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ALC provided by Must Love Audio

Author: Penelope Ward

Narrators: Andi Arndt and Christian Fox

*Audiobook Review*

Stepbrother Dearest is the perfect example to show why I love the art of narration so much. You see, this is not a “new book”, I had already read this and loved it, but when I saw Andi Arndt and Christian Fox were giving voice to Greta and Elec, I jumped right in. They made Penelope’s story fresh, new, moving and unputdownable. 

Greta and Elec meet as teenagers. Elec is sent home from California to live with a father with whom he has a terrible relationship and his new family – his new wife and stepdaughter. Elec is foul-mouthed, belligerent, and flat out horrible to Greta from the moment they meet. Greta, on the other hand, is very drawn to the beautiful, tormented boy. Two teenagers living under the same roof – you know where this is going…

As I said, I had already loved this book when it came out, but Andi and Christian bring these two to life in such a masterful way that you will press play and you won’t stop until the end. They will make you laugh (the banter, oh the banter), they will make you cry, they will make you swoon. 

They narrate this story run duet, with a good portion of it told through Greta’s POV and then we switch to Elec’s. It was a perfection decision to have this in duet and the production is flawless.

The taboo aspect for me is non-existent. Elec and Greta meet as teenagers, only lived under the same roof for under a year and then meet up again as adults, so I saw no taboo in that at all.

Penelope created a moving, swoony, complicated tale and the audiobook not only does it justice, but elevates it. Amazing!

Thanks, Penelope and @mustloveaudio for the advanced listen.

Content notes: toxic relationship with a parent, bullying, mentions of substance of abuse, death of a parent