The Six Rules of Maybe

By: Deb Caletti

Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden

Scarlett Hughes is overly involved in the lives of everyone around her, especially her neighbors, including: a young goth girl who chalks her very traditional wishes on the sidewalk; a forgetful mailman; and an older couple whose main excitement in their lives are the formal-sounding scam emails from foreign lands promising large sums of money.

But when Scarlett's sister, Juliet, returns home from school - pregnant and surprisingly married to a sweet, handsome boy who she seems to have no interest in, but who is hopelessly in love with her - Scarlett is thrust solidly into her own life and forced to take a look inward for the first time.

The Six Rules of Maybe is about the necessity of dreams, as well as the necessity of facing reality and speaking the truth.

©2010 Deb Caletti (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Reminiscent of the best of Sarah Dessen's work, this novel is beautifully written, deftly plotted, and movingly characterized." ( School Library Journal)

Narrator tries her best to destroy an excellent book.

Linden’s narration is just bad, bad, bad. Caletti deserved so much better. Every voice is either flat or sounds like a caricature of a village idiot. Luckily the superb writing shines through. Here’s hoping a better edition is released.

Narrator didn't do it for me.

I very much enjoy Deb Caletti's work & although this is an earlier book of hers, it's still quite good (I don't know how she did it but she started out really good & IMPROVED as time went on!).
I have been an Audible person for quite some time so I am familiar with the process when starting a new book. Some manage to grab tight immediately but that is rare. More common is the beginning of a tale, the author "warms up" as does the reader & the listener. Each book is a collaborative experience; a team effort requiring time for the different components to "hit their stride" & work well together. All that is to make clear that I was patient & gave the story & narrator a real chance. Unfortunately, the narrator never "clicked." Perhaps it was lack of experience or poor direction but there was very little life in the spoken words. Inflection was off, little or no vibe, & just a listlessness in the delivery. I couldn't care about the characters. I have read the book & know it's a good story so perhaps a different narrator would improve the audio experience.

Terrible reader

Would you be willing to try another one of Teri Clark Linden’s performances?

NO. Only the main characters were given normal voices; everyone else sounded like a cartoon version of a teenage girl, a nerd, or a dumb dude. It made it practically unlistenable and really effected how I enjoyed the book.

Any additional comments?

I really don't know if I would have like the story with a different reader, but as a whole, I've liked Deb Caletti's books (Stay, in particular, is great). But the reader of this book really made it hard to enjoy listening. Try another Deb Caletti book with a different reader!