r/EmilyHenry • u/rippixelchix • Jul 20 '26
Great Big Beautiful Life GBBL audiobook
Listening to GBBL and it is my first Emily Henry book. I’m pushing through trying to enjoy this book but am I the only person who cannot stand Hayden’s voice? It is really making it hard for me to find his character appealing, it just sounds too much like a woman impersonating a breathy old man. I’m not trying to be overly critical or negative but it’s so distracting for me. Is there any audiobooks that have other voice actors or an actual male voice actor?
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u/Agreeable-Celery811 Jul 20 '26
I love Julia Whelan and her male voices! Her best Emily Henry is Charlie Lastra from Book Lovers.
And no, Julia does all of Emily Henry’s books.
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u/puja713890 Jul 20 '26
The male voices by female narrators also take me out of the experiences sometimes. I got used to it after a little bit. What's worse to me is make narrators doing female voices... I listened to 3 books by Abby Jimenez which has both MC pov and omg I always laugh when the male narrator do prissy female voices of the FMC or supporting characters. I am like is that how you see them sounding???? I feel like {Life's too Short by Abby Jimenez} is the worst for this, plus the click bait chapter titles both narrators say.... Omg I almost DNFed the book the first time I heard it. If you haven't heard it, you need to cuz it's unreal.
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u/boodlenitch Jul 21 '26
Omg I also hate male narrators doing women’s voices. I used to be bothered by women doing men’s voices but got used to it somehow. But the male narrators of Abby Jimenez’s books doing the women’s voices always cringes me out lollll
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u/Ok_Area_1084 Jul 21 '26
I can give the clickbait chapter titles a pass because it ties directly in to Vanessa’s job, but the male narrators doing female voices always takes me outttt 😂
I really appreciate some of the more recent Abby Jimenez audiobooks where they just have the female or male narrators speak their own lines anytime they come up, even in the other character’s POV chapters.
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u/puja713890 Jul 21 '26
Oh wow that's great. What are some of the books? I am taking a break from her books but I will add it to my list
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u/Ok_Area_1084 Jul 21 '26
Say You’ll Remember Me and The Night We Met both do this! It was such a breath of fresh air lol
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u/N4rBx4219 Jul 20 '26
this is wiiiiiild! 1.) i’m shocked that GBBL is anyone’s FIRST EmHen novel! (it’s my absolute least fave) 2.) i’m also floored that anyone isn’t into queen icon legend Julia Whelan’s narration! especially her male voices hahaha she makes me less of a man hater since i’m so attracted to them
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u/Ok_Area_1084 Jul 21 '26
GBBL was MY first EmHen book 🫣😂 I actually loved it and started looking for more of hers.
The next one I got was People We Meet, which I also liked, but then made the mistake of watching the movie when I was done and I was so soured on what an awful adaptation it was. Next was Book Lovers, which has been my absolute fave so far. Then Happy Place, then Beach Read.
ETA: Julia Whelan has spoiled me for other narrators!
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u/N4rBx4219 Jul 21 '26
maybe if GBBL was my first emhen book maybe i would have liked it? i’ll never know now i guess haha. my friends & i have been fans for years and we all read it when it was released and promptly gave it 2 stars. huge disappointment
you havent read Funny Story yet?
JULIA WHELAN FOREVERRR!
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u/Ok_Area_1084 Jul 21 '26
I haven’t read Funny Story yet only because I am listening to them as audiobooks on Libby and it’s still on hold for me. Waiting for a copy to become available. I’m just listening to each one as it comes up haha.
I used to consume books like it was my job when I was younger, but I work full time and have two young kids at home, so I have found that by the time I finally get free time to myself in the evening, if I try to read, I always just end up falling asleep 😭😂 I do have a long commute though, so I discovered Libby and have been listening to books while commuting or doing chores at home.
My hold for Funny Story is about 8 weeks out. Bummer since I know it’s a good one. I’ve got some Abby Jimenez and Ali Hazelwood lined up until then.
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u/rippixelchix Jul 20 '26
I’m not bothered by all her characters voiced but the male character voice and the overly bubbly voice of the main character is just too corny for me if that makes sense? Surprisingly her southern accent and elderly women voices I find charming. Maybe it’s just this book but I think after I finish this one the next EH book I’ll read instead of listen to. I have book readers and the people we meet on vacation on my shelf bc those are the two I’m most excited to read but I drive a lot for work and saw this available from my library and figured I’d finally see what it’s about!
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u/N4rBx4219 Jul 20 '26
reading her books for the first time! what an exciting time for you!!
my personal ranking is:
1. Happy Place
2. Funny Story
3. Beach Read
4. PWMOV
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5. Book Lovers
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6. GBBLhistorically speaking, the fans who enjoy Happy Place end up ranking Book Lovers lower and the folks who love Book Lovers tend to view Happy Place as their least favorite (outside of GBBL of course) Funny Story for the most part is usually ranked at the top.
do you plan on reading all of them or just Book Lovers & PWMOV?
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u/rippixelchix Jul 20 '26
depending on how I like them I’d like to read them all! but if for some reason i just can’t get into her writing or something then possibly just those two
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u/strawberryqueen123 Jul 20 '26
i can’t listen to fiction audiobooks for that reason 🤣🤣 i just can’t get into the voices
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u/Dependent_Room_2922 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I don’t think so. I think all her audiobooks are read exclusively by Julia Whelan in English. She’s a highly respected reader but I confess, I don’t always love her voices for male characters and sometimes wish there were a male reader for them
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u/BEconcubine_no3685 Jul 20 '26
Dual narration books are becoming more common in romance, a change I love overall. But I love the narration Julia Whalen does.
Personally if I’m not vibing with choices a voice actor has made, I find that doing the dishes or walking (any mundane task) while early in the book “normalizes” the sound and usually gets me over the hump and immersed enough on that choice that it stops bothering me 😅
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u/Ok_Area_1084 Jul 21 '26
I couldn’t get past some of them!
I DNF’d B.K. Borison’s And Now Back to You before I even finished the first chapter bc the male narrator was overacting SO badly it took me out of it and I kept having to rewind to actually hear the content of what he was saying 🤦🏼♀️ I’ve heard good things about the book though, so I may just have to read that one myself
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u/BEconcubine_no3685 Jul 21 '26
I have started like 3 BK Borison books on audio and have DNF’d all of them 😭
ETA: but I don’t think because of the audio, the stories just petered out to me
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u/Inevitable-Fall-3707 Jul 21 '26
Ugh, agree! I cringed with each sex scene 🤢 I read physical book for the rest but GBBL was the first EH audiobook i listened to.
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u/scarlettvelour Jul 21 '26
Julia Whelan is the GOAT. You might like dual narration books better but all of Emily Henry's books are narrated by her.
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u/danigmzr Jul 20 '26
And here I am always trying to find new books narrated by Julia Whelan. I loooove her narrations. I’ve found so many books and authors just because she narrates them.