Audio Book Review: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, read by Bronson Pinchot
Release Date: May 2012
Publisher: Harper Audio
Hours: 9 hours 5 minutes, unabridged
Received: Audio copy from publisher

Review

This is a review of the AUDIO version

If you are interested in my review of the book, check out my review. This is only a review of the reader in the audiobook format.

I should preface this review by confessing that I am not much of an audiobook listener. I try every now and then to listen to an audiobook because I feel like I should do something productive and entertaining while doing boring things like walking on the treadmill or folding laundry. But, embarrassingly, my mind wanders.Try as I might, audiobooks are often a struggle for me.

So that is why it is especially notable when I say,

This is the bestest audiobook in the ENTIRE WORLD!

At this point you're probably sick of me gushing about The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom because I've mentioned it, oh, maybe once or twice before...but that's because I'm so gosh darn in love with it. I didn't think my love could grow any larger than it already was, but then I listened to the audiobook...

...and dare I say it, but I think I'm even more in love with the audio version than I am with the print version. It was like taking all of the best traits of movies and all of the best features of books and smushing them together into a package of awesome.

The voices!

Bronson Pinchot doesn't just read the book. He becomes the book. He gives every character their own unique voice and channels all of their character traits perfectly.

You know how in a book the author needs to include things like "X character said" or whatever so you know who is actually speaking? I didn't need that at all here because Bronson Pinchot made all of the voices so distinct that it was as if I were listening to different people talk.

Even the girl characters sounded good, which is a pretty big feat considering Bronson Pinchot is not actually a girl (in case you couldn't tell).

Also of note is that each character has a different accent. Yes, accents! And they totally make sense for the characters. I don't remember the book specifying things like "said Liam with an Irish lilt" but somehow each accent Bronson Pinchot chose seemed like the exact right choice for each character and made me love them even more than I already did.

It's the little things like this that I think really made this reading. It's clear he took the time and effort needed to truly get the book and embody the characters. He did such a good job I almost want him to be the voice actor for every single character in the upcoming movie version (even though I'm sure they'll get, you know, real women and stuff like that).

It's like he took perfect chocolate, and then somehow made it better

Bronson Pinchot managed to avoid one of my biggest pet peeves with audiobooks, namely, I don't like it when the characters don't sound like they do in my head. Erm, I mean, when I read a book I imagine a character's voice sounds a certain way and audiobook readers usually sound NOTHING like how I imagine the character would sound (I cringe every time a woman reader does the "deep manly voice" for the hot hero).

It's like, ok, anyone read the Mortal Instruments series and totally NOT picture that tiny strange-eyed little guy they horribly miscast as Jace? Totally wrong, right?? Any tiny bit of desire I might have had to see that movie shriveled up and died when I saw that casting (especially after holding out hope for Mr. Hot Abs. I mean, Alex Pettyfer).

That's pretty much akin to the crushing, gnawing disappointment I experience with most audiobook voices.

But now think of the joy you experience every time you flip on The Vampire Diaries and see the smoking perfection of Ian Somerhalder not only capturing but enhancing all of the gorgeous goodness (and badness!) of Damon Salvatore (what, please tell me I'm not alone here??).

THAT is what I'm talking about. I mean, no, of course there are no shirtless men in the audio version of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (or any version, for that matter. It's MG, ladies! Sheesh). But what I do mean to say is that Bronson Pinchot's voice acting was the absolute beyond-my-wildest-dreams perfect "casting" for The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. Every time he opened his mouth I basked in the sweet sounds of exactly what an audiobook should be.

Bottom line

I was thoroughly entertained and my mind didn't wander once while listening.

I doubled my workout times so I could listen to just one more chapter, and just one more (don't worry, I made up for it by eating extra ice cream).

I contemplated dropping my freshly laundered clothing into the dirt just so I would have to spend more time re-washing and folding so I could have an excuse to continue listening.

I think I'm going to go now and listen to it again.

I will now and forever compare all audiobook readers on the scale of 1 to Bronson Pinchot.

So, yeah, I recommend it.

Add it to Goodreads!
Buy it on Amazon!

Do you have any questions about the audiobook version of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom that I haven't addressed? 
Feel free to ask in the comments!

Have you ever listened to an audiobook that had a beyond amazing reader? (My workout routine could seriously use your recommendations!)

Tweet