The Hostile

By: Joy Mutter

Narrated by: Joy Mutter

In a rundown area of Manchester, inside a bathroom in a small, terraced house overflowing with children and dysfunctional parents, an unfathomable, powerful entity infiltrates 12-year-old Serena's life with disastrous effects. The enigmatic force not only dramatically affects introverted Serena's life, but threatens the well-being of everyone she knows, especially those people who for some reason have earned the strange girl's displeasure. It soon becomes clear that nobody should ever upset Serena if they know what is good for them. After listening to The Hostile, you will never again look at DIY in the same way.

©2016 Joy Mutter (P)2016 Joy Mutter

The hostile

Any additional comments?

At first I found it hard to get into the story , but when I had read about a third I was hooked & enjoyed reading it. It is refreshingly original & wanted to read more.

Oddly Different

Joy definitely has an interesting imagination, When I read the snopes of this book I knew I had to check it out. I have never heard of such a story before, and I am such a huge fan of creepy different and dark.
I was entertained a bit by the story but I wish it would of stay on the main character more, instead of jumping around to family members and their sex lives basically. I understand how it all tyed together but I believe the story would've been stronger if it didn't do this. It was kind of hard to get into at first but it was somewhat enjoyable.

The narrator I found to be awful, it was like she was talking though a tin can for some reason. Then I thought maybe they were making it kind of sound like this because the main character spends so much time in the bathroom... But when they went outside and the tin canny didn't change I knew it was just a bad recording, I think this book would've been much more enjoyable if the narration is betterI was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Starts slow but gets great!

This story is really great. I admit it starts a bit slow but once you are introduced to other character besides Serena you will be sucked in. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Already started book 3. This seems at first like it could be a young adult book but it definitely is not. Serena is definitely a chapter you do not want to cross. I love how she can have a heart and also be heartless at the same time. Her innocence is going fast.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Narration by the author is great. Books 2 & 3 have a different narrator.

Be Careful What You Ask For

…especially if you’re a twelve year old girl in Manchester. “The Hostile” snuck up on me. Not my usual genre so I wasn’t quite sure if I would enjoy this work of reality meets a bit of science fiction but I was completely wrong. Enjoy it I did!

This is a carefully crafted work that delves into the everyday life of Serena, the aforementioned twelve year old, and the people around her. Her one “special” friend seems to be her own personal genie granting her wishes of the most peculiar types. You’re hooked from beginning to end and, fortunately for us, this is only book one of a series.

In addition to that I am a big fan of authors who read their own work. Yes, some of them are not “professional readers” (what that means) but they are the ones, after all, who crafted the words in the first place so who better to read them than the authors themselves. Bravo, Joy!

If you enjoy fiction, science fiction, mystery …. all of the above…”The Hostile” is user-friendly.

A Unique Story

Overall - 4 stars
Story - 4 stars
Narration - 3.5 stars

Disclaimer - This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

I found this story to be strange but interesting. The idea behind it reminded me of something Clive Barker might come up with. The story held my interest throughout.

My only problem was that the audio sounded like the microphone was in a coffee can, at times, but it was still perfectly understandable.

Certainly Different

Any additional comments?

One of the things I look for in my horror/paranormal books is a unique take on whatever the spooky thing is. It's so easy in this genre to put together a story filled with cliches and this one certainly isn't one of them. That's this story's strongest point - that it is based in a weirdness that is unexpected and bizarre. I also enjoyed the fact that this all started because our protagonist had bowel problems - how clever!

The narration was pretty terrible, however. I got used to it but it almost makes it not worth the listen. Finally, even though this is book one in a three part series, it doesn't really have an ending. It just sort of stops. I knew this was a series going in, but I didn't expect that because the series advertises as being readable as stand alone books too. I disagree. I wouldn't read this unless you're planning on reading all three books!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Not Bad !

Was my first book of the author ! Joy has done a great job in narration too .. It took me a long time to get into story but once i was able to do that this was a very good one !

The Hostile

A young girl with digestive issues spends enormous amounts of time in the bathroom talking to the tiles on the floor.One in particular answers her and bad things happen when she complains about something.Joy Mutter wrote and narrates this.The sound was bad.It sounded like it was recorded in a can.Ms Mutter may want to spring for a narrator for her next book.I was provided this book free for review

Mildly recommended

"The Hostile" (2016) by Joy Mutter is an odd paranormal novel. Thirteen-year-old, socially inept Serena, a relatively poor girl living in Manchester, England, develops an unusual relationship with a bathroom tile; Tile X, as she calls him. Tile X speaks to her and can bring severe retribution to anyone who wrongs her, whether she wants it or not. Too much time is spent on the adults in Serena’s life, and the constantly shifting character points-of-view mid-scene became annoying. Mildly recommended. Audiobook provided free in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and Captivating!

I was not sure about listening to this book but am pleased that I did. Joy Mutter did an excellent job with the plot and characters. In the beginning, I was a little confused as to why there was so much reference to the tiles but finally figured out that a tile was one of the characters which I found to be a different but refreshing twist to a suspense novel.

The story, plot and characters are very well written. The author created and developed the characters in such a way that allows you to become involved with the story and develop a relationship with each character. The book evoked a lot of emotions from me but mainly I felt empathy, sympathy and frustration with all of the characters, which for me made the story much better.

The author chose to do her own narration and did so very well. She has very good pacing and voice inflection. Personally, I would prefer a male voice narrating suspense novels as I find a male tends to add more to the intrigue, suspense and overall creepiness of the story. Again, that is just a personal preference - the author did a great job narrating herself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an intriguing, suspenseful and captivating read/listen!!!

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com