Julia Whelan

A Novel

Thank You for Listening

Lindsey Barnett

“And it made me think: we break, in many different ways. But it doesn't mean we're broken. Do you get what I mean?"

It occurred to her that, for the frst time, she felt truly comfortable with him, even though her body was a live wire of need. How could he have this effect on her? How could he so thoroughly wind her up and simultaneously put her completely at ease?

 "It took me a lifetime to find my place in this world, but it was worth it because it's with you." 

In the end, what the hell else was there to leave behind, really, but memories?

Cover up whatever you please for the world, but in intimacy? Hide nothing. In intimacy, everything is beautiful.

amy hiraki

“And it made me think: we break, in many different ways. But it doesn’t mean we’re broken.”

aleksandra

3/5

I don't remember anything. What was this book about anyway?

For coincidence rejectors, trauma healer, and long-lost love seeker— please get yourself right and have a seat together right now! I found this book available on my libby account and decided to borrow one due to its lovely cover.. yes, that’s simple. I never heard about the writer but I might say this one short: delightful. 

The book is about Swanee, a successful actress who suddenly needed to lose her dream career and turned into an audiobook reader. In the story, you would meet many characters who eventually came into her life from time to time and unintentionally be the guide of her way to overcoming her trauma and still stand on her ground until reach state of acceptance. 

Thank You For Listening is a book you might keep closely to your heart of how this remind you of classic childhood actress who suddenly disappeared from media, but you still heard about her in the core— how it went until realized that is how life works and human put faith on it as well. It’s a basic self-development in the form of sweet and delightful slice of love. 

“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 be done with it for the rest of our lives.”

From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan’s uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator—who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident—and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel. For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her. As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more. If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.

Jule

I dare you to take a shot every time our main character **chuckles**

Jokes aside, this was really enjoyable! Highly recommend the audiobook version as the author is also a professional audiobook narrator!

It was cute story for some reason I couldn’t click with the character as much as I wanted. I still enjoyed the character development and seeing the pov of an audiobook narrator in a book was such a treat as an audiobook lister reader. 

Zaira A 

Elizabeth Wood

A hilarious, heartwarming romance-y novel 😄

Highly recommend listening to it.

Julia Whelan is the audiobook narrator of my favorite romance novels, so when she wrote a romance novel about an audiobook narrator, I strapped in and prepared myself for a good time. This mostly delivers, though the email/text banter in the middle was so lackluster it nearly killed the momentum for me. I'm glad I stuck with it though. Sewanee's character arc was sweet and earned, and Nick is a perfect romantic lead.

jam 🍯

Petaco

I loved it. Loved the banter, loved the growth and self realization. For a while there (view spoiler)[I did not like it. I did not like how she had this super long pity party! I'm sorry I know she went through a lot, but she had a lot to be grateful for and it was so aggravating to hear her constantly whining and complaining. She was always so bitter! Why? For being alive? For having steady work? For having a good support network? For having a place to live? I mean, if you going to have a pity party, at least have pity party for Blah! But you getting into an accident 6 years ago I'm sorry, maybe I got some perspective from working with kids that had severe disabilities. Or maybe I just don't have a heart? It would suck to have a friend that you have to constantly censor yourself around so you don't hurt her feelings. Again, I'm not saying she didn't have a reason to be upset and to mourn her old life, but you also have the option of moving up and moving on. It took too long to do that. (hide spoiler)] Even with those complaints I still love it. Her dad was a piece of work.

The good: good, if uneven, writing with great characters. Sewanee’s coming to terms with herself, & the family relationships were incredible. If I were in the mood for general fiction I might have really enjoyed this. 

But, listen: the “characters who kind of hate the Romance genre fall in love in a Romance book” plot should only EVER be attempted by the experts, & it was pretty clear from the get-go that this author was NOT an expert. In fact, it felt like this author was thinking to herself, “I’m going to write a romance book but 

 than everybody else” — in short, pls see my note above about non-experts attempting this kind of plot bc, at best you come of ignorant & at worst condescending. And also, this is another great example of why a Romance novel should never, never be over 375 pages. I said what I said. 

Sharanya Sharma

The good: good, if uneven, writing with great characters. Sewanee’s coming to terms with herself, & the family relationships were incredible. If I were in the mood for general fiction I might have really enjoyed this. 

But, listen: the “characters who kind of hate the Romance genre fall in love in a Romance book” plot should only EVER be attempted by the experts, & it was pretty clear from the get-go that this author was NOT an expert. In fact, it felt like this author was thinking to herself, “I’m going to write a romance book but better and more serious than everybody else” — in short, pls see my note above about non-experts attempting this kind of plot bc, at best you come of ignorant & at worst condescending. And also, this is another great example of why a Romance novel should never, never be over 375 pages. I said what I said. 

Joana da Silva

Another book that I was highly anticipating but it somehow didn't reach the mark. I'm not saying it's a bad book, the fault is on me for having unrealistic expectations for this story. However, I quite enjoyed it, at least more than My Oxford Year. While I was reading it, I kept saying to my book friends that it was very predictable, yes, but also highly entertaining. I loved how Julia Whelan incorporated the many romance tropes while also making fun of them. I felt that she could've done more with the whole audiobook narrator setting, there was a scene that could have been so much better with just a little bit of spice added. There were some dialogues that hit a little bit too close to home for me, but hey, that's the beauty of books. Sometimes you find exactly what you need at the moment inside them.

Let’s give it a 4.5. It was cute, tugged at my heart strings, and kept me reading like a fiend. Would recommend and was a great February lovey dovey read.

Alex Goodwin

Alexa M

I really liked this! Julia Whelan’s writing is sooo good and I was really pulled in to the story. The romance was cute but I wasn’t obsessssed. Would highly recommend this on audio, obvs! Emily Henry vibes and maybe that’s just because Whelan narrates her audio books but still

I dabble in romance and am by no means a power reader in the genre. My taste tends to contemporary rom com balanced by a bit of heartfelt emotions. This may be my perfect romance book and the best I have read. Julia Whelan exceeded all my hopes and expectations. Her audio narration is fantastic, of course. The structure of the story is wonderful. She uses expected tropes in ways that felt fresh to me. Just the right level of self-aware but still feeling sincere and authentic. How did she do that? I love books about books and publishing. Really enjoyed the inside peak at working in the audiobook industry. I haven't laughed as much while reading/listening in a long time. It lifted my spirits and was a delightful experience.

Cheryl Hedlund

Midori Kobayashi

3.5/5 stars. this was marketed (or what I saw on the internet atleast) as a Book Lovers v2 and i see y'alls point but nah. Book Lovers was so much more for me than this. I feel the variety of different issues Book Lovers covers isn't the same here. By no means is this a bas romcom/chicklit it's just not comparable. Had I read it without it's comparison and marketing, I would have been able to individually enjoy it more. Oh and was it just me or was this lacking romance scenes too? like there was so much potential that I wasn't explored idk..

The beginning was slow but when it picked up…it was phenomenal. There were times I was screaming, crying, and anxiety-ridden. The layers of this were beautiful and real and left me wanting more.

Syrina Akbari

Made me literally laugh out loud multiple times. 

Sure, not a literary classic but as an appreciator of audiobooks, it was fantastic. I especially loved listening to it, bc you can kind of tell that Whelan wrote this to show off her narrating skills and dang it works. So many inside jokes to the reader community, and it just,,, it was just good. 

Emily Klo

Made me literally laugh out loud multiple times. 

Sure, not a literary classic but as an appreciator of audiobooks, it was fantastic. I especially loved listening to it, bc you can kind of tell that Whelan wrote this to show off her narrating skills and dang it works. So many inside jokes to the reader community, and it just,,, it was just good. 

And surprisingly deep at times! Wild. 

This was beautiful but also fell a bit short for me. 

The more I think about this book the less I know how to feel about it. I really enjoyed the author’s note at the end talking about which parts are a bit autobiographical and why most of it isn’t. 

I love Julia Whelan’s work as both an author and a narrator. 

The book itself was a fine book but to me it fell short as a romance. In the book there are a few discussions of women’s lit vs romance, and this is definitely more the former. 

I love the two main characters, and their friends. I like the familial relationships. I just had trouble connecting with the story as a whole. 

Megan BV

I have mixed feelings. 

This was beautiful but also fell a bit short for me. 

The more I think about this book the less I know how to feel about it. I really enjoyed the author’s note at the end talking about which parts are a bit autobiographical and why most of it isn’t. 

I love Julia Whelan’s work as both an author and a narrator. 

The book itself was a fine book but to me it fell short as a romance. In the book there are a few discussions of women’s lit vs romance, and this is definitely more the former. 

I love the two main characters, and their friends. I like the familial relationships. I just had trouble connecting with the story as a whole. 

It's 2022, can we stop equating short, fat and hair loss to disgusting, bad, loser characters? 

You already told us that he is a creepy dumb loser AND gave examples of why, there was no need to go the extra mile.

Wanted to give it 2 stars, should be 5, so I'm giving it 4.

Diego

It's 2022, can we stop equating short, fat and hair loss to disgusting, bad, loser characters? 

You already told us that he is a creepy dumb loser AND gave examples of why, there was no need to go the extra mile.

I thought that body shaming was bad.

There's no morals attached to genetics.

Wanted to give it 2 stars, should be 5, so I'm giving it 4.

I know only I care.

Wow! What a book! I think the plot and idea is pretty original for a romance book. They basically call out all the tropes that the story and characters are living. The characters are all fun and have very dynamic, well rounded personalities that add to the overall story. I highly recommend this read. If you love romance, if you love Love, if you wish your life was like a romance novel this is the read for you. One warning i would give is there is speak of the death of a family member. 

Lydia Power

Latitude Tamarind

I really enjoyed this book! It ticks all the boxes for me; funny and smart while also being sincere and heartfelt. Two characters who are pining for each other in two different ways and they turn out to be the same person?? Fantastic voice and also fantastic voice acting? A straight romance that I actually enjoy? Great chemistry? Mistaken identity? Honestly I took a week off reading but I kept coming back to this book because it is just that compelling, and not that serious, but serious enough where there were stakes. Four and a half stars, rounded up for NetGalley/Goodreads. (The half star reduction is due to the fact that this is a straight romance.)

gisela🪷

There’s romance, there’s self-identity, there’s fun behind-the-scenes of Hollywood/voice acting woes, and there’s the tenderness of watching an elderly loved one slip into dementia. I did “figure out” the big twist but it was still handled in a way that delighted me.

Liz Griffin

What a delight! Thank you Libro.FM for the advanced audiobook copy.

There’s romance, there’s self-identity, there’s fun behind-the-scenes of Hollywood/voice acting woes, and there’s the tenderness of watching an elderly loved one slip into dementia. I did “figure out” the big twist but it was still handled in a way that delighted me.

Thank You for Listening A Novel

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