Narrated by Amy Rubinate
Ember Walsh is a pretty, quiet young woman who has recently moved to New York City to pursue a career as a writer. Dating is definitely not on her agenda. She’s still pretty broken-hearted after her first, and only, relationship ended. Still, she agrees to accompany her best friend to a club one night, a decision that will change Ember’s life forever.
Trace Montgomery is the consummate bad boy. He’s an amateur boxer, covered with tattoos, and determined to give his heart to no one. He feels worthless and unloveable. He catches sight of Ember when she fights off the unwanted advances of another club patron, and is intrigued in spite of himself. He begins to follow her, something which could come off as stalkerish, but, for some reason, doesn’t here.
Ember and Trace are linked in ways neither can imagine. Trace knows some things about the past that binds them, but even he will be surprised at just how deeply entrenched their lives were, long before that fateful night in the New York City club.
Narrator Amy Rubinate was an excellent choice for Beautifully Damaged
Rubinate’s depiction of Trace was also quite good. She gives him a gruffer sound, a little more cynical, a little angrier. Trace is a man with a lot of loyalty and even more guilt. He attributes every bad thing that happens to those he loves to his own worthless nature. Because of this, he has the ability to come off as a bit of an ass. All of this was clear when Rubinate voiced him.
I was also very pleased with Rubinate’s ability to differentiate all the male characters. I especially appreciated her depiction of Ember’s father, a man who lost the love of his life far too soon, and has devoted his life to raising his daughter. The Philadelphia accent Rubinate utilized to portray his character enabled me to easily discern when he was speaking, even when dialogue tags were not in use.
One thing bugged me about Beautifully Damaged. I’m tired of New Adult books that feature angry men who hate themselves and decide they should deal with their feelings by fighting. These men have terrible tempers, but no one calls them on their behavior. It’s just chalked up to their crappy self-image, and the people they love are supposed to just deal with it. Luckily, Ember didn’t hesitate to let Trace know when he was acting like a jerk. I just wish Trace had had some other profession.
Having said that, I loved everything else about this book. Fiore is able to create characters and situations with a great deal of emotional depth. We don’t have angst for the sake of angst. Also, Fiore did a stellar job with the suspense element of Beautifully Damaged. Book 2, Beautifully Forgotten
Shannon
Narration: A
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence: Fighting
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Beautifully Damaged was provided to AudioGals for review by Brilliance Audio.
