Audio Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

TITLE: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

AUTHORS: John Green and David Levithan

NARRATORS: MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl

PUBLISHER: Brilliance Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: 4/6/2010

FORMAT: Audio book

LENGTH: 7 hours and 52 minutes

SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING:

SUMMARY (FROM AUDIBLE): One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens--both named Will Grayson--are about to cross paths. As their worlds and lives collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most fabulous high school musical.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I'm having a hard time getting on board the John Green train. Everyone seems to adore his books, and out of the four that I've read the only one that I've really enjoyed was The Fault in Our Stars. I was hoping to enjoy this one, but it was my least favorite so far. It took a little bit to get going and then about two hours into the audio, my interest was peaked, but I still never got really invested in the book. I think a lot of my dislike for this one had to do with the audio though. According to Audible, there are two narrators for this book, but when I was listening I didn't even know there was a difference. I actually remember thinking that I would have enjoyed hearing two different narrators so that I could more easily tell the two Will Graysons apart, and apparently there were two narrators all along.

There was a lot of back and forth dialog that had the names of who was speaking before every line and that was, honestly, annoying to listen to the narrator say the names over and over again. Also, the singing drove me nuts. It was so over the top and obnoxious, which I guess was part of that particular character's personality, but it just got on my nerves.

All of that being said, if you're thinking about picking this one up, I would say to check out the print version rather than the audio.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend Review

TITLE: Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. 
AUTHOR: Matthew Dicks 
NARRATOR: Matthew Brown 
GENRE: Fiction, Fantasy 
PUBLISHER: MacMillan Audio 
PUBLICATION DATE: 8/21/2012 
FORMAT: Audio book 

LENGTH: 10 hours 57 minutes 

SOURCE: Bought 

MY RATING:

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): Budo is Max's imaginary friend. But though only Max can see him, he is real. He and the other imaginary friends watch over their children until the day comes that the child stop imagining them. And then they're gone. Budo has lasted a lot longer than most imaginary friends--four years--because Max needs him more. His parents argue about sending him to a special school. But Max is perfectly happy if everything is just kept the way it is, and nothing out of the ordinary happens. Unfortunately, something out of the ordinary is going to happen--and then he'll need Budo more than ever...

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I actually really enjoyed this book. I hadn't heard of it before, but I'm glad that I gave it a listen, because it was great. I loved the narrator. His voice was easy to listen to and fit with the characters well. The concept of the story is really interesting. I've never read anything from a perspective like this before and it was very well done. The story line itself was interesting and exciting. There were funny moments, touching moments, sad moments and suspenseful moments. This book had it all and was a great all-around read.

CHARACTERS: Budo was such a great character. I loved seeing the world though his eyes and watching him change throughout the story.

COVER: I like how it's blurred out. It fits with the idea of this imaginary friend and the possibility of them fading over time.

The Motherless Child Project Review (Audio)

TITLE: The Motherless Child Project

AUTHOR: Janie McQueen & Robin Karr

NARRATOR: Wendy Pitts

PUBLISHER: Burning Sage Publishing Company

PUBLICATION DATE: 3/13/2015

FORMAT: Audio

LENGTH: 4 Hours & 36 Minutes

SOURCE: Audiobook Blast & Wendy Pitts

MY RATING: 

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): In her 16-year-old upscale Charleston, South Carolina life, the biggest problems Emily Amber Rose has had to face run along the lines of designing alternative Halloween costumes, losing five pounds before school pictures, sourcing aromatherapy candles, and finding a bridesmaid dress out of season.

Until she hears an old gospel song that leads her to wonder who she really is.

A dangerous crush, a disturbing world of police, judges, phony mental evaluations, and disappearing parents...

How can a routine school assignment go so wrong?

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this book so much. I was so enthralled with the story and was flying through it to find out what was going to happen next. The story itself was really interesting. I enjoyed reading about the relationship that develops between Emily Amber (the main character) and Bright (one of the kids who ends up joining Emily Amber's online forum). I am hoping that there is a book 2 in the works because I would really like to see where the story goes and I'm interesting in finding out what happens to Bright.

I didn't really enjoy the narrator on this book. To me, I just felt like she kind of mushes her words together, but I was still able to enjoy the story in spite of that. I also really liked that I got to hear the "Motherless Child" song throughout the book.

**I received an audible copy of this book from Audiobook Blast and Wendy Pitts for my honest review.**