because the writing style has a slightly overdramatic quality that I’m not a fan of. The protagonist was irritating, and I was prepared to wait it out to see if this was improved by some character development, but I didn’t have a lot of hope because I felt like the story wanted me to see her as sympathetic (yes she was in a shitty situation as a woman during the period, but I need more than circumstance to become invested in a character). The dialogue was frequently stilted. Also there are so many descriptions of hair. I do not care what’s going on with everyone’s hair.
Then some very dramatic plot happened and I realised I didn’t actually care about the outcome, so I’ve put it down.
The narrator Angela Ness did a good job with what she had to work with

I’m not familiar with Sue Lawrence’s books but having strong Scottish ancestry, I find Scottish historical fiction interesting. I sense this book was well researched and I Lund it particularly interesting as it depicts an era from a female perspective, Usually these takes centre on cla leaders fighting and power struggles, so a more domestic viewpoint was fascinating,

It all felt very real, with strong and plausible characters and a complex mix of emotions and allegiances. Familial ties, clan ties, a harsh and unforgiving Highland backdrop and moral dilemmas for both sides. The narration throughout was excellent and I really enjoyed being swept back into a dark and difficult time in Scotland’s history. Enjoyable and I felt I learned from this story.

This story was interesting in that it offered up some explanation on the rivalling clans of Scotland at the time, and how marriages were arranged to pertain kinship amongst neighbouring clan.

The story itself wasn’t wholly formed enough for me to rate it any higher. Catherine, our protagonist whilst I felt her troubles, I found it extremely hard to relate to her, and that hampered my investment in the plot a little.

Interesting if you want a light history lesson.

The narration was well done!

Thank you to Saranand Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this title in return for an honest review