Name: Thank You for Listening
Rating: 4.123239436619718 (71 reviews)
ISBN: 9780063095564

Julia Whelan

A Novel

Thank You for Listening

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.

Ashley Pennington

I was drawn to this book for it's title and it didn't disappoint. I was drawn in from the beginning! It made me laugh, smile and cry. It was more than i expected it to be. 

I loved everything about this book. The characters are likable. I was laughing at Swan and Nick throughout most of the book. Their banter and chemistry is perfect. Blah is a sweet, funny grandma and I felt for Swan as she deals with her situation.  

The story is broken up into parts, which are typical points in a romance story. This made the story predictable, but the way the author wrote each chapter/section was perfect. 

I imagine the audiobook version of this is amazing! 

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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.

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

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

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.

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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