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Townie: A Short Story
A sharp, haunting story about identity, connection, and trust built and broken,
Townie
is a spellbinding listen by the critically acclaimed author of
If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi
.
Townie is a brief yet dramatic glimpse at a blossoming friendship between two young women in a small college town - Amal, a transplant from LA, and Bridgette, a local 20-something who feels lost in her own life and becomes enamored with her new friend’s confidence. At first, the new relationship is intoxicating, and the two women spend every spare minute getting drunk on cheap liquor, party-hopping, and binging reality TV. But soon, a secret is revealed that shifts the dynamic, and Bridgette makes a choice she can never take back.
Please This audio contains strong language and descriptions of violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.
Townie is a brief yet dramatic glimpse at a blossoming friendship between two young women in a small college town - Amal, a transplant from LA, and Bridgette, a local 20-something who feels lost in her own life and becomes enamored with her new friend’s confidence. At first, the new relationship is intoxicating, and the two women spend every spare minute getting drunk on cheap liquor, party-hopping, and binging reality TV. But soon, a secret is revealed that shifts the dynamic, and Bridgette makes a choice she can never take back.
Please This audio contains strong language and descriptions of violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.
Audio CD
First published May 27, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
November 20, 2022
I don't know how the author could include so many controversial topics like transphobia, trans violence, and sexual abuse in such a short book.
A small-town girl with huge ambitions destroying someone else in her journey. This is the story of this book. But the way Bridgette whips the other person's life is ridiculous. The open-ended ending makes matters even worse.
My favorite three lines from this book.
“It is funny how it happens. In one minute you love someone, the next minute you don’t.”
"My mother always told me misery is always a dish best shared and that if you weren't careful, you would spend the rest of your life serving it. ”
"Maybe hatred is a form of love too. A form of devotion, obsession. I don't know."
This book is what we call smart diagnosis but poor treatment. The topics discussed in it are all significant. But the author somehow executed it in a manner that won't be acceptable to many people.
A small-town girl with huge ambitions destroying someone else in her journey. This is the story of this book. But the way Bridgette whips the other person's life is ridiculous. The open-ended ending makes matters even worse.
My favorite three lines from this book.
“It is funny how it happens. In one minute you love someone, the next minute you don’t.”
"My mother always told me misery is always a dish best shared and that if you weren't careful, you would spend the rest of your life serving it. ”
"Maybe hatred is a form of love too. A form of devotion, obsession. I don't know."
This book is what we call smart diagnosis but poor treatment. The topics discussed in it are all significant. But the author somehow executed it in a manner that won't be acceptable to many people.
February 7, 2022
Honestly ..... read Neel's 'novel' ....his debut 'NOVEL'.......(its the better choice -by far!)
"Tell Me How To Be".
"Tell Me How To Be".
December 20, 2023
Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Alexandra Grey
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Alexandra Grey
Read
November 15, 2021Dear fellow cis people, read this review. I don't recommend any trans folk continue on in this review nor do I recommend they read the book.
I'm struggling a little bit with how to write a review for this book. It is a very short story but it packs a lot of content and emotions into a 38 minute audiobook.
I am going to give some spoilers because I don't actually recommend this book. While I'm impressed with the amount of investment I feel in the short story, I also have an issue with the big turning point of this book.
Content warning for transphobia and violence against trans people in the next section.
This book is about Bridget who is a woman living in a small town. She doesn't really know what's next for her in life. She is having an affair with her boss even though she really doesn't want to. She keeps planning on moving to New York but never makes the jump and instead is stuck in this small college town. She ends up meeting a woman named Amal and instantly becomes fascinated with her. Amal is everything that Bridget wants to be as a woman and she is envious of Amal's body and her personality and the way that she carries herself etc.
When things backfire and Amal makes Bridget angry, Bridget does something terrible. She figures out her place in life but only at the expense of Amal. Bridget outs Amal as trans on a whim to some skeezy cishet college boys and it results in Amal being violently beaten in a victim of intense traumatic assault fueled by transphobia. It results in Bridget feeling terrible, as she should because it is absolutely horrendous what she did, and it also leads to Bridget making her own big lifestyles and realizing that she has to be better.
I needed Bridget to get punished or yelled at or just any sort of consequence for her actions and this book didn't quite deliver it to the level I needed.
I do feel like this book opens up some really important conversations about a violence against trans women especially at the hands of cis men. It also opens up conversations about homophobia and transphobia and also delves into kind of the hypersexualized college scene BUT THESE CONVERSATIONS COULD'VE BEEN PROMPTED WITHOUT A VIOLENT TRANSPHOBIC ATTACK.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that Bridget has her own trauma including being the survivor of rape and assaults and I suppose that should be mentioned, but this is a harsh lesson that you never ever should out someone without their explicit permission. And this lesson is being taught at the expense of this trans character and that's a major issue. Stop using trans suffering as a lesson for cis people.
honestly just avoid this one.
I'm struggling a little bit with how to write a review for this book. It is a very short story but it packs a lot of content and emotions into a 38 minute audiobook.
I am going to give some spoilers because I don't actually recommend this book. While I'm impressed with the amount of investment I feel in the short story, I also have an issue with the big turning point of this book.
Content warning for transphobia and violence against trans people in the next section.
This book is about Bridget who is a woman living in a small town. She doesn't really know what's next for her in life. She is having an affair with her boss even though she really doesn't want to. She keeps planning on moving to New York but never makes the jump and instead is stuck in this small college town. She ends up meeting a woman named Amal and instantly becomes fascinated with her. Amal is everything that Bridget wants to be as a woman and she is envious of Amal's body and her personality and the way that she carries herself etc.
When things backfire and Amal makes Bridget angry, Bridget does something terrible. She figures out her place in life but only at the expense of Amal. Bridget outs Amal as trans on a whim to some skeezy cishet college boys and it results in Amal being violently beaten in a victim of intense traumatic assault fueled by transphobia. It results in Bridget feeling terrible, as she should because it is absolutely horrendous what she did, and it also leads to Bridget making her own big lifestyles and realizing that she has to be better.
I needed Bridget to get punished or yelled at or just any sort of consequence for her actions and this book didn't quite deliver it to the level I needed.
I do feel like this book opens up some really important conversations about a violence against trans women especially at the hands of cis men. It also opens up conversations about homophobia and transphobia and also delves into kind of the hypersexualized college scene BUT THESE CONVERSATIONS COULD'VE BEEN PROMPTED WITHOUT A VIOLENT TRANSPHOBIC ATTACK.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that Bridget has her own trauma including being the survivor of rape and assaults and I suppose that should be mentioned, but this is a harsh lesson that you never ever should out someone without their explicit permission. And this lesson is being taught at the expense of this trans character and that's a major issue. Stop using trans suffering as a lesson for cis people.
honestly just avoid this one.
March 15, 2022
Townie is an Audible Original short story that kept me intrigued but took a dark turn I wasn’t expecting. The story is about a friendship between two young women and kept me thinking after I finished it.
May 28, 2022
I am so not renewing my audible plus membership!
December 26, 2025
That was messed up
December 22, 2025
A well written piece but the story feels like it would have been able to breathe more if it had been a bit longer.
June 23, 2021
Story: 3 stars 🌟
Narrator: 3.5 stars 🌟
That ending... bit chilling in a couple ways.
Narrator: 3.5 stars 🌟
That ending... bit chilling in a couple ways.
February 13, 2022
Sad and tragic but a good story nonetheless
Read
May 25, 2022I refuse to rate this short story. Was it shocking? Yes. But damn it didn't have to go down like that.
read this review by Anna it sums all up all my thoughts and feels Anna's review
read this review by Anna it sums all up all my thoughts and feels Anna's review
October 25, 2021
There are authors who can write a short story that is so powerful that it is mind shaking. That is Townie. An incredibly important listen that just had me speechless at the end. Not only was the story amazing, but the narration added to the inability to stop listening to this story.
Audible has some really great short listens. Townie is more than that though. There is something truly gut-wrenching in this 38 minute listen.
Bravo...Bravo!
Audible has some really great short listens. Townie is more than that though. There is something truly gut-wrenching in this 38 minute listen.
Bravo...Bravo!
August 25, 2021
It's really just a short story - but well done and provocative. My partner and I listened to it on a fairly short car trip and had an interesting discussion afterward about the issues this story brought up. This was one of the best of the "Audible Originals" that I've listened to.
August 16, 2022
I don't know what to say about this story I'm overwhelmed by all the things I mean social issues talked about in such a short story.
July 25, 2021
Heartbreaking short story… will stay with me a long time.
February 17, 2022
That was a very strange short story, and I'm not really sure what its purpose was, but I do think Neel Patel is a great writer. It felt very real for how short it was.
CW: for LGBTQIA+ violence
CW: for LGBTQIA+ violence
May 18, 2022
Definitely not what I thought. Exceptionally well written.
June 10, 2022
I thought I knew what what was happening but I had no idea. Short. Dark. Uncomfortable. And lovely. Looking forward to reading more this author's work.
Read
January 11, 2023i listened to the whole thing while doing dishes
October 28, 2024
Just plain sad. Our main character reflects on her friendship with Amal, amidst her own lonely, listless wandering through life. I was not expecting that ending.
September 12, 2021
Very short entertaining listen. I was not really engaged with it fully until the very end. Shocking.
June 20, 2021
I thought this was a solid short story. It didn't "wow" me but the ending what kind of a mind-fuck. 5/5 for the structure.
January 4, 2022
Very good. Not what I thought.
June 7, 2021
This is a very short story, I think too short! Bridget is a woman who seems to be searching for herself. She had an affair with her married boss. She tells everyone she's moving to new York when she is not. Then she meets Amal and gets obsessed with her. They share secrets,,,and then something horrible happens. I felt there was no point, no resolution.
May 10, 2022
Short, but packs a punch.
Be in the frame of mind of a dark story. Think Patricia Highsmith or the stories from Switch Bitch maybe. Forget any ideas of it being a fable or having poetic justice. The narrator is unattractive. Though written well enough that the reader can get her and follow along with her.
I'm interested to check out what else this author has written.
“Maybe hatred is a form of love too. A form of devotion, obsession.”
Be in the frame of mind of a dark story. Think Patricia Highsmith or the stories from Switch Bitch maybe. Forget any ideas of it being a fable or having poetic justice. The narrator is unattractive. Though written well enough that the reader can get her and follow along with her.
I'm interested to check out what else this author has written.
“Maybe hatred is a form of love too. A form of devotion, obsession.”
Read
December 3, 2021This review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Says it better than I ever could.
I don’t think a presumably cis male author should be sacrificing a trans woman character for a cis character’s growth, and even if Mr. Patel is trans, he isn’t a trans woman, so I still think it’s unsavory. The story is well-written. But in 2021, it leaves a bad taste. Trans women aren’t vehicles for other people’s growth, and their trauma should not be your story springboard.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Says it better than I ever could.
I don’t think a presumably cis male author should be sacrificing a trans woman character for a cis character’s growth, and even if Mr. Patel is trans, he isn’t a trans woman, so I still think it’s unsavory. The story is well-written. But in 2021, it leaves a bad taste. Trans women aren’t vehicles for other people’s growth, and their trauma should not be your story springboard.
July 26, 2021
Getting straight to the spoiler here:
I hate that the betrayal centers on forcefully outing and misgendering a trans woman (resulting in her assault), as soon as she disappointed her "friend". I wish there had at least been some form of resolution (not that the protagonist deserved it).
The story is well-written, which is why I still give it 3 stars.
I hate that the betrayal centers on forcefully outing and misgendering a trans woman (resulting in her assault), as soon as she disappointed her "friend". I wish there had at least been some form of resolution (not that the protagonist deserved it).
The story is well-written, which is why I still give it 3 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2021
Very well though of story in terms of writing it and performing it. I cannot stop wondering how different the book would have been of it were written by a woman. Regardless, I would have loved to be inside Bridgette's thought after realizing the consequences of her actions an show thy impacted Amal's life.
August 30, 2022
Spoiler and trigger warning: toxic masculinity, the subjugation of women, transphobia, gender-based violence, obsessive relationships, jealous girl ridiculousness and a Kardashians reference in one short story. Patel tries to cram a LOT in, relying on tropes and a plot twist that was jarring and disturbing. Wish I hadn't wasted an Audible credit on this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2022
I do not recommend this for trans folks or allies- or, really, anyone. In my mind, the author used the heartbreaking issue of violent transphobia as a plot device- and nothing more. I fail to see any redeeming value of such a story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews