⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+⭐
wow! A Lesson in Cruelty by Harriet Tyce, an audiobook narrated by Candida Gubbins is wow!
First of all the storyline is insane!
Secondly, Candida Gubbins is an absolute superstar! I can't believe this book is narrated just by one person! The voices, the accents, and the theatrical benefit! wow! I am so happy that I got this as an audiobook as the narration made this book so good!

Now back to the story. I must say I was a bit confused at the end. I could not understand where this was heading but once it picked up - wow! And I mean it!
What I loved so much was that this book felt like a reading/listening series! Like each part of the book is a separate book - absolutely unrelated. And there is no link whatsoever don't break your brain trying to twist them together! Each story is interesting so the following part brings all three together and this is where things get so interesting! The new story is insane and ends with a mind-blowing twist! And when you finally steady your breathing the final twist comes in like an asteroid... boooom!

1) Anna serving her sentence for drink-driving and finally is due to be released on parole but things get complicated as her new cellmate is found dead in the morning. All Anna wants is a fresh start but sometimes a fresh start can appear differently!

2) Lucy, an outstanding Law student is madly in love with her college professor Edgar and she will take any chance to get close to him. When she gets a chance to assist in the research, she can't say no!

3) Marie experiences a secluded existence in a secluded area in Scotland's woods. She is under cameras 24/7 and at some point, she doesn't pay attention to them. She takes care of Janice's needs and counts the days till the next delivery day. They never know what will be delivered but still, this is the only highlight of the week.

And then all the stories are twisted together like a professional spider web! So many things click in the places!

Thank you, Headline Audio and NetGalley for this fantastic book!

This book is literally the written embodiment of the idea that men need to start off in prison, and earn their way out.

Thank you to Harriet Tyce, Netgalley and Headline Audio | Wildfire for the audio Arc of A lesson in Cruelty.
Narrated by Candida Gubbins

I really enjoyed this book as a medium paced Thriller set as 3 separate POV in 3rd person. Anna, who is due to be released from prison has a last minute cell share with a mysterious inmate. A law student, Lucy, who has an infatuation with her lecturer and lastly, Marie. A women who is sharing a cottage in a secluded part of Scotland. The first half of the narrative is mainly Anna's POV with inserts of Lucy and Marie. As the story unfolds, you find out why and how these 3 POV and women are linked. The last 3rd of the story really picks up.

Candida Gubbins had a nice voice that suited the pace of the book itself. I did, however find that it was also a little nasally ( like she had a cold throughout the book ) I didn't really notice it right at the beginning and Im not particularly fussy with voices as Ill listen to most.

A great psychological thriller which is my first from Harriet Tyce.

3.5 stars

Narrators can make or break a book.

This audiobook's narrator did the latter.
😭😭😭

Narrator Candida Gubbins' gasping was not easy on one's ears.

And this book had a lot of gasping.

The book showcases the stories of three women:

1) Anna who is due to be released on parole and wants a fresh start
2) Law student Lucy who is infatuated with her alluring married college professor
3) Marie, a woman leading a secluded existence in Scotland.

How are these women connected?

Although I applaud the author for creating a complex and compelling storyline, the book's pacing was uneven.

Also, since the book unfolded from three POVs, I would have enjoyed the book much more had there been a full-cast narration with fewer gasps.

Harriet Tyce has blown me away with her latest novel, A LESSON IN CRUELTY! I liked how the story was set up in several parts. In each part we are introduced to different characters and learn about what is currently going on in their lives. I enjoyed trying to figure out how they would all tie together. This is a great book to listening to, but I would recommend that you pay close attention to the characters, there are several, and it kept me on my toes. Overall, I'd say this is another winner by Tyce. I look forward to reading her books each year!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline Audio for my gifted ALC.

This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

A lesson in cruelty started promisingly but I felt it lost itself in the middle part and i found it harder to stay focused with it, so i didn't finish. Maybe its one I will head back too, The premise was good and the narrator did a great job with the parts i listened too.

Brilliant read! Couldn't put this down. It keeps you guessing right to the end and ties all the stories up nicely.

A thoroughly enjoyable whodunnit, which I couldn’t figure out until quite close to the end! There was one slightly annoying bit where a few loose ends were brushed under the carpet with our protagonist essentially saying “yeah, I didn’t figure that stuff out either but oh well”… but that aside, I had fun listening to this one. It almost made being stuck on the M25 in standstill traffic for an hour an enjoyable experience! ALMOST!

Thanks Netgalley for my copy.

This was an interesting find. I became a little confused with the multiple narrators but that was ironed out by the end. I love the prison reform angle and I liked that the male characters were well fleshed out. I think a little of my confusion with the females was that I couldn't see a definitive difference between them at the start.

Even though I wanted to see a lot more about Edgar's personal project, I'm happy to give this 5⭐

Looking forward to reading more from Tyce.

Superbly written twisty page turner.

Told from the perspective of three unconnected women: one with a crush on her professor, one a recluse, and one just about to be released from prison.

The author and narrator both do a great job of differentiating between the women and bringing their stories to life.

From about half way through, the stories begin to converge and we start to understand how they are linked.

A great listen with a satisfying ending.

I loved Blood Orange and Harriet Tyce always writes such intriguing novels however this one missed the mark for me. I felt it was quite long and each story of the characters too drawn out before the strands of their stories were woven together. Everything was tied up neatly and there were no loose ends but I didn't feel too caught up in any of the characters too much to care about their individual plight. Lucy's and Anna's were the best. The narration was great and despite my review I wouldn't hesitate to read another of Harriet's books.

I normally love the authors books I have read two of her others but this one is a bit mixed to be honest. I found the narrator to be good but sometimes distracting, the story seemed a bit long and didn't grip me unfortunately. I'm sure I'll be in the minority but this one I didn't love unlike her other books and it just couldn't match up for me.
Thanks to netgalley and the publistfor this arc.

3.5 ⭐

Three apparently separate stories, that you try to fit together in all manner of wild way (or maybe that's just me) before the truth of the story is revealed.
There were some good twists along the way, some things got me over thinking, and some things I saw coming a mile away.
I liked the character of Anna, she seemed pretty normal.
I have to be honest though, the narration of one of the characters did not work for me at all, and I found it distracting.
Overall, it's a decent listen, slightly over the top story (I hope) but the author does a great job of tying all the strands together.

First my disclaimer, I’m not 💯 right now therefore there’s a strong possibility that I wasn’t firing on cylinders strong enough for this clever book. I restarted it twice, and on the third attempt I just went with it. I found myself confused between the characters an awful lot to the point I almost dnf’d however around 3/4 way mark it all started to fall into place and made for an extremely clever plot line. Very difficult not to add spoilers. I wasn’t extremely keen on the narration and that always makes a huge difference aswell.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 4*
Writing skill : 4*
Plot: 5*
Pace: 4*
Characters: 3*
Concept: 3*
Narration: 4*

First things firt, the narrator took this story to the next level. Her ability to help keep all the female characters from blending into one was exceptional.
The first 50% of this book read like 3 completely seperate, short stories, or at least the start of them. I couldnt for the life of me work out how this story fitted together, how the stories were to be linked further on, but I had faith in the author to hit us with that show stopping twist I previously know her for. And as amazing as it was to see it all come together, something was missing for me, and at the end of the story I am still wondering about a few things. But regardless of my small brain, how authors come up with these stories, that by the end of the book all parts seamlessly come together is beyond me and I'm in awe! If you like a twisty who-dun-it then this will be the story for you.

Im really conflicted by this one.
I listened to this on audio and it was a compulsive one! Finished it in two days and found it hard to stop listening and it was a great accompaniment to a spring clean and excellently narrated.

I’ve read and enjoyed some of this authors previous novels but I think this one didn’t match up to her previous books. The book centres around three women and the first half of the book follows each of these women in separate sections. I enjoyed this. It was nicely dark , I was hooked by their individual storylines and invested in their lives. It was when they stories came together that they book started to unravel a little for me. It stretched the bounds of reality too far for me, the women’s reactions to each other, their relationship with each other and their subsequent bonding just did not ring true for me. The book continued and there were some twists and turns and it was well paced but I never fully bought into the story once the individual stories intertwined. It all felt too clunky and unbelievable..

A mixed 3 star for me but an excellent audio, I may not have continued from the halfway point if I was reading.