Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Girls Weekend: A Novel
- Author: Jody Gehrman
- Narrator: Emily Ellet
- Length: 09:27:00
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 09/06/2020
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
- Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Horror, Detective Stories
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
Let’s break this down: Jody Gehrman’s “Girls Weekend” isn’t just another thriller – it’s a sonic Rorschach test for female friendships. As someone who’s analyzed hundreds of audiobook adaptations for my ‘Future of Stories’ podcast, I can tell you Emily Ellet’s narration transforms this already twisty tale into something far more immersive than the text alone could achieve.
Here’s what makes this interesting: the story’s central mystery – a group of college friends reuniting at a lavish estate, only to wake up with missing memories and bloodstained stairs – plays out like a millennial “Big Little Lies” meets “The Hangover”. But the cultural impact here is how Gehrman weaponizes nostalgia against her characters. That moment when June Moody hears Sadie’s voice for the first time in years? Ellet delivers it with this perfect blend of warmth and venom that immediately establishes their complicated history. It reminded me of analyzing “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” – how a narrator’s vocal choices can reveal subtext the text only hints at.
The audio experience shines in its handling of the novel’s Celtic knot structure (Gehrman’s words, not mine). As each character’s secrets unravel, Ellet subtly shifts her tone to reflect their deteriorating mental states. When June starts questioning her own memories, you can “hear” the paranoia creeping in through slight vocal tremors and quicker pacing. This is where audiobooks outshine text – you don’t just read about dissociation, you “feel” it in the narrator’s breath control.
Now let’s talk atmosphere. The San Juan Islands setting should feel idyllic, but between the brooding cello accents in the soundtrack (shoutout to Dreamscape Media’s production team) and Ellet’s knack for pregnant pauses, every description of tide pools or forest trails carries ominous weight. It’s the audio equivalent of an A24 horror film – all unsettling beauty. I found myself pausing during June’s walks along the beach, half-expecting to hear something sinister in the wave sounds.
What surprised me most? How the format enhances the ‘unreliable narrator’ trope. When all characters claim memory loss, hearing their voices – some shaky, some too controlled – becomes evidence itself. It made me reflect on my “Project Hail Mary” analysis, where audio’s ability to convey alien languages created narrative possibilities text couldn’t. Here, vocal tells become clues.
Weaknesses? The middle section sags slightly as the mystery resets – a common thriller issue that’s more noticeable when listening versus reading. And while Ellet excels at differentiated female voices, some male characters blend together. But these are quibbles in what’s otherwise a masterclass in suspense audio.
For fellow mystery lovers: This is your next headphones-at-midnight obsession. For writers: Study how Gehrman structures reveals for audio – the way key clues surface in dialogue rather than description is genius. And for my fellow digital storytellers? Notice how the production uses silence as a weapon. In an age of constant stimulation, that’s revolutionary.
Stay curious and keep those earbuds charged,
Sophie
(P.S. Slide into my DMs @FutureOfStories with your theories about Sadie – I need to discuss that ending with someone!)
Sophie Bennett
