Clara’s Verdict
I want to be honest with you: I do not ordinarily give my unconditional endorsement to romantic comedies. Not because I’m above the genre – I’m not – but because so few of them actually deliver on both halves of that description. Told You So by Leeanne Slade delivers on both. It is sharply written, genuinely funny in the way that makes you feel understood rather than simply tickled, and it has an enemies-to-lovers arc that earns its ending through accumulation of character and incident rather than simply declaring the feelings and calling it done. Bel Powley’s narration is an event in itself. This is the kind of audiobook you listen to in the car, then sit in the car after arriving home because you can’t bring yourself to turn it off. I’ve heard that story from multiple listeners now and I entirely believe it.
About the Audiobook
Lucie Redway is a woman keeping multiple plates spinning. Her best friend Stacey is getting married in Spain, and Lucie has appointed herself the person who will ensure nothing goes wrong – not the drunken aunties, not the missing wedding dress, not the chaotic hen party, and certainly not Charlie, the best man, who is insufferable and distractingly attractive in equal measure and whom she categorically cannot stand. She also doesn’t know if she’ll still have her agony aunt column next month, and her love life amounts to a late-night swipe right that never leads anywhere. Then, on the flight to Spain, she ends up seated next to Miranda Bloom – world-famous psychic – who tells her she’ll leave the wedding with the love of her life. Lucie doesn’t believe in fate. But suddenly she’s looking at the seating plan with entirely different eyes. The candidates: Drew, the one who got away (now an international fashion photographer and broadly a bad idea); Ethan, the dependable childhood best friend (who has something important to tell her); and Charlie, who is categorically not a possibility, not even slightly, absolutely not. Slade builds the story through accumulated wedding disasters and escalating romantic confusion, and handles the eventual resolution with real skill. What makes the book more than its premise is the texture of Lucie’s inner life – her awareness of the gap between what she says she wants and what she’s actually waiting for, her complicated relationship with her professional identity, the ways her friendships sustain her. This is a sharper book than its romantic comedy pitch suggests.
Why This Particular Romcom Works
The structure of Told You So is a familiar one – psychic prediction, multiple love interests, escalating wedding chaos, enemies-to-lovers resolution – but Slade uses the scaffolding to support something more character-driven than the genre usually attempts. Lucie’s anxiety about her column, her complicated feelings about what her best friend’s wedding means for her own life, the specific quality of her friendship with people she’s known since childhood – these aren’t decoration around the romance plot, they’re the substance of who Lucie is. When the emotional resolution comes, it lands because we understand precisely what she’s been carrying throughout. That’s craft, and it’s rarer than it should be.
The Narration
Bel Powley narrates, and she is wonderful. Her comic timing is impeccable – she finds the rhythm of Slade’s sentences and rides them perfectly, never over-playing the jokes and never underplaying the emotional moments. Lucie’s voice in her hands is warm, self-deprecating, entirely believable; you’re rooting for her within the first five minutes. The switch from laugh-out-loud chaos to genuine tenderness is seamless. At nearly ten hours, this is a substantial listen for a romantic comedy, and Powley sustains the energy and intimacy throughout. If you’re going to read this book, the audio version is the version to choose.
What Readers Say
Five ratings, all five stars. Book Addict writes that Told You So “speaks directly to the lived experience of women in Britain today,” praising Slade’s ability to capture “the everyday negotiations British women make – between work and home, ambition and expectation, independence and the constant pressure to be enough.” Ccgg describes sitting in a parked car to keep listening after arriving home – a specific kind of audiobook devotion that tells you everything about the pacing. And Shay Jones’s review has become something of a manifesto for fans: “I swear, if they don’t make a movie of this masterpiece I’ll riot. It has EVERYTHING you could ever want from a romcom.” The MMC is described with an awed ellipsis that I will leave to your imagination.
Who Should Listen?
Fans of romantic comedies who want more than formulaic plotting. British listeners who want to hear their own experience reflected with wit and affection. Anyone who has been waiting for a romcom that takes its protagonist seriously without sacrificing the comedy. Listen to Told You So on Audible UK – and if you have somewhere to be afterwards, give yourself a few extra minutes to sit in the car.
