Another excellent novel by Quinn Ivins
This is Quinn Ivins’s second book after her promising debut novel The Love Factor which I also listened to on audio. After I heard so many good comments about Worthy of Love and considering it was performed by Anastasia Watley, one of my favourite narrators, I’ve started to listen to it on its release day. I’m happy to say that it reached my expectations.
Nadine Bayani is just out of prison after a corruption scandal ended up with her career as the main advisor to a presidential candidate. Hated by the vast majority of the American people, she has no work prospects and ends up as a shop assistant earning minimum wage. Belle Clarke is the only friendly coworker in her workplace, despite her negative opinion about Nadine’s involvement in the scandal. Slowly, Nadine and Belle strike a friendship that eventually grows into mutual attraction, but will they have the courage to take their relationship to another level?
This is an opposites-attract, coming-out romance with some political intrigue on the side. Ms. Ivins manages to make the fictional political situation sound plausible and current. I personally love this type of political thriller as I majored in Political Science. However, don’t worry if that’s not your cup of tea as the relationship between the main characters is more prominent in the story. The book finds the perfect balance between romance, intrigue and the characters’ journey to overcome their difficulties.
One of the things I liked the most about this book is that both characters are very well fleshed out. Nadine is originally from the Philippines and the author introduces elements of her culture, food and language giving the character a lot of depth and helping to strengthen the bond between the mains. I guess that Ms. Ivins’s wife, a Filipino herself, has given her valuable inside knowledge of the country. Additionally, and I’ll keep this vague to avoid spoilers, there’s a character with ADHD. As I have experience with a close relative who suffers from it, I think this was handled really well. It definitely gives some food for thought on how society treats people who aren’t neurotypical and how it affects their self-esteem.
The audiobook version was narrated by Anastasia Watley who is one of my favourite narrators. She performs Belle’s southern accent perfectly, reminding me of another one of her excellent performances as Laurel in Roslyn Sinclair’s The X Ingredient. As usual, her pacing and the overall tone are spot on and bring the story to life making it even more enjoyable. I highly recommend this one. 5 stars.
Length: 9 hours and 1 minute
Available in Scribd
