Between (Daily React)

One Of The Most Epic and Hilarious Books!

Chapters 1 thru 4

“Nothing good comes from dating a bearded guy. If they’re devious enough to hide their chins, they could be hiding anything …”

I cannot say enough about this book. I cannot say enough about the experience of listening to this book. I cannot say enough about how much I laugh out loud … LOUDLY when I am listening to this absolutely wonderful and MOVIE WORTHY experience created by both L.L. Starling and Emily Ellet.

I loved Emily Ellet’s voicework from Sorcery of Thorns and I was on the lookout for something else to listen to from her. I almost skipped over Between because she shares the narration with another male author, Steve West. I don’t always enjoy multi-narrator reads, but I discovered that some can work really well especially in something like Rin Chupeco’s The Bone Witch. I decided I’d deal with whatever horrible man voice came with the chance to experience Emily’s work again. I am SO SO SO glad that I decided to give this book a try because MY GOD … it is beyond wonderful.

From the first moment of the book I was laughing so hard that my tribemate heard me from the other room. I was laying down to enjoy a book while trying to fall asleep and I ended up laughing so hard that I kept myself up for another 40 minutes. Even when I woke up in the middle of the night and the book was somewhere on chapter 20 or something, I woke up to one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard and starting laughing out loud at like 3 in the morning.

I cannot tell you how good Emily Ellet is and I know that voices are very subjective; not everyone is going to enjoy her work the same way I do, but I love her work so much. Her passion and enthusiasm for the characters is clear. I love the way she voices both friends and brings out their personalities and the color of who they are through her voice. That is the sign of an exceptional voice actor – hell, just an ACTOR – who understands the nuance of tone. Emily is someone whose work I will be seeking out as readily as others I have come to love. If you’re interested in my favorite narrators you can find them here.

I am only on chapter 4 and I’m already hoping someone discovers this and makes it into a Netflix movie.

I really hope that the story doesn’t take a turn downhill when Steve West enters the picture. There is something about the voice of a generic American white male that irritates me and just makes me what to turn things off. I find it to be one of the worst sounds ever and it sets me on edge like when someone rubs two pieces of styrofoam together. Sorry but … it just grates on me. Will Damron is one of the only ones I have been able to enjoy so far and I can’t tell you why. He just doesn’t sound like a egocentric dick for whatever reason. His voice has a kind, warm tone.

It’s worth stating also that this is L.L. Starling’s FIRST novel and it’s 32 hours long (over 1000 pages) and that is significantly EPIC AF. I cannot wait to discover more of what she has to bring forth as an author. Unfortunately, this book was published in 2020 and 4 years later there is still no sign of book two. It’s possible, since she’s writing epics, that it could take a long time to see the sequel …

For now, I will take my time with this absolutely wonderful story. It FEELS so cozy and familiar and funny. It feels like all of my favorite 80s fantasy films rolled into a book.

Let’s hope I continue to love it!


Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Narration: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0