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A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing
- Narrated by: Aileen Huynh
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
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A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing
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Publisher's Summary
My father gave me all the relationship advice he thought I’d need: ‘Find someone who likes you more than you like them,’ and ‘Don’t be easy. Men don’t like easy girls.’ At the time I was 17 and sleeping with three different boys, none of whom knew about the others. My father knew nothing of them either.
Jena Chung plays the violin. She was once a child prodigy and now uses sex to fill the void left by fame. She's struggling a little. Her professional life comprises rehearsals, concerts, auditions and relentless practice; her personal life is spent managing the demands of her strict family and those of her creative friends, and hooking up. And then she meets Mark - much older and worldly wise - who consumes her. But at what cost to her dreams?
When Jena is awarded an internship with the New York Philharmonic, she thinks the life she has dreamed of is about to begin. But when Trump is elected, New York changes irrevocably, and Jena along with it. Is the dream over? As Jena’s life takes on echoes of Frances Ha, her favourite film, crucial truths are gradually revealed to her.
A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing explores female desire and the consequences of wanting too much and never getting it. It is about the awkwardness and pain of being human in an increasingly dislocated world - and how, in spite of all this, we still try to become the person we want to be. This is a dazzling, daring and original debut.
Critic Reviews
"I absolutely inhaled this book. Gutsy, bold and surprising, with a darkness that draws you in and keeps you hanging onto every word." (Bri Lee, author of Eggshell Skull)
"This novel knocked me out." (Christos Tsiolkas, author of Damascus)
"A truly bold and audacious new voice." (Alice Pung, author of Laurinda)
What listeners say about A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Natalie Martin-Booker
- 01-07-2021
Sad, messed up & dangerous!
In an age where violence against women especially sexual violence is at epidemic proportions this book is dangerous & disturbing. The lead character needs psychological help, she is messed up!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-08-2022
Unexpected intrigue
This book is not what I thought it would be. It can be quite graphic in parts too. I'm a bit undecided whether I liked it or not.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-03-2021
Realistic, but missed the mark
I struggled to finish this book. I appreciated the realness and believability of the book’s story but found the writing style incredibly jarring. Like a child who tries to sound “grown up”. The narrator also left a lot to be desired. Their tone sounded incredibly forced and didn’t do the story any justice.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-02-2021
Slow narration.
I had to listen to this at 1.3 speed as the narration was very slow!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Duncan
- 21-12-2022
Meh. Well written. Not worth the hype.
Well written but not much really happens. Thoroughly unlikeable protagonist. Overtly sexual. I was underwhelmed.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- needbetterheating
- 02-10-2021
Neither loved nor hated it
I listened over the course of a week and this book held my interest. But now that I'm done I could have taken or left it. I like the exploration of loneliness and what it drives people to do, it's thought provoking. But there is a lot of sex in the book (it's not romantic) and the violence of the descriptions is intense at times. While the protagonists submits to these acts they are not always consensual and its confronting. I think the author clearly means them to challenge the reader but a few times I felt really uncomfortable at the descriptions... The fact that the protagonist is (on occasion, not every encounter) sexually assaulted but she doesn't realise is just heartbreaking and hard to read.
The audible narrator is easy to listen to, has a great cadence when reading from the protagonists POV. . She nails the mother's accent, struggles a bit with the American ones. But she brings it alive, definitely a plus to the audio book.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Sharmila
- 15-08-2021
Not Recommended
A better narrator might have helped. Clearly a messed up character and could not relate. The sexual encounters were monotonous and never ending.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Marli Harris
- 16-04-2023
A bit tedious
I really struggles with the narration here. It was incredibly slow, the accents were not great, and there were intonations that conveyed judgement.
The story meandered and I found myself losing concentration often.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-01-2024
Terrible narration
This book was so slow at times and was not overly engaging. The narration was grating and the main character was unrelateable. The ending was unsatisfying.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-09-2020
Raw, gritty, and so familiar.
It’s graphic, and raw. Not the kind of book to share with your (conservative) mum. But the kind of book which feels so real. It felt familiar and brought to life all the pain that is such a universal part of growing up.
I loved it.
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2 people found this helpful