2024 is shaping up to be an excellent year for audiobook fans! Spring has only just sprung and so many good books have already landed in our earbuds and headphones.
Find below my personal list of the best audiobooks of 2024 so far, ranging from Romance and Fantasy to Mystery. Happy listening!
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A Sweet Sting of Salt
By: Rose Sutherland
Narrated by: Aven Shore
Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
I was so curious about this book when I saw it described as a “queer reimagining of the classic folktale ‘The Selkie Wife'”. And what can I say, it was everything I had hoped for and so much more!
Set in medieval times, Jean is a midwife and has somewhat of a reputation because people suspect that she had a love affair with her childhood friend. She is respected in her profession though.
When she helps the mysterious Muirin, a young, “foreign” wife, to give birth, she quickly falls for her and notices that something is off in Muirin’s marriage with Tobias.
Jean does not suspect that there’s much more behind it though and is set on helping Muirin return to her family.
This is a beautiful, adventurous story that pulled me right in. Aven Shore is perfect as Jean and truly fleshed out this world. I can’t recommend this stand-alone Romantasy enough to you! One of the best audiobooks of 2024!
Out on a Limb
By: Hannah Bonam-Young
Narrated by: Victoria Connolly
Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
For me, this is one of the best feelings: You are super excited about a book release, it’s one of your most anticipated books because of the premise. Then you listen to it, and not only does it do justice to the premise but it is also all-around excellent!
Ever since I first heard about the Out on a Limb ebook, I kept checking whether it would get an audio version, and I have been counting down the days.
I try not to miss any Romance books with disability representation, and both main characters here have a limb difference. And now, here is the audio version!
Surprise pregnancy is usually not my favorite trope, as for so many Romance readers, and this is something the author addresses in the foreword. But it was done so great here where the pregnancy happened through a realistic mistake.
And the entire pregnancy experience felt very relatable to me. It’s a truly touching and emotional listen!
Wyn is an intensely lovable character. It was wonderful to follow her on her journey. And I adored Bo! The two make such a sweet couple that I could wholeheartedly root for.
Victoria Connolly did a perfect narration, bringing out all the emotions, sweetness, and steaminess of this love story.
I cannot recommend this book enough to you! And I sincerely hope that it will make waves. Audiobooks released in December tend to have it hard, so for me, this is now one of the best audiobooks of 2024!
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Wander in the Dark
By: Jumata Emill
Narrated by: Kevin R. Free, Nile Bullock
Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
This kind-of-Young-Adult-ish Thriller had me so, so hooked!
The two brothers in Wander in the Dark, Amir and Marcel, are absolutely lovable. Of course, Nile Bullock’s and Kevin R. Free’s wonderful voices have quite a bit to do with that.
This is not always an easy book to listen to. At the center of the story are racism and classism. Amir makes a convenient scapegoat for his hometown. But this is also a beautiful story about mending relationships with your family.
If you enjoy Thrillers or Mystery, I can’t recommend Wander in the Dark enough to you! It’s one of the best audiobooks of 2024 so far.
Related article: Not-to-be-missed Thriller Audiobooks
The Friendship Study
By: Ruby Barrett
Narrated by: André Santana, Meg Sylvan
Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
I unexpectedly stumbled over The Friendship Study by Ruby Barrett when browsing through new releases and thought to myself, “why not give it a shot?” And… well… it hit me like a brick!
This book was EVERYTHING for me! It’s wonderfully queer with a bisexual hero who truly feels like a queer man. It also has disability representation that felt deeply emotional.
Jesse had built his identity around being a firefighter and the “strong and silent” type. But after a car crash, he had to give up his dream job and still deals with chronic pain in his leg.
Lulu is a historian who recently returned to her hometown after a horrible breakup. She feels like nothing is going right anymore in her life. And then Jesse ghosts her after they’re set up on a blind date by a shared friend.
For different reasons, Jesse and Lulu both end up in a research study that aims to gather data on the reasons why millennials struggle to find and maintain friendships. As our two protagonists are thrown back together, they try to build a friendship with each other.
And it’s simply THE CUTEST!
This is one of the absolute best friends to lovers Romance novels I have ever, ever read and I love this book dearly. I can tell you, this is hands down one of my favorite audiobooks of 2024!
André Santana and Meg Sylvan brought Jesse and Lulu to life so perfectly. Listening to The Friendship Study is a true pleasure all around!
Good Material
By: Dolly Alderton
Narrated by: Arthur Darvill, Vanessa Kirby
Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
I rarely “do” LitFic, but I picked up Good Material because I was curious about Arthur Darvill narrating. I adored him on Doctor Who.
Firstly, Arthur Darvill as a voice actor blew me away! This was so, so enjoyable to listen to. His accents and voices cracked me up and he made Andy such a lovable character.
The story itself is, on the surface, a fun and entertaining exploration of one man’s misadventures after having been broken up with. I think Arthur Darvill’s narration had a lot to do with the book sounding overall hopeful to me, instead of having a depressive atmosphere.
But there is also so much depth, so many nuances in Dolly Alderton’s novel. Like when Andy hooks up with a much younger woman, gets confronted about it by a female friend, and tries to justify everything to himself. Only to find out that some situations only have a bad solution, and an even worse one.
It’s good if you don’t want to be “that guy”, but sometimes, you still end up being “that guy” for someone else anyway.
I loved the epilogue from Jen’s point of view, read by Vanessa Kirby. It put many things in perspective. And I felt like the book did both Andy and Jen justice in the end.
It has the happiest of endings without actually having a Romance novel Happy End. I believe Good Material is getting a lot of hype now and I feel it’s well-deserved. For me, absolutely one of the best audiobooks of 2024!
Bride
By: Ali Hazelwood
Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer, Will Damron
Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I’m not much of a Vampire/Werewolf reader these days. But I have loved so many of Ali Hazelwood’s books and this one simply had her special kind of magic!
This author’s take on Paranormal Romance drew me in right away. I always adore her characters so much!
The concept of how werewolves and vampires “work” in this world as well as the relationship between human and paranormal societies felt quite unique.
And did I mention that I loved Misery (Miresy lol)? Cause I did! As I said, Ali Hazelwood writes wonderful protagonists.
Thérèse Plummer and Will Damron did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life and turned this into one of the best audiobooks to pick up in 2024.
Related article: Fantasy Romance Books
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
By: Tia Williams
Narrated by: Mela Lee, Preston Butler
Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
2024 is a leap year and this book is all about the special magic of February 29. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is beautiful, almost poetic. And I wept. I actually did.
Mind, this isn’t a Contemporary Romance. The genre is probably best described as Timetravelling Romance. Something Paranormal-ish.
There are so many emotional facets to this love story and so many details I want to gush about. But I don’t want to spoil them. You absolutely need to experience this wonderful book for yourself!
Mela Lee and Preston Butler bring out all the beauty and feelings of this wonderful novel. One of the best audiobooks of 2024 and not to be missed!
The Emperor and the Endless Palace
By: Justinian Huang
Narrated by: Dylan J. Locke, Will Dao, Telly Leung
Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
I have so many feelings about The Emperor and the Endless Palace! I loved this book, but you also need to know that I HATED that this is a relatively short novel and was not promoted as first in a series. So, it looks like the ending of this book is simply the ending we have to live with.
The book is also promoted as a Romantasy and I can see how that applies. It definitely has a Romance-ish taste to it.
Still, I loved this book. It is a wild and beautiful ride. It’s intensely sexy and full of longing. This is a book to be savored!
The three narrators Dylan J. Locke, Will Dao, and Telly Leung turned Justinian Huang’s story into an outstanding audiobook that became one of my favorites of 2024.
Yes, I can criticize the ending of this book and that there isn’t MORE of it, and it’s still one of the best audiobooks of 2024 for me because it is just so special!
The Last Bloodcarver
By: Vanessa Le
Narrated by: VyVy Nguyen
Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
The Last Bloodcarver is one of those books I picked up because I fell in love with the cover the first time I saw it.
And the actual story instantly drew me in. All Nhika wants is to be a healer, to use her rare and feared magical talent to cure people. But everyone only sees her as a killer.
She gets pulled into a conspiracy that forces her to develop and use her gift in ways she never wanted.
VyVy Nguyen did a heartwrenching narration and filled Nhika with so much life!
Pin this list of the best audiobooks of 2024 for later:
Eline Blackman (pronouns: she/they) fell in love with books as a child – with being read to and reading herself. 10 years ago, she bought her first Audible book. It was love at first listen! An average of 250 audiobooks per year has become the new normal and you will rarely see Eline without a wireless earbud. Romance and Fantasy are the go-to genres for this audiobook fan.