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I absolutely adored this book! Foolishly, I'd avoided reading this book for a while due to the sheer amount of hype surrounding it and the usual disappointment that accompanies reading those "flavour of the month" novels, but I'm so glad to say it completely lived up to the hype.

Complementing the confronting storyline, the fantastic characters (how horrible is Hilly!), and the fast pace was the brilliant audio production. I've listened to some great audiobooks in my time--The Wheel of Time series, Stephen Fry's autobiographies, Tim Curry doing Lemony Snickett's--and this is by far the best example I've encountered of an audio addition bringing the characters and the story to life. The full cast, including Octavia Spencer reprising her Oscar-winning role as Minnie, do such a great job with the Southern accents, perfectly nuancing the different races, classes, genders, and ages of the characters, and you consequently find yourself completely immersed in this 1960s Southern US world. I couldn't listen fast enough. If you're thinking about reading this book I'd highly recommend getting your hands on the full cast audio addition, as you'll be in for a real treat!