Author: Colleen Hoover
Audiobook, Audible
Narrators: Zachary Webber , Angela Goethals
Fallon and Ben have sort of a “meet cute”- she is having lunch with her asshole-y father, who keeps putting her down, and Ben decides to play savior and pretends to be her boyfriend. They hit it off immediately and they decide to spend the rest of the day together because Fallon is moving from LA to NY that night, and they don’t want whatever is budding between them to end. So they decide to not exchange numbers, block themselves to each other on every social platforms and promise to meet again, next year (yeah, you guessed it) on November 9, same place.
And this is how the story develops, you only see them on November 9. If you are as old as the pyramids like I am, it gives you a “Same Time Next Year” vibe. Yes, it’s insta-love, but the characters themselves acknowledge that. You miss what has happened during the year and you will get to know where they are in their lives when they catch up. Ben is a writer, so “November 9” becomes the book he is writing, chronicling their love story.
Fallon’s face and torso are scarred from a fire that completely changed her life and Ben’s soul scarred by events in his life. It’s beautiful to see those two meet and show how they had grown in the year that has passed.
There is a BIG twist thrown in towards the end and, though your jaw will hit the floor, it makes everything make sense.
Now, I have a little pet peeve: I have worked with teenagers my whole life and even the most articulate of all teens has not been as articulate as these two, right from the bat. I would accept that more as they grew older, but as 18-year-olds, it gave me “Dawson’s Creek” flashbacks. It didn’t distract from the story, but I was “Hmm, nah” a few times.
It’s a beautiful story and I loved the characters. It was my first Coleen Hoover and I definitely will read other books by the author.
Narration review: Well, it’s Zachary Webber, so there is no way this can go wrong. If you give him a character that he can sink his teeth in you know you are in for a treat and he didn’t disappoint. As for Ms Goeathals… oh dear. She is definitely talented, I will give you that, but she speaks sooooooooooo slooooooooooooowly I wanted to throw my phone on the wall. I NEVER change the speed in my audiobooks but I had to switch to a faster speed or I would go INSANE.
