Slow Burn Romance at its Finest!

Jessica Hawkins captured the excitement, anxiety, confusion, and butterflies of falling in love so perfectly. This slow burn, coming of age story will captivate you right from the start. Andi Arndt and Zachary Webber couldn't have been more perfect to narrate Lake and Manning. They are my favorite narrating duo and their voices complement each other so well. Arndt narrates the majority of the book phenomenally, but Webber's heart wrenching performance really stole the show for me.

Lake was such an intelligent and mature heroine, but at the same time she was vulnerable and girlish, teetering on the cusp of adulthood. Manning was brooding and dark, but behind the walls and hurt was a man trying to rise above the circumstances of his life. Honestly, all the characters were so genuinely imperfect that you couldn't help but relate to them and root for them to overcome the odds.

Even if you've read the book, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio. Every emotion, touch, and feeling is amplified and electric. The audiobook really took this story to the next level. Please keep in mind that this is book 1 in the Something in the Way series. I can't wait to listen to the rest of the books when they're available!

24 people found this helpful

Simply Beautiful

This is the first Jessica Hawkins book I’ve read/ listened to. I have a couple but as of yet, haven’t listened to them. I’m going to have to rectify that pronto. This book gave me all the feels… and I do mean all. So many different emotions with this story. It was beautiful, and it was heart-breaking, and it is only the beginning. Jessica gutted me in the most perfect of ways. I’m not sure how I’m going to survive two more books but I’m also looking forward to it. This is one of my favourite books of 2017, I listened to it in one sitting, I just couldn’t pull myself away, I was so invested in this story and these characters.

I’ve not read a lot of forbidden romances, so I wasn’t quite sure how this story was going to play out. I really enjoyed the pacing of the story, it didn’t feel rushed or too slow, it felt like everything was happening as and when it should. The story needed to be told and Jessica’s writing is incredibly engaging and on point that it immerses you into the story and the lives of these characters. I am so tempted to eyeball the remaining two books in the series but I’m going to hold off for the audio because this audiobook was something special and I have a feeling the next two will be as well and it’ll be worth the wait.

The characters in this book were enchanting. I adored Lake, she was sweet and innocent and a little naïve but that just made her all the more appealing. The way her character developed and starting questioning things that were a given in her life. It was beautiful. Her feelings for Manning started innocent enough, but seeing the change in her, as her feeling developed was something that I think many women are going to be able to relate to.
Manning, sigh, I just loved him so much. He was so endearing. The way he was with both Lake and Tiffany, he gave them both something they were lacking. He didn’t take any crap, and obviously cared about them both a great deal and it showed. His past is heart-breaking, and I couldn’t help but shed a tear for him.
Throughout the story my opinion on Tiffany kept changing, it ranged from thinking she was a horrible person, to feeling sorry for her, and back to disliking her. It was also tough, due to how she was really a means to an end. Manning saw in her things that I wasn’t able to until they were obvious. I did love how Manning put her in her place in regards to Lake. The way he was helping her to become a better person.

The progression of the relationship between Manning and Lake was beautiful to watch unfold. The way Manning’s feeling developed and how he fought it, and in turn, how Lake’s feelings developed, and she tried everything not to fight it. They were on opposite sides, but it worked. The touch of forbidden gave it an air of angst that I wasn’t expecting, and it worked perfectly.
The meeting between Lake and Manning was sweet yet awkward. Lake is young and naive. Manning is older and gruff. Together they made such a cute couple, even though they shouldn’t have. I was rooting for Lake throughout, I cannot wait to see where their story goes next.

This dual narration was wonderful. I’ve listened to many audiobooks narrated by Andi Arndt and Zachary Webber – both together and separate, however, I think this might be my favourite. It was so beautifully performed, I even raved to my husband who wasn’t interested but he let me go on about it for 20 mins lol. Andi Arndt is fabulous. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Lake only being 16 but she pulls it off perfectly. It’s incredibly believable. Zachary Webber was the perfect choice for Manning. He is wonderful at delivering a sweet but gruff performance. The way they both conveyed the emotions the characters were experiencing was stunning. The whole audiobook was a riveting experience and I cannot wait for books two and three to do it all over again. The production was fantastic with no issues.

19 people found this helpful

Well Written and Performed, However...

Would you listen to Something in the Way again? Why?

No, I do not think that I will listen to Something in the Way again. Unlike Jessica Hawkins other work (Standalone books as well as the Cityscape & Slip of the Tongue trilogies) this book focused on a much younger girl. I prefer my main characters to be older.

Which character – as performed by Andi Arndt and Zachary Webber – was your favorite?

The dual narration with Andy Arndt' and Zachary Weber are outstanding! I cannot choose a favorite.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I am a big fan of Jessica Hawkins. This book was a lot different than what I have experienced with her other books.

Any additional comments?

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. *I was provided the unique opportunity to receive an advance copy of this book to listen to in exchange for my unbiased review.

If you could take a moment and select 'helpful' directly below, I would really appreciate it. Please consider following me on Audible.We

11 people found this helpful

No!!! Just No

If the baby voice wasn’t enough, in less than 48 hours they are totally in love, come on. Sorry but this book definitely wasn’t for me.

5 people found this helpful

Boring and painful

Struggled with this one. Character was very whiney and annoying more than anything and storyline was just a bit off

4 people found this helpful

Martyrdom, love or a complete dummy!?

This was the longest book EVER!! It didn’t even get good until the last 20% of the book. It took forever to get to the good stuff. I get build up but DAMN parts of it was BORING!! There’s one thing that I really took from this book, is that it’s easy to get caught up bcz guys are stupid as shit no matter their age and young girls are even worse! I know there’s a lot of good reviews about this book but I didn’t like it at all. For all the build up I still don’t see the connection between Manning and Lake- but it was clear to see how Tiffany and Manning made sense. I’ll say this, I gave the story 2 stars instead of one bcz the ending made me research spoilers for books 2-3. I pretty much found out everything I wanted to know except for one but I’m NOT interested in getting the rest of the series. (Well, maybe if it comes on the Romance Package and the same narrators are performing.) The only question I have is, did the dad have an affair with the woman at USC? Whatever- it’s not enough for me to want to listen to another long, drawn out story like this. Sheesh!!

4 people found this helpful

Just creepy and cringe-worthy

The ENTIRE story is about a crush between a 16 year old girl and a 23 year old man. I thought the story would progress years in the future so there would be some sort of pay-off but that never happened. Instead, each scene is cringe worthy in the ‘will they’, please don’t have them do anything ‘won’t they’. And the ending is just terrible, sad and unfulfilling. The author does a good job of telling a story but she needed to move on from this age group after the first few chapters to a point where they were both adults. Narrators were great though.

3 people found this helpful

Spoilers! Pathetic female lead yet again.

If you like stories where there is a girl that can not take a hint to leave a man alone and that is all the story is about, this is for you. You meet Lake a 16 year old with her future mapped out for her by her father. She is sure this is what she should do and always listens to her father and tries to please him. Her mother says nothing and stands idly by while her husband is rude and pretentious. Lake has a sister, Tiffany, a 19 year old with no prospective future and gets torn down by her father every chance he gets. Tiffany has no job or desire to go to college, instead she likes to treat everyday like a weekend and spends her father's money without remorse or humility. Other than that information there is no back story on the family nothing saying what the mother does at all. They meet a construction worker, Manning, who is working on a house right across the street from theirs and Lake is immediately captivated. Having never even been on a date, let alone kissed a boy Lake does not know how to react to the feelings she is harboring. Manning and Tiffany hit it off but he really wants Lake and he ends up staying around Tiffany to be around Lake (pathetic part 1). The girls fight over Manning right in front of him with no shame whatsoever which is so nonsensical it turns me off the book immediately and just shows how immature and childlike the girls are but yet Manning still stays around (pathetic part 2). What grown man would voluntarily be around two girls both way too young for him? Lake starts seeing a boy named Corbin from her school around and he has shown lots of interest in her. Lake turns him down at every chance just for the hopeful opportunity to be around Manning knowing nothing can come of it. Manning has given several signs and at one point comes right out and states there wont be anything between them. When I first met Corbin in the story I instantly wanted the story to be about them instead and loved the unlikeliness at which they met. She had no idea he watched her or knew her name and was surprised when he asked her to hang out and watch a movie at his house. I had more of a reaction to that 10min worth of the book than the rest of the book. This story was long and drawn out for no reason other than to make more stories to turn into more books to make more money. This entire "book" could've been done In about 2 hours if that. The only thing I loved about this horrible story other than Corbin and Lake, which did not happen, was the narration. I think these two do an amazing job at portraying whom ever they read and from their perspective. I wish the story were better to do the narrators justice because I for one think they are too good to do a meaningless story such as this one. they are the only reason I give more than one star.

3 people found this helpful

Boring ......

I kept listening waiting for something to happen but there never was a purpose to this book and it ended in the middle of the story. Nothing in what I read prior to buying said that it was a continued serial story and had no ending. I simply can't buy the next in the series because I was bored to death with this one. I do have to admit that I fast forwarded through some of it to try to get to the end so I was really upset when it just came to a halt with no plot, no meaning, no story line and no ending.

3 people found this helpful

STORY PURE TORTURE NARRATION GREAT!!!

This was the most frustrating book ever. It could have been so great but all of this childish anticipation became so annoying. Jail because a little girl don’t understand NO!!! I’m so pissed that I went through all of these hours for this shit. THE BEST PART OF THIS BOOK IS THE NARRATION!!! WHY WHY WHY I expected so much and got annoyance in return!

3 people found this helpful