Someone Like You
by Sarah Dessen
272 pages (paperback)
or
6 hours and 10 minutes on 6 CDs (audio)
I was scoping out the selection of audio books at my local library (which was not as large as I expected) and I came across this Sarah Dessen book. Since I had never before listened to an audio book (*GASP!*) I decided that I didn't want something really long because I didn't know if I would really like it and I don't have a very long commute or rides in the car in general. I decided this one would be perfect. I've been hearing good things about Sarah Dessen from the YA readers I know plus, at just over 6 hours, it wouldn't take me weeks to finish.
The book is about a girl named Halley who is an angst-filled, not so good with the self-esteem teenager who is *shocker* not getting along with her therapist mother. On top of all these 'growing into a young woman' changes and family issues, her best friend Scarlett's summer boyfriend slash love-of-her-life dies in a motorcycle accident. A few weeks later, Scarlett discovers that she's pregnant with said love-of-her-life's baby. Yikes. While helping her friend deal, Halley meets bad-boy Macon Faulkner who begins to corrupt her into sneaking out, skipping school, etc. He's pretty much every guy I dated in high school when I wanted to upset my parents all rolled into one. Yikes again. So, throughout the book, Halley has to figure out who she really is and wants to be, how to help her friend through this hard time in her life, and how to get along with her mother again.
When I started this audio book, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. Then, I realized that I was thinking about the storyline throughout the day so it wasn't that I didn't like the characters and plot, I just didn't really like the reader! Her voice was just kind of annoying. She would try to change it for the male characters, but she had such a feminine voice, that it would just end up sounding like Urkle, you know...kind of nasal-y and high pitched for a guy? Not exactly pleasant to listen too. Also, I had to look up what Macon's name was online because at first I thought she was saying 'Nathan' and then I thought it was 'Mathan' and then I thought maybe 'Macon'? but what a weird name! so I had to look it up to be sure. That was annoying. And really, the only thing that really bothered me in the book itself was that one of Halley's pet peeves was how SO many people messed up her name, but I don't see Halley as that odd of a name? I mean, Halley's comet. I get it, so I guess I didn't understand why everyone in the book had such a hard time with it and thought that it was SUCH a strange name. Macon is definitely a lot stranger!
I think that I could really like audio books, as long as I find ones with good readers. Also, I went through this book a lot quicker than a thought I would. I guess the 30-40 minutes round trip to work plus time spent running errands, plus a weekend trip to Kalamazoo (just over an hour) really adds up more than I thought that it would.
Okay, now for the points:
8 out of 10 for the book. Entertaining storyline, fun characters, pretty realistic view of high school drama.
3 out of 10 for the reader. She put forth the effort in trying to do other voices, but it just didn't work for me.
9 out of 10 for audio books in general. I think that I will be trying out another one! Any recommendations??
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