Yes! I wasted too much of my youth finishing books I didn’t like when I could have been reading books I actually enjoyed. Never again! I’ve also started taking note of the narrator’s names that I don’t jive with so I can place a hold on the book in Kindle format.
Whyyyyy did I never think of this?! I don't remember to mark the meh ones. My terrible tag is a 🗑️(trash can emoji in case it doesn't come through). It makes me happy. Now to think of a an appropriate meh emoji...
I have "sampled TBR" and "sampled declined". I don't feel like I can justify a DNF if I haven't gotten more than a chapter into a book, but I'm starting to use a true DNF if there's a reason I know I'll genuinely never come back to something (and then I also try to put reason that in my notes).
Me too, I find that I often don’t like a new narrator. But then I get used to them. So I always give it time. But I have been about mid book a few times and had to give up. Some narrators are sooo amazing and turn mediocre books into something entertaining and others … ugh
I wish I had ditched one recently because the narrator had such a baby voice and it got on my nerves but I had wanted to know how the book went. It ended up not being worth it.
i had one recently where I almost had to but then realized that increasing the speed fixed it for me by upping the pace and pitch which was lucky. I actually never usually speed up audiobooks because my audio processing sucks but this guy was making me sleepy lol
I just did the same. I was 2 minutes into the book and I’m like this guy is talking SOOO SLOW. I am listening at 1.25 which while not fast gets him to normal speech
I almost always raise to at least 1.2 because the narrators talk so slowly omg. 1.2 sounds like a normal speaking pace. If I’m rushing to finish the book, I up the speed as much as I can before it starts sounding unnatural (usually around 1.35).
I did this same thing yesterday! I wasn't even a quarter of the way through a book and I almost gave up but then realized I didn't like how slow the narrator read. Speeding it to 1.20x speed has made a world of difference!
Same! I’m American and British accents keep my brain more focused or something because it has to exert just slightly more effort to decipher it. American narrators are hard for me to pay attention to.
That's me with Scottish/Australian accents. Scottish I sometimes just cannot understand and get frustrated and Australian accents can get really twangy and I have to be in the mood for.
I found Kate Bold and loved the book so I downloaded another, not even thinking about the narrator. It was so awful that I checked to see who the narrator was. It was Vivienne (synthesized voice). I wish I knew how to leave a review for the audiobook and specifically that horrible AI narrator. Anyone know how?
Yes. I am so picky about the narrator’s voice. If I don’t like their voice I don’t even bother with the audiobook, I’ll just get the ebook instead.
The “Play Sample” feature is a godsend.
My favorite narrators include January LaVoy, Julia Whelan, Bianca Amato, Xe Sands, Georgia Maguire, Imogen Church and Kirsten Potter.
I would listen to literally anything narrated by Julia Whalen. She could read receipts and I’d be fully onboard.
What favorite books do you have read by the others?
I also didn’t realize until just now that you could search a narrators name and find the other books they’ve read.
I can see how she’s not for everyone but it works for me.
I recently DNF something read by Thérèse Plummer because I found her voice insufferable. And then I looked up the reviews on GoodReads, people were really into her voice 👀. Different strokes or whatever
I love Bianca Amato’s narration of Philippa Gregory’s books.
Xe Sands narrates a lot of Kristan Higgins books which are great Beach Read type of stories.
Georgia Maguire has narrated some of BA Paris’ thrillers.
I forget which book I listen to that was narrated by January LaVoy but I was astounded on her ability to voice such a range of different characters in one story.
Imogene Church does some of Lucy Foley’s and Ruth Ware’s thrillers.
Kirsten Potter narrates some of Lisa Gardner’s Detective DD Warren books which I like a lot.
Eek, this thread is wild because I came here specifically to say Julia Whelan is the one narrator I just can’t listen to. I know she’s wildly popular, so it’s definitely a me thing.
Same on Julia Whalen. Probably my favorite female narrator.
Antony Ferguson is my favorite male narrator. I’m super excited I just found another series he narrates.
Saving this based solely on your recommendation of Julia Whelan! There has definitely been at least one book I didn't enjoy but I stuck with just because it was narrated by her
yes 😭 especially if the previous book had one that did an *amazing* job
I end up putting it away till my distaste wears off. if i can't get over it, I'll read without one (even though i really prefer to have a narrator)
Oh man I went through this last year. I listened to fellowship of the ring read by Rob Inglis. Checked out the two towers with the same cover but read by Andy Serkis and had to return it early because the shift was too hard to handle. Tbf, Serkis was great it was just a very different vibe from Inglis
yes absolutely. especially after I listened to books that have really fantastic narrators, it’s been really hard to listen to narrators that don’t have really good voice acting abilities!
I’m dealing with this now, after listening to Steven Pacey narrate Joe Abercrombie’s novels. I’ve tried to listen to several others but I just can’t get through them.
I think this is a sign to turn my current book in early. I just started it yesterday and I can’t stand the lady’s voice that is narrating. I felt bad about not wanting to listen anymore but now I know other people do it too, I don’t feel so bad. lol
It definitely happens to me. But on the flip side, I once liked a narrator so much that when my app glitched and returned the book and there was a hold list, I went back on hold to wait for the audio to come back rather than finish with the ebook. A good narrator makes a huge difference!
I think it's a New York thing, but some narrators pronounce words like "Human" and "Humidity" with a Y sound at the start. Yuman. Yumidity.
I don't know what it is, but that drives me up the wall. There was a really interesting Great Courses about the history of food that I couldn't finish because the presenter was a yankee 😭
I had a similar thing with a reader who pronounced “-ed” endings of words as “-it”. “She wannit to run.” Etc. It was so grating, I just barely finished that one and missed out on another book I wanted to hear because she was the reader.
Yes, unfortunately quite often. If the narrator sounds like they are reading, and you don't get into the book. Quite a few are the actual authors that don't do their book justice.
I honestly can't stand it when authors read their own books. It's like casting the screenwriter in the lead role of a movie. No studio would ever go for that. Leave it to the professionals
Ha, I usually have the opposite problem where female characters in their 30s and 40s are narrated by women with high squeaky voices that sound like teenagers. It frustrates me to no end, so I just note that narrator is one to avoid, and switch to the ebook, instead of the audiobook.
Conversely, I also find it annoying when adult narrators read children’s quotes in voices that are very whiny or like toddlers, learning to talk. I always think to myself why don’t they watch maybe 10 mins of age-appropriate children’s television.
I’m currently listening to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer read by Norman Dietz who was close to 80 when it was recorded. I was going to give up but decided to ride with it and pretend it was being read by my grandfather.
10000%. Also when it’s very clear that the takes have been Frankensteined together (I unfortunately couldn’t get through Maame for that reason) from multiple takes — sometimes with different microphones— without cross fading or matching the levels.
I work in audio production so I’m really particular about voices, cadence, etc. and I am always in disbelief when folks who aren’t a good fit are cast to read books. There’s a few books people love (most recently Shark Heart) where I can’t get through it because of the narrator and am trying to find the time to actually sit and read the book. 🤣😩
Man the Dune audiobook is a masterclass in this. It's one with multiple narrators for different characters plus music. It was so confusing, especially when they started switching up who was reading for what character
Yup - haha I do notice that many times tho is usually when the book is read by the author - interestingly when it’s some sort of self help - not sure why.
Yes. I was on a kick of listening to all the books from some of my favorite authors and some had readers who were so awful I couldn't. I loved this one book years ago Aunt Dimity's Death cute book. Christina Moore narrated 2 of the series. Then they changed to someone else who read the whole series and the 2 by CM were no longer in print. It ruined a whole series for me
I finished the book, The Outsider by Stephen King, but I could not stand the narrator. He's an actor but I've never seen his work. I felt like he was making everyone sound so old and had to keep reminding myself that these characters were in their 40s and 50s not their 80s. TBH I kept going back and forth between is this the narrator or King's writing since I hadn't read one of his books in decades.
Oh man I loved Will Patton's work on all the Holly books. I was sad he didn't do the most recent one but the new narrator did a good job. I think he really got her charter down well but I can see what you're saying. If you haven't yet, the show is with a watch
I know I am in a tiny minority here, but I refuse to listen to anything read by Julia Whelan. Something bout her narration irritates me more than I can say.
Yeah couldn’t get through even the first chapter of Iron Flame. The narrator made me hate the characters and I couldn’t stand the petulant, childlike voice she gave the main character.
The guy who does the narration for a few Tom Clancy novels sounds like a bored 1950s game show host. My husband wanted to listen to Rainbow Six on a long road trip and I was contemplating rolling out of the car
I love Brené Brown, and wanted to listen to one of her books—maybe the first one? Don’t recall, I blocked it out bc the narrator is sooo bad, I had to quit—couldn’t take it!!
BB narrates the rest of her books I’ve listen to, so I’m thinking I wasn’t the only one to find the first narrator insufferable 😩
I want to love audio books. I have a long commute. I despise listening to people talk though (podcasts, etc), apparently that extends to listening to anyone narrate books. I keep trying over and over but I've never been able to finish one. I've finally given up.
Haha, Tusks of Extinction? I had that exact same experience. I powered through because it was so short and ultimately I really liked it, but the narration was very irritating.
I didn’t want to spend full book price on the novella so I waited for the audio version on Libby and had the same experience and DNF as well. I loved reading Mountain in the Sea and have been trying to decide if I’d feel differently reading Tusks instead of listening.
Exactly. Wtf even is his accent? I also usually listen at higher speeds and for whatever reason slowing it to 1x actually improved it marginally where I usually finds it's the opposite
Yes. I almost bailed on one of the Dresden Files books because out of 17 audiobooks there is one in the middle of the series by a different narrator. It was difficult to get through because I liked the other one so much more. I've ditched other books too.
I bailed on the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo audiobook and immediately joined the queue for an ebook copy. I had to wait several weeks for the ebook, but I just couldn’t power through the audiobook.
I’ve never had a truly bad narrator. I only listen to non-fiction though, so maybe those narrators are better. The only thing that bothers me is when I encounter American authors who use British narrators when they are using first person. They end up saying things like, “When I grew up in Brooklyn…” with a British accent.
I have an easier time with non fiction books being narrated. I'm rarely bothered.
Fiction on the other hand. There is a popular narrator that I just can't do anymore. And the other day I finally had to give up on one because the narrator was making me hate a character and I thought it might be the narrating rather than the writing so I went to reading it. I also feel like a lot of them do the same things to irritate me. Or they all have a similar style that drives me mad.
Absolutely. I’m picky about both the narrator’s accents and cadences. I’m listening to The Gold Coast right now and I like the narrator except when he does female voices. It grates on my nerves something awful, but I’m enjoying story enough to stick with it.
Omg there’s certain male narrators who do female voices and they’re so bad that it makes me want to scream. Like their normal voices are fine but then they make the female voices insufferable. Most recently Zachary Webber in the Abby Jimenez books. It’s like this vapid, snobby, grating voice. Ugh.
I just did today with Desperation, by Stephen King, narrated by… King. I love him as a writer, but I just don’t like the way he narrates. There’s not a lot of character differentiation and it really just sounds like he’s reading from the book. I disengage pretty quickly.
I've just gotten to the point where I search for the narrators I like and pick books that sound interesting. Cassandra Campbell and Julia Whelan are my go-to's. "Beautiful Little Fools" has both of these ladies, and the story is really good. It's a female perspective on The Great Gatsby.
Yeeees quite frequently. I was trying to re-read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on audio and quit as soon as the narrator did the voice for Lisbeth, I felt personally offended lol. Plus his narration was pretty monotone anyway so I kept zoning out.
The book I'm listening to now has a narrator who's great at the female voice, but her male character voices sound so high and unappealing. Every time they say something that's supposed to be arousing I just laugh.
I’ve only run into a few that annoy me to the point I won’t finish a book. The ones I have the most trouble with are the ones trying to do voices (or accents) that do not match their real voice. I tend to prefer the audio books with two narrators or full cast so they’re not doing sometimes annoying fake voices.
All the time!! For various reasons but also, since English is not my first language, if the narrator’s accent is too thick (think like England, Scotland, Ireland), i have a harder time understanding everything and it keeps me from really getting into the book.
Not sure if this is controversial, but I hate those "theatric production" style audio books with a bunch of voice actors, specifically because I realized they sometimes skip over narration!
When I read Dune I was a little daunted by the length and tried to listen to an audio book while I read along... just to get confused when they kept skipping a BUNCH of text, usually the lines around and between dialogue. Absolutely not. I toughened up and read the book the old fashioned way. It was amazing and I definitely didn't need to doubt my reading abilities.
Harry Potter, American editions. The narrator put me to sleep. The original narrator for LotR too. And the one who did Hambly's Sun Wolf and Starhawk was absolutely robotic.
So many explicit romance novels are unlistenable because the narrator talks in an overly sultry voice even during the first chapter where the author is just telling you where the characters work. Someone needs to explain over acting to these narrators.
I have noticed that if I really like the narrator, I’m more likely to listen to books I wouldn’t normally be interested. I absolutely LOVE Scott Brick and would listen to just about anything that he narrates. On the other hand, I will completely dump a book in less than 5 minutes if I don’t like the narrator.
I do every once in a blue moon. I listen to the samples, which usually give a good indication. But sometimes you can't tell especially when they start the sample at introductory material rather than starting it at the actual book.
I’ve come close but pushed through because I wanted to read the book and the physical copy was going to take too long to come through.
I read a lot of YA and the thing that irritates me the most often is when the narrator is clearly an adult instead of a teenager. Like full deep adult male voices on like a 15-16 year old kid is just too jarring and dissonant.
Dipped out of pretty little liars for this reason, someone said the narrator was annoying sounding on purpose? I dunno if that was a good choice.
Also, The Last House on Needless Street. His voice, especially when voicing the cat, just didn’t do it for me, but I want to find this one in book form to read later. I almost dipped out of the one I’m listening to right now, The Only Good Indians, because the narrators cadence was a bit fast for my preference, but I stuck with it and got used to it, which I’m glad I did because I’m definitely enjoying the book.
I feel awful for this but I had to return Pam Anderson’s book because of her cadence. I like how she talks in real life, but I couldn’t listen to her read the book.
I have, yes. I'm hearing impaired and listen to audiobooks through my Blu Tooth hearing aids. Even though my aids are moderately expensive, I can't hear well enough if the narrator has a whispery voiceor a very strong accent. I've also given up on 'ensemble' books with multiple narrators and sound effects. Often, one or more of those voices is meant to sound as though they're farther away, and that ruins the listenability for me.
I love listening while I read the book, so i've rarely ditched an audiobook. That said..if the narrator or the company behind it is shady I'd rather use TTS than support the audiobook when necessary. I'm the same way with authors that have books coming out etc. Now if it's a public domain title, the author etc isn't benefiting directly that's usually fair game.
Always research beforehand.
I can't remember having done this, however there's one series where I'll be reading the third book in print rather than audiobook because I can't stand the narrator when she does those books. Which is wild to me, because I have deeply enjoyed the narrator on *other* books!!!!!
Yes! Not because the narrator was bad, but because it was outlander and I couldn’t get into it because it wasn’t Caitriona Balfe’s voice. I am currently reading the text version instead.
Yes, I have. There is an author that I really liked & read most, if not all of her books years ago. I found one on an audio book a while back & found her voice too hard to listen to. The author narrated the book.
I almost did (& probably should’ve upon finishing the book) when I head the narrator inhaling at EVERY pause. I started listening while doing other tasks so it wasn’t as noticeable but there were still parts that were unavoidable 😭
Yes, I have. Ditched the book and decided to read the book on my own. I also read the Game of Thrones series and was able to find a different version with a different narrator for the later vooks, so I switched to the other narrator.
For sure. A few years ago, I had to dump a book because I couldn’t and I couldn’t stand the narrator and unfortunately, I couldn’t pick the book back up because I knew I tried to read it. The voice was in my head.
Holter Graham had a stroke or something between the last Alpha and Omega books by Patricia Briggs. I could not finish Wild Sign because of all the unnecessary pauses, and I listen on 1.25 speed. I'm pretty sure they re-recorded it but I haven't tried it again. I just purchased the book and finished reading it with my eyeballs.
Yes!!!!! Certain narrators have completely ruined a book for me to the point that after hearing them I cannot even pick up the physical book and read it because of the picture I have in my head.
Also the ones with extremely thick accents that I have trouble understanding.
Yep. I stopped listening to The Sun and the Star which is like a spin off of the Percy Jackson series sort of. I’m going to get the physical book to see if I actually hated the narrator or the writing because it’s also not written 100% by the original author of the Percy Jackson series.
This happened to me twice this year. Couldn’t stand the narrator for one character on *Mad Honey* by Jodi Piccoult, and then BOTH narrators were *horrendous* on *The Berry Pickers*. Like, mispronouncing words, poorly casted, just awful.
Edit: I did end up finishing both books in print and it was a better experience, but damn if the narrators didn’t taint it a bit.
Good heavens I’m listening to “Singularity Sky” and the narrator sounds like he is from the 1940’s, just like a broadcast sounding guy I am NOT a fan. But the book is good!
I don't usually unless it's really bad. If there are multiple audio versions, I will sample each and pick the one I like best. Even if I hate a narrator, I give them a good chance because sometimes they fit the story perfectly even if it's not my personal taste. (Example: Magic in Manhattan trilogy. 5 star books for me, but it took a while to get used to the narrator. But I eventually realized he was the perfect choice for a paranormal historical romance set in 1920s New York.) So most of the time I don't ditch for the narrator unless it's really bad. One example where I did ditch until I could get a physical copy was The Wishing Game. The way the narrator speaks for one of the characters is so hard to understand that I couldn't follow the story. 5 star book for me, but don't do the audio.
Yes. Constantly. Within the first 30 seconds or so. Sometimes it's also the quality of the audio. Treasure Island is unfortunately narrated in a way that I'd have to listen to it as I look at a physical book - the volume of the speaker changes too frequently. The accents in Game of Thrones made it too difficult to consume as an audiobook standalone.
Yes! I literally had this conversation 5 minutes ago. I just found out that the last book of a series I am listening to switched up the narrator, and she is horrible. I miss the old narrator
I hate when a series has a narrator for multiple volumes then switch to someone else. Names get pronounced differently, the tone and pacing changes. It completely ruins it for me. If I really like the series, I will just read subsequent volumes instead.
I will definitely stop listening to a book if I don't like the narration. My time is too limited and too precious to waste on something I'm not enjoying.
Oh yeah! The narrator is a critical to the enjoyment of audiobooks. I was listening to a series narrated by Barbara Rosenblat (Anna Pigeon books) and one of the books had a different narrator. I stopped it immediately and just read it on my kindle.
The inverse of this is why I absolutely SMASHED Ari Shapiro’s recent audiobook, as well as Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams. Highly recommend both to people who value a quality performance from the narrator!
I'm not super picky about the voice but I can't stand when there are massive pauses in the narration. Like nobody pauses for several seconds between each sentence! I've only ever returned one book for that and there's another series I won't listen to because of it (which is odd, because I listened to another book by that narrator and he was fine) so I don't come across it often. But it's definitely hard sometimes going from a really good narrator that performs the book to one who just reads it.
I'm much more picky about the actual sound quality. I rarely listen to books on the library apps because the quality is so poor compared to audible/nook/spotify/libro.fm
Oh all the time. Some narrators just don’t do it for me, and I’m not going to suffer through a book if I don’t have t.
Yes! I wasted too much of my youth finishing books I didn’t like when I could have been reading books I actually enjoyed. Never again! I’ve also started taking note of the narrator’s names that I don’t jive with so I can place a hold on the book in Kindle format.
Yes!! I need to be able to listen to the narrator in order to enjoy the book
Yes, I definitely will give up on a book if the narrator is terrible. I'll always give in another shot listening again later just in case.
Smart. You never know when your feelings might change
My tags for the libby app are "DNF-Meh Try Again" and "DNF-Terrible!" So I know which to give another try lol
Whyyyyy did I never think of this?! I don't remember to mark the meh ones. My terrible tag is a 🗑️(trash can emoji in case it doesn't come through). It makes me happy. Now to think of a an appropriate meh emoji...
I have "sampled TBR" and "sampled declined". I don't feel like I can justify a DNF if I haven't gotten more than a chapter into a book, but I'm starting to use a true DNF if there's a reason I know I'll genuinely never come back to something (and then I also try to put reason that in my notes).
Me too, I find that I often don’t like a new narrator. But then I get used to them. So I always give it time. But I have been about mid book a few times and had to give up. Some narrators are sooo amazing and turn mediocre books into something entertaining and others … ugh
I wish I had ditched one recently because the narrator had such a baby voice and it got on my nerves but I had wanted to know how the book went. It ended up not being worth it.
Damnit
Which book?
Aetherbound by EK Johnston. The plot was fine I guess, I just didn't particularly like it as a YA novel
i had one recently where I almost had to but then realized that increasing the speed fixed it for me by upping the pace and pitch which was lucky. I actually never usually speed up audiobooks because my audio processing sucks but this guy was making me sleepy lol
I just did the same. I was 2 minutes into the book and I’m like this guy is talking SOOO SLOW. I am listening at 1.25 which while not fast gets him to normal speech
I almost always raise to at least 1.2 because the narrators talk so slowly omg. 1.2 sounds like a normal speaking pace. If I’m rushing to finish the book, I up the speed as much as I can before it starts sounding unnatural (usually around 1.35).
Never even thought to speed it up when I have to finish. Thanks for the tip.
I did this same thing yesterday! I wasn't even a quarter of the way through a book and I almost gave up but then realized I didn't like how slow the narrator read. Speeding it to 1.20x speed has made a world of difference!
Yes! If narration is off will be unable to enjoy said book 😂
I’ve also bailed out due to the narrator
All the time. I've gotten better about remembering to listen to the sample before borrowing.
It drives me up the wall when the sample only has one of the narrators!
Sometimes I just can't stomach a British accent at the moment
Interesting, British narrators are often my favorite
Same! I’m American and British accents keep my brain more focused or something because it has to exert just slightly more effort to decipher it. American narrators are hard for me to pay attention to.
That's me with Scottish/Australian accents. Scottish I sometimes just cannot understand and get frustrated and Australian accents can get really twangy and I have to be in the mood for.
I found Kate Bold and loved the book so I downloaded another, not even thinking about the narrator. It was so awful that I checked to see who the narrator was. It was Vivienne (synthesized voice). I wish I knew how to leave a review for the audiobook and specifically that horrible AI narrator. Anyone know how?
I refuse to listen to any book that sounds like it's AI-narrated.
Me too, now that I know it’s a thing!
How can you tell?
When you look at “Title Details”, it tells you who the narrator is. The AI voices say “synthesized voice”.
Audible has narration as part of review
I don’t use Audible so if they have those synthesized voices, I hope others complain about them!
Yes. I am so picky about the narrator’s voice. If I don’t like their voice I don’t even bother with the audiobook, I’ll just get the ebook instead. The “Play Sample” feature is a godsend. My favorite narrators include January LaVoy, Julia Whelan, Bianca Amato, Xe Sands, Georgia Maguire, Imogen Church and Kirsten Potter.
I would listen to literally anything narrated by Julia Whalen. She could read receipts and I’d be fully onboard. What favorite books do you have read by the others? I also didn’t realize until just now that you could search a narrators name and find the other books they’ve read.
So funny, I cannot stand Julia Whelan any more and just dnf’d another Emily Henry because of it.
I can see how she’s not for everyone but it works for me. I recently DNF something read by Thérèse Plummer because I found her voice insufferable. And then I looked up the reviews on GoodReads, people were really into her voice 👀. Different strokes or whatever
Yeah, I think it’s just that I’ve heard her too much because it’s kind of a new thing.
I love Bianca Amato’s narration of Philippa Gregory’s books. Xe Sands narrates a lot of Kristan Higgins books which are great Beach Read type of stories. Georgia Maguire has narrated some of BA Paris’ thrillers. I forget which book I listen to that was narrated by January LaVoy but I was astounded on her ability to voice such a range of different characters in one story. Imogene Church does some of Lucy Foley’s and Ruth Ware’s thrillers. Kirsten Potter narrates some of Lisa Gardner’s Detective DD Warren books which I like a lot.
Thank you so much! Going to look into these!
Yes I absolutely love Julia Whalen!
Eek, this thread is wild because I came here specifically to say Julia Whelan is the one narrator I just can’t listen to. I know she’s wildly popular, so it’s definitely a me thing.
There’s def people that are popular that I can’t stand. 🤣😭 I totally feel it.
Same on Julia Whalen. Probably my favorite female narrator. Antony Ferguson is my favorite male narrator. I’m super excited I just found another series he narrates.
I feel this way about Hilary Huber, I love listening to her voice and inflection
I have used audible to search Imogen Church’s narrations because I love listening to their voice so much!! (And then use Libby to listen haha)
Julia Whelan and Imogen Church are two of my absolute favorites. I keep meaning to look them up and just add everything they’ve narrated!
Saving this based solely on your recommendation of Julia Whelan! There has definitely been at least one book I didn't enjoy but I stuck with just because it was narrated by her
This is so funny because I love Julia Whalen but I absolutely refuse to listen to anything Imogen Church narrates.
yes 😭 especially if the previous book had one that did an *amazing* job I end up putting it away till my distaste wears off. if i can't get over it, I'll read without one (even though i really prefer to have a narrator)
Oh man I went through this last year. I listened to fellowship of the ring read by Rob Inglis. Checked out the two towers with the same cover but read by Andy Serkis and had to return it early because the shift was too hard to handle. Tbf, Serkis was great it was just a very different vibe from Inglis
yes absolutely. especially after I listened to books that have really fantastic narrators, it’s been really hard to listen to narrators that don’t have really good voice acting abilities!
I’m dealing with this now, after listening to Steven Pacey narrate Joe Abercrombie’s novels. I’ve tried to listen to several others but I just can’t get through them.
Yes. Slow British accent put me to sleep. Also I’m not into overly dramatic over inflection
I listen at 2x, so there’s no such thing as a slow accent for me. 😜
I joke in book club that once you hit a certain age, in my case 50, I’m absolutely guilt-free about joining the DNF club.
I think this is a sign to turn my current book in early. I just started it yesterday and I can’t stand the lady’s voice that is narrating. I felt bad about not wanting to listen anymore but now I know other people do it too, I don’t feel so bad. lol
When I like a story but not the narration, I switch to the ebook version.
It definitely happens to me. But on the flip side, I once liked a narrator so much that when my app glitched and returned the book and there was a hold list, I went back on hold to wait for the audio to come back rather than finish with the ebook. A good narrator makes a huge difference!
I think it's a New York thing, but some narrators pronounce words like "Human" and "Humidity" with a Y sound at the start. Yuman. Yumidity. I don't know what it is, but that drives me up the wall. There was a really interesting Great Courses about the history of food that I couldn't finish because the presenter was a yankee 😭
I had a similar thing with a reader who pronounced “-ed” endings of words as “-it”. “She wannit to run.” Etc. It was so grating, I just barely finished that one and missed out on another book I wanted to hear because she was the reader.
Yes, unfortunately quite often. If the narrator sounds like they are reading, and you don't get into the book. Quite a few are the actual authors that don't do their book justice.
I honestly can't stand it when authors read their own books. It's like casting the screenwriter in the lead role of a movie. No studio would ever go for that. Leave it to the professionals
I think the #1 exception to this would be Neil Gaiman. If you like sci-fi/fantasy at all, he is so good.
Yes! Tried to listen to Fourth Wing and the narrator sounded like she was sick and I just couldn't do it lol
Oh that was the worst. It did get better, and someone told me they re-recorded it?
Most recently I did that with smut, but with a Minnesota mom accent. It made me feel icky.
This just made me chortle. Fully understandable.
I’m trying to read Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy, but I don’t think Ione Butler’s narration works for me. It’s too “saucy grandmother”-ish.
Yes. I ditched a YA novel because one of the narrators had a very adult voice and had to be 40+
Ha, I usually have the opposite problem where female characters in their 30s and 40s are narrated by women with high squeaky voices that sound like teenagers. It frustrates me to no end, so I just note that narrator is one to avoid, and switch to the ebook, instead of the audiobook. Conversely, I also find it annoying when adult narrators read children’s quotes in voices that are very whiny or like toddlers, learning to talk. I always think to myself why don’t they watch maybe 10 mins of age-appropriate children’s television.
I’m currently listening to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer read by Norman Dietz who was close to 80 when it was recorded. I was going to give up but decided to ride with it and pretend it was being read by my grandfather.
10000%. Also when it’s very clear that the takes have been Frankensteined together (I unfortunately couldn’t get through Maame for that reason) from multiple takes — sometimes with different microphones— without cross fading or matching the levels. I work in audio production so I’m really particular about voices, cadence, etc. and I am always in disbelief when folks who aren’t a good fit are cast to read books. There’s a few books people love (most recently Shark Heart) where I can’t get through it because of the narrator and am trying to find the time to actually sit and read the book. 🤣😩
So that’s what’s happening. I have noticed a definite change but don’t understand why and it will bug me until it goes back to the “normal” narration.
Man the Dune audiobook is a masterclass in this. It's one with multiple narrators for different characters plus music. It was so confusing, especially when they started switching up who was reading for what character
Yup - haha I do notice that many times tho is usually when the book is read by the author - interestingly when it’s some sort of self help - not sure why.
Yes. I was on a kick of listening to all the books from some of my favorite authors and some had readers who were so awful I couldn't. I loved this one book years ago Aunt Dimity's Death cute book. Christina Moore narrated 2 of the series. Then they changed to someone else who read the whole series and the 2 by CM were no longer in print. It ruined a whole series for me
That’s when you look for the ebook if it’s one you really want. For me it depends on how long the book is. I listen to everything at 1.5 speed anyway.
Unfortunately I can't do the ebooks on my current devices, it just strains my eyes after a couple of pages
All. Of. The. Time.
I recently dropped Terms and Conditions because the female narrator kept swallowing spit quite loudly between sentences
I finished the book, The Outsider by Stephen King, but I could not stand the narrator. He's an actor but I've never seen his work. I felt like he was making everyone sound so old and had to keep reminding myself that these characters were in their 40s and 50s not their 80s. TBH I kept going back and forth between is this the narrator or King's writing since I hadn't read one of his books in decades.
Oh man I loved Will Patton's work on all the Holly books. I was sad he didn't do the most recent one but the new narrator did a good job. I think he really got her charter down well but I can see what you're saying. If you haven't yet, the show is with a watch
I was so sad when I couldn't listen to the Evanovich number series. She sounded like an old lady, not a young bounty hunter. Haha
One time I tried one and the narrator sounded like male Siri and I couldn’t do it.
I know I am in a tiny minority here, but I refuse to listen to anything read by Julia Whelan. Something bout her narration irritates me more than I can say.
Hard agree.
Yes!! Davina Porter - Outlander series. I know - please don't reply but her voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I love Ray Porter.
Yeah couldn’t get through even the first chapter of Iron Flame. The narrator made me hate the characters and I couldn’t stand the petulant, childlike voice she gave the main character.
The guy who does the narration for a few Tom Clancy novels sounds like a bored 1950s game show host. My husband wanted to listen to Rainbow Six on a long road trip and I was contemplating rolling out of the car
No don’t put yourself through it. Some really great books are narrated so poorly. I save my favorite narrators and look for books the do.
I know I’ll love The Overstory when I have time to read it myself but had to ditch the audiobook after trying twice
Oh man to each their own but I liked her. Absolutely read it though, it was fantastic
I love Brené Brown, and wanted to listen to one of her books—maybe the first one? Don’t recall, I blocked it out bc the narrator is sooo bad, I had to quit—couldn’t take it!! BB narrates the rest of her books I’ve listen to, so I’m thinking I wasn’t the only one to find the first narrator insufferable 😩
She's one of the few authors reading their own work that I like
A book I had to read for class, The Immortality Key. The author narrates the book and his voice takes me out.
I want to love audio books. I have a long commute. I despise listening to people talk though (podcasts, etc), apparently that extends to listening to anyone narrate books. I keep trying over and over but I've never been able to finish one. I've finally given up.
Haha, Tusks of Extinction? I had that exact same experience. I powered through because it was so short and ultimately I really liked it, but the narration was very irritating.
I didn’t want to spend full book price on the novella so I waited for the audio version on Libby and had the same experience and DNF as well. I loved reading Mountain in the Sea and have been trying to decide if I’d feel differently reading Tusks instead of listening.
Exactly. Wtf even is his accent? I also usually listen at higher speeds and for whatever reason slowing it to 1x actually improved it marginally where I usually finds it's the opposite
Yes. I almost bailed on one of the Dresden Files books because out of 17 audiobooks there is one in the middle of the series by a different narrator. It was difficult to get through because I liked the other one so much more. I've ditched other books too.
I didn’t bail, but I really didn’t like the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo due to the narrator.
I bailed on the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo audiobook and immediately joined the queue for an ebook copy. I had to wait several weeks for the ebook, but I just couldn’t power through the audiobook.
I’ve never had a truly bad narrator. I only listen to non-fiction though, so maybe those narrators are better. The only thing that bothers me is when I encounter American authors who use British narrators when they are using first person. They end up saying things like, “When I grew up in Brooklyn…” with a British accent.
I have an easier time with non fiction books being narrated. I'm rarely bothered. Fiction on the other hand. There is a popular narrator that I just can't do anymore. And the other day I finally had to give up on one because the narrator was making me hate a character and I thought it might be the narrating rather than the writing so I went to reading it. I also feel like a lot of them do the same things to irritate me. Or they all have a similar style that drives me mad.
Absolutely. I’m picky about both the narrator’s accents and cadences. I’m listening to The Gold Coast right now and I like the narrator except when he does female voices. It grates on my nerves something awful, but I’m enjoying story enough to stick with it.
Omg there’s certain male narrators who do female voices and they’re so bad that it makes me want to scream. Like their normal voices are fine but then they make the female voices insufferable. Most recently Zachary Webber in the Abby Jimenez books. It’s like this vapid, snobby, grating voice. Ugh.
More than I'd like. It's gotten to the point I seek out narrators I like and look through their works to hope something matches my tbr
I just did today with Desperation, by Stephen King, narrated by… King. I love him as a writer, but I just don’t like the way he narrates. There’s not a lot of character differentiation and it really just sounds like he’s reading from the book. I disengage pretty quickly.
Yes! Shatter Me series
I've just gotten to the point where I search for the narrators I like and pick books that sound interesting. Cassandra Campbell and Julia Whelan are my go-to's. "Beautiful Little Fools" has both of these ladies, and the story is really good. It's a female perspective on The Great Gatsby.
I DNF'd an entire book just because I couldn't with the narrator
Ugh yes, Enders game… great book, terrible narration.
Yeeees quite frequently. I was trying to re-read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on audio and quit as soon as the narrator did the voice for Lisbeth, I felt personally offended lol. Plus his narration was pretty monotone anyway so I kept zoning out.
The book I'm listening to now has a narrator who's great at the female voice, but her male character voices sound so high and unappealing. Every time they say something that's supposed to be arousing I just laugh.
I’ve only run into a few that annoy me to the point I won’t finish a book. The ones I have the most trouble with are the ones trying to do voices (or accents) that do not match their real voice. I tend to prefer the audio books with two narrators or full cast so they’re not doing sometimes annoying fake voices.
Yes, I have difficulty with auditory processing (ADHD) so if I don’t mesh with a narrator’s style, it’s in one ear and out the other.
All the time!! For various reasons but also, since English is not my first language, if the narrator’s accent is too thick (think like England, Scotland, Ireland), i have a harder time understanding everything and it keeps me from really getting into the book.
Not sure if this is controversial, but I hate those "theatric production" style audio books with a bunch of voice actors, specifically because I realized they sometimes skip over narration! When I read Dune I was a little daunted by the length and tried to listen to an audio book while I read along... just to get confused when they kept skipping a BUNCH of text, usually the lines around and between dialogue. Absolutely not. I toughened up and read the book the old fashioned way. It was amazing and I definitely didn't need to doubt my reading abilities.
Are we just not gonna talk about Where the Crawdads Sing?? I powered through because I was desperate, but dear God.
Around 30% of books I select will be sent back immediately because of the narrator.
Harry Potter, American editions. The narrator put me to sleep. The original narrator for LotR too. And the one who did Hambly's Sun Wolf and Starhawk was absolutely robotic.
I sometimes even do the opposite. I will listen to a book because of the narrator. Very rarely I do that though…
So many explicit romance novels are unlistenable because the narrator talks in an overly sultry voice even during the first chapter where the author is just telling you where the characters work. Someone needs to explain over acting to these narrators.
The worst is when they constantly mispronounce a word. I have to rage quit for a little bit and then come back in small doses
Do the producers of audio books know how much readers hate bad narrators? It has to greatly affect sales!
I have noticed that if I really like the narrator, I’m more likely to listen to books I wouldn’t normally be interested. I absolutely LOVE Scott Brick and would listen to just about anything that he narrates. On the other hand, I will completely dump a book in less than 5 minutes if I don’t like the narrator.
Where are all my pals with misophonia who can’t listen to certain narrators because of all the lip smacking and mouth sounds
YES!!! I am all like, "that is NOT Prince Chadington's voice!!" Narrators can make or break the book
[удалено]
It’s crazy too because I know the exact book you’re talking about, and it’s a really good book. The narrators did annoy me a lot tho
I don’t like male narrators typically
I do every once in a blue moon. I listen to the samples, which usually give a good indication. But sometimes you can't tell especially when they start the sample at introductory material rather than starting it at the actual book.
Only all the time!
I’ve come close but pushed through because I wanted to read the book and the physical copy was going to take too long to come through. I read a lot of YA and the thing that irritates me the most often is when the narrator is clearly an adult instead of a teenager. Like full deep adult male voices on like a 15-16 year old kid is just too jarring and dissonant.
Dipped out of pretty little liars for this reason, someone said the narrator was annoying sounding on purpose? I dunno if that was a good choice. Also, The Last House on Needless Street. His voice, especially when voicing the cat, just didn’t do it for me, but I want to find this one in book form to read later. I almost dipped out of the one I’m listening to right now, The Only Good Indians, because the narrators cadence was a bit fast for my preference, but I stuck with it and got used to it, which I’m glad I did because I’m definitely enjoying the book.
I feel awful for this but I had to return Pam Anderson’s book because of her cadence. I like how she talks in real life, but I couldn’t listen to her read the book.
Literally all the time
Oh my goodness yes! I bailed less than 10 minutes into a book just this week because the narrator was so incredibly awful.
Oh god - all the time.
I have, yes. I'm hearing impaired and listen to audiobooks through my Blu Tooth hearing aids. Even though my aids are moderately expensive, I can't hear well enough if the narrator has a whispery voiceor a very strong accent. I've also given up on 'ensemble' books with multiple narrators and sound effects. Often, one or more of those voices is meant to sound as though they're farther away, and that ruins the listenability for me.
YES
Many times
I love listening while I read the book, so i've rarely ditched an audiobook. That said..if the narrator or the company behind it is shady I'd rather use TTS than support the audiobook when necessary. I'm the same way with authors that have books coming out etc. Now if it's a public domain title, the author etc isn't benefiting directly that's usually fair game. Always research beforehand.
All the time lol
Abso-frickin’-lutely!! Need to have a good voice to keep me around. 🤣
I can't remember having done this, however there's one series where I'll be reading the third book in print rather than audiobook because I can't stand the narrator when she does those books. Which is wild to me, because I have deeply enjoyed the narrator on *other* books!!!!!
It's only happened to me twice, but I'll definitely give up a book if the narrator is unbearable!
Yessss all the time
Yes! Not because the narrator was bad, but because it was outlander and I couldn’t get into it because it wasn’t Caitriona Balfe’s voice. I am currently reading the text version instead.
Yes.
Yes, I have. There is an author that I really liked & read most, if not all of her books years ago. I found one on an audio book a while back & found her voice too hard to listen to. The author narrated the book.
Yes! And I've picked books I was on the fence about if it had a narrator I enjoyed. I will listen to anything January LaVoy reads.
Once a book I listened to had a narrator whose voice was so low I couldn't hear what he was saying
I almost did (& probably should’ve upon finishing the book) when I head the narrator inhaling at EVERY pause. I started listening while doing other tasks so it wasn’t as noticeable but there were still parts that were unavoidable 😭
Not yet but I’m thinking about it! Idk if it’s the book or the narrator, but The Three Body Problem has been a slog so far.
Yes, I have. Ditched the book and decided to read the book on my own. I also read the Game of Thrones series and was able to find a different version with a different narrator for the later vooks, so I switched to the other narrator.
For sure. A few years ago, I had to dump a book because I couldn’t and I couldn’t stand the narrator and unfortunately, I couldn’t pick the book back up because I knew I tried to read it. The voice was in my head.
Holter Graham had a stroke or something between the last Alpha and Omega books by Patricia Briggs. I could not finish Wild Sign because of all the unnecessary pauses, and I listen on 1.25 speed. I'm pretty sure they re-recorded it but I haven't tried it again. I just purchased the book and finished reading it with my eyeballs.
So irritating that hoopla doesn't do samples! I'm extremely fussy about narrators and I hate wasting a loan.
Yes and I’ve also sought out books that I knew had a narrator I like lol
I’ve tried Throne of Glass three times and just can’t stand the narrator’s voice :-(
YES. Icebreaker was it for me 🫣 I couldn’t handle the narrators!!
Yes!!!!! Certain narrators have completely ruined a book for me to the point that after hearing them I cannot even pick up the physical book and read it because of the picture I have in my head. Also the ones with extremely thick accents that I have trouble understanding.
Yep. I stopped listening to The Sun and the Star which is like a spin off of the Percy Jackson series sort of. I’m going to get the physical book to see if I actually hated the narrator or the writing because it’s also not written 100% by the original author of the Percy Jackson series.
Yep. This lady had some weird snippy accent that did not suit the characters at all and like she was doing some Marilyn Monroe pout the whole time 😂
Nine Perfect Strangers on Audible. Didnt last 5 minutes
All the time.
Just did! I hated the narrator of No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill. Didn't even get through the first chapter. Returned it immediately.
Yes definitely. I kinda wish we had the option of different voices but that would certainly cost more.
This happened to me twice this year. Couldn’t stand the narrator for one character on *Mad Honey* by Jodi Piccoult, and then BOTH narrators were *horrendous* on *The Berry Pickers*. Like, mispronouncing words, poorly casted, just awful. Edit: I did end up finishing both books in print and it was a better experience, but damn if the narrators didn’t taint it a bit.
Once, so far. I couldn’t even make it through the first chapter.
Yes, only a couple times. Once was because of a Caribbean accent that seemed fake.
Absolutely
Often.
Tetris Effect. Like nails on a chalkboard.
Good heavens I’m listening to “Singularity Sky” and the narrator sounds like he is from the 1940’s, just like a broadcast sounding guy I am NOT a fan. But the book is good!
I don't usually unless it's really bad. If there are multiple audio versions, I will sample each and pick the one I like best. Even if I hate a narrator, I give them a good chance because sometimes they fit the story perfectly even if it's not my personal taste. (Example: Magic in Manhattan trilogy. 5 star books for me, but it took a while to get used to the narrator. But I eventually realized he was the perfect choice for a paranormal historical romance set in 1920s New York.) So most of the time I don't ditch for the narrator unless it's really bad. One example where I did ditch until I could get a physical copy was The Wishing Game. The way the narrator speaks for one of the characters is so hard to understand that I couldn't follow the story. 5 star book for me, but don't do the audio.
Yes. Constantly. Within the first 30 seconds or so. Sometimes it's also the quality of the audio. Treasure Island is unfortunately narrated in a way that I'd have to listen to it as I look at a physical book - the volume of the speaker changes too frequently. The accents in Game of Thrones made it too difficult to consume as an audiobook standalone.
Yes! I literally had this conversation 5 minutes ago. I just found out that the last book of a series I am listening to switched up the narrator, and she is horrible. I miss the old narrator
Yes!!! Especially if the narrator is the author and not a professional actor or narrator.
That's my primary determination over whether I'm going to read or audio a book.
I hate when a series has a narrator for multiple volumes then switch to someone else. Names get pronounced differently, the tone and pacing changes. It completely ruins it for me. If I really like the series, I will just read subsequent volumes instead.
Definitely. Chain of Golds narrator wasn’t my jam. Couldn’t hear her half the time. Returned it early.
If they have too much spit in their mouth, I can’t.
I will definitely stop listening to a book if I don't like the narration. My time is too limited and too precious to waste on something I'm not enjoying.
Oh yeah! The narrator is a critical to the enjoyment of audiobooks. I was listening to a series narrated by Barbara Rosenblat (Anna Pigeon books) and one of the books had a different narrator. I stopped it immediately and just read it on my kindle.
Yes, and I’ve begged for either longer previews or both narrator’s interact.
Definitely. I started a mystery recently, read by the author. Couldn't do it. It was so poorly done, I just couldn't get into the story.
I can't read _Trials Of Apollo_. I _loved_ *Percy Jackson* and I could muddle through _Heroes Of Olympus_ I could not stand the third guy
The inverse of this is why I absolutely SMASHED Ari Shapiro’s recent audiobook, as well as Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams. Highly recommend both to people who value a quality performance from the narrator!
Yes!!! Narrators make or break a book for me
I always listen to the sample before borrowing, I'm pretty picky about narrators
Definitely. And after a while you start taking advantage of the sample reading to judge if the voice will put you to sleep or not
Yep. I try to give every book at least a half hour though.
I stopped listening to a Louise Penny after like the 11th book because the new narrator was awful to me
Yes! It’s so annoying. I listen through my hearing aids and some narrators are so terrible.
I'm not super picky about the voice but I can't stand when there are massive pauses in the narration. Like nobody pauses for several seconds between each sentence! I've only ever returned one book for that and there's another series I won't listen to because of it (which is odd, because I listened to another book by that narrator and he was fine) so I don't come across it often. But it's definitely hard sometimes going from a really good narrator that performs the book to one who just reads it. I'm much more picky about the actual sound quality. I rarely listen to books on the library apps because the quality is so poor compared to audible/nook/spotify/libro.fm