Narrated by Charlotte Penfield, with epilogue read by Sebastian York
Twisted by Emma Chase follows Drew and Kate two years after Tangled, which won Ms. Chase Best Debut Goodreads Author in 2013. Sebastian York’s narration of Tangled was a pure fun winner.
You know that adage about expectations? I suppose if I hadn’t set my expectations a certain way, I wouldn’t be so disappointed by Twisted. Charlotte Penfield does a marvelous job narrating and I had no problem with Ms. Chase’s prose. My disappointment is in the story’s twisty, angtsy, eye-rolling plot. Actually, let me correct that: I’m not even sure there is a plot.
Tangled introduced us to handsome and arrogant Drew Evans, his hilariously sarcastic mind, and journey to love. Twisted opens with Drew and Kate Brooks happily together in their HEA. They’ve been living together, working together, and playing together for two years. His friends are her friends, his family hers now too; their lives are meshed. Then a big misunderstanding introduces a highly contrived conflict.
Despite two years of happy togetherness, communication is not this couple’s forte. Yet both are supposed to be smart professionals with graduate degrees. Just a one-minute conversation clarifying what Kate’s “it” means versus Drew’s “it” would have negated several chapters of hand wringing. Once obscure references to “it” are cleared up, Twisted forces Drew and Kate to grow up.
Tangled’s charm came from the man himself: Drew. Twisted is, however, told mostly from Kate’s point of view. Even though narrator Charlotte Penfield very ably voices Kate, Kate’s character is just not as fun. Don’t get me wrong—inside Kate’s head can be funny, too. But her humor is not as fun as warped Mr. Drew.
In Tangled we only saw Kate through Drew’s eyes: she’s strong, confident, feisty. Kate’s view of herself is less secure. Perhaps she lost parts of herself in two years of couplehood with force-of-nature Drew. Inside Kate’s mind in Twisted we get more angst than humor, a more girly form of adolescence. Kate’s juvenile maturity is more about drama than Drew’s crude teen misogynist. At one point Kate even channels the classic drama queen Scarlett O’Hara.
Readers and listeners of Tangled already invested in Drew and Kate will probably enjoy visiting them in Twisted. Just be warned that the conflict feels contrived and the comedic humor that was mostly Drew is in short supply. What we do get more of is Kate: We learn her backstory and Midwestern roots, what great friends and family she has.
Ms. Penfield is a talented narrator. Her diction, tone, and pacing style capture Kate’s personality. Ms. Penfield also clearly distinguishes multiple characters and performs their emotions. It was quite wonderful to catch up with my favorite secondary characters. Mackenzie is now 6 years old and precocious as ever. Her dinner announcement had me in stitches, and reminded me of why I so loved Tangled.
The best part of the audiobook is Sebastian York’s cameo in the epilogue. It’s golden. Mr. York’s bass voice channeling Drew was worth getting through all the manufactured angst.
Megan
Narration: B
Book Content: C+
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only (avoid if anal sex offends you)
Violence: None
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Twisted by provided to AudioGals for review by Simon & Schuster Audio.
Thanks for the review. Good to know the narration is done well and I can’t wait to hear York’s cameo. I’ll be listening to this one.
I love Sebastian York’s voice so much that I will listen to almost any book he narrates! Read Twisted and saw that he was only a cameo on Audible so haven’t listened to it. Story did not do enough for me to warrant listening to a female narrator read it . But boy do I stalk Audible for Sebastian York narrations!
oh me too! I love his narrations in the Beautiful Bastard series!