Greetings Bookworms!
I hope I never see the day when I don’t love something Jojo Moyes writes. I just finished reading (with my ears) After You
If you didn’t read Me Before You
So yeah. Basically, I loved this book, I love Louisa Clark, I love Jojo Moyes, and I love audio books. I though the narrator was fabulous, but the teeny tiny bit of American accent she had to do? It sounded really weird. I certainly couldn’t do any better, my British accent sounds farcical and wouldn’t fool anyone (except that telemarketer that one time. I told him I was the nanny. Because Mary Poppins. I am not a good person.) There have been many times when I’ve been fully fooled by an excellent British actor’s American accent. I can think of a number of times when I was all “oh holy crap, that guy has a fancy accent” when seeing said actor on a talk show, so I have operated under the mistaken assumption that American accents are easy-peasy and/or all British people are good at everything ever. I shouldn’t expect audio book narrators to be good at ALL THE ACCENTS. It just bears mentioning.
Okey Dokey, Bookworms. Tell me. What is your native accent? Can you easily detect when people are faking it?
*If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I will receive a small commission.*
Megan M.
WHAT. I didn’t know there was a sequel! Ack! Me Before You destroyed me, and I wasn’t even expecting it, so I’m a little worried about this one.
My accent is mildly Southern and I am delighted by any attempt at a Southern accent, no matter how bad. I have been fooled by many a British actor. I remember saying to my husband once when we were watching Roseanne, “Is that guy British or just a really bad actor?” about Becky’s husband Mark. Turns out, he was Irish.
Words For Worms
I didn’t realize Becky’s husband was Irish, though I did notice he sounded a little off. We were watching a Roseanne marathon this weekend, actually. Super early episodes though, pre-Mark. I’ll have to pay more attention next time.
Andi
I hadn’t slowed down long enough to realize this is another Lou book! I will definitely give this one a go since I loved Me Before You so much.
Words For Worms
Yesssss more Lou and she’s still so Lou!
Elizabeth
Hahaha! I also listened to this on audio and you’re right- her American accent was absolutely terrible. But otherwise, this was a great sequel. I just love following Lou’s adventures.
Words For Worms
I’m glad I wasn’t alone in that. The guy in NY just sounded so wonky.
AMB
I haven’t read anything by Jojo Moyes! Can you believe that?!
As for my accent, it’s mid-Atlantic American English with a few British-isms thrown in (that I don’t even recognize until someone points it out). That comes from my mother, who was raised in Sri Lanka with relatives who were educated in England. In TWO LOVELY BERRIES, I had to throw in a reference to an English nanny after my editor asked why my Philly-based character used some British terms. Ha.
Words For Worms
That is too funny! My midwestern accent is the midwestern-est, although occasionally I’ve had people tell me it sounds a bit more Wisconsin/Minnesota than Illinois. I blame my Wisconsin born and bred parents. Obviously it’s much more subtle than your Britishisms, though. I love that!
Nae
Loved ‘Me Before You’ but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to. It was a bookclub pick and it didn’t seem my kinda book. It won me over big time and I’m excited to read this new one 🙂
Oh and I’m Australian and it is very very easy to pick a fake one lol, it isn’t an easy accent to attempt as it’s a little weird hehe..
Words For Worms
Aussie accents ARE hard to replicate. I’ve tried and I’m really terrible at it. I love them though. I should check out some Australian audio books so I could just soak it in.
Isi
I have only read the part about the accents, right? Because I still haven’t read the book and I plan to 😉
So well, I’m very happy you liked it because I need to like it as well.
Regarding the accents, try to listen an audiobook read by an American when you have studied (and therefore listened) only British English. A nightmare. Why do they forget to pronounce the last part of almost every word???? 😉
It also comes to Scottish accents and other ones. I think diversity is great EXCEPT for the accents 😛
Words For Worms
LOL! Oh my gosh I am laughing so hard that Americans lop the ends off of words. I’ve only noticed that when people speak with a thick Southern twang, but it’s fun to hear a non native speaker’s perspective on English accents! My Spanish is beyond terrible, but in high school all my teachers spoke with a Latin American accent and in college I took Spanish with a teacher from Spain. There were a few quirks even my uneducated ears could hear!
Jenny @ Reading the End
Ah, the Hollywood version of the Southern accent makes me want to kick people. They never seem to realize that there are significant regional variations, so all the Southern characters just sound like they’re from rural Mississippi 100% of the time. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY.
I’m also pretty good at detecting when non-American actors are putting on an American accent. Even if they’re very good at it, I usually catch them out because non-Americans cannot seem to say the phrase “miles away” in a way that sounds American. Americans say “That’s miles aWAY,” and non-Americans say, “That’s MILES away,” with the “milesaway” all sort of slurred into one word of which the first syllable receives the stress. There you go. That’s your cheat sheet from now on.
Words For Worms
Oh goodness, I don’t think I’d be particularly good at regional Southern dialects, though I’m pretty good with Midwestern ones. I’m going to use your “miles away” trick from now on!!! #Genius
Katie @ Doing Dewey
I also love everything Jojo Moyes writes! I read After You, but actually still haven’t read Me Before You, so I’m really looking forward to picking that up 🙂