Narrated by Emily Durante and Sean Crisden
I fell in love with author Shelly Crane’s work when I started listening to her Significance series. Wide Awake
When Emma Walker wakes up, she knows nothing about herself or her life. A couple say they’re her parents. A jock claims to be her boyfriend, but Emma can’t remember any of it. She discovers that she’s spent the past six months in a coma, and has amnesia as a result.
Emma feels adrift in her new life. She can’t figure out who she is, and most of the people in her life don’t want her to bother trying. Her parents want her to be their goal-oriented daughter, and Andy, her boyfriend, wants Emma to come back to school and pick up where she left off six months ago. But, what if Emma doesn’t want those things? What if the glimpses she gets into the person she used to be begin to convince her to change?
To complicate things even further, there’s Mason. He’s Emma’s very sexy physical therapist. He makes a point to let her know he’s attracted to her, but he worries about keeping his job and his secrets. There’s something in Mason’s past he can’t reveal. Will it be possible for him to keep his job, put his past behind him, and have a serious relationship with Emma?
I’ve enjoyed several books narrated by Emily Durante. However, Wide Awake wasn’t a good fit for her. I found her low, slightly husky voice just a little too mature for the nineteen-year-old Emma and her friends. Emma’s character put me in mind of a narrator with a more youthful, perky voice, someone like Kate Rudd or Emma Galvin.
Granted, Ms. Durante’s performance of some of the supporting characters was great. Her depiction of Emma’s mother was spot on. I could just picture this very busy, overly worried, super fake woman. Ms. Durante also did a stellar job with her depiction of Andrew. He sounded just as spoiled and full of himself as Ms. Crane seemed to intend.
When we meet Emma’s group of friends, it becomes difficult to tell them apart. Ms. Durante does not change her pitch, accent, or pacing when speaking for any of these characters. I could tell Emma and her mother apart quite easily, but not Emma and her best friend. Dialogue tags were a definite necessity.
And then, we get to Mason. The book is written in such a way that we only see things from his point of view once, and it’s not until the end of the book. That’s the only time Sean Crisden speaks. I’m a fan of his narration style, but, if you’re new to him, you won’t really get a good sense of what he can do. When he does read, he does a great job, but it’s too little, too late, in this listener’s opinion. Ms. Durante’s rendering of the character was pretty average. She deepened her voice slightly, but there was nothing outstanding about it.
Wide Awake is very much the story of one young woman and what she does when given a second chance at life. I admired Emma for standing up for the things she believed in, even in the face of so much disapproval. I liked the chemistry she shared with Mason, and I got the sense that each could make the other a better, stronger person.
Wide Awake won’t make my list of favorite books. In fact, I enjoyed Ms. Crane’s other series far more. However, if you’re a fan of sweet romances, I think you’ll enjoy it. I might have liked it better if it had been narrated differently, but who knows?
Shannon
Narration: Emily Durante: C Sean Crisden: B (Not enough content to rate an A performance)
Book Content: B
Steam Factor: You can play it out loud
Violence: Minimal
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Wide Awake was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.
