A review by livelyghost
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

With so many threads to this story I was really hoping that one or two would really grab me but unfortunately nothing really did. I think I really wanted to know more about BlahBlah’s life and her neighbors at Seasons more than I did Sewanee or Nick! I felt like I learned a little about a lot of things like the marketing dilemma of women’s fiction vs romance, the making of an audiobook, experiences of Hollywood and the publishing industry but never got really fleshed out worlds for the many parts of Sewanee’s life. 

Sewanee is a fun lead - complicated but not a mess, hopeful but not all sunshine all the time, and a lovely friend and family member. Her family and friends are written with enough story to make you interested but not distracted. Every pull quote from June was gold. Nick is someone I could tell you maybe two things about and I literally just finished the book. 

Overall I have mixed feelings. This was a quick read and I enjoyed some of the characters, but the writing just felt like I was getting a lot of appetizers and not a main course sprinkled with some uneven pacing. 

Ultimately, I don’t think it matters what I say, does it? Will you ever truly believe, deep down, that anything other than pity brought me over to you? Nothing I can say will ever make that disappear for you. I can tell you I don’t see it and you will always see it. I can tell you that you’re everything that keeps me up at night and everything I daydream about and how that makes you feel might last a day or a week or an hour. Feelings are temporary. They stick around as long as you believe in them and then they’re gone, waiting to be believed in again. If they were permanent, then we’d only have to say I love you once and then be done with it for the rest of our lives.
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