Love Me Whole

By: Nicky James

Narrated by: Adam Gold

Twenty-eight-year-old Oryn Patterson isn't like other people. Being an extremely shy social introvert is only part of the problem. Oryn has dissociative identity disorder. He may look like a normal man on the outside, but spend five minutes with him, and his daily struggles begin to show.

Oryn shares his life and headspace with five distinctively different alters. Reed, a protective, very straight jock. Cohen, a flamboyantly gay 19-year-old who is a social butterfly. Cove, a self-destructive terror, whose past haunts him. Theo, an asexual man of little emotion, whose focus is on maintaining order. And Rain, a five-year-old child whose only concern is Batman.

Vaughn Sinclair is stuck in a rut. When his job doesn't offer the same thrill it once did, he decides it's time to mix-up his stagnant, boring routine. Little does he know, the man he meets during an impromptu decision to return to college is anything but ordinary.

Vaughn's heart defies logic, and he finds himself falling in love with this strange new man. But how can you love someone who isn't always themself? It may not be easy, but Vaughn is determined to try.

©2018 Nicky James (P)2019 Nicky James

Incredible story and narration

This is the first Adam Gold narration I've listened to and I was blown away by his performance. he has such an emotional range that I've not heard in a long time.
The story itself is amazing and it's not hard to fall in love with all the characters.

Amazing!

This may be the best audiobook I’ve listened to. The story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The narration is exceptional with each character having their own personality and cadence.

No words

This audiobook combines the masterful talents of two incredible artists. Nicky James writes a story like no other. She brings you into the deep emotions felt by her characters. Adam Gold is absolutely incredible. His narration of all of these characters and how they interact is absolutely mind-boggling. This audio must be listened to. It is absolute perfection.

If only I could give this a million stars

Honestly, between the brilliance of this story by Nicky James and the sublime perfection of Adam Golds narration, I don't think you'll listen to a better performance of what is one of my top reads. Vaughn and Oren's path to romance will break your heart and then repair it in a multitude of ways, through Vaughn's determined perseverance to understand Oren's DID to his incredible relationships with each of the alters.

Adam Gold's narration is award-worthy. Perfectly paced, wonderfully nuanced and both vulnerable and strong at the same time. I listened to Love Me Whole feeling wholeheartedly that the narrator *got* this story and understood these characters at a molecular level.

I could not recommend this story more. 5/5 stars and a whole lot of love!

Just wow!

This book was amazing. I have never heard of DID before so when I bought this book I was very confused and hesitant. The narrator really took me into the world in the first chapter when he was able to make the phone call voices sound different than his normal ones. From there on it was a constant reminder that this narrator must be a pro because he had voices for every character and they were all unique and very vivid. The writing and storyline was very reminiscent of some of the best books I’ve ever read/listened to. I can honestly say there were times I had to pause the audio because I was crying so hard from what it happened in the story. Honestly I cannot say enough about how amazing this writer and narrator are and wish more than anything there was a sequel to this book only because when I got to the end I wanted there be so much more story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a deep understanding of a mental illness that is very much misunderstood and also a love story no matter the odds.

Absolutely adore these characters ❤️

This story is amazing, I love the characters and the struggles are tough but the way they power through is so beautiful. the narrator did an amazing job with all the characters. It's instantly a favorite!

From a DID system’s perspective

Not only was the depiction of living life with DID accurate, the way certain topics were handled were true to how a system would want sensitive content handled. I really appreciate that the specifics of the abuse that led to the development of DID were never discussed. Each case of DID is different, but this book has so much truth in it that we felt seen for the first time in a long time. This should be required reading for anybody with any type of relationship with a system. Probably going to ask all our potential future partners to read this book.

Absolutely Beautiful Love Story

I just finished listening to this, and I still have tears on my face. I don't do many reviews beyond stars, but this book hits on a very hard subject in a wonderful way. It was SO well written. All of the parts of Oryn's whole were very distinct and Vaughn could not have been a better pick for all of them.
This was a tough road story with lots of tears, but so worth it to feel this representation of DID.

There are some real nice people out there.....

This was a great listen... The story points out all things may not as they seem to. The old adage comes to mind "don't judge a book by it's cover" . Vaughn is a super patient guy I wish all relationships could be as patient and not mis leading. Trust is super important in a relationship. I recommend this book especially for those who care for people with DID...

An extraordinarily moving story

This is an awesome book, one that will leave you thinking well after you have finished.

It's different, and it's difficult, and it's beautiful.

This is the story of Vaugh and Oryn... an all his alters. Oryn suffers from disassociative personality disorder (DID), and he has developed five other personalities withing himself.

Vaughn is the narrator, and we see how his and Oryn's story develops. We meet all the alters through his eyes, we feel his confusion, his struggles, his guilt and his love.

It's amazing how the author manages to write the voices of all the alters in such a distinctive way, all of them an important part of the protective system built to protect Oryn from the abuse he sustained in his childhood. We are never told what happened then, Cove is the alter who holds those memories, and he will never tell. We meet all these people, and we feel different about all of them, and it's... mind-blowing.

It was really hard for me to understand Vaughn and Cohen relationship. I know it helped Oryn to feel safer, and more sure about Vaughn. And, intellectually, I understand that it wasn't exactly cheating, and yet... I really struggled through it.

And about the narration... I mostly enjoyed it. Adam Gold did a superb job giving every character a particular voice, but all the sighs and breathing... it got too much, too soon. I wish he would have done it more subtly.

Nevertheless, this is an astonishing good story. This is a new author for me, and I sure will be reading more of her books.