The Weekend Away

By: Miranda Smith

Narrated by: Madeline Pell

My sister died. Her friends lied. And now that I’ve brought them all together, I’m going to learn the truth....

My twin sister, Samantha, died a year ago.

This weekend, I’m staying in a beautiful wood-paneled cabin in the mountains with her closest friends. There’s a firepit and hiking trails through the trees. It’s the perfect place for us to talk and remember her.

But I’m not here for that. I’m here to find out what happened.

I’ve always known there was something suspicious about her death. But no one believed me. Then I found her journal, tucked into a hidden space in the window seat of our childhood bedroom, and what I read there changed everything.

The journal shows who they really are. The fraud. The liar. The cheat. The crush.

And I’m going to confront them. Expose their secrets. One of them killed her, and I will prove it.

But then the journal vanishes, one of us is attacked, and fire breaks out on the mountain. What will I risk to get justice for Samantha? And how far am I willing to go?

An absolutely compulsive thriller! If you like The Hunting Party, Ruth Ware, and The Summer House, you’ll love The Weekend Away!

©2023 Miranda Smith (P)2023 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Good story

The narrator was off putting to me. She seemed more about enunciation then making the story more interesting. She made the characters sound like 5 year olds in a way like everything was an innocent act. But set that aside the story was good. I liked how it all played out and it made me think about it after I stopped listening for the night.

Scooby-doo Mystery

I approached ‘The Weekend Away’ with high expectations, influenced by its glowing reviews. However, my experience was underwhelming. The writing style reminded me of a light-hearted Scooby-Doo episode, particularly in how the main character seemed to overplay the ‘gotcha’ moments. Contrary to the Amazon description of it being ‘a totally gripping psychological thriller with a heart-stopping twist,’ I found the plot quite predictable and lacking in depth.

That narrator might have ruined it for me.

Might have liked this more had I read it with my eyes instead of listening to it. The narrator is so bad. She sounds like a news anchor—way too polished, way too enunciated. I couldn’t stand it. There was absolutely nothing natural about her voice. Her voice alone is pleasant. It’s her cadence in the way she reads. IDK it just didn’t work for me.

But the writing didn’t compel me either. At first I was intrigued, but then I just wanted to be done. The ending was not twisty at all. And I just didn’t care about the characters.

It was okay!

The writing was rudimentary in my opinion and the narrator was blah!! Same monotone voice throughout. The plot was all over the place. It wasn’t horrible….just kind of meh!!

Robot reader

I almost didn’t get past the first chapter because the reader was so bad. This couldn’t be a real person. If it was, as a performer I understand the need to articulate, but overdoing it makes it sound unnatural and without emotion- like a robot. That is not how people talk IRL, if I heard the same reader on another audiobook I probably would turn it off.

Couldn't Put It Down

This book kept me interested and I finished it in a day. The suspense kept me wondering what was going to happen next and before I knew it I was done. Great read!!

Poor performance and a very weak story

Don’t waist your money or credits. The audio performance was robotic and lacked any real emotion. She would be great at recording technical journals but not novels.
The writing was predictable and weak. I only finished it so I could write an honest review.