what an absolutely divine listening experience. I had totally forgotten I had an early ALC from Audible (thank you Audible) for one of my favorite new contemporary voices. I do believe you can get the eBook now too, but Sweet Talk imo is best listened to, especially since it is written in a variety of text messages, voice messages, and phone calls; like a radio play! There's also sound effects and two narrators, both great.

I also adored how we don't quite know who Jessie is at first, and the consent/banter between her and Eliot as he adorably tries to figure out who the person is behind the number he haphazardly programmed into his cell phone was so cute. Their conversations are so wonderful, and I could listen to them talk to each other all day.

Also, Eliot's PTSD, his dyslexia; Jessie's family struggles, her dad. This is quite heavy without being HEAVY if that make sense? I thankfully knew about Jessie's dad's cancer before I started, but I wasn't expecting some of the other plotpoints but they were wonderfully developed.

The ending was ... so abrupt though. Jessie's identity/the big secret was so worrisome, and I was sweating about how it would all go. And it went so well, so quickly that it felt a bit immediately done and resolved.

BUT, those are quibbles for an otherwise fantastic experience.

Character / Story notes - Jessie is a white woman who likes to box/workout, rides a motorcycle, has a dad with cancer and a brother

Eliot - a white man with AD-HD and dyslexia, is dealing with PTSD and trauma after his apartment was broken into and he was held at gunpoint, draws a webcomic.

Setting = New York City