best & worst: audiobooks

Hello, friends!

I present to you a new feature on the blog: best and worst. Not original, in the slightest, but I wanted to do it anyway because WHY NOT. I already have a lot of planned posts, so I hope you enjoy seeing me rant & rave about things in the same post.

I wanted to start out talking about a less controversial topic: audiobooks. I started listening to audiobooks in 2019 and it is definitely how I consume most my books these days. I love them and find them to be so convenient!

However, some audiobooks experiences are definitely better than others, so I compiled four of the best and four of the worsts.

BEST

ONE. THE PARIS APARTMENT, BY LUCY FOLEY

I recently finished the audiobook for this one and it was such a good one, I was so surprised. It is a full cast audiobook, so you have one narrator for each perspective, and some also do a French accent that is simply just so satisfying to listen to! I was intimidated because the audiobook is quite long – 12h, to be exact -, but I flew through it and I finished this book in like 4 days, while typically audiobooks of this length would take me over a week.

 

TWO. ODD ONE OUT, BY NIC STONE

This was the first audiobook I ever listened to, so maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much. For nostalgia more than anything else. But I am a firm believer that Nic Stone’s writing is even better when read out loud. Her writing is so coloquial, but in a way that still holds weight to it and is thought-provoking. I also love the fact it’s a full cast audiobook and each narration sounds so distinct from the other.

 

 

THREE. A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER, BY HOLLY JACKSON

This is another one that I’ve seen so many people recommending the audiobook for and I stand by it completely. While I did not love this book and found the writing to be a bit disjointed with the themes, I loved the audiobook mixed-media format and the effects that were added whenever the protagonist, Pip, would record her “journal” entries reflecting on her investigation as well as the interviews she would do over the phone. All that made the listening experience even more fun and engaging.

 

FOUR. ME, BY ELTON JOHN

Look, I will never shut up about how good Taron Egerton is as a narrator. I love the fact that, aside from playing Elton in his biopic, Rocketman, Taron Egerton also narrates his memoir. He was able to put so much emotion, from the light chuckles during the humorous scenes to the frustrated sighs at any mention of Elton’s mom. I’m sure not everyone will love this type of narration, but it made me love the book even more. Plus, he has a great accent!

 

WORST

ONE. CALL DOWN THE HAWK, BY MAGGIE STIEFVATER

The narrator for Call Down the Hawk is, in the Stiefvater-verse, the narrator for Ronan, meaning I’m sure he shows up in other books in The Raven Cycle series though I’ve only listened to this one. While I got used to his narration, mostly because of how long the audiobook was (lol), his narration is so extra. He does this raspy, whispery voice, full of dramatic pauses, because apparently Ronan is this mysterious sexy man? Lol. I can’t explain it, but it’s definitely not my favorite.

 

TWO. A CUBAN GIRL’S GUIDE TO TEA AND TOMORROW, BY LAURA TAYLOR NAMEY

This one was a recent read and probably one I would have enjoyed better had I not listened to the audiobook. This one is set in England and while the MC is American, she interacts with a lot of English characters and the narrator would do possibly the most hideous British accent I’ve listened to since Troian Bellisario’s performance in the last season of Pretty Little Liars. (Iykyk, ello sista is camp). Now, I am not amazing with accents, but this one was just so bad omg.

 

THREE. NOW THAT I’VE FOUND YOU, BY KRISTINA FOREST

This was another problem with the narrator more than anything. While I thought her performance was okay when it came to the main character, she would do a type of voice for the love interest that was just so… emotionless. It was pretty monotone, even when he was doing some pretty emotional declarations. That completely stopped me from buying into the romance and actually caring for the character.

 

FOUR. EMERGENCY CONTACT, BY MARY H.K CHOI

All I remember from this audiobook experience is that, even though I was listening in max volume, I still could not listen to Sam’s narrator. He spoke in this monotone, low voice that made it impossible for you to hear him, especially as it would get gradually lower as the sentence ended. It didn’t help that I hated the characters too, which made this an all-around pretty bad experience.

 

 

Do you have a favorite audiobook? Or maybe a go-to narrator? What is something that ruins the audiobook experience for you? Let me know in the comments.