Audiobook Review: Unbreak Me by Maria Vickers

They were supposed to be together forever. That was the plan, but through a cruel twist of fate the night before their three-year anniversary, Tex Davis lost the one man he would ever love, Memphis King. A year has passed and he still hasn’t been able to move on. Everyone tells him it’s time, but what do they know? Memphis was his partner in love and life. Losing him, broke Tex.

Tex has been given an opportunity to move from New York to Seattle. His friends and family are encouraging him to take it, but he has already decided to decline the offer because that would mean leaving Memphis behind.

Then something happened.

Whether it be fate or something else, Memphis came back to him. Tex’s first love is supposed to help him move on, but not even Memphis can bring himself to force Tex to let him go.

Is it so wrong to want to spend forever with the person you loved most? Both hearts are begging to be unbroken.

Listening Length: 6 hours and 14 minutes
Narrator: Andrew Joseph Perez

3.5 for story + 5 for narration

Reviewer: Annery

I’ve procrastinated writing a review for this because I loved so much about it but then things happened, narrative choices were made that flipped the story that was being told and I wasn’t best pleased. But let’s start with the good which was very good.

When the book opens (post prologue) Tex is still reeling from the sudden death of his boyfriend, Memphis. It’s been a year but Tex is doing the bare minimum to be counted as among the living. His grief runs deep and though both his and Memphis’ family try to keep him going it seems to be a losing battle. He’s resentful of anyone who even hints at the idea that it may be time to start moving on and frankly I can’t blame him. Though they were only together three (3) years when Tex and Memphis met they discovered the yin to each other's yang. It was a beautiful and special thing.

The author and the narrator are both NTM and though ultimately I had issues with how the story was resolved I wouldn’t be averse to trying something else by Maria Vickers. The narrator, Andrew Joseph Perez, was a definite success and I’d unequivocally listen to him again.

The bulk of the story is told from Tex’s POV (Memphis being dead and all) and I think the author, along with the narrator got the tone of grief just right. Tex was always a prickly pear and being a widower hasn’t changed that, in fact he’s more pissed off than ever. He’s mad at Memphis for leaving him, at the world for cheating him out of his slice of heaven, at friends & family who think that he can go on living without Memphis, and at anyone who would assume that they can replace Memphis in his life. He’s also unbearably sad, can hardly get up from bed in the mornings, has lost a ton of weight, and now seems to be having hallucinations. About Memphis. At first it’s just a feeling, later they become aural, and finally visible, vocal, and tactile. He can see and talk to Memphis. Joy!

This part was very good. The naked portrayal of sorrow with all it’s thorns. It’s not pretty and it doesn’t follow an A B C path. What I also enjoyed was the relationship between Tex and Memphis, they read true and unique to themselves, it even bleeds over to their after life dealings. Tex doesn’t miraculously change just because Memphis is dead. I loved that. I’m not a particular fan of ghost stories or any other kind of spirituality but this was handled in a special and also matter of fact way that made it comprehensible and believable. Even if only Tex heard or saw Memphis the love was still real. Valid. Another thing that is exquisite? The cover. It’s gorgeous and a perfect portrayal of the MC.

Now for the hard part, the things that didn’t work and give no joy to dwell on, but I have to admit. Small things that were annoying but not a deal breaker were the almost too cutesy names for the MC, which are explained, but still warranted an eye roll. Then there was the narrative head hopping which I learned to live with but think would annoy the average reader. And then the thing that pulled the rug out from under me. I’ll indulge in no spoilers but I’ll just say that at chapter #18 or 89% a Dallas situation happens. I was flabbergasted and hoped it was just a wishful thinking situation on Tex’s part, but it wasn’t and I just felt like this twist betrayed the point of the story I’d been reading. I’ll say no more because everyone will have their own take and YMMV but it made me sad and not in the good way.

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.