Until You by Penelope Douglas

Narrated by Nelson Hobbs

I originally started listening to this book without listening to Bully (Book 1 in the Fall Away series). Not being a fan of point of view series romances, it had been my intent to only listen to the hero’s perspective which is told in Until You. The author’s introductory note, however, suggests that you should listen to Bully first, which is told from the heroine’s perspective, so I capitulated. Boy am I glad I did!  Unlike my prior experience with these types of series, Until You is not just a retelling of the prior story, but instead is essential to an understanding of the convoluted logic behind the hero’s seemingly, inexcusable bullying behavior. Not surprisingly, I came away from this book with a totally different perspective and liking of the hero.

Jared’s life completely changed the day that Tate moved next door. As kids, they became inseparable best friends, even enjoying clandestine sleepovers, courtesy of the tree that bridged their two bedroom windows. All that changed though, the summer before high school. Jared went away to spend the summer with his father, and when he returned, he was a different person.

For two years, Jared mercilessly bullies, and causes his friends to bully, Tate. From spreading untrue, embarrassing rumors, to playing pranks on her and ensuring that any guy interested in Tate quickly becomes uninterested, Jared made it his mission to make Tate’s life miserable. At the same time, he becomes the playboy and starts bedding every girl in school, but never keeping one for too long.

Then all of a sudden Tate is gone. Upon returning home from traveling abroad her junior year, she is no longer willing to just put up with Jared’s behavior. Instead she fights back. Interestingly, that only seems to heighten Jared’s interest in Tate.

As the fighting escalates, so does the emotional confusion and sexual tension. Soon both capitulate to the intensity, and as their intimacy reaches new heights, Jared is no longer able to deny his true feelings for Tate. However, will Jared be able to win over Tate’s heart after all the hurt he has caused her?

I enjoyed Nelson Hobbs’ narration. He generally created character appropriate depictions for the various personalities involved in this book. In particular, and as is typically the case with male narrators with deeper, sexy voices, I especially liked his characterization of the men in this novel.

His interpretation of Jared was fantastic! From the emotion filled scenes, to the action-packed ones, he did a great job of pacing the delivery so the listener could understand the intensity of the scene. Additionally, he masterfully communicates both the angst and deep emotions that are so important to the message in this book. I also appreciated that I was easily able to distinguish the secondary male characters, including Maddox, Jared’s best friend who is instrumental in helping him finally acknowledge his true feelings for Tate, as well as, Jared’s and Tate’s fathers, who also play crucial roles in this adolescent book of self-discovery.

Where I felt the narration could have been improved was with the female characters. While Mr. Hobbs’ depiction of Tate was well done from an emotional and pacing perspective, it did not genuinely sound like a young female. Perhaps it was that I had just finished listening to Abby Craden’s fantastic rendition of this story from Tate’s perspective (which narration I gave an “A”), and therefore the bar was set at a pretty high level; but to me, Abby Craden’s voice kept ringing in my head every time Tate spoke, not Mr. Hobb’s. Additionally, I had more difficulty detecting differences in the female roles, thereby limiting their distinguishability. All that said, Mr. Hobbs did deliver an above-average performance, and I look forward to listening to his future works

I was drawn to this series given the popularity and great ratings that it has received on Goodreads, as can be evidenced by the impressive combined 45K+ ratings averaging over 4.3 on Goodreads for Bully and Until You and I was not disappointed. What an emotional, intense listen!

BJ

Narration:  B-

Book Content:  A-

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Domestic Violence

Genre:  Contemporary Romance (Dark themes)

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Until You was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.