Flat-Out Love

Flat-Out Love, Book 1

By: Jessica Park

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagles likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother’s? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn’t supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she’s never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection. But here’s the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations - it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

©2012 Jessica Park (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Flat-Out Great!

A fun story with delightfully quirky characters that kept me fascinated through all the twists and turns of the well-written plot. I can hardly wait to listen to the sequels.

Enjoyable

Julia Whelan is one of my favorite narrators, so anything she reads gets a second look from me when I am shopping. She never disappoints.

Flat-Out Love is a different type of love story and centers around Julie, a college Freshman who is living with the family of her mother's college roommate. This family has issues, the only one who seems normal is the brainy, middle child, Matt.

Celeste, the youngest child and only daughter, never goes anywhere without a life sized cutout of her oldest brother Finn, who is traveling the world doing volunteer work and having adventures. Matt is, for all intents and purposes, in charge of Celeste and her day-to-day life and when Julie (wise beyond her years) moves in she picks up the slack and tries to bring Celeste out of her shell and help her get over her phobias.

The book takes us through the school year and you will really get to know these people, it just takes time for the truth to come out.

You will be entertained.

cute story

Where does Flat-Out Love rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

good narration, cute story, it is a bit predictable, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it

A quirky and emotional story!

Any additional comments?

Flat Out Love is a book that has been recommended to me by several people over the last few years but I never got around to reading. When I saw the audiobook on sale last month, I jumped at the chance to get it. I’m not sure yet what I feel about this book. There were a lot of parts that I really liked. The story (once I got it) was a good one, Matt was one of those good guy characters that I wish we had more of, and I liked Celeste even if she was batshit crazy. What I struggled with the most was Julie’s character. Sadly, I didn’t like her most of the time. Also, I didn’t understand what the hell was going on most of the book. What was the deal with Flat Finn and Celeste? What is wrong with this family??? The big reveal didn’t come until very late in the book, and by this point I was frustrated about being lost. Once I was able to understand the whole scope of the story, it really is a beautiful but sad story that I did end up enjoying. Julie still got on my nerves though…

When Julie’s college living arrangements don’t work out (she’ gets swindled on Craigslist), her mother calls in a favor from her college friend. Julie ends up staying over at the Watkins home until she can find a new place to live. This eventually ends up being a semi-permanent solution when Julie ends up getting along with the gang, especially Matt and Celeste. Matt was such a lovable guy. He’s a total nerd and one of the good guys with an impressive t-shirt collection. Celeste is his younger sister and her and Julie immediately bond. But Julie realizes right away that something is off with the Watkins. The parents ride their bikes everywhere (which is weird considering they have high position jobs), they’re absent most of the time leaving Matt to care for Celeste who has a few…quirks. Celeste in some ways has the mind of a child and she doesn’t have any friends. This is nothing compared to the life sized cardboard cutout she keeps of their older brother, Finn. Celeste traets Flat Finn as a member of the family, he sits down at dinner with him and they even cart him around everywhere she goes. This alone was weird, but the fact that the rest of her family just goes along with this weirded me the fuck out and had me dying to know what the hell had happened to this family!

Julie was such a hard character for me to like. My main issue was that I thought she was so bitchy to Matt most of the time. If she wasn’t making fun of his ‘nerdiness’ to his face, she was doing it to her friend or someone else. Yet, she couldn’t help but like him. What are you in kindergarten Julie? I don’t know why but it really bothered me how being smart was this thing she kept making fun of, even if she was joking around. So then Julie develops a facebook friendship with the Finn and ends up falling for him. This happens through facebook/texts/virtual communication only since they’ve never talked on the phone or even met in person yet. Maybe because I don’t have a facebook I didn’t buy the ‘I love Finn’ thing. She shared these great moments with Matt, then would have these conversations with Finn which left me wondering ‘who the hell is the love interest?’ Was this a weird virtual love triangle? Was Matt even in the running anymore? The other thing that drove me crazy about Julie was that she was so damn meddling! She’s known the Watkins for a short time and all of a sudden she decides she is the best authority on all things Celeste. Granted, her parents were doing a shitty job but poor Matt was doing the best he could and this girl kept making drastic changes to Celeste’s life, even when Matt didn’t agree with her. She forces her way into a meeting with the principal to discuss Celeste, and the incident where she pushed her to go to the party was crossing the line big time! Yeah, some of these things did help Celeste but I don’t think she should have butted in. If Celeste were my sister, I would have punched Julie for trying to butt in, especially since she had no idea what was wrong with Celeste or why she had Flat Finn. That was more ranty than I thought it would be but this is what made me not enjoy this book as much as I otherwise would have.

Once I found out what the deal was with Celeste and Flat Finn and the pieces fell together, I really liked the story. Sadly, Julie still kept getting on my nerves. I was expecting a light and ‘feel good’ story and was surprised at how emotional it was, especially towards the end. Julie issues aside, I enjoyed this story. I just found out Celeste is getting her own story next and I’m excited to read it because that girl has some serious issues! I do find that girl characters annoy me more than guy characters do so chances are that my Julie issues might not even bother you.

Audiobook Review: I had no complaints with the narration. I liked it but it wasn’t my favorite. I liked her Julie voice and I loved her Celeste voice but I didn’t particularly care for her Matt or Finn voices.

I’m torn between a 3.5 and a 4 star review for this…

Surprisingly Good

I read the reviews and I am glad I chose the book. Good story. The narrator was great. I will look for more books by the JP and other books narrated by the JW. I did question whether someone straight out of high school would be so knowledgeable of life but then I remembered from the start you could tell/feel she was quite intelligent. I will listen again.

I have listened to this book 4 times.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have recommended this to a friend. A light humor book that is suitable for all ages.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Flat-Out Love?

don't want to give it away.

What about Julia Whelan’s performance did you like?

love her. Nice to have a reader who can do diffrent voices so you know when the character changes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen to books while I work. This is one I have listened to in one sitting. 4 times.

Love it!! Great story!!

Where does Flat-Out Love rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best, next to the Hunger Game Series.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the characters...though I called the ending almost immediately, it was nice how the story developed.

What about Julia Whelan’s performance did you like?

Everything! She reads so beautifully AND consistantly that you forget you are listening to one person.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I think the title says it all: Flat out love!

Any additional comments?

I could say that as an almost 40 year old woman, I enjoyed this story of young love immensely. It was appropriate without being graphic and I really appreciated that!

Worth the purchase.

Good all around. Liked the story and narration. Will listen to the next book in the series.

Engaging

I listened to this book over a weekend and it was engaging and entertaining. However, the heroine was cast as an eighteen year old from Ohio. Completely unbelievable that she would have such a precise vocabulary and quirky academic background knowledge coming from the mediocre high school that the author describes. Also unbelievable is the minimal damage she displays having an absentee father and somewhat dingy mother, not to mention close mined relatives. If her background story and age had been more believable I would have enjoyed this story more. For a listen while cleaning house book it was fine.

Very enjoyable, even the twist in the end

This book was great and the narrator did an excellent job. Kept me wanting to know more. even loved the ending, which is where I fine a lot of books are lacking.