Review of ‘You’re my kind’ by Clare Lydon,
Audiobook narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent
Justine Thomas and Maddie Kind were a couple at university until Maddie left without saying goodbye. Ten years later, they are reunited at a friend’s funeral and Maddie wants to make amends for her past behaviour. Justine is not very keen to let Maddie back into her life but both have changed and this new Maddie is kinder, caring and still gorgeous. Will Justine keep her distance or will she give their relationship another try?
‘You’re my kind’ is a second chance romance that starts with a funeral. As anti-climatic that it might sound, the author makes it work more as a celebration of life than sorrow for an irreparable loss. Lydon is a master of lesfic rom-com with a British feel. Only that this time, she combines her usual witty, funny and sarcastic dialogues and situations with a savvy reflexion about life and death. As the author presents a piece of her philosophy of life, the story will make the reader cry, laugh and keep faith in humanity.
The novel is written in first person from the point of view of Justine, which helps to give an air of mystery to Maddie and her puzzling actions of the past. Despite that narrative distance, both characters are realistic and well-rounded and their chemistry is sizzling. Ms. Lydon knows how to write a good sex scene and this was no exception, both scenes reveal deep intimacy. Plus that first kiss was worth the whole read by itself. Hot, hot hot!
The secondary characters, mostly a group of friends, are also multilayered and altogether set the tone for compelling emotions around life, love, and death. But, in my opinion, the absolute showstopper is ‘Cake Heaven’, the cake business featuring all kinds of sweet delicacies. Warning: if you have a sweet tooth you might be tempted to run for some cake!
As I liked this book so much, I’ve listened to the audiobook included in my Scribd subscription. Ms. Vincent did a fantastic job with the voices including the male ones. Both leads have distinctive voices that suit them perfectly. The accents are spot on, including the Northern English. Regarding the narration tone, it might be just me, but I’ve found that she set a more melancholic tone to the book that somehow I didn’t catch while reading it. This novel takes you through a range of different feelings from happiness to sadness, some dialogues are full banter while others are deeply emotional. Ms. Vincent conveyed all those emotions effortlessly and made the book sound even better.
Overall, a great lesbian second-chances romance audiobook with a British feel and savvy insight into the most important things in life. 5 stars for both the book and the narration.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at www.lezreviewbooks.com
