Watson’s conversational style will delight listeners of all ages.
Marli Watson narrates this first installment of a YA mystery series. Ellen is a prep-school scholarship student who knows how to follow the rules. But her life takes a turn when she moves into her aunt’s Edgar Allan Poe-themed B&B and starts having nightmares about a family who died—including Gus, a new student at school. When Ellen finds a journal that she believes was written by Poe, she meets the ghost of her long-dead relative, who calls himself Eddie. Watson makes the characters believable from the start. She portrays Ellen as feisty, and Gus as a vulnerable charmer. Aunt Marie is sweet, but not too sweet.
Watson’s conversational style will delight listeners of all ages. (Paranormal mystery. 12-18)
An absorbing blend of authentic storytelling and dynamic narration that leaves a lasting impression on listeners.
Cobie Smulders delivers an authentic and captivating performance that anchors this audiobook. The story follows a family whose lives are upended when their memoir about raising a child with Down syndrome is optioned for a Hollywood film. Sharp, genuine writing draws listeners into this exploration of identity, family bonds, and the tension between truth and adaptation. Josh Radnor, Marli Watson, and Kevin Iannucci add nuance and texture, creating a dynamic ensemble that brings the words to life. Together, the writing and narration make this a thoroughly entertaining and memorable listen, balancing emotion and storytelling with remarkable skill.
An absorbing blend of authentic storytelling and dynamic narration that leaves a lasting impression on listeners.
The 10 best romance listens of 2024
I don’t know if I should confess how many times I’ve listened to this (or if I even have an accurate count). This delightful novella was 100 percent my comfort listen of 2024. Not sure what to listen to next? I fire up some CLo. State of the world got me down? I just put this one on. It’s kept me going, let me tell you. It may be bite-sized, but this listen was the perfect morsel and my favorite romance of the year. It’s a dual-narration epistolary story—one of my favorite tropes—performed by Marli Watson and Andrew Gibson. A high schooler accidentally emails another student instead of a teacher and begins a correspondence tradition that unfolds on Valentine’s Day over 12 years. So not only does it deliver on the meet-cute/immediate chemistry it promises, but there’s a coming-of-age arc to the narrative that allows you to really connect with the main characters. And I just love the magical hand of fate element that brings them together in the end.
—EC
Watson imbues Amanda with youthful and confident naïveté mixed with insecurity
In this suspenseful thriller, Helen Laser narrates with the grit required to authentically portray Lee Ellerin, a New York city reporter turned private investigator.… Marli Watson sensitively portrays Amanda in the past as she describes how she became pregnant. Watson imbues Amanda with youthful and confident naïveté mixed with insecurity at being a recent transplant to New York City. When parallels arise between Amanda’s case and the murder of a young woman that resulted in Ellerin’s firing from Vanity Fair magazine, Laser’s performance heightens the investigator’s intense focus on uncovering the truth about the elite circle of wealthy men connected to both women.
—AudioFile Magazine
