jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Feb 15, 2019
I've come to like Stephanie Plum a lot. I definitely like her more than Charley Davidson. I find Plum to be much more relatable and I vastly prefer Evanovich's writing style. I also LOL'd more while listening to One for the Money than I did and all of the Charley Davidson series. Evanovich's humor seems to come much more naturally and it doesn't feel forced. Stephanie isn't necessarily trying to be funny, although she does have a dry, sarcastic humor that I appreciate. Most of her funny moments happen incidentally.
It didn't take me long to realize how much I was enjoying One for the Money. Once that realization hit, I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't realized it before that point, but I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to enjoy this audiobook, simply because of its mass popularity. I also got this thrill of excitement, knowing that I had just found a new series to love and one that has 25 installments. This series has practically guaranteed the completion of my 2019 Goodreads challenge and it's only February! But mostly, I was just excited to know that I won't have to search for another great listen for several months while I enjoy this series.
One for the Money is really well written. Janet Evanovich's writing style takes a little bit to get used to, but after that's accomplished, this is actually a pretty easy listen. That is a huge testament to Evanovich as a writer because a lot of mystery novels require a great deal more mental energy to process what's going on, something that's usually harder for an audiobook listener, since multitasking is often involved. I was genuinely surprised at, not only how much I enjoyed One for the Money, but how easy the plot was to follow. I honestly don't remember a single time when I was confused about who was talking or what was going on.
The plot itself was highly engaging. It wasn't overly complex, but I still didn't entirely figure it out before the big reveal. I had a somewhat of an idea of who was behind the "whodunit", but I was never certain. The "big baddie" in this installment was pretty chilling and I could see how the theme of rape and violence against women could be disturbing to listeners particularly sensitive to those triggers. For me, it was definitely unsettling, but not unbearable. Evanovich toed that line very tightly. It was just creepy enough without being psychologically disturbing.
I've just started the second installment, Two for the Dough, and I'm glad to see Stephanie and Morelli team up again. I was worried that Stephanie would have a new male counterpart in this installment, so I'm happy to see Morelli reappear. He and Stephanie have a great dynamic together (I'm a sucker for the "enemies to lovers" trope!). My enjoyment of One for the Money was further amplified by viewing the movie trailer on Goodreads just after beginning the book. I liked being able to visualize the movie characters while listening to the audiobook. I plan on watching the movie sometime soon and continuing on with the Stephanie Plum series immediately.
Narration review: CJ Critt is a new-to-me narrator. Her characterization was excellent in this audiobook and it definitely aided in my processing of the story, especially when it came to knowing who was talking. I wouldn't hesitate to hear something narrated by her again. I know that she narrates the next couple of installments in this series. After that, it seems like Lorelei King takes over the series. Critt did an admirable job in this installment, but I am excited to hear Lorelei King again. She's one of my favorite narrators and I can't wait to get to the point in the series where she takes over, just because of my familiarity with her other work.
If you're one of the few who have yet to try this series, I highly recommend listening to it on audiobook. Not only is the narration superb, the listening experience is smooth and breezy, as well. ♣︎
