Me Before You Audiobook by Jojo Moyes— narrated by Susan Lyons, Anna Bentink, Steven Crossley, Alex Tregear, Andrew Wincott, and Owen Lindsay

Why the audiobook wins

Six narrators split this cast, and that choice pays off immediately: Louisa Clark and Will Traynor need to sound like two people who talk past each other before they talk to each other, and having distinct voices for both keeps their friction crackling instead of blurring into one narrator's approximation of banter. It also lets the supporting cast, family members, exes, the other caregivers, register as real people with their own stakes rather than background noise.

The emotional arc here is famously a gut-punch, and audio has a way of sneaking up on you with that kind of book, since you can't skim ahead to brace yourself. This is a good one for a long drive precisely because you're stuck with the pacing Moyes intended, Lou's chatter easing into Will's silences and back again, until the ending arrives on its own schedule, not yours.

At nearly fifteen hours, it's a substantial listen, but the full cast keeps every scene feeling lived-in rather than narrated at you. One Audible credit covers the whole thing, tissues not included.