I’m going to be honest… I completely forgot to review these audiobooks. Which means, I listened to them months ago and I can barely remember what I thought of them. However, the ever-consummate-completionist, I couldn’t just ignore them completely. So, here are some super-quick reviews of all the audiobooks I listened to over the last few months.
THE PLOT: Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other kids did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. So she stole, lied, and was occasionally violent. In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified, she was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. But instead of giving into her base instincts, Patric embarked on a mission to prove that she, and the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis, aren’t all monsters.
RATING: This book is a true ‘love-it or hate-it’. I’ve seen so many people with backgrounds in psychology and mental health disparage the author’s credentials and claim she is autistic or a fraud or just not a very nice person. And, hey – maybe the author is autistic. I literally have no qualifications to diagnose her or unpack the science in this book. But all I can say is that I enjoyed it. I’m happy to take the author at face value and look at sociopathy as a misunderstood and underserved neurodivergence that needs acknowledgement and support. Though some have criticised this book for having reconstructed conversations and not enough scientific citations, I appreciate memoirs that have dialogue and scenes and are essentially written as narrative. I found it interesting, I got insight into another person’s life, and I learned something (that may or may not be true). I can’t really ask for more in a memoir, and that’s why it’s four stars from me.
THE PLOT: Andy has just been dumped by the only woman he’s ever truly loved. Living out of a suitcase in his best friends’ spare room and lamenting his failed career as a stand-up comedian, he tries to solve the seemingly unsolvable mystery of his broken relationship.
RATING: This audiobook is addictive, funny, and entertaining. If you have a long drive or walk ahead of you, I urge you to download it now. Yes, Andy is annoying and whiny and basically the most childish 35-year-old man you know. But it’s so refreshing to get this kind of story from a male perspective – I’m surprised no-one’s comparing him to Bridget Jones! Plus, when the reveal drops, you’ll be totally hooked to get both sides of the story (hint hint!). If you don’t mind an unlikeable narrator in the vein of ‘Really Good, Actually,’ by Monica Heisey, you’ll enjoy this.
THE PLOT: This book charts the life of the famous hero Hercules through the eyes of those who knew him. Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere). Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage). Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (Definitely did not hide in a jar). His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims. It’s time to hear their stories.
RATING: OK, I’ll be upfront – I DNF’d this book around 70% through. I just couldn’t take it anymore and I realised I was wasting precious Spotify hours on a book I didn’t actually want to listen to. However, I’m still giving it three stars because it’s not a bad book. I truly enjoyed the first 30% and felt it was a clever way to tell the story of the labours of Hercules. But, my god, there were too many point-of-view characters. Like, I swear to God there’s twenty different narrators and I – a person who studied Greek Myths at university – got completely confused with who was who. Worse still, the narrative didn’t seem to be cohesive. We all know Greek Myths have many different variants, but for this novel to work, I feel the author really should’ve picked one through-line and stuck to it. The disparate narrators and events get so muddled, I don’t really know if this counts as a novel because the character development is non-existent. The chapters and characters just don’t build to anything! Finally, the anachronisms were painful. Now, this author is deliberately choosing modern vernacular and I found it irreverent and funny in places. But the slang just went too far. Either be completely Ancient Greek (aka don’t mention anything from Rome) or just go full modern – the inconsistency was grating. You know what… as I write this review, I’m down-grading it to two stars. Feels so mean but, on reflection, I simply can’t recommend this book.
If you’d like to purchase these books, you can get a discount, support @aminasbookshelf and support independent bookshops via bookshop.org (affiliate links).
Sociopath: A Memoir – Click here to purchase for £18.04 (hardback)
Good Material – Click here to purchase for £9.49
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