I will never…
Hear Tim Paige and not think of Matthew “Fish” Fishberger from Smitten by Lauren Rowe. I’ll forever be giggling and blushing when Fish from pure eagerness of having Alessandra in his arms. Forever visualizing Alessandra and Fish running to each other as if no one else is watching their first kiss. Fish nearly tripping over himself to learn what gets Alessandra going 😏. Tim Paige will forever be all of those moments and I’ll forever be thrusted back to them.
I will never hear Greyson Owens and not immediately be thrown back to the vision of wildflowers or the character in brought to life in Severed Heart by Kate Stewart cause that man tore me to shreds
I will never hear Joe Arden—say what you will about the man that is for another time, another blog— and not hear Alfred Sean Roberts, my beloved tortured so Jean Dominic King, and the fucking frenchmen himself Ezikel Tobias King all from The Ravenhood Trilogy(Flock, Exodus, The Finish Line) also by Kate Stewart.
Throughout my reading journey, I have found at times, no matter how many books someone may narrate, certain books they are forever attached to and by extension are forever that character. An example of this is Swoon by Lauren Rowe. I listened to this book years before I ever came across The Ravenhood Trilogy —thank you One Last Rainy Day fomo—and yet anytime I am listening to an audiobook with Joe Arden as one of the narrators, who brings Collin to life in Swoon, immediately jolts me back to that raft in Flock, or the staircase in Exodus, and Halloweenie in The Finish Line.
Maybe it isn’t necessarily the narrators themselves, but the stories which eteched so deep into me they are now engraved into my soul. But I can’t fully say it’s that either, while yes the stories are most definitely engraved into me for various reasons, I cannot discredit the voice actors who brought these characters and stories to life down to simply the story is buried deep within.
Their performance. The way the characters they voice feel as if they become a part of them. There is something magical about the story coming up from the page, become real in a whole other way, that deep down I know it’s not just the story. It’s the craft. The time. Just everything.
That’s all really as I sit here and listen to Greyson Owens narrate another book and yet all I hear is our soldier Tyler Carter Jennings from Severed Heart.
Xo,
Gretchen Elaine
