Audiobook review: Into the Woods by Jenny Holiday
Into the Woods is a lovely slow-burn love story that is both a romantic journey and one of self-discovery.
Once they get past initial misconceptions about the other, Gretchen and Teddy find common ground in the poverty of their youth. Knowing that the other understood the shame of being a poor kid and having a parent that didn’t always do what was best for their children, created a safe space which fostered the freedom to be open and honest. And once they decided to act on a mutual attraction, knowing that the relationship had an end date gave Gretchen the freedom to shed her fears and her need to please the “men of tinder” attitude. Their relationship evolves organically, but in the safe space of summer camp where there are few pressures and a lot of built-in forced proximity.
I really liked both Gretchen and Teddy; they are people that I would love to be friends with. They are amazing and caring, which lays the foundation for a solid relationship and story. It is rewarding watching their relationship blossom while they confront the demons from their individual pasts. I love that they support one another in healthy ways. Each is at a crossroads in their life, and Holiday provides insight into their emotional and mental states as they explore options and deal with baggage. This creates a bond between the reader and the characters, one that tightens as Gretchen and Teddy fall in love, and one that left me heartbroken when Gretchen’s time at camp ends and she heads back to the real world.
And even though Gretchen and I have little in common, she resonated with me as she approaches mid-life and works to avoid the dreaded “mid-life crisis.” Holiday expresses thoughts and emotions in Gretchen that mirror so many of my own over the years. I also love that Gretchen is all about being a “girl boss” and how she evaluates her life through the lens of a misogynistic society. She provides the reader and Teddy a lot to consider.
Narration: The story is shared via the first person POVs of Gretchen and Teddy. The performance is duet-style narration, with Swann performing all female dialogue and POVs, and Hamilton performing all male dialogue and POVs. Swann has an age-appropriate voice for the nearly 40-year old Gretchen. I like that it’s slightly rough around the edges and not overly high-pitched. She also does a great job altering her voice for additional characters based on age, making every character sound like a new actor. Hamilton has a deeper, huskier voice which suits rockstar Teddy well and meshes with Swann’s performance. Hamilton adjusts the additional male characters for age with success. Both performers add appropriate emotion into their work.
In the end, Into the Woods is a wonderful story and beautiful journey that hits all the right notes. Holiday excels at creating amazing characters who express genuine emotion which creates an intimate reading experience.
My Ratings
Story: A-
Narration: A
Jen
About the Book:
Teddy Knight’s band has just broken up in spectacular fashion after his longtime bandmate and—he’d thought—closest friend decides to go solo. So when he’s offered a last-minute gig to fill in as an artist-in-residence at a summer arts camp—which comes with a lake cabin and lots of free time to work on a revenge album—he takes it. No matter that he knows nothing about nature, dislikes kids, and is generally a grump.
Gretchen Miller is having a mid-life crisis. Luckily, her summer job as the dance teacher at Wild Arts summer camp will allow her to drop out of society for a while. Having sworn off dating, she decides she’ll go into the woods and become a crone. She might skip the “luring innocent children to their death” part of cronedom, but she’s all for the “curse men” aspect.
Teddy and Gretchen clash from the get-go when he mistakes her for a fan, and she relegates him to the “entitled jerk” ash heap. Despite their determination to dislike each other, a wary friendship blooms as the magic of the woods starts to unwind them, and they spend long hours by the campfire talking about art, being stuck, and the idea of starting over. But woods are often filled with monsters, and Teddy and Gretchen will have to face their fears if they want to start over together.
Author: Jenny Holiday
Narrators: Kit Swann, Teddy Hamilton
Series: Unnamed series #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audiobook Release Date: January 7, 2025
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
Source: Netgalley
Audio Speed: 1.25x
Purchase info:
Audible/Amazon (affilate link)
Reviews in the Series:
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
