Quite a good audiobook which explores men who are very against women. There are even websites and chat rooms where they can explore and freely discuss their hatred of women. Frankie is a newspaper reporter and she gets involved in their horrible ways by writing a few newspaper stories about the power of women. The voice was listenable and overall I did enjoy it.

A dark and sinister insight into incel culture. A subject matter that Heather J Fitt. executed t perfection in Open Your Eyes. I loved Frankie's character and how the danger and drama felt continually ramped up throughout the story. A brilliant read.

I loved the pace and twists in this book. It appears to have been well-researched and I learned many interesting facts about incels, and online abuse in general. It certainly followed an interesting narrative.

I found the characters to be a bit problematic though. Frankie was really rather a horrible person, which didn't take away from the story, but her treatment of Todd made him out to be the bad person, simply for caring about her.

The narrator was great for this story. She used many different voices to portray the different characters effectively, and it allowed the story to flow beautifully.

A very good read, overall, and it certainly kept me hooked!

Frankie, a Scottish journalist, is assigned an assignment reporting on a series of sexual assaults. She finds herself at the center of these attacks when she follows a feminist / equality group at a rally and then begins to speak out about it. Her boyfriend, Todd, does not support her journey and discourages her participating in any of the activities, afraid for her safety. Told from two points of view, the first, Frankie and the second, a man, who is involved in an underground online forum of men against women, who are responsible for the rapes that are occurring. He is also mad at women for not having sex with him. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a nice job. Frankie grew a great deal through the course of the story. The story line was easy to follow and straightforward even though the topic was difficult. This was a fast-paced emotional read that kept me interested and hooked from the beginning. This was a great debut by Fitt.

A fascinating and well-researched novel about a journalist who becomes tragically involved with an insidious and dangerous online incel group. The author discusses these difficult issues with a grace that may be fresh and penetrating to those who may not have previously given them deep thought.

This audiobook is so well performed and kept me engaged throughout. The narrator brought the characters to life and drew me into the story with the them. She is capable of what few are; creating distinct voices for her characters, male or female, young or old.

Narrated by Hilary MacLean ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Heather J Fitt ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In "Open Your Eyes" by Heather J Fitt, a novel with a premise reminiscent of Sharon Bolton's "The Dark," the divergence lies in its heightened intensity and deeper exploration of the disturbing psyche of unhealthy males. The narrative delves into alarming levels of violence, offering a stark and unsettling portrayal.This tale taps into a realm of real-world terror, sadly echoing the experiences of many women who have encountered similar situations. The chilling realism adds an unsettling layer to the story, making it all the more impactful.Having been introduced to Heather J Fitt through this book, I was compelled to further explore her works. As a result, I eagerly acquired "The Flight" and "The Boat Trip" from the Kindle store, anticipating more riveting narratives.

This audiobook was well narrated, making it easy to listen to.
This is the second book I have listened to recently involving incels, and I find the topic more terrifying than any other crime/suspense theme, especially in light of the Plymouth shootings.
This book centres around Frankie, a journalist looking at misogyny in society and slowly getting more involved in the feminist movement In Edinburgh. Meanwhile a group of incels are operating in the area and praying on the minds of young men at the most confusing time in their lives, drawing them in and encouraging them towards ever worse crimes against women.
None of the main characters are nice. They are all far too self obsessed. The twist I was waiting for never happened. The end is quite horrible. All in a all a really good read.

i went back and fourth on liking this book but it kept sending an underlying anti-feminist tinge that really left a bad taste in my mouth, especially at the last two-three chapters. it felt very victim/womxn blaming, almost sympathetic to incel ideology. extraordinarily surface level exportation of feminism.
it was pretty well written and i binged the book in 2 days, for that i give it credit. <spoiler> also, when you’re being shot at, it doesn’t sound like explosions. it’s just little popping noises and buzzing as the bullets go by. </spoiler>

This audiobook was a super gritty tale based on the streets of Edinburgh. It is hard-hitting and utterly commits to its subject. I'd suggest a trigger warning relating to stranger rape, as this is a strong theme throughout the novel.

Frankie is a young, female, Edinburgh based journalist. Her career progresses on the basis of some articles with a feminism slant. This attracts the attention of an online incel community who target Frankie on the basis of her writing, and the perceived effect they believe this has on women. Frankie is in a relationship with Todd, a personal trainer, and he is an important character in this story as the threat to Frankie from this community extends to her personal life. In an adjacent timeline we hear the story of Liam, a teenager who suffers trauma at the hand of a girl he likes who public humiliates him sexually with the help of social media. The intersection of characters is shocking and extremely well portrayed by the author, who utterly nails it in terms of taking on the unique and conflicting perspectives of her characters, she does this with sensitively and brilliance, while also delivering a very engaging novel.

The narrator does a fantastic job, and really adds to this story - I could hear Frankie in her words, yet she also took on other characters superbly well.

This is a 5* listen in my opinion, and one that will absolutely have author, Heather J Fitt, on my radar for future reads!

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

I enjoyed this AudioARC, which I downloaded from NetGalley.

I hadn’t realised it was a Young Adult book, so at first I felt a little annoyed by the explanatory nature, which felt a bit patronising, but as it progressed I realised from the tone and the way that relationships were described that it was aimed at teenagers, and that explained the didactic nature of the storytelling - every character is there to show a type of person impacted by toxic masculinity.

I particularly liked the way that Todd, the boyfriend of main character Frankie, was shown to be myopic in his views - more concerned with how what happened to Frankie impacted *him* than how they impacted Frankie herself, and the way that as readers we are shown how much of his internal monologue is about Frankie and wanting to help her but he lacks the skills to actually communicate that to her. *Anyone* would feel let down being abandoned in hospital by their life partner (twice!) and Todd didn’t even have the communication skills to convey that he was bailing on her because he was overwhelmed by the situation. We could see that, and he managed to convey it to his best friend, Chris, but not to Frankie. I felt really sorry for him, trapped by his own lack of articulacy (emotional and verbal) as well as for Frankie, who he managed to let down very badly whilst trying as best he was able to support her.

I also thought the faulty logic of Liam, the bullied schoolboy sucked into the world of online trolls and “incels” was well-written. It’s difficult in issues-based fiction of this kind not to accidentally reinforce the very attitudes the author is writing against, but at every stage of Liam’s story we could see there was always a much easier answer to his problems than he found. Being humiliated by girls doesn’t inevitably lead to being an “incel” and the author doesn’t accidentally imply that it does. Lots of men have horrible experiences as teens and mature into brilliant humans. Liam just couldn’t find a route out of his horrible teenage experience that didn’t involve hurting other people - even though the route to hurting others looked harder to us as readers.

The one scene I found hard to believe was when the young woman in the library asked for his help. Women are so used to men thinking any innocent question is a come on that I’m pretty sure we would all ask at the library desk for assistance rather than approach a random male stranger on a nearby computer. It’s sad, but I don’t think I’ve *ever* asked a man I don’t know for help and I don’t think any of my female friends do. It’s just not worth the risk of low-level hassle. Liam’s reaction to the girl who asked for his help did, however, show the worst end of the type of behaviour that deters me and other women from asking random men for minor assistance.


In any case, if you enjoy issues based fiction, you’ll probably love this book. It shows a sad-but-true picture of how the desire for all people to be equal (feminism) has been interpreted by one corner of the Internet as a desire to put men down (misandry) and how difficult it is for journalists and others to cover even bland topics like the history of International Women’s Day without risking being trolled or worse.

🎧4⭐️

I had the audiobook of this debut read by Hilary MacLean she is good, with distinct voices for the main characters. I would have liked a more developed accent for Frankie ( I love Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents)

Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high profile crime story about sexual assaults. Frankie starts to get vitriolic abuse online.
The two main characters are Frankie and a young man Liam (17) who finds himself drawn into the dark online world of incels.

Bullet points for Open Your Eyes
📕enters the world of incels
📕shows the process of radicalisation
📕may have triggers for some

I’ve read a couple of books on this subject, it holds up well in comparison. Apologies I can’t bring a book title to mind which uses this subject matter.

It’s dark, got a good pace throughout maintaining plenty of interest. There’s a couple of bad decisions made along the way, but that’s a popular trope. I usually like a glossary, but found it didn’t sit well at the beginning of the audiobook, in a book you can flick back to read the terms if you need to. It came across suggesting that the tone of the book was going to be very heavy. I found Frankie likeable.

I thought the ending was well done.

It’s one that I enjoyed, the world of incel’s and toxic masculinity are not themes that generally grab my interest.

A dark and disturbing book based around incel forums. Told from the points of view of both sides. The background of Liam was just awful what happened. It really does make you think. This had me hooked from the start, and I didn't want to stop listening. This ticked all the boxes for the perfect read. I can't wait to read more from Heather.

I listened on audiobook, and i just loved the narrators Scottish accent. She definitely made the storyline entertaining and captured the characters' voices brilliantly.

Open Your Eyes by Heather J Fitt published august 2023. Open your eyes, there is danger out there. Open your eyes, others may be hurt because of your stubborn ideals. Open your eyes, you can’t save anyone who won’t save themselves

I have a lot of feelings about this one. The boy Liam was just a kid who was sexually assaulted, in part, by a girl he liked. It was awful! But then he decides to get revenge and joins up with incels who are committing horrible crimes. It was disturbing and real.
Frankie is not a feminist and her boyfriend Todd is the kind of guy who would be called Todd.
He takes advantage of her and when he tries it is half hearted. But he's okay.
Frankie ends up at a feminist march as part of her job as a journalist.
Meanwhile, the incels are going after Frankie.
The narration was perfect. The facts were real. I am glad I listened to this.

Open Your Eyes by Heather J Fitt, an audiobook narrated by Hilary MacLean was a completely different experience. You would think this would be sort of a traditional storyline but as deeper you dig as complicated it gets. I would like to hope that anything like this exists in real life but knowing how dark the world we live in - for sure there are some pathetic groups of individuals who blame anything and everything for their failure.
How sad your life must be to blame the whole gender for the fact you can't sort out your own life? All this bravery to act just because you disagree with someone's opinion!
Frankie accidentally g's a chance to shine as a journalist so she uses her chance. Unfortunitelly the topic is too sensitive for some individuals and she becomes the next target. Frankie will not stop just because someone threatens her! Frankie will try to get her point across. Frankie will stop being careful but who will pay the price?
I can't express my true feelings without putting the spoilers out but this book definitely sticks with me deeply!
Hilary MacLean did a fantastic job with the narration. She made this book sound so real by changing the voices, and intensity of stressful parts.
Thanks, NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for the advance copy! I enjoyed it so much!
#SagaEgmontAudio #OpenYourEyes #NetGalley

The narration - Great narration managing to capture both the fear and frustration of the principal characters. Nice Scottish accent that is easy to understand without drifting into ‘Morningside’.

The importance of the start of a novel is well established and this one makes an immediate impact but is no Pride and Prejudice. It sets out its stall from the beginning and is unflinching throughout in its coverage of horrible, shocking crimes but also doing so with a degree of honesty.

The main protagonist is Frankie whose fledgling journalism career is in the doldrums and is reduced to producing filler and puff pieces. A gap on Valentines’ Day edition of the newspaper provides an opportunity for a serious piece, and it goes down well with readers, with lots of online impact. Frankie always swore that she wouldn’t become a feminist with ‘all that bra burning’ but now she has awakened an interest in female rights. Her partner Todd works at a gym and seems happiest when playing Craig, his friend, at FIFA on Xbox. His views are perhaps best described as locked in the past when it comes to relationships.

It is a timely written piece, in that even after a hundred years, women still face battles for equality. In recent years it feels not so much that progress has stalled but rather going backwards. Physical and sexual violence against women seems to be ever increasing and even elements of the police service appear to be making matters worse rather than better. The internet has brought forth a new wave of misogyny with so-called men’s rights advocates and incels. All of this is skilfully laid bare within the story line, and it is easy to see how to be on the receiving end of such abuse would chill you to your core. Nothing is black and white though and it is here where the narrative excels through its nuanced treatment of Liam. Liam, the third central character, is increasing pranked by his peer group which escalates into humiliation online. Something that thirty years ago would have required a ‘bit of living down’ but now thanks to an internet that forgets nothing, is now inescapable.

This is a tale of obsessions and unintended consequences. The danger of taking an interest and focussing upon it until it gradually takes over your very existence, where obsession blinds you to other possibilities. Where a goal is in sight, but insufficient thought is given to the consequences, not always intended ones, and the damage they may inflict.

Councillor Caldwell epitomises the attitude of many in his response to five women being raped, that women should ‘self-curfew’ and not go out alone after dark. As Frankie points out the rapist is a man, so surely it should be men who face any curfew. Of course, the predictable response is ‘one man’ not ‘all men’ and a curfew would be ridiculous.

The writing moves the story on quickly, which gives a sense of urgency before it begins to run out of control.
There is risk and danger throughout, with vulnerable women always having the reader on edge, but it never becomes gratuitous or over graphic. The set piece is a little unusual and well executed, this is not a novel for second guessing and in the end, it is somewhat thought provoking.

I would like to thank Net Galley, the author and publisher for making this audio copy available in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for my approval to listen and review this audio book.

I really enjoyed the audio book version of Open Your Eyes. This is Heather J Fitt's fist published novel. It was narrated really well by Hilary MacLean.

The story is mainly set on Frankie and her reporting of a press conference based on the rapes of several women in Edinburgh. Frankie is an eager, feisty woman who wants to be taken seriously as a crime reporter. No spoilers from me. I highly recommend you listen to the audio book.

Open Your Eyes by Heather J Fitt
Narrated by Hilary MacLean

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Blurb

A Scottish journalist enters a dark online world in this unsettling novel of men, women, resentment, and rage . . .

Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high-profile crime story about a series of sexual assaults, and relishes her big break. Her article focuses on the issue of women’s safety, which doesn’t seem to have improved much since the era of the Yorkshire Ripper.

When Frankie begins to face a torrent of abuse online, she discovers the phenomenon of incels—the men who are trying to stop her from covering the story. But she refuses to back down. What she doesn’t realise is that in this murky online world, one man is being goaded into a spectacular and shocking attack with Frankie as his main target . . .

My Opinion

Well this was an intense read. I am not sure what I was expecting, but I knew with the opening chapter this was nothing like I thought it would be. For me, it was a gripping read although there are a lot of triggers. Frankie is out to prove that she can be a crime reporter - with this debut novel, I think it is safe to say that Heather has proved herself as a crime writer.

This is an emotional, fast-paced, well-researched book. I could only listen to this book in short stints due to other commitments, but every time I was eager to come back for me. I am looking forwarding to reading more by Heather in the future.

Rating 5/5

Timely and well narrated, but the focus on Frankie's stridently anti-feminist sentiments early on don't make her seem balanced or objective, just difficult to engage with.

Open Your Eyes by Heather J Fitt
(Narrated by Hilary MacLean)

Frankie was a journalist in Edinburgh and she was assigned to report a crime series of sexual assaults. Her article topic focused on female's safety. After reading few comments, her boyfriend already warned she was in danger. However, her naiveness made her never think herself was one of the victim.

On the other hand, a teenager Liam was rejected and humiliated in the real world about sex and resulted in peer-bully. He found himself being understood on a dark online group. Now, his mindset and the way he treated women were totally twisted.

Surprisingly these two POVs were connecting with each other. very well The author put these two separated characters together according to their current status, what they have experienced and family background. How vulnerable a person could be!

Fast-paced, intriguing and dark! Also the narrator was letting the character alive, especially Liam, his darkness, sadness and loneliness.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Saga Egmont Audio and Heather J Fitt for the thriller!

Format: Audiobook (8h20m)
Pub date: Aug 29, 2023