Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Thank You for Listening

I am *very* picky about audiobooks, to the point that I know it’s unfair and illogical and so I tend to not listen to them at all, but I like Julia Whalen. A lot. I find her very talented and enjoyable to listen to. Now, bring me a book of written by an audiobook narrator ABOUT audiobook narrators and it seems only fair (and totally obvious) that it need to be consumed via audio. Right? So, of course, I did. Now please refer back to my comment about being unfairly judgmental and illogically picky about audiobooks and take my review with a grain of salt. I believe this book is good and if I had read it on page I would’ve loved it more, possibly. The characters are unique and flawed and diverse, the banter is funny and witty and cute. BUT…. But… you can tell an audiobook narrator wrote this. There are characters who exist solely for the purpose of the narrator [author] showing off her skills in accents. Which, for the record, is good (with the exception of the Bostonian ex boyfriend with the most horrendous Boston accent I’ve ever hear and take person offense to), but there’s no real reason for them. I also have mixed feelings about a white author writing about the plight of a black woman in Hollywood… but it does seem (to me, another white woman, to note) to be handled somewhat carefully. Just perhaps not her story to tell, again, as a white woman who was a former actress. I guess all this to say some of this felt inauthentic but it’s hard to parse that from what I HEARD and wish I would’ve just read the book 🤷🏻‍♀️ don’t come for me. I still gave it 4 stars!! There’s quality story here and a lot of fun.

Content Warnings

kianiz's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I can’t really explain it. I was really into it until I wasn’t.

The reveal that Brock was Nick all along (gasp) was SO painfully predictable. And for some reason, once they met, all of that witty banter and chemistry they had through the texts vanished. It felt like he was neither Nick nor Brock. Also, the author also narrated their first night together way too late in the book and it also didn’t live up to my expectations since Sewanne made it sound like it was some mind-blowing thing.

A good chunk of the book is dedicated to the grandma and yet her plot line fizzles out. Sewanne’s dad also suddenly sees the error of his ways out of nowhere and Adaku ends up in the hospital for whatever reason it is because I skipped all of that.

I also don’t like when books are self-aware and the main characters keep spewing out tropes they find themselves in. Granted, this book is about book narrators, but still…

I don’t know. I liked a few moments here and there but overall, I was just waiting for it to wrap up.

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dianaschmidty's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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