Love the book, not thrilled with the narration...

If you could sum up The Deal in three words, what would they be?

Awesome fun story -read it, don't listen

Who was your favorite character and why?

I LOVE Garrett and Hannah apart and even more together -they both have quick minds and are genuine in everything they do.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lorelei Avalon?

Alternated between a male and female narrator for Hannah and Garrett's chapters. Maybe Madeline Maby and Zachary Webber...

Any additional comments?

LOVE the book! This is one of the few books I have re-read only a few months after initially reading -the dialog between the characters and the texts back and forth made me laugh out loud while reading. I was really excited to see it was coming out as an audiobook so I could listen to the story during my crazy daily commute.

The narrated version is not at all what I expected -Ms. Avalon has a very deep and nasal-toned voice and does not fit for a 20 year-old woman OR a 20 year-old man (she is playing both characters -even though the books chapters are split between the male and female POV); her intonation is off and does not do the story justice. I found myself annoyed when really common phrases were narrated in a way that stressed words in an oddly -I have no idea how old Ms. Avalon is, but based on the narration, I am guessing she is significantly older than the characters and has never uttered similar dialogue in her everyday life.

I'm glad I only paid $1.99 to add the audio version, because I am really disappointed with the result and don't think I'll be making past the first couple of hours :-(

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28 people found this helpful

Great story but...

UPDATED FOR THE ADDITION OF MALE NARRATOR

I was VERY excited to see that The Deal was being updated to include a male narrator and Christian Fox is awesome as Garrett... but I can't really change my rating of this audiobook because having the male narrator just amplifies how unsuitable the female narrator is. I would have gladly paid to purchase this audiobook again if Audible Studios had re-recorded the female POV as well. Come on Audible Studios!!! Just do it!!

I really really loved The Deal. It's one of my favourite books of the year and I was hoping it would come out as an audiobook

Unfortunately the choice of narrator has kinda rained on my audiobook parade. I understand that it's not the author's choice for the narrator as once the rights are sold, it's out of their hands, but Audible Studios got it wrong big time as Lorelei Avalon did not have the right voice for these characters. Hers was a bit whiny and there was little distinction between the male and female characters.

I'm giving The Deal an overall score of 4 stars because I love the story and the author, but I'm glad I only paid $1.99 for this audiobook. I sincerely hope Audible Studios do not use this narrator for the third book in this series

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27 people found this helpful

Thank you for Re-Recording this Book!

UPDATED REVIEW: I accidentally clicked on this audiobook on my phone recently, and I was shocked to hear a male narrator. What a difference the addition of a male narrator makes. The combination of Christian Fox and Lorelei Avalon is fantastic. The captain of the hockey team is much more believable (and swoony) when read by a male narrator. I have listened to it twice since the re-recording, and now I am exceedingly happy that I never returned this book when I listened the first time.

Original Review: I loved this book, and I loved her other book The Mistake. Unfortunately, it loses something in the audiobook. The narrator is talented as a female narrator. However, I will never understand why authors (or is it the publisher's decision) who write books with alternating POVs elect to use only 1 narrator for the audiobook. The suspension of disbelief is difficult when the tough hockey player hero sounds like a girl with a cold instead of a guy.

Other than that, it really is a fun story that made me smile all the way through. Unless you need the audiobook because you have a long commute, read the book.

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26 people found this helpful

Awful narrator

Great book. Great story. Terrible narrator. A college girl that sounds like she has either smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day or is not even a girl but a man that is doing a horrible job of trying to be a woman, just kept throwing me. Add in the fact that the guys sounded like pre-pubescent boys, all with the exact same voice and I just couldn't get into the book. Way too distracted to really enjoy this book. Want to listen to book 2, but won't even buy it because I can't listen to the narrator.

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24 people found this helpful

✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫

I really enjoyed this book! It was so refreshing to listen to a New Adult book without the immature drama. This book had hockey players, great friendships, a great love story which wasn't an insta-love woohoo and was pretty sexy too. I really like both main characters, they were both strong because of their past and ready to move past that all. They really were a great match for each other and brought out the nest in each other. I'm excited to listen to the rest of the series now!

The narration did seem a little to old for these 20 year old's but she still did a good job.

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14 people found this helpful

Great book but skip the audio

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No, I'm actively anti-recommending it. Lorelei's voice is not suited for Hannah and Garrett's playful, witty banter. She turned Hannah into a whiny girl and her attempts to perform Garrett's voice would be laughable if it didn't upset me so much. She sounded like a girl attempting to imitate her father. I have been telling all my friends who loved The Deal to avoid the audio.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is amazing. The Deal is easily one of my favorite books this year. Hannah and Garrett are individually strong, complex characters, and their chemistry, both romantic and not, is phenomenal.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lorelei Avalon’s performances?

Nope.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not even close. I almost abandoned it within three minutes. It was painful to continue.

Any additional comments?

I can only hope Lorelei won't be chosen for The Score.

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13 people found this helpful

Loved the book, didn't care for audio

I read this book a while back and was so excited to hear it would be an audiobook (it's how I prefer to reread old favorites). I was not impressed with this narrator. Every supporting female character sounded the same as one another, and the males were the same way. I've listened to some narrators where there was no doubt who was speaking among many characters - not the case here. And why didn't Garrett have a male narrator for his chapters and parts? It was really weird that she narrated his thoughts and stuff. I won't be buying the second book, which has different main characters but still the same narrator.

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10 people found this helpful

Good book, poor execution

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The voice actor.

What did you like best about this story?

This book is hilarious. I love how Elle Kennedy makes stories relatable and fun to read.

What didn’t you like about Lorelei Avalon’s performance?

I get that this is a book about college kids, and college kids can be whiny, but good grief. She has the uncanny ability to make every single character sounds like a whiny toddler, which is a shame because this is one of my favorite books/series. I regret buying the next book on Audible now.

Any additional comments?

If you can get past the poor performance, this really is a good book. Your money would be better spent on the ebook or dtb.

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9 people found this helpful

Really cute story, would skip the audio

3.5 ⭐️ 3 🌶️
I liked this story but the audio was not my favorite. I actually liked the male narrator quite a bite and he really brought Garrett to life, but the female narrator was not good. She did not sound like a college student. Her voice was very monotone and deep and just didn’t have any intonation or expression. I normally devour audiobooks but found myself having to force my way through this.

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7 people found this helpful

Cute jock and artsy girl college romance

4.5 stars
Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham were two really adorable characters. Their journey began when the hockey jock (& history major) asked the music major for help on passing the Philosophy class. In exchange, Garrett promises to help Hannah get a date with Justin, whom Hannah has been crushing on for the past year.

This is my third book by Elle Kennedy in a month and I find her writing style and story telling engaging. The author did a good job developing the characters and keeping the story interesting. Both characters gave each other the strength to overcome some past issues and heal the pain associated those events. It was a really good audiobook.

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7 people found this helpful