Audiobook Review: Dance by Teodora Kostova

Audio Book Info:

• Written by: Teodora Kostova
• Narrated by: Todd Smith
• Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins 
• Unabridged Audiobook

Denise’s Review:

When I was asked to do an audiobook review, I wasn’t really sure if I should. I’ve only been listening to audiobooks for a few months now. But what I have quickly learned is that you know fairly soon into a book if it is going to appeal to you by listening to  it, versus reading it. Yes, the book needs to be good, needs to keep you engaged, and interested in what is happening in the characters.

However, I feel like the most important thing that an audiobook needs is a great narrator. That doesn’t mean that all good books will not be good as audiobooks. The opposite is also true. I have learned about myself that I must have a certain mindset about how books “sound” in my head as I am reading them, and I haven’t always enjoyed an audiobook, if I have already read the book.

That being said, the narrator in this book is just fantastic. He had a very smooth controlled pitch, and he let his British accent fly when he was narrating. It truly helped me to visual this story, being set in London, and all the visuals around them.

When Fenix was speaking, you could hear much more of an American accent for this character, since Fenix was raised in New York City. I truly enjoyed Todd Smith’s narration of Dance. It was so well done. After listening to it, I had to see what else Todd had done, with just one other book, not in the same genre as Dance. However, this is a narrator I would love to listen to again.

On to the book itself. Dance is based primarily in the West End of London, around the Queen Victoria theater. These two men meet when Fenix’s musical Poison is put in the theater, as Jared’s show is also playing in the same theater. It is truly love at first sight for  these men. They fall in love and really don’t waste any time coming together, living together, for months, until Fenix is offered a chance to take Poison to Broadway and Jared stays in London, as they separate.

These two men are stubborn, each wanting their own way, and they get it when they separate, until they realize that what they truly wanted was each other. The road back for these men is not easy, with bumps along the way with each other, as well as some bumps put out there by those around them. Finding their HEA was not easy, they had to work for it, but the road was worth the drive.

The story was very well written, with strong secondary characters, which of course will lead to the next book in this series, Adam’s story. And for sure, I will be waiting for Adam’s story on Audible. Why mess with a good thing? 🙂

Final Determination for the audiobook of Dance:
5 pieces of eye candy for narration
4.5 pieces of eye candy for the book

So well done by both Teodora and Todd on this, and it was truly a pleasure to listen to this book.

Purchase Link:

Audible.com: Dance

Hi, my name
is Teodora and I live in London with my husband and my son. I’ve been writing
ever since I can remember, but it became my full time job a few years ago when
I decided that everything else I’ve tried bores me to death and I have to do
what I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the guts to fully embrace. I’ve
been a journalist, an editor, a personal assistant and an interior designer
among other things, but as soon as the novelty of the new, exciting job wears
off, I always go back to writing. Being twitchy, impatient, loud and hasty are
not qualities that help a writer, because I have to sit alone, preferably
still, and write for most of the day, but I absolutely love it. It’s the only
time that I’m truly at peace and the only thing I can do for more than ten
minutes at a time – my son has a bigger attention span than me.
When I’m procrastinating, I like to go to the
gym, cook Italian meals (and eat them), read, listen to rock music, watch indie
movies and True Blood re-runs. Or, in the worst case scenario, get beaten at
every Nintendo Wii game by a kid.