Audiobook Review: Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood

youngcreativepress

1 month ago

Synopsis:

Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favorite book series. The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, a.k.a. her arch-nemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years that he wants nothing to do with her–and Viola has no idea why.

When their bosses insist a wintery retreat is the perfect team-building exercise, Viola can’t think of anything worse. Being freezing cold in a remote mountain lodge knowing Jesse is right next door? No, thank you.

But as the snow piles on, Viola discovers there’s more to Jesse than she knew, and heat builds in more ways than one.

Review:

I’ve just found out that Two Can Play is releasing in written format (I read this early January) and I’m a little annoyed that I could have waited just a few more weeks to, most likely, enjoy this book more. It’s so rare for me to rate an audiobook five stars, which is what I’ve rated every full length Ali Hazelwood book so far. Two Can Play is joining Ali Hazelwood’s other novellas in the ‘not a five star read’ club.

I’m actually feeling pretty annoyed that I used an Audible credit to buy Two Can Play. I didn’t think there would be a risk considering how much I love Ali Hazelwood’s books, but I really struggled to connect with Two Can Play.

The gaming theme is right up my street but I felt like it was trying too hard sometimes. If Viola and Jesse talked about more obscure indie games, this could have been a winner, but no. Their favourite game is Red Dead Redemption 2, which is fine, but it’s a safe choice. This book does get an extra half star for a Bloodborne mention though (which isn’t indie so I’m not proving my own point, but it’s a phenomenal game).

The romance also just wasn’t working for me. One thing that Ali Hazelwood is usually good at is writing likable characters with tons of chemistry, but that wasn’t the case here. The only interaction between them that made me smile was:

“This is not your number.”

“It’s my address,” he says. Not even a little sheepish. “You don’t need my number, Viola. Not for a while. Not if you let me keep you as close as I want to.” – this was surprisingly smooth for such a nerdy guy, not that nerdy people can’t be charismatic or good at flirting, quite the opposite really.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the narration. No hate to the narrator but I found their voice very grating at times and they said ‘Viola’ so weird that I didn’t even realise they were saying that name, it sounded more like ‘Viala’. The romance would have been far more believable if this was told in duet. As a book that, at the time, is only available as an audiobook, why wouldn’t you do that? Hell, why not have a full cast? They’re always the most engaging audiobooks.