e-ALC, 12:23:28
Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky & Michael Crouch
Release Date: January 6, 2026
Published by: Recorded Books, Inc
Read from: January 25-26, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Rape, Death, Mental Illness, Kidnapping, Car Accident, Sexual Assault, Animal Death, Sexual Harassment
For Readers Interested In: Audio, Contemporary, Family Diversity, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, ThrillersA twisty, jaw-dropping psychological thriller that unravels a mother’s worst nightmare—that her child is capable of terrible violence—when her teenage son becomes a suspect in the murder of two classmates, from the author of The Deepest Lake.
Over one terrible weekend, two teenage girls are found dead in a wealthy Chicago suburb. As the community mourns, Abby Rosso, the girls’ high school counselor, begins to suspect that her son was secretly involved in their lives—and possibly, their deaths.
Abby doesn’t want to believe Benjamin hurt anyone. But she’s seen the warning signs before. Two decades ago, her brother was imprisoned for a disturbing crime—he was only a little older than Benjamin is now. And Abby has more troubling memories from her own adolescence that confirm what boys and men are capable of. As Abby searches for the truth about what happened to her students, she’s forced to face the Has she been making excuses for Benjamin for years?
Swirling with sharp questions about family and masculinity, What Boys Learn is a twisty thriller that unravels a mother’s worst fears to explore how boys are raised—and what they are taught they can get away with.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was a wild ride. I had in my head that I knew where this was going. And yet I had no idea. This was a bunch of crazy for real. Although I guesses who it was, I didn’t know hot they were going to get there. And let me just say, I damn near stood up and said WTF lol
OK so the mystery itself was just ok. It started out hella slow. And during that time it was the just a bunch of misogyny. I know it was mostly to set up the story but it was so grating. I was cussing him out from the beginning to the end of the book. It was definitely a hot mess. But again, like I said before, this means I had really strong feelings about the book so I guess that means I really liked it.
Another thing about the writing style that I like is the unconventional timeline. She had something that happened to her in her “past life” that she was too scared to talk about. And when she started talking about it, it was so sad. But the way she kept going and trying to figure out what happened showed me just what a momma will do for her kid.
I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to say anything to spoil it, but I will say, the last few parts of the book go fast. Once things start moving, they move fast. I don’t think even I was ready for what happened when it started. I guess who it was as soon as we saw them, but I need to know if I’ve just read too many of these lol Did I guess who it was because of that or because I just figured it out?
This was good, but I don’t want to lie to you, the misogyny really set me off. But overall the story itself had its faults, but I still thought it was good. I hope y’all pick it up and then come back and let me know what you think about it!
Overall, I give this
