Thank you to Netgalley for the audiobook ARC. While it was clear pretty early on what was going on, the interior life of the protagonist kept me invested. Unfortunately, the other characters were not well-developed. Overall, fans of similar books like The Room will probably like this book.

The Girl Without A Voice starts off sad, You feel bad for this girl and her situation. Then, it slowly starts getting creepier and the dread starts sinking in.
I thought this was a pretty unique story and enjoyed the thriller aspects.

✨My thoughts: Couldn’t turn this one off! My husband and I listed to this together and had a great time trying to figure out what was going on. I was able to figure some of it out but that ending?! WTF!? Almost thru my phone! Ahhhh. This was such an intense ride. So dark and emotional. It’s a slow burn but you won’t mind. You’ll get to know and love the two fmc’s well. I loved Alice and Hailey. I was excited for Alice’s freedom. It was hard to hear her face her trauma though. I knew it was going to be sad.

I thought the premise of this book was super interesting. It was a rather unique start, as things went on it really slowed down instead of picking up pace. It would have been a 3 star read for me but the ending pushed it down to a 2 for me.

I like this author and I was excited to read/listen to a book featuring a queer disabled women.
I loved the first hand but I was not at all okay with the second half and I'll tell you why.
Alice has never in her entire life been around another human soul aside from her mother, and her father on the weekend. Think about all the people you encounter daily, the mailman you wave to, the store clerks, people walking their dogs, and your neighbors.
Alice has never had a playmate. She has never met a waitress. She has never talked to anyone ever.
Now she starts signing to a neighbor after some trees are trimmed and they bond. Cool. That's awesome.
Then a crisis occurs and Alice crosses the yard and knocks on her new friends door. She leaves a note and the friend arrives later. Love that.
But then they just start kissing. Immediate kissing.
How can this neighbor who knows Alice has been isolated like this just start immediately kissing her? That's so wrong. That is like grooming.
"But Alice likes it."
Alice can't know what she likes or what is normal. At all. Her friend is now able to shape Alice's entire world view. She can groom this woman into whatever she wants.
She has implicit power over her because she has life experience, a job, and the ability to drive a car. Plus she can talk.
And Alice is already being yelled at about being queer. She doesn't even know why or what that means.
It was too much for me.
I did actually love the narration though. I know some people didn't but it works for a naive woman in the 80s.

3.5/ 5 stars

The Girl Without a Voice is a dark and atmospheric psychological thriller set in the fall of 1980. It follows 22 year old Alice, who was born mute and hidden away by her controlling parents. Her world is turned upside down when her Travelling-Salesman father, makes a deathbed confession of murdering multiple women.
With the help of her only friend and neighbor, Hailey, Alice retraces her father’s old sales routes, revealing a pattern of crimes that ultimately uncovers both the true reason for her silence and her own haunting connection to his dark past.

It is suspenseful at the start, but the middle of the book falls a bit flat. Like any good thriller it layers the secrets, and leaves twists till the end.

This was pretty good and I appreciated the way the story was laid out. Thank you to @netgalley for my copy

4⭐
OH, oh, oh, I enjoyed this!

It's giving "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon, but with more of a psychological twist!

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This psychological thriller kept me needing to find out what happened next. This was a slower burn thriller, that really picks up speed at the end, so much so the ending left me wanting a little bit more. I recommend this audiobook if you’re looking for a your next psychological thriller!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have been on and crime and thriller kick lately and was coming off a really bad read.

This one was a breath of fresh air for me. I do think the story has its issues but overall it kept me entertained.

The FMC in the current timeline is 24. We do get flash backs from when she is younger. She had never known anything else than the inside of her house. She has only ever talked to her mom and her dad. She is mute. She can hear but not speak.

Her mom is a stay at home mom and barely takes care of the FMC. It’s almost like it a burden to care for her own daughter.

The dad is a traveling salesman who is not home that often.
They have kept from sight and no one knows she even exists.
One day a new neighbor moves in named Hailey. She spots Alice in the window on accident and ends up building a friendship with Alice through conversations from their windows.

The father comes home one day and tells them that he is dying from C*ncer. As he is on his death bed he confesses to Alice that he killed a lot of people.

After he passes away Alice start to investigate his confession herself. She ends up finding his traveling sales journal which has of suspicious dating with initials written in a different way from his normal entries. Alice and Hailey set off to the nearest town to see if they have a missing persons case that matches the time frame and initials. They find out that they do. After getting the police involved there is no other option but for Alice to come out of hiding. They find out that her father was a serial killer. We also find out a huge secret that involves who Alice really is.

The way the story built up was intense. I had a feeling about who she was but was not expecting the parentage to end up the way it did. The ending made me mad. I wish it ended differently. Overall the story was really good.


I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did a great job with this story!

The Girl Without a Voice is a slow-burning psychological thriller centered around Alice, a young woman completely hidden from the outside world. Her mutism further isolates her, making communication with the only two people in her life even more difficult. As the story unfolds, Alice’s identity and the reasons behind her seclusion begin to surface – especially after her father falls ill and reveals a piece of information.

With help from her neighbor, Alice begins to piece together the truth and embarks on a journey of immense personal growth. Her transformation into an independent person is both moving and powerful.

The small-town setting in 1980 adds depth to the narrative. The absence of modern technology like cell phones and the internet strengthens the sense of her isolation. Alice's bravery in seeking answers despite her limitations is remarkable and inspiring.

While I found myself asking many questions along the way, the author tied up all the loose threads by the end. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller with a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the advance audio copy.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Wow, there was so much to unpack with this one. I was drawn in by the main character with a disability. I think this was portrayed really well and I liked Alice's voice throughout the book and her ability to express her self despite her mutism. The other character's all had varying shades of ick and I really don't like you all over them. The book had lots of twists and turns and unexpected pivots which I appreciated. I thought it was well developed and well written overall. The cast of characters wasn't very diverse but that seemed to stem from her Alice's dad's fixation on a certain type.
I listened to this book and I thought the narrator captured Alice well and did a good job bringing the story to life.

I overall really liked this book. It is really original which is a rare find in thrillers these days. It also has HEART which I love. It features a queer, disabled main character so extra star just for that representation!! The first half was edge of my seat good. Then it kind of goes off the rails. Many of the twists are brilliant. My biggest frustration was the romance arc. It is so highly unrealistic that it is romance instead of friendship. The friendship is even a bit unrealistic so taking it to the point of romance ruined the last half of the book for me in many ways. But I’m guessing not everyone will agree and I do understand the 5 star ratings as it is a well written, engaging, unpredictable thriller with deep connections and emotional growth sewn in. It is absolutely a great book. I just couldn’t get past this one point. And for that reason I just cannot give it five stars. Otherwise, no notes. I had an amazing time reading this and I couldn’t put it down! I definitely highly recommend this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Datura Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I have been recommending this book quite a bit since reading it!

*2.5
Thank you Netgalley for this arc.

I wanted to like this book so badly. The plot sounded interesting and I love a book with queer and disability representation. However, when reading it I was disappointed to discover that the whole plot was basically written out in the summary. I still decided to continue reading, and I did enjoy parts, but since I already knew basically everything that would happen, it just felt disappointing.
The disability representation also felt like a let down to me.
I am not mute, so maybe I am wrong on this and maybe the author is mute or has had good sensitivity readers on this, however to me Alice's disability just felt like a plot device instead of an actual real part of her character.
Furthermore I have to comment on the audiobook part of this, since it is an audiobook arc. Sadly the narration felt weirdly stilted and not very natural, which I was kind of disappointed in.
Towards the end I was planning on giving it 3.5 stars, but the very end disappointed me a lot. This next part includes spoilers but I still found it important to include:
<spoiler>I absolutely hated the idea that Alice gave up her life because she is 'her fathers daughter'. this perpetuates the idea that you cannot be a good person if you were born from rape or or just in general if your parents are bad people. The fact that this was the very end of the story and not something that was challenged in any way shape or form just felt really weird to me, and it honestly left a bad taste in my mouth</spoiler>

This audiobook was an extremely thrilling read from start to finish! Alice was such a compelling character, and I felt her pain and loneliness so clearly as if it were my own. There were so many twists and turns that made for a very fast-paced and exciting read.
I loved the narration of the book! The narrator has a very clear and crisp sound, and it made the listening experience very enjoyable. The pacing of the audiobook was great and I got through it very quickly.

I had the opportunity to do an advanced audio of The Girl Without a Voice by Sandra J. Paul, thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio. This story follows a girl unable to communicate with the outside world whose life is upended after her father’s deathbed confession. With the help of her next-door neighbor, Alice, she finally gets the chance to make her voice heard.

This was a good read with an interesting premise, though at times it felt a bit predictable. I wanted a little more depth from the characters, and some events didn’t fully make sense, leaving a few aspects feeling unresolved. Still, it was a solid story and I enjoyed the opportunity to review it.

The Girl Without a Voice is a psychological thriller written like a true crime with sprinkles of young adult coming of age thrown in set in a small town in the 80s. This was a quick, easy read that stayed interesting to the very end. I will say I had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit with this one, but once I did, it was hard to put down.

Alice, who is mute, has been living in isolation. Her parents have made sure that others don't even know Alice exists.

Her father falls ill and dies, but not before revealing some truths about himself. This gives 22 year old Alice reason to push to find out the truth of who her parents are and even who she is. Can she move on from the truth of her past?

This is a twisty psychological thriller that kept me invested the whole time. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job, making it even more enjoyable to listen to. There are triggers, so I advice anytime with triggers to know them in advance.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of The Girl Without A Voice, which releases August 19, 2025.

I really enjoyed the subject matter of this book, especially the emotional journey surrounding the protagonist’s search to uncover the truth about her father. It added a compelling layer to the mystery and made her quest for identity feel deeply personal and relatable.

That said, the beginning of the book felt slow, and certain parts—particularly the introduction of her new neighbor—seemed rushed. I would have appreciated more relationship development early on to make their connection feel more authentic and earned.

One standout aspect was the audiobook narration. It was exceptionally well done and added depth to the story, enhancing the overall experience.

In the end, this was a solid mystery wrapped in the heartfelt story of a girl trying to find where she belongs.

Creepy thriller.
Sad story about isolation, murder and coming to terms with your identity.
The story flowed well. The first half is informative and set the stage for the creepiness in the last half. There are some surprises and many new facts that keep you working towards the end.
Even the ending is a surprise.
Written well and the narration is very good.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.