Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteGenre: Classic, Audiobook
Length: 18.2 hours
Read by: Amanda Eland
"Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are! (Jane to Mr. Rochester-Ch. 23)"
Insatiable by Meg CabotGenre: Chick-Lit, Paranormal, Fantasy
Length: 16.75 hours
Read by: Emily Bauer
"It's me." she said. She heaved a tearful sigh. His grip on her tightened, not very gently either. "What are you talking about?" he rasped. "You drank my blood." she reminded him, "Not a lot so it'll probably go away after your next feeding. This should teach you to be more careful. You are what you eat you know." (Mena to Lucian - Ch. 42)
My Review:
My Review:This is an interesting double review because these are two totally different books. Jane Eyre is read very well and with slight changes of voice so that the listener can tell who the characters were. I enjoyed listening to it in my car on my mini-roadtrip. Insatiable is read very differently. Emily Bauer is a very animated reader. She had both voice changes and accent changes. This may be normal to everyone else, but as it was my third audiobook ever; thus, I was slightly surprised. When listening to Amanda Eland, I felt like I was listening to someone read a book. When listening to Emily Bauer, I felt like I was hearing someone acting and if I only looked up, I would see the action. This is not to say that either styles are better than the other. I think it would depend on the book. Emily Bauer's style would have been really weird for Jane Eyre.
As for the stories, I enjoyed both. Jane Eyre is a tad too long but the writing is impeccable. There were so many quotes that I enjoyed. Insatiable was enjoyable but I wouldn't have enjoyed reading the book because Mena was just too dramatic for me and I felt like I was listening to more of her thoughts than any action in the story.
Conclusion? I think I like audiobooks that are good, but not too good. I don't want to listen to a book that is so good that I would have felt like I missed out on something by not reading it instead. I'm not completely sold on audiobooks, but they definitely make time go by faster when you are doing things like cooking or showering and I found myself listening to Insatiable EVERYWHERE. I just couldn't leave it at home.
Insatiable is a Dracula meets contemporary New York angst. I also enjoyed how it seemed as if Meg Cabot was poking fun at some of those well-known recent vampire stories, though she does not call them out by name.
