Well this went well. Much more than I expected.

I will be honest, I would have DNFed this book so many times. In my mind I did and yet it was the narration Christopher Tester that would not leave me in peace. I just couldn't ignore his wonderful narration and I gave chances to Dickens over and over again and I'm glad I persevered. Or else I would have missed a brilliant masterpiece.

What a book!!! There's no doubt in my mind, even in the past that Dickens was a wonderful writer. But even when I admit this I have another honest confession to make that his books are painfully long and too much of book is just filler. Same happened when I read his " Great expectations" which wasn't really great, I mean not even the expectations in the story were great nor was the story great. And yet I liked the book for the writing.

You will find it hard to get engaged in the first half of the story for a excruciatingly long time. I did enjoy last 30 % of the book so yeah that speaks a lot about a book ain't it? There were times when I snoozed or my mind wandered far away from whatever was going on in the book. And yet Tester's narration would not allow me to quit.

So you get the drift that the audiobook is SIMPLY SUPERB. Just mind-blowing. Story even though isn't that good but last 30 % saved the book for me. And even made me think I need to read more Dickens. Well not now maybe when I'm little bit older. Or if Tester or Spotify books bring more audiobooks for us.

Whether you like classics or not this book in my personal opinion is wonderfully narrated.

Thank you very much Netgalley and a huge thanks to Christopher Tester and Spotify for the wonderful audiobook ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Audiobook : 5 glowing stars
Book : 4 stars

An engaging listen was provided by this audio version of Charles Dickens' classic A Tale of Two Cities, with Christopher Tester as narrator. So much rests on the voice, timbre, tone, lilt and lyric performance of narrators, they are truly the foundation in every read/listen undertaken. The best book in the world, read by a less than appealing narrator can turn the listening experience sour. That was NOT the case in this read/listen for me.

This was my first go with CD's famous book - so at the same time, I engaged eyes to read and research along with the listen. In a way an adept narrator - who soaks into and intentionally backs into the fullness of the tale being told - becomes a teacher/guide/mentor to the reader. A reader who has given up all irritations, thrown over all peeves and settled into full abdication in a read/listen then is teachable - a vulnerable place, but one which is full of potential horizon-widening and bookish joy. In this experience I took away all of that, from both Charles Dickens' tale, and Chris Tester's performance of it.

*A sincere thank you to C. Dickens, Chris Tester, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #ATaleofTwoCities #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for an audio copy

The classic tale has returned to an updated audio version read by Christopher Tester. It is the original Dickens tale of an English man, Sydeny Carter and French soldier Charles Darney as they compete for the love interest of Lucie Manette, in 1775 where the streets of Paris were two worlds colliding. I had not read the novel since high school and was excited to grab the classic one more time. Tester does an excellent narration and I am inspired to reread/listen to more of the classics I haven't touched in years.

While I have been trying my utmost best to be appreciating the classics, this book absolutely did not have the ability to hold my attention. When i can hardly pay attention to a book, its very hard to enjoy it. I DNF'd at 30%. I kept having no clue what was happening though i tried my hardest to keep my brain on the book. I wish i had enjoyed it.

I did listen to the audiobook by christopher tester, who, as a narrator, i do appreciate. It was not the narrator i had issues with, but the story.

Im sorry!!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

Charles Darnay is a French exile in London, and Sydney Carter is an English lawyer. The lives of these two become entwined through their love of Lucie Manette, daughter of a French political prisoner. Set in London and Paris before and after the French Revolution of 1789, this Dickens classic was originally published in 1859. In this audiobook, Chris Tester is exactly the voice you would expect to hear narrating the classic novel. I recommend audiobook lovers to check out this version of <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.
I was specifically interested in this because I am trying to read more classics but find that they are hard to get into. I thought that audiobooks might be a great way to keep myself more engaged until I become invested in the story. This was also especially helpful in this case because this is not a short book by a long shot. I don't know if this strategy ultimately worked out because I did find it a bit hard to understand and grasp what was happening, and because of the audio I couldn't "go back and read that last sentence again" as easily. On the other hand I don't think, at least in this moment of time, that I would have had the motivation to make it through if I was reading this in a more traditional format. I found the narration to engaging and overall did the trick.

This is a review of the audio book not A Tale of Two Cities - which is still a bit meh for me as far as Dickens' work goes. The narrator was engaging and easy to listen to, and made the prose (which is really not the author's best work) easy to connect with.

Lovely narration of this incredible classic

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This narrator did such a great job with the voices, and he made such an old book come to life. I would highly recommend this version for people who want to read this classic.

I admit it... I faked reading Dickens when I was in high school. I found the books boring and the language unaccessible, so I read summaries and reviews and pretended I had read. As a teacher, I staunchly have refused to have Dickens in my classroom, for fear of passing on my distaste to my students. Yet, people have told me for years that I should attempt, as an adult, to read some of my teenaged-self's most "hated" books (I'm looking at you, Moby Dick!). Thus, when I saw this book for offer, I couldn't resist.. after all, I figured had nothing to lose!
Well, I was wrong. I DID have something to lose... my loathing of DIckens! And, wow, am I glad I did!
I LOVED this recording. I was absolutely transported to a different era, and I cared about these characters and their fates. I cheered, I cried, and I regretted all the years that I was smothered by my childhood prejudice. The voice actor did a great job helping me keep track of characters and plots, and kept the action moving. I was NEVER bored, never even tempted to switch to 2x speed or skip ahead.
Not only did I love the story and the narration, I am now inspired to go back and tackle some of the other albatrosses hanging around my neck (would someone please convince this publisher/narrator to tackle Melville??).
I look forward to future offerings from Spotify Audio and especially from narrator Chris Tester.
Thank you to NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Because Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities" is a classic, the text of which has been read and enjoyed for over 150 years, the success or failure of an audiobook version is wholly dependent on its narrator. Luckily, Christopher Tester is a skilled reader who brings the text to life with appropriate and authentic voices for each of the characters, and a general reading style that is a pleasure to listen to. I enjoyed reacquainting myself with this novel through this audiobook version.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Spotify Audiobooks for providing me with an audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

In a Nutshell: This Dickens classic isn’t for all, with its complicated plotline that comes together slowly but neatly. However, to those who enjoy classics based on historical and political events, it offers plenty of satisfaction.

Skipping my usual ‘Story Synopsis’ as I am sure most people already know this book. To those who don’t, please read the blurb.

Just like ‘David Copperfield’, this book also was one of my childhood reads, courtesy my school’s classic reading list. The abridged version I read was enough to keep me fascinated, right until the end, which, I still remember, caught me by surprise. Until then, I hadn’t realised that *young* main characters could die in books! (A reading of ‘Little Women’ a few months later confirmed that authors could be brutal with their creations.)
When I saw this audiobook come up on NetGalley, it offered a great way of checking out the complete version of the classic. Moreover, I have been reading one unabridged classic every year since 2020, so I might as well get done with the 2024 classic right at the start of the year.
I guess I remembered the childhood version of this story with too much optimistic nostalgia. The unabridged version is far more convoluted in its journey, with extended social comments about the history, the society, and the politics of France and England in the 1770s. The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution, and it seems to critique both extremes: the indifferent royals and the wild revolutionaries.
Dickens is known to be a character-focussed author, so the character development is as impeccable as always. But his plotting skills are truly visible and proven through this work. So many intricate arcs and varied characters, and yet, the culmination of the story does justice to all threads, though not necessarily in a happy way. The way Dickens recreates the setting and atmosphere of the era is almost true to life.
That said, this Dickens work has never been my top favourite and I don't think I'll reread this full-length edition in future. I am glad I read it, but I am equally glad that it is done and dusted with. The slow-developing story with its strong political tone was very much a test of my patience. What also doesn’t help is that some of the elements haven’t aged well. The representation of women characters, as with most Dickens novels, is typical of his time, and keeping your eyes from rolling while reading those words in 2023 is a chore.
Regardless, this book has one of the all-time best opening lines! I have always loved the way this book sets off its journey, and hearing those words even umpteen times later gives me goose bumps. For my own rereading pleasure, pasting those lines here:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 14 hours, is narrated by Chris Tester. He is impeccable! Whether voicing characters or narrating the background, his performance takes care of every emotion. He even uses varied accents and pitches to differentiate across the characters. If you really want to read this classic, this Spotify version is fabulous!

All in all, reading this unabridged version for the first time has still been a great experience. But if I ever want to revisit it, I will dig out my old abridged school copy again, as it cuts out the fluff and keeps the core content intact. (Fellow Indians of my generation would know the quality of the S. Chand abridged classics – they were the best!)

3.5 stars, rounding up for the narrator and the nostalgia.

My thanks to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the ALC of “A Tale of Two Cities”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

The narration on this audiobook was well done. Sometimes narrators can make or break a book, and this narrator did a great job telling this classic work by Charles Dickens.

Still a favorite! but it was nice to listen to it this time around vs reading it. It was quite the book to read during these times we’re living- post COVID, during such diverse points of view. It’s something to read a book written so many years ago and yet the themes resonate so profoundly.

I probably read Tale of Two Cities when I was young and at school. I've seen the Ronald Coleman movie version two or three times. That's what I remembered when I started listening to this newest audiobook of the fabulous Dickens novel. So it was with delight that I realized (only half remembered) how much more of a story the actual book is. Also, this time I wanted to read it. In school, I'm sure I thought it was too long. The notion that it was a political story completely passed me by.

The narrator, Chris Tester, is wonderful. I don't believe I've heard him before but I would listen to any book he narrates. His narration is smooth, he articulates beautifully, and his British accent suits the story perfectly.
Because the narration is so smooth, it is a surprise to realise how deeply political the story is. In France, the French revolution has reached the stage of Terror, where people are being led to the guillotine willy-nilly. The infamous Mme. LaFarge will drum up a reason then find the witnesses to back up her accusations. Much of the love story takes place in London. But all the main characters end up in Paris or started out in Paris and none are safe from "La guillotine"

This is one of the classics everyone should read. Everyone knows A Christmas Carol. Dickens was a great social commenter yet he was beloved by the literary community. His stories were serialised and so made available to everyone. (This may have made some of them longer than needed but to me that made no difference).
If you can listen to the audiobook, it will transport you back to a time when you were young and some adult was reading stories to you.

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens is a classic novel set in 1775 in both London and Paris. This was not very long before the French Revolution in 1789 and was a period of great unrest. There was a man, Dr. Manette, who had been imprisoned in France for many years and is released. His teenage daughter, Lucie, helps him to recover, and they become very close. As she gets older, she meets and falls in love with Charles Darnay. She has other suitors, including Sidney Carton, who pledges his love to her. She marries Darnay. There is much more to the story, but I won't spoil it for you. The book ends with all of the storylines neatly wrapped up.

This version of the audiobook is narrated by Chris Tester. He did a great job reading and performing this book. He did well with all the voices, and he had a soothing, comforting voice. I recommend this version to any audiobook listeners.

Thank you to Netgalley and Spotify audiobooks for providing
this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Until reading A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles dickens I would’ve said my favorite book set in Civil War France was the Scarlet Pempernell by Emma Ötzi after reading the romance with Lucy Charles and Sydney were so much was on the line with the least or the most being life and love depending on how you rank I really enjoyed this book and loved being immersed in that time it is written by Charles dickens and narrated by a superb narrator named Christopher Tester who I’ve never heard an audio book performed by him before but would definitely listen to another done. I must admit I am a big fan of Charles Dickens but have never read this one and I feel so lucky I’ve gotten that opportunity. I want to thank Spotify Books and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This is probably my third or fourth reread of A Tale of Two Cities. This is also my first time trying the book on audio.

The story remains one of the best ever written, so this review will mostly be about the audio experience.

I thought the reader was lovely and the material flows well in this format. It’s also a much quicker way to plow through a dense classic like this, especially if you read at 2x or greater speed.

That said, some things really belong on paper, and Dickens turns out to be firmly in that category. If you’re just looking to get the gist of the story or check it off a to-read list of classics, this is a lovely version and a perfectly adequate way to do that.

But if you really want to appreciate Dickens the writer, and particularly his ability to create a tremendous sense of place, there’s really no substitute for a hard copy of the book.

So, five stars of course for the book, 3.5 for the audiobook experience of it.

A Tale of Two Cities is a classic book by Charles Dickens. This timeless story is brought to life in this audio-book. The story is great, but the audio-book narration was ok. Other audio renditions that are better. I would recommend the book. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Every age deserves its own interpretation and reading of Dickens’s n’s A Tale of Two Cities. This narration is beautifully voiced, well paced, and pleasing to the ear. It takes special talent to narrate Dickens well, as there are always so many characters filling the pages. Well done.