I listened to the audio version of this book and I have mixed feelings about it.The narrator did a fairly good job but whether it was her or the actual editing but she seemed to lose her place/ hesitate or whatever losing the fluency, particularly towards the end of the ook.
The author is brilliant at imagery and a good wordsmith overall but I found it a little bit long and rather farfetched and there were some incongruities in the story line; if there were no phone signals how did the emergency services arrive en masse when Ma had used the landline to request a single ambulance.
I enjoyed and could relate to the relationship between Libby and Dawn and I was very interested in the references to folklore, The atmosphere at the festival was almost tangible.
I did not enjoy the skinning of the rabbit and question it's necessity.
My thanks to Netgally and the publishers for my audio copy in return for an honest opinion.

This was such an exciting and tense read, I loved the setting.

Dawn and Libbys friendship was so endearing, despite their differing personalities

I definitely preferred the lead up and the start of the festival, whilst some parts were abit farfetched, it didn’t spoil the book or my enjoyment. I listened to the audiobook which really brought it to life.

This was an enjoyable story in a unique setting with many twists and turns throughout. The characters were well-developed and interesting in their own right, and I loved the completely opposite dynamic between Libby and Dawn. I did find the ending somewhat predictable, especially in relation to who Libby's parents are given how their physical appearances are described, but aside from that, it was an intriguing story full of tense moments and surprising revelations!

I loved the fact that this book was unique and had a bit of everything included in the storyline. Liked the narration and look forward to more by this author.

Proper loved this one, reminded me of Claire Mackintosh or Ellery Lloyd’s writing style. Really enjoy a contemporary read with strong and relatable characters. Gutted I listened when I did though, on my own, as would have made a really good book club read as a group lol

I really enjoyed this, it had so many elements that I love in a book - the folklore, the witches, the standing stones. The blur between what is real and what is perceived brought on by the strange and eerie whispering that surrounds the Grey Sisters.

Maybe I am making a little more of this aspect than is strictly correct, but that is what I enjoyed the most, that and the suspicion that behind the sunshine-bright dazzle of Solstice, a rotten, wicked core lies waiting. On this score I wasn't disappointed. Like overripe fruit that falls off the tree and languishes in the hot sun for days on end, the stench of putrid, sickly sweet rot slowly starts to permeate the further you get.

You know it's there you just can't quite pinpoint it. But you also know that soon something is going to burst, oozing secrets all over the polished wooden floor of a refurbished farmhouse, one that not so long ago was run-down and on the brink of ruin. One filled with earthenware jars, shaped into mouths that gape open in perpetual screams. Jars filled with unspeakable oddities...

I thoroughly enjoyed both Libby and Dawn, the friendship between these girls is something special, more a bond of sisters completely in tune with each other. Libby says something along the lines of 'when I look back over my life, at all the hard times, the hand that was always there to grab mine was Dawn's, time and again, it was Dawn'. And my word, there were hard times. What Libby has endured with her withered, bitter and absolutely godawful 'mother' is heart-wrenching.

There were a few bits at the end that were tragic, although not wholly unexpected. Totally applicable here are Shakespeare's wise words - All that glisters is not gold. Keep it in mind. The festival itself is a wonderful concept - seeing in and celebrating the solstice - but as usual people have to turn it into a tawdry event that just ends badly (why I don't like crowds, in any form. Too peoply).

A word to the wise, there is a part early on in the book where Ma Blake is skinning a rabbit. I furiously and feverishly had to skip that part. ***Note to authors - no. Just no. Leave the animals out!!! Unless it's something uplifting and/or marvellous. Had I known I probably would have skipped this book. I always skip books that have any sort of animal cruelty in them, and I'm not alone. Just Don't Do It. It leaves a bad taste.*** Thankfully no other animals are mentioned and that was the only part I didn't like. There is a fair bit of brutality and casual cruelty towards the end, but nothing to do with animals.

The narrator (Alice White) was great! I took away a star for the rabbit thing and added a half-star for her soothing tones. The Grey Sisters are worth a star all of their own.

The Festival by Louise Mumford. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it had a bit of everything. The friendship between two best friends, folklore, and a crazy family to add to the mix. Very original. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this Audio ARC

Although I thought the premise of this book was interesting, I thought the storyine became quickly unrealistic. Narration was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The festival by Louise Mumford and narrated by Alice white. The book finds unassuming librarian Libby, The night after burying her abusive mom out at a club with her best friend college student dawn. Libby is quiet and thanks to her mom would never be at a club on a weeknight but her friend dawn essentially made her go. When Libby wins tickets to the solstice festival needless to say she is shocked because she didn’t even know she was entered into the contest but her friend dawn is almost apoplectic. Libby doesn’t have any want to go to the festival that her friend Dawn is over the moon about but when she gets a promotion at work and she realizes her mom can no longer tell her what to do or make her feel bad for doing what she chooses agrees to go to the concert. Libby knows this is what kids her age do and she deserves a little fun but still feels nervous about the endeavor so when they get off at the wrong train station they stop in a little shop to see about transportation but gets treated oddly by the shop owner. Thankfully her grandson has no negative opinions about festival goers and even give them a ride to the barker farm where it is happening. When Libby find a paper for a missing girl name Tess left in the carry out bag given to her by the shop keeper she feels even more uneasy if that’s even possible but this is just the beginning of the strange events there are about to plague shy Libby in her over exuberant best friend Dawn. For starters when arriving at the actual music site they see Ma Barker the founder of solstice on a tower screaming like a crazy person and almost goes over the railing at the top. Libby is freaked out when she then tells her directly to leave as she is being carted away by her son Abe. Not to mention the notes left on their tent with the same message but poor sheltered Libby hasn’t seen anything yet. This book is so good it is so creepy has such a great vibe to the overall story. I think Alice White did a great job giving both girls a distinct personality of their own and also did a brilliant job doing the other characters. I thought the secondary POV was interesting and blended nicely with the current day story as well as Libby and being haunted by her mom‘s memory there’s just so many great things about the story and Alice White did a great job giving it such a creepy feel. If you love great horror, awesome world building and a wonderful character to route four in Libby, then you will definitely enjoy this audio book I certainly did.#NetGalley, #HarperCollinsAudio, #LouiseMumford, #AliceWhite, #TheFestival,

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

This book was okay but something was missing. I can't put my finger on what but it really fell flat half way through and it didn't pick up again. I found the main character a bit annoying but I could live with that if the story was gripping. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Overall, it's well written, it was just not for me.

Happy to try something else but Mumford.

This was insane! I loved it. I loved the whole vibe. I loved the friendship between the girls. I loved the horrible secrets and the Lore. I even loved our bad guys. It was perfect. The narration is wonderful!

This was just brilliant, I kept on listening chapter after chapter as I was so gripped. This starts out sad and Libby is a poor librarian without drive and direction, being crushed by her mum. When she and her bestie get tickets to a summer solstice festival all kicks off. Libby is in there but trying to break out and not always be the sensible one. Dawn is the frenetic one, disorganised and all over the place, Libby is portrayed as the one with the plodding life and the one to rely on to be the sensible one. Then the festival happens, and there are flash backs, and babies and potential boyfriends and girlfriends and it all goes a bit berserk. The tempo changes and the hurricane swooshes in and turns world upside down, the land requires blood to be fed and it is a dance to stay away.
The descriptive language is fabulous, very evocative and the taste of the festival and the smells were so real. The hair colours vivid and the stale sweat tangible. The audiobook was read so very well. The raw emotions, pain and frustrations were in the tones of voice and Libby was brought to life.

An exciting thriller read with twists that keep you guessing till the end! Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC

I thought this book would be great. It’s about a girl named Libby whose mom was mean to her. She wins tickets to a cool music festival and her friend makes her go. The festival is supposed to be magical and old-timey, with spooky stories.

It started okay, but then Libby’s friend disappears. The story jumped around a lot and didn’t make much sense. The end felt rushed.

It wasn’t terrible, but it could have been better. The person who read the book out loud was good though.

I’d already read this book and the review I posted is below. I really enjoyed the audio version. The narration throughout is well paced and takes the listener right into the story. I was surprised to find a minor irritation with the audio version; the author’s use of similes. I didn’t notice it when reading, but there were times when listening that something is described as ‘like’ three or four times within as many minutes. I think similes are useful occasionally to make a point but over reliance is leaning towards poor descriptive wiring and I hope it doesn’t become a feature of Louise Mumford’s work.

This has everything I hope for in escapist fiction; fast pace, twisty plot and plausible characters. I was swept along by a story which moves seamlessly between past and present. Libby wins tickets to a summer solstice music festival in Wales. She invites her friend Dawn along, but things soon take a dark turn. There are secrets and lies and all is not as it seems.

Louse Mumford has carefully created all the sounds and senses of a festival. I felt as if I was actually there with the music pounding, the crowds pressing in and the heat overwhelming. That’s great writing and the central characters are engaging. Add the creepiness of the backstory to the festival origins and this is difficult to put down, only disappointment was that I finished it! Loved it.

I expected a lot from this purely from the cover and title and I was left disappointed. This was an ok read and the narration kept me engaged but overall is lacked something and I wanted more from the story. I would rate this 2.5 stars but rounded it up to 3 stars. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this audio arc.

When Libby wins tickets to the Solstice festival she isn't overly keen on going it really isn't her scene however Dawn her best friend is so excited she expresses it is too much of an experience to give up and they need to go they will have a fantastic time. Libbys mother has just passed away, and albeit they didn't have the best relationship, she would rather be at home with her library.

This begins the story to which events unfold the beginning is enjoyable and has a good theory however sadly I felt the delivery of dual timelines wasn't very well delivered also the nature of the events that begin to happen when Dawn goes missing got quite fast paced from Libby returning to the festival it was all just a little poorly organised in structure. The theory of the rituals, etc, was something I could understand and actually did make my skin crawl. However, the person behind it was too obvious for me, just another little point that maybe took away from any kind of plot twists.

The narration was done well in itself all the characters were easily disnguingishable between who is who, etc.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was engaging. The storyline sounded interesting but parts of it dragged. At about 70% things happened and it peaked my curiosity again. Not sure I would recommend this one but it certainly wasn’t bad.

A music festival, folklore and witchcraft sounds like my kind of listen. I was really looking forward to this one and went in with great expectations as it had the makings of a great listen. It started strong and moved at a steady pace along with some character backstories which really added to the storyline. The storyline is told in the form of ‘now’ and ‘then’ timelines which is always a favourite of mine but at about halfway into the listen the storyline lost its way and became inconsistent and disjointed. The ending felt a little rushed and somewhat far fetched and was wrapped up quickly. I was underwhelmed unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheFestival

I did enjoy this thriller about festival goers Libby and Dawn and what awaited them at Solace after winning two free tickets.

The story didn't go the way I expected it and unfortunately I struggled to connect with the characters, however I enjoyed the writing and wasn't bored. The narration was great.