AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Megan Hart's TEAR YOU APART

Title: TEAR YOU APART

Author: Megan Hart

Narrator: Karen White

Format: Audible Audio Edition

Audible Price: $12.56

Listening Length: 8 hours and 40 minute
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Release Date: 08-27-13

My Ratings
Plot:  5/5
Setting:  4.5/5
Writing:  5/5
Originality of Plot:  5/5
Characters Development:  5/5
Ending:  4.5/5

Narration:  5/5
Cover Art:  4/5
Likelihood to Recommend:  5/5

Overall:  43/45 = 95%

Synopsis

Their passion will consume everything and everyone in its path.

I'm on a train.

I don't know which stop I got on at; I only know the train is going fast and the world outside becomes a blur. I should get off, but I don't. The universe is playing a cosmic joke on me. Here I had my life—a good life with everything a woman could want—and suddenly, there is something more I didn't know I could have. A chance for me to be satisfied and content and maybe even on occasion deliriously, amazingly, exuberantly fulfilled.

So this is where I am, on a train that's out of control, and I am not just a passenger. I'm the one shoveling the furnace full of coal to keep it going fast and faster.

If I could make myself believe it all happened by chance and I couldn't help it, that I've been swept away, that it's not my fault, that it's fate...would that be easier? The truth is, I didn't know I was looking for this until I found Will, but I must've been, all this time. And now it is not random, it is not fate, it is not being swept away.

This is my choice. And I don't know how to stop.

Or even if I want to.

Review

It wouldn't be a Megan Hart book, if it didn't tear your heart to shreds and leave a trail of tissues in it's wake.  She writes the kinds of books that most authors are to scared to write. They are deep, thought provoking, and most of all real! And if you only read books that contain Happily Ever After endings, she probably isn't the book for you.  TEAR YOU APART isn't your standard romance novel, but at it's core this is a story about love and connections. 

From the outside, Elizabeth has it all.  She been married to successful man for over 20 year.  She has beautiful twin daughters in college. And she has a job and a boss that she really likes.  But when you really start to scratch the surface, you find husband who completely takes his wife for granted.  It took sexy, exciting photographer Will walking in Elizabeth's life for her to figure this all out. There is a poignant quote sums up this book very well.  

“See,” Will says, “You never know how thirsty you are until someone offers you something to drink.”

Elizabeth's husband wasn't awful, just neglectful.  It was the standard not fixing the sink, leaving dirty clothes on the floor, and not paying attention to his wife.  Over the years Elizabeth had fallen out of love with her husband.  The attention Will paid to her, made her feel alive again.  When these two get together, it's electric.  Both carried a lot of emotional baggage with them, but found ways to carve out space in their life for each other.  There is excitement, passion, and deep feelings, but is it enough?

Words can't truly express how much I love this book. It's honest, gritty, and passionate.  I love that Megan gave Elizabeth synaesthesia.  It was a brilliant way to add another layer for the reader to experience.  This book was just a ball of emotions for me.  One moment it was fast and exciting, and the next it was raw and tragic.  Most of all, this book was real to me.  Would I have like to have a HEA ending?  Of course I would, but that just wouldn't have felt true to the story.  Megan Hart isn't known for tying up her stories with neat little bows, but I enjoy her writing more for it!

Narrator Karen White, really brought this story to life.  It take a truly talented narrator to bring voice to the emotional roller coaster that is a Megan Hart book.  She created distinct voices for each of the characters, so much that I tend to forget she is reading all of the parts.  I will absolutely pick up books narrated by her in the future!

I would recommend this book to anyone who's not looking for your typical, generic love story.  This story did brake my heart, and I love it because of how deep it made me feel.  I've already recommended TEAR YOU APART to several of my friends.  I can wait for the next Megan Hart adventure!