Gabriel's Inferno (Audiobook Review)

Audiobook Review

By: Sylvain Reynard
Narrated by: John Morgan
Published by: Penguin Audio 09/2012

Hot

Gabriel's Inferno Series # 1
20 hrs and 28 mins
Whispersync Voice-ready

Sample

 Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption. When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide. An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, "Gabriel's Inferno" is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.

My Thoughts

I had a love -hate relationship with this novel. I was definitely captivated and head over heels for the first 8 hours. I loved everything about it! The characters, the story, the writing style, the narration, even the upper crust dialogue, but after 12 hours of listening I started to feel like Elaine Benes (from the Seinfeld show) when she went to see The English Patient - and so many times just like she did, I felt like screaming, "Quit telling your stupid story and just die...just die already!"...LOL, not that anybody dies, but you get my point.

I got to give credit to the author; the character development was excellent, even though, in the second half of the book there were quite a few instances when I didn’t care for either of the protagonists’ attitude. Ok, so they were flawed, and I do enjoy flawed, but not when they make me roll my eyes, because when that happens  I’m brought back to earth, where logical comparisons to the real world are going to be made, and they better resemble some sort of reality or  I’m gone; nevertheless, I imagine that if somehow you manage to stay connected to the story, you would absolutely love this novel.

I still would recommend it to any fan of Fifty Shades and the casual romance listener.

 The basics of the stories are similar; a more mature, in a higher authority position, ultra rich, handsome and with a tortured past, (but with fewer shades of grey) professor (Gabriel) falls for the innocent, sweet, intelligent, beautiful young (with a few shades of grey of her own) student (Julia); however, the story has a feel of its own; this is more romantic, intelligent and a LOT less naughty.  Lots of attention are paid to building their relationship, the length of the novel gives room for a deeper look into their past and into their lives, making the drama and the plot more complex, the fact that they don’t “get it on” (a phrase too mundane to be found in this novel) until close to the end of the book didn’t bother me, I love sexual tension, but I failed to feel the build up and anticipation that I imagine the author was going for.

Also, I didn’t like how long it took to get from point A to point B, there were times I felt as if the Author love to hear himself write (there were times when I loved it too) and his efforts to create a grand romance felt too forced and pretentious, what takes me back to my first sentence, I loved it, and I hated it, maybe hate is too strong of a word, after all, I did listened to the entire book.

One big note of caution to the romance listener, if you are looking for a sexy and naughty read, this is not it, but if you like tortured characters that have a troubled past to overcome, I think you might enjoy it, there seem to be plenty of peeps that really did, just like I know plenty that didn't care for it.  It's kind of hard for me, to completely dismiss it when I really enjoyed a big part of the novel.

Am I going to listen to the following book? Yes, eventually.
4.11  ·  rating details  ·  34,467 ratings  ·  2,994 reviews on goodreads 

Voices behind the books

John Morgan

Narration

This is my first audiobook narrated by John Morgan, and what a pleasant surprise! I loved his deep - sexy voice; he reminded me a lot of some of my favorite narrators.

I thought his tone and approach to Gabriel’s character was excellent; his arrogance and overconfidence felt very real, and Mr. Morgan new exactly when to downplay his tone to bring Gabriel’s vulnerability to light.

His interpretation of Julia was acceptable, her voice didn’t sound too androgynous for my taste in spite of his voice being deep  toned by nature - which I loved for Gabriel! He also does a great job with the rest of the cast - plenty of differentiations, I never felt confused. 

Overall, he does a good job relating the feelings of the protagonists, and the overall ambiance of the novel. I do have to admit; I did find myself more comfortable listening at a faster speed than normal.

The Author

Sylvain Reynar