Narrated by Grace Grant and Deacon Lee with Elizabeth Louise
Unbelievable! This book made me cry “beautiful” tears of joy, but not before dragging me through a total abyss of darkness and squeezing out from me angry, “ugly” tears. What an incredible emotional ride. Colleen Hoover is a goddess at angst ridden, romantic writing. If you love your romances with a side of tissues, and value originality and ingenious plot twists, then I can’t recommend Ugly Love highly enough. Moreover, the fantastic narration by Grace Grant and Deacon Lee, with a special appearance by Elizabeth Louise, magnificently brings to life the intense feelings that this poignant story conveys, making this one of the most well-rounded contemporary romance audiobooks I have listened to all year.
I have to preface this review by saying that I originally did not want to read this story. I thought I had heard it all before – the man with the troubled past who refuses to lay his heart on the line and expects his significant other to settle for the only thing he is capable of giving: sex. It’s always hard for me to feel sympathy for this type of hero. However, let me say, that if there was ever one that completely broke my heart and aroused copious amounts of empathy, it’s Miles Archer. Wow, what an imagination to create such a flawed and yet loveable hero! Unfortunately, for the purposes of my review, this is also a story where the less you know upfront the better, as a large part of the experience is the mystery and suspense of learning Miles’ past. So I will generally be brief in my review of the set-up of this story.
Miles Archer hasn’t been in a relationship in over six years. When he meets Tate Collins, the sister of his best friend and neighbor, he makes it clear from the start that he only wants one thing from her. Moreover, prior to pursuing it, she must agree to his two rules: (1) never ask about the past, and (2) don’t expect a future.
Tate is so incredibly attracted to Miles, particularly on the odd occasions when he unknowingly lets his vulnerable side peek through, that she foolishly believes she can live with his rules. After all, “like” or “love” can always come later if the attraction is there to begin with… right? But the closer she gets to breaking the walls he has built around his heart, the further he pushes her away with his indifference and seemingly cruel treatment. Tate is patient though – even not knowing the genesis of Miles’ hang-ups – but at what point does self-preservation kick in and trump the dreams of one’s heart?
Grace Grant and Deacon Lee take turns alternating narrating chapters. The chapters from Tate’s point of view are narrated by Grace Grant and those from Mile’s are performed by Deacon Lee. Then there is a surprise chapter, which includes another’s POV (but to say who, would be a spoiler), that is narrated by Elizabeth Louise. I loved this approach! It really helped differentiate whose mind the listener is peering into at the moment and was especially effective at unveiling one of the most crucial, groundbreaking moments.
This was my first experience with Grace Grant. She has a youthful tone that is perfect for the characters in this book, and provides slightly differentiated portrayals for all of the different roles. Her style is a little subdued in emotion, but given the premise that Tate and Miles are attempting to have a loveless affair, it fits the plot well. Moreover, at the points where the story calls for it, Ms. Grant steps it up and provides the right fluctuations in her delivery to convey the change in mood.
Deacon Lee is one of my favorite contemporary romance narrators for male characters. His voice is incredibly sexy and always, in my mind, represents the allure of the hero, as well as, provides sufficient differences, as compared with the other men, so that the reliance on dialogue tags is unnecessary. His female depictions don’t sound incredibly feminine, but are always distinguishable from the hero. He also paces his delivery to match the particular action being enacted at the moment.
Interestingly, I am more accustomed to hearing Mr. Lee deliver performances with an underlying comical tone (e.g., Tamed by Emma Chase). He fits this type of script well as he often sounds like he is barely restraining his amusement, and also has a sweet undertone. Given the different theme of this audiobook, however, I wasn’t sure how Mr. Lee would rate. After having listened to the entire book, though, I am now even more impressed with his skills, as I thought he exhibited great range and showed that he is able to adapt to the writing style of different authors.
All in all, this is one of the best stories I have listened to all year! Perhaps what I loved the most about Ugly Love is its message which epitomizes the importance of love in bringing a person back to life.
BJ
Narration: A-
Book Content: A+
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence: Minimal
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Ugly Love was provided to AudioGals by Simon and Schuster for review.
I’m listening to this one right now and I’m very impressed with Grace Grant’s narration – I’d listen to her again in a heartbeat. It’s my first time listening to Deacon Lee and so far, I’m not that impressed. Possibly that is due to the fact that he has only played a 17-18-year-old when reading his POV. I’m hoping the author will eventually allow us to hear his POV as an adult albeit only a 24-year-old adult.
Hi Lea, sorry Deacon is not to your liking. In all fairness, before all the secrets are told, Miles is a rather unlikeable character, so Deacon has to narrate the part as written. Eventually you do get to hear the unfortunate ghosts from his past that have shaped him into the seemingly unredeemable person he appears to be. Hope the story/narration gets better for you.
I finished and enjoyed and completely tuned into Deacon’s performance as an adult. Actually, I didn’t consider Miles to be all that unlikable but rather a pragmatic guy who doesn’t vary from that which he stated up front. I could always sense the emotional damage he was battling. I’ll be looking out for both Deacon Lee and Grace Grant’s future narrations. Glad you brought this to my attention.
Oh good! Glad the book got better for you! Wouldn’t want to have led you astray with my review: )