What I Wanted

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the runtime—*What I Wanted* is shorter than my commute—but by the five-minute mark, I was hooked. Maxim’s writing is *efficient* in the best way, packing more emotional punch into a single scene than some authors do in a full novel. The reunion between the unnamed narrator and Dawson, her childhood crush turned war veteran, crackles with a mix of nostalgia and *now-what?* tension. I loved how the story resists clichés: no grand gestures, no instant fixes for Dawson’s trauma, just two people fumbling toward honesty in a diner booth at 2 a.m. Hockinson’s performance sells it; she nails the protagonist’s self-deprecating humor and the way her voice tightens when she’s trying not to cry. That said, the abrupt ending left me wanting *more*—not because it was unsatisfying, but because the characters felt so real I wasn’t ready to let them go. My biggest critique? The audio mixing occasionally dips during quieter moments, forcing me to crank the volume, only to get blasted when the music swells (yes, there’s a literal jukebox scene). And while Dawson’s internal struggle is compelling, his dialogue sometimes veers into *too* stoic territory—even for a soldier. But these are quibbles. For listeners who crave romance with grit, or who’ve ever wondered *what if?* about a high school almost-love, this audiobook delivers. Just don’t expect a neat bow—life, like this story, is messier (and better) than that.