Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

23 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

funny

3.5

Love the concept, hated the characters. I was also frustrated by the somewhat (pointlessly) non-linear storytelling, which made the pacing of the book a bit funky. I’m also not usually a miscommunication hater, but it really didn’t work for me in this book. It felt very lopsided, which just made me extra annoyed at one of the characters. Despite that, this book was funny, I was rooting for the romance, and the side plots with Sawenee’s friends and family were interesting and at times even more compelling than the main romance. At times it felt like Whelan was writing different accents/scenes into the book just to have a fun time/a challenge in narration, which made the audiobook really fun to listen to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Eating disorder

kirareadssometimes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A perfect book. Peppered with moments of deep contemplation with some of the greatest wisdom I’ve read in a book, Thank you for Listening is real and raw while having the most unrealistic romance I’ve read. But it’s acknowledgement of this improbable relationship somehow makes it even more true to life. Julia Whelan is an impressive writer and an my favorite narrator. I’ve never heard someone pour as much into what she reads

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death

Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, and Infidelity

cjsamuel's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, and Mental illness

alykate's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, and Dementia

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, and Eating disorder

imstephtacular's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

I liked that this book was funny, full of tropes, and tackled some tough topics. 

That said, I felt like it tried to do too much. 400 pages was too long for my liking and the meta-ness didn’t quite hit for me. I liked that it got into industry details. That was fascinating! But the “is this romance or is it women’s fiction” ended up feeling muddled for me overall 

I liked the characters and the mixed media elements (texts, emails) but this one wasn’t a knockout for me personally

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Dementia

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Ableism, and Vomit

nataliapassos's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Death of parent

atamano's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity, Addiction, and Death of parent

eligru's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am *very* picky about audiobooks, to the point that I know it’s unfair and illogical and so I tend to not listen to them at all, but I like Julia Whalen. A lot. I find her very talented and enjoyable to listen to. Now, bring me a book of written by an audiobook narrator ABOUT audiobook narrators and it seems only fair (and totally obvious) that it need to be consumed via audio. Right? So, of course, I did. Now please refer back to my comment about being unfairly judgmental and illogically picky about audiobooks and take my review with a grain of salt. I believe this book is good and if I had read it on page I would’ve loved it more, possibly. The characters are unique and flawed and diverse, the banter is funny and witty and cute. BUT…. But… you can tell an audiobook narrator wrote this. There are characters who exist solely for the purpose of the narrator [author] showing off her skills in accents. Which, for the record, is good (with the exception of the Bostonian ex boyfriend with the most horrendous Boston accent I’ve ever hear and take person offense to), but there’s no real reason for them. I also have mixed feelings about a white author writing about the plight of a black woman in Hollywood… but it does seem (to me, another white woman, to note) to be handled somewhat carefully. Just perhaps not her story to tell, again, as a white woman who was a former actress. I guess all this to say some of this felt inauthentic but it’s hard to parse that from what I HEARD and wish I would’ve just read the book 🤷🏻‍♀️ don’t come for me. I still gave it 4 stars!! There’s quality story here and a lot of fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Dementia, Sexual content, Racism, Suicide, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

nadia's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

This started off real strong for me! I thought it was going to get at least 4⭐️.

But, somewhere along the way, it fell a little bit flat, some of the spark was lost, and it seemed to drag a little. Some parts felt a little too contrived, especially with regards to trying to create tension. I was rooting for the central relationship, but just didn't end up feeling as emotionally invested or as excited for it as I thought I'd be given the first third of the book.

Still, the cast of characters was super fun, heavy topics are dealt with incredibly well, there's a real clever "meta" nature to this book, and, especially given that, this is definitely one to go for on audio if that's a format you consume books in!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders