Obviously I love this book but I did not enjoy this as an audiobook at all. If I weren’t already so familiar with this book I would have had a hard time keeping track of who was speaking when; there was so little variation in the voices and the variations that did exist were inconsistent. Sometimes 16-year-old Ox sounded like 10-year-old Joe, who sounded like Ox’s Mom, etc., etc. The pitch was quite irritating, although none of the characters had what you would call an attractive or even a pleasant voice.
Sometimes the book would give audio cues, e.g. “my voice was rough”, or, “it almost sounded like a growl”, but it’s like he was reading the words for the first time and didn’t know a cue came after so everything was said in the same tone. The emphasis was weird too, like none of the questions sounded like actual people asking questions, it sounded like a court reporter reading out a transcript. Or things like, “Youuuu don’t know the half of it”, whereas most people would emphasize the “half”. Or that cringe, “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Like, come on, they’re actually just commas. No need to full stop. It sounded so strange and not at all playful which is how I read it in the book.
Just a couple caveats that 1) it may get better later on in the book, and 2) judging by the reviews I am in the minority so maybe it’s just me. I have a “thing” for voices and I think that’s why I am easily irritated by sounds.
And what do I know anyway, this was only my third audiobook attempt. And clearly I didn’t get very far in this one which is a bummer because I was finally looking forward to my one day a week commute to and from work. The first listen was an EM Lindsey narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo who was amazing (and the voice he used for the main character’s sister was sublime), and the second was Twilight. (Idk who narrated that; it wasn’t bad but the content was so I didn’t get very far in that one either.)
So, so far I’m 1 for 3. Next time I’m following my gut reaction when I listen to the samples. I didn’t like the Wolfsong sample but I love the book and the audiobook was so long I figured it would be worth it for a few months of commute-only listening. I was wrong. Trying BOatK next since it’s narrated by someone else, or one of the How to Be’s. Ooh or maybe a Brando Sando – those are epically long too.