"Decent" Possession Tale

Sara Gran offers a story about an unremarkable professional woman & wife taken over by a malevolent spirit partly in the guise of a childhood imaginary friend. Protagonist 'Amanda' repeatedly returns to an "Are You Possessed?" questionnaire found in a strangely-obtained book to discover that she's more or less following a descent-into-spiritualistic-horror template. The writing is capable, the imagery is creepy, and the progression is intuitive. Unfortunately, it's also not very original (visiting a psychic spiritual advisor at one point, for example).

As to presentation: Julie McKay is overall professional and enjoyable as a reader. Her timbre, cadence, and tone are well-suited to the subject matter.
Unfortunately, her performance is marred by annoying mouth noises and overenunciation. Tantor Audio sound engineers can't soften the most irritating aspects of the recording (avoid earbuds on this one - stick to the speakers on your device or in your vehicle if you give it a try).

Altogether, 'Come Closer' merits 6.5 stars out of 10. It's more "bizarre" than "scary". It was a serviceable free 'Plus' listen and undeniably entertaining as a Horror Genre entry
..but not worth a Credit when they ask for one.

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certainly a book

super predictable story. the main character is apparently immune from feeling guilt after straight up murdering someone while she was in the early stages of the possession...

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There're only so many stories about being posessed

while this book didn't ever shock or surprise me I still enjoyed it. the story was a little slow at points but given that it's not very long it quickly picks back up. I really enjoyed the idea of a possession quiz. the way the character brushes things off until they're too late feels very realistic in a "don't go check out the noise" way. I think the second half of the book is a bit rushed compared to the first half but overall I enjoyed it.

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Mediocre in every sense

Can’t say it’s a bad book. I was engaged in the story and wanted to know what happened to the character. But I was not at all invested in the story. Had it been longer, I may have stopped halfway. Book felt very uninspired.

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Just okay

I gave it chance without reading the reviews which I don’t regret, or else I never would of gave it a shot. Overall it was okay and I enjoyed the narration. I don’t usually like anything involving possession as I feel it’s so overdone but it was a quick story or else I don’t think I would of finished listening.

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Good to introduce yourself to horror

The book was good, it wasn't what I was hoping for personally; but it was good non the less.
I absolutely think it would be a good starting point for someone that wanted to dip their toe in the horror genre. It has come graphic descriptions and some creepy thought provoking content but its dulled down a little compared to other books I've read which is why I think it would be a good bench mark for some.

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Meh

I wouldn’t say that it’s horrible, it had a moment here and there but nothing redemptive. I’m having a hard time justifying the time spent with this one. I struggled to finish and almost added it to the DNF collection. The “horror” scenes are unoriginal and more comical than anything imo, I found the plot to be quite bland and didn’t find myself caring for any of the characters involved even once. I had a very difficult time with the narrator of this one, to boot. Idk, I can only say: give it a try if this is your preferred genre/style - maybe you will enjoy it. But if you find yourself wondering at any point when it will pick up and start getting interesting, then I suggest not wasting any more of your time - as my experience with this story suggests that you’ll likely be just as disappointed by the end. I wanted to like it but I just didn’t. Giving it 3 stars overall because I think it could have been better but the execution just wasn’t there.

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Bad

Not scary, boring plot and characters you don’t care enough about to worry if something bad happens to them. Don’t bother with this one!

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