{Audiobook} Review: Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

Title: Burying Water
Author: K.A. Tucker
Narrator(s): Josh Goodman, Elizabeth Louise
Series: n/a
Length: 11 hrs 0 mins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Source: audiobook received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.

Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?

Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer—and happier—that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.

The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface.

I've really enjoyed all of the K.A. Tucker book's I've read, but I have to say, I think I loved this one best of all. I thought I'd miss all of those Ten Tiny Breaths characters, but Tucker did what she does best here and told a story of love and loss and finding your way back, and I was completely absorbed in listening as these two characters experienced it all.

I love a good amnesia storyline because it means that I'm less likely to figure out what the ending holds before I've barely even gotten started. However, with Burying Water, the story is told from two perspectives, one from the past and one from the present, meaning that because of the way one character narrates the past as it unfolded, we can see how the other character got to the point that they're at. Rather than making the novel predictable, this method of storytelling is captivating, divulging details only as needed until the story comes full-circle. Still, it wasn't difficult to determine what had occurred between and to the characters, but that didn't make the story any less satisfying. I've read a couple of other books this year told in this way, and it's quickly becoming a trend I love.

As always, Tucker has created characters with such depth, with such complexity that I couldn't help but connect with them on some level. Even old Ginny Fitzgerald, the resident crazy lady in town, was well-fleshed out with a back-story of her own that immediately lent an air of kinship between her and her new tenant. At times, Ginny even acts as the Dr. Stainer-type figure for Water, making her see what's happened to her in a new light and pressing her to move past it. (Dr. Stainer was a major presence -- a psychologist with an unusual bedside manner -- in the first two books of the Ten Tiny Breaths series.)

Water, for her part, is just a young woman, trying to make the best of a bad situation. There's really not much more she can do than that, not until her memories resurface.She wants to remember what happened, but she also heeds Ginny's warnings that sometimes it's truly better not being able to remember. After all, what happened to Ginny has haunted her for years, leaving her overly cautious of strangers and secluded on her family's ranch. The thing is, even barely knowing the girl and knowing very little of her situation, you can tell that she wants better for Water, that she doesn't want Water to end up like her. I really, truly loved that feisty old woman and everything she did for Water.

The chapters told from Jesse's perspective were harder on me. As the past unfolds, you get a sense of the direction this story is going in, and it's obvious that it's not going to/didn't end well for those involved. The dread at uncovering just what had transpired nearly consumed me at times, but having Water's chapters there, too, meant that all hope was not lost. Also, the underlying theme that the truth will out led me to believe that some good would have to come of this tragic story, that the truth of who Water was and what had happened to her had to come to the surface eventually.

I think Elizabeth Louise has narrated every single audiobook for the Tucker books I've listened to, and yet, she always becomes the character. I could never confuse her Kacey for her Livie or her Livie for Water. It's not that she changes her voice for each new role, but she just has a manner about her that makes the character's whole demeanor more evident, whether they be snarky or reserved or just confused. I can't even think about those other characters she's voiced previously because in the here and now, she is Water and I couldn't forget that for a moment. I don't believe I've ever heard anything narrated by Josh Goodman, but he was a great choice to portray Jesse. He didn't sound like any of the previous romantic leads in the TTB series. But he still sounded the part of the hunky mechanic with an obvious death wish.

For a love story about two people who met by chance and forged an immediate connection, this story really took a dark and twisty turn. But for a change, I knew what was coming and I enjoyed the story even more because of the journey it took to get there. For that and because she writes with such depth of emotion, I think I love this author's work just a little more each time I hear it.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

Find Kathleen:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: amnesia, audiobooks, burying water, contemporary, k.a. tucker, new adult, reviews, simon schuster, tough subject