Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bandherbooks 's review for:
Thank You for Listening
by Julia Whelan
Actual rating 3.5 stars (the narration is SUPERB so I almost gave it a full four). Definitely a must-listen if you do choose to read this one.
I've been sitting on my thoughts for THANK YOU FOR LISTENING for two months; it was a captivating and utterly fabulous narrated experience. Was it a fabulous romance? I don't know. There's an overarching theme of loss, of many varieties, and Sewanee Chester's love interest is not on page enough for my personal liking, especially in a single POV story. I don't want to say much about who the love interest is, as Sewanee herself is figuring it out on her own throughout the story, and that sort of convoluted mystery/secret identity thing didn't always work for me.
the love interest too was both too charming and smarmy almost, but then sometimes I would be utterly taken away by some of the banter and romance. A mixed bag, for sure!
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING is definitely Sewanee's story, and if you enjoy women's fic leaning romances with lots of twists and turns, give this one a go.
I'd be absolutely remiss though not to mention the vast range of narrator Julia Whelan's talents, which she puts fully on display here; multiple characters, so many accents, she does them all! I couldn't stop listening because of her talent, which she did deftly put on display here.
Also, I wasn't certain about the disability rep for Sewanee's accident that left her with one eye. There's a lot of ennui about how that accident changed Sewanee's acting career, and her lingering grief/anxiety/jealousy about her future.
ALSO: personally i do not like being teased with a sexy night that fades to black but then gets recounted in flashback lmao, and really side-eyed some of the insider wink wink-ness of the narrators' thoughts and feelings about the romance genre.
Content notes: Sewanee is a white woman who lives in LA; her grandmother is a white 80 something woman who lives in an assisted living apartment. grandma attempts suicide (not successful) and dies at the end of the book (off-page, last chapter is at the memorial).
I've been sitting on my thoughts for THANK YOU FOR LISTENING for two months; it was a captivating and utterly fabulous narrated experience. Was it a fabulous romance? I don't know. There's an overarching theme of loss, of many varieties, and Sewanee Chester's love interest is not on page enough for my personal liking, especially in a single POV story. I don't want to say much about who the love interest is, as Sewanee herself is figuring it out on her own throughout the story, and that sort of convoluted mystery/secret identity thing didn't always work for me.
the love interest too was both too charming and smarmy almost, but then sometimes I would be utterly taken away by some of the banter and romance. A mixed bag, for sure!
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING is definitely Sewanee's story, and if you enjoy women's fic leaning romances with lots of twists and turns, give this one a go.
I'd be absolutely remiss though not to mention the vast range of narrator Julia Whelan's talents, which she puts fully on display here; multiple characters, so many accents, she does them all! I couldn't stop listening because of her talent, which she did deftly put on display here.
Also, I wasn't certain about the disability rep for Sewanee's accident that left her with one eye. There's a lot of ennui about how that accident changed Sewanee's acting career, and her lingering grief/anxiety/jealousy about her future.
ALSO: personally i do not like being teased with a sexy night that fades to black but then gets recounted in flashback lmao, and really side-eyed some of the insider wink wink-ness of the narrators' thoughts and feelings about the romance genre.
Content notes: Sewanee is a white woman who lives in LA; her grandmother is a white 80 something woman who lives in an assisted living apartment. grandma attempts suicide (not successful) and dies at the end of the book (off-page, last chapter is at the memorial).