I had already read the book before listening to the audiobook of it and I was still as enthralled listening to it as I was reading it.
This is by far her best book and there is something soothing and relaxing listening to someone read to you.
It took me back to when I was a lot younger and my Nan would read to me.
This was my first audiobook that I read/listened to so I was a bit hesitant to begin with but I don’t know if it was because the narration was so good on top of it already being a book that I loved but it not has me hooked on audiobooks!
I’ve even joined audible as I liked the sensation of being read too. Especially in bed at night, being read to sleep!
The story is just incredible with a massive, massive twist that almost gave me whiplash and coupled together with it being read to you so well, this is a must, especially if like me you’ve never dabbled with audiobooks as this is one that won’t fail to have you hooked!

OMG What did I just listen to! WoW........I was lucky to get to listen the new audiobook of "When I Was Ten" by Fiona Cummins............WOW .........This book will have you hooked within the first chapter and the narrator Olivia Dowd was just perfect for this new book by Fiona.

When I was ten was a very powerful book throughout, with a great characters that you will warm to..

I highly recommend this new book. I loved it!

I would like to thank both Netgalley an Pan Macmillan for supplying this novel in exchange for an honest review

It took me a little while to get stuck into When I Was Ten but once I did I started to enjoy it. Sisters Sara and Shannon live with their parents, a local GP and his wide, and they appear to be a perfectly normal family to the rest of the world. That's why what happens next is so shocking to the local community. One night Sara snaps and brutally murders both of her parents and ends up in a children's secure forensic unit. Shannon goes on to be fostered and is given a new identity so that she can try to live as normal a life as possible. Decades later Shannon is tracked down by journalists and the sisters' childhood friend Brinley begins to speak out about the nightmare the sisters went through. They are all finally compelled to say what really happened that night.
The story jumps back and forth between timelines and characters which did have me a little confused at times but did add some interesting details and insights. I liked how the revelations were scattered throughout the story and were done gradually. It allowed me to develop my knowledge of the characters at a good pace rather than having lots of info dumped on me. Unfortunately, the bit twist towards the end of the book was one that I had guessed a lot further back and I'm a reader who loves to be shocked and totally blindsided. I very often haven't got a clue what's coming in a thriller so this did diminish my level of enjoyment somewhat.
I listened to the audiobook version of When I was Ten and thought the narrator did a great job. She sounded just right for how I pictured the main character and she kept my attention.
Overall, whilst an enjoyable book, it was just an average thriller.

This was fantastic!
Really gripping throughout and plenty to consider for the reader.
Should child murderers get the opportunity for a new identity?
Did the girls' parents deserve to die for what they did?
What punishment should someone get?
How hard is it for someone to go into witness protection, away from the life they know?
How far would someone go to protect the ones they love?
Wowww. This was a great book, and one I will think about for a long time after finishing. Great characters and a great plot.
I do think the parents' actions could have been darker (yes I have a twisted mind!) to warrant the murders.
My only issue was that with the audiobook I found it difficult to remember which sister was which because of the similar names! I think they could have been distinguished easier and had stronger, more clear and different personalities. Perhaps the ebook would have been easier.
The audiobook was very well executed apart from that, and the narrator was extremely easy to listen to.
Definitely recommend this one!

A dark and enjoyable read about buried secrets from the past threatening to destroy the lives of people and their loved ones. We piece together what really happened over the course of the novel, told by two different women, who were tweens united by a horrifying incident. Neither the secret that Catherine was carrying or the twist that Brinley reveals at the end were surprising, yet it was a good read. The abuse that Catherine and her sister were subjected to by their parents was the most gruesome part of the book, rather than the murders that took place, which says a lot.
(Review copy from NetGalley)

This was my first Fiona Cummins book and won’t be my last! I thoroughly enjoyed this story - great twists (particularly at the end), fast paced and a definite recommend read. I’ll be checking out more by this author very soon. The narrator was very good and easy to listen to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the audioARC of this book.

This presents as a double timeline story, with Katherine Allen becoming worried that her husband is keeping secrets from her, then seeing her sister in a TV news appeal asking to see her ‘after all these years’. Their parents had been murdered when they were children.
Katherine had lied to her husband about her family background, but she is forced to confront and share her truth with her family, once news reporters start to badger her about her background.
It’s a compelling read, full of horrible emotive events, bad parenting (neglect and abuse) and the truth of what happened to the sisters, their best friend next door, and the murdered parents.

Brilliant. This was on my TBR for over a year, a d I should have dipped in sooner. I was
Addicted to this book from start to finish.

Twenty one years ago a much loved doctor and his wife were brutally killed in their beds....not by an intruder but by one of their young daughters. Now one daughter is telling her story, leading to new headlines and the outing of the "Angel of Death", who after serving 8 years I'm a young offender's unit now leads a normal life under an assumed identity. Brinley Booth, who was the girls friend and neighbour is now a journalist is tasked with reporting the story. Now all the secrets and truth about the Hilltop Murders are about to be devastatingly revealed.

A great story with a few good surprises. What I really liked about it is it genuinely touched me sometimes. The sisters need for love which is denied affects them in very different ways. Brinleys loss of her mother and fractured relationship with her father has led her to feel she's not worthy of affection. But then of course it's a cracking thriller as well with a slow burn to a shocking climax.

I listened to this on audio and at first I wasn't 100% sure I was liking the narration. It seemed a little flat but either it got better or I was wrong because a few chapters in she had me. I've listened to a few Olivia Dowd narrations recently and can understand why she's in demand. It was a great performance.

I really enjoyed this book in audiobook.
The multiple voices were well portrayed.

This was a shocking and dark story. A great thriller.
I wasn't expecting the ending. Although i didn't feel it add much to the story.

I listened to this on audible, and found the narrator to be excellent.
The story was good, but I did feel it was quite drawn out and it could have finished earlier.
It had good content and a great twist which wasn't a huge surprise to me.

I found ‘When I was ten’ to be a gripping story, very easy to follow and thoroughly engaging.

The plot centres around 2 sisters who had a truly vile childhood at the hand of parents who were cruel beyond belief.

The book is divided into parts, following past and present timelines, the current timeline suggesting that the sisters have been estranged following a violent episode in their childhood. The story is narrated primarily through Catherine, a mother to a pre-teen, Honor, and experiencing some troubling marital discord. Narrative also switches between Catherine and journalist, Brinely Booth, coincidentally a family friend of the sisters. Cant say much more for fear of giving spoilers, but I can say it is well worth a listen!

The narration is superb, the story pretty dark, but gratifyingly twist filled!

This was my introduction to author Fiona Cummins, but on the basis of this book, I very much hope to get more acquainted with her work!

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

I enjoy the writing of Fiona Cummins but unlike a lot of other positive reviewers the book failed to grab my attention the way many of her other books have. It was well written and difficult to say what didn’t work for me but I felt it was good not great. The story seemed to drag a fair bit and lacked the excitement I was hoping for.

She had lived a lie for thirteen years, and the perfect life as she had known it was about to change forever. Everyone remembered Sara and Shannon Carter, the little blonde haired sisters. Their Dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautiful house on the hill. Their best friend, Brinley Booth, lived next door. They would do anything for each other but everything shifted on that fateful day when Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were stabbed fourteen times with a pair of scissors in what has become the most talked about double murder of the modern age.

The girls were aged ten and twelve at the time. One, nicknamed the Angel of Death, spent eight years in a children’s secure unit accused of the brutal killings. The other lived in foster care out of the limelight and prying questions. Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down one of the sisters, persuading her to speak about the events of that night for the first time.

Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and Brinley Booth, now a journalist, is tasked with covering the news story which brings to light fresh evidence and triggers a chain of events which will have devastating consequences.

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<p>What makes a child kill? That's the question at the heart of Fiona Cummins' fast-paced thriller <em>When I Was Ten</em>. When Shannon Carter gives her first interview about her parents murders, twenty-one years after that fatal night, the media frenzy it causes threatens the new lives her of sister Sara and childhood friend Brinley. Why, after all these years, has Shannon finally decided to speak?</p>
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<p>It was the title that drew me to this audiobook, coupled with the cover I was expecting a quick listen that included all my favourite thriller tropes. However <em>When I Was Ten </em>has an additional layer underneath the page-turning action. Split into three parts it explores nature vs nurture, the responsibility of the press in the time of social media and where the line should be drawn in our loyalty to the ones we love. Cummins presents us with familiar archetypes, the outspoken older sister, the timid younger sister and the journalist, before carefully unravelling the intricate backstory that led each woman to the current version of themselves. There is a level of empathy built in the reader that I haven't experienced before in this genre (well other than being used a device for a unearnt heel turn in the epilogue.) We understand why each of characters do what they do and occasionally even find ourselves cheering for them in their worst moments. </p>
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<p>Given that she has narrated a number of the audiobooks I publish I was already well aware that Olivia Dowd is a brilliant performer. Still I was taken aback by her narration here and she showcases her at her best. Dowd consents an aural image of every character she voices in the novel, regardless of age, accent or gender. It adds to the intensity of Cummins' writings and I audibly yelped in fear and horror several times whilst listening (I bet my neighbours loved me). I think this is heard best in what I will call the 'spider scene' which literally had me swiping at imaginary bugs on my neck.</p>
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<p>Personally the descriptions of the murders was way too detailed for me (I have a very vivid imagination and do not need help picturing things!) But those scenes are a small part of the overall runtime, and whilst made my stomach turned did not prompt me to stop listening. </p>
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<p>So if you have the stomach for a little gore, this is a great listen, with enough thrills to sate fellow thriller fans and a depth that creates some truly unexpected twists. </p>
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I really enjoyed this. I was lucky enough to listen as audiobook as well as have a digital copy.
The narrator on the audiobook was fab, I could understand everything and she helped to add to the tense atmosphere.

The premise of this book is so up my street!! As a teacher, I am fascinated with the idea of child killers. What makes a ten year old brutally murder?
I loved the multiple perspectives, and the unreliable narrator. Unlike a lot of thrillers, I actually feel that this one was quite believable and could actually happen - this made it all the more tense and thrilling.

The only downside was the pacing. I found the ending to drag a little bit - I kept thinking it was the end, then there was more!

Great book, and thoroughly recommend the audio book.

Wow, wow, WOW! This has got to be the most beautifully written book I’ve ever read. The descriptions of scenes, the thoughtfulness put into every character, the telling of the story was all amazing.
I genuinely felt like I was in every chapter with how well this book was described. The plot itself had me guessing right up until the last minute; I was in shock of things happening and in complete awe of the writing skill Fiona Cummins possesses.
A huge 5/5 for me and I will definitely be buying the physical copy when it’s released just to have it in my collection.

Wow what a rollercoaster of a book. Its compelling and dark in its nature , but I listened chapter after chapter to see where the next twist will appear.

Sara and Shannon Carter lead a horrible life living with their abusive parents, although on the outside their lives are perfect their father being the local GP and pillar of the community, but who knows what happens behind closed doors?
The sisters have a close friend Brinley , who comes from a loving family but is experiencing emotional turmoil of her own , on the fateful night both Dr and Mrs Carter are murdered , stabbed to death by their own daughter with a pair of scissors .Brinley also witnesses the murders.

Sara subsequently confesses to the murders and is detained a secure unit until she is 18. We then catch up with her with a new life , new name and her life begins to crumble.

The writing is descriptive and atmospheric in places and left me with a myriad of emotions . Highly recommend this book and author , it not easy to listen to at times but when I reached the conclusion I felt gratified.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for this copy.

I’m fast becoming a fan of Fiona Cummins as I know that I’m going to be in for a good time. A read that will have me so engrossed I won’t mind what’s happening around me.

This was very true with this book.

It didn’t take long to weave myself within the confines of this story.

A child kills her parents.

What?! I hear you ask.

I know. I was exactly like you are now. Gasping and in disbelief.

She owns up to it too.

This is, for sure, a dark and twisted read that I could only give 5* to.
Totally hooked, totally jaw dropping.

I “read” along with this on audio.

The narrator did a good job or throwing her voice to make me stand and take notice lots of times.
Right down to the singing.