{"id":172346,"date":"2025-09-27T06:07:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T06:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172346\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T06:07:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T06:07:29","slug":"ali-hazelwood-on-her-new-spotify-audiobook-bound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172346\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali Hazelwood on Her New Spotify Audiobook, \u201cBound\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated12 min read<\/p>\n

Fans of author Ali Hazelwood<\/a>, like me, are among the luckiest in pop culture, but we also have chronic whiplash. It\u2019s been kind of a big year for her and for us. There\u2019s the movie adaptation of Hazelwood\u2019s number-one New York Times best-selling debut, The Love Hypothesis<\/a>, starring Lili Reinhart opposite Tom Bateman, which was filmed this summer. In February, Hazelwood released Deep End, and in May, she dropped Problematic Summer Romance. Next month brings the release of the hotly anticipated Bride sequel, Mate<\/a>, and if you pledged to Hazelwood\u2019s record-breaking Kickstarter<\/a>, then you\u2019ll also soon get your hands on a dystopian romance novella called First. Speaking of novellas, Hazelwood just dropped one with Amazon called Hot for Slayer, a truly hilarious take on the vampire genre. <\/p>\n

All of that tallies up to five releases in 2025, plus a movie adaptation in the can\u2014and she\u2019s not done yet. Spotify<\/a> and Hazelwood are teaming up to release an exclusive audiobook, Bound<\/a>, on November 11. The story follows Veronica (Vero) Mercer, a PhD student at Vermont\u2019s fictional Rockhaven University, who becomes entangled in a forgery scheme involving rare books and manuscripts. The counterfeits catch up with her by way of history professor Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a mysterious, well-dressed man who needs her help and artistic prowess. I\u2019m being vague to avoid spoilers, but know this: Boundis a dark academia dream and comes with a shocking paranormal twist that had me on the edge of my proverbial seat. <\/p>\n

PRE-SAVE<\/p>\n

Bound by Ali Hazelwood\"<i>Bound<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Spotify is sweetening the deal by pairing Bound\u2019s audio with its Follow Along feature, which will surface exclusive art designed by Hazelwood\u2019s cover artist, Lilith<\/a>, and Spotify\u2019s art director, Jess Dugan, for each chapter as you listen.<\/p>\n

Dying to know more? Hazelwood and I sat down to discuss the new Spotify audiobook (spoilers in specific questions and answers are clearly marked), what she hopes to write next (monsters are involved), and exclusive details on film adaptations of her other mega-popular novels. (There\u2019s big news ahead for fans of Love, Theoretically.)<\/p>\n

Ali, Bound is your sixth release this year. So my first question is: What the heck? Also, how? And do you know how grateful I am?<\/p>\n

It feels like a lot, but the truth is, I have shortened my publishing timeline in the sense that I\u2019m now at a point where I wait less to publish something. I have nothing planned for next year. Well, I have one thing planned, but that\u2019s it, and it\u2019s not a full-length book. Once I am done with 2025, everything I have written will have been officially published. I have nothing in my sleeve. I\u2019m not hiding anything. <\/p>\n

Are you writing and publishing faster this year than you did before?<\/p>\n

I think so. I\u2019ve had this discussion with my publishing team, and it helps that I\u2019m working on novellas, such as Bound, which I turned in just a few months ago. The editing turnaround is much quicker because, of course, you don\u2019t have to print it, right? It\u2019s so different for a print book, the production. I think people are usually asked to turn in a book around one year before it gets printed. For Spotify, it\u2019s not like that. For Amazon as well, it wasn\u2019t like that. These novellas, which are mostly online, I like it better because I\u2019m still emotionally attached to the project by the time it comes out. I enjoy that, because then when I\u2019m talking about the book, it\u2019s actually still fresh in my head. I turned in Mate\u2014that\u2019s coming out in a couple of weeks\u2014more than a year ago. I don\u2019t remember what happens in the book, so that will be very interesting when I go on tour. <\/p>\n

Mate<\/p>\n

\"Mate\"<\/a>There is always discourse online about whether audiobooks \u201ccount\u201d as reading\u2014as if listening to a book is somehow a counterfeit way to say you\u2019ve read it. And I think it\u2019s funny that you\u2019re releasing a book about fake books and forgeries in the audiobook format. Was that intentional?<\/p>\n

Not really. My point of view, just to be very clear, is that it\u2019s an incredibly ableist take. Reading anything is reading. It doesn\u2019t matter if you are listening to it with your eyeballs or with your ears. It\u2019s the same thing. It wasn\u2019t intentional, but I like that; maybe it is my way of weighing in. I hope what people take away is that I absolutely think audiobooks are reading. I love what Spotify is doing. For this one, specifically, they are doing something a little different, where they have specific illustrations matched to certain chapters. So it\u2019s going to be, like, really immersive. I\u2019m just very excited about that. <\/p>\n

[LIGHT SPOILERS] Within the first few lines of Bound, our main character, Vero, talks about dying. I thought, well, maybe that\u2019s just a turn of phrase. Yet it still took me by surprise when we actually got to the reveal of what this book is actually about. Are we trying to keep the paranormal aspects of Bound a secret?<\/p>\n

I personally wasn\u2019t trying to hide it, but I did want to have some mystery in terms of what was going on. This novella, out of everything I\u2019ve written, changed the most from its first draft to its second and last draft. I work with Bethany Strout, who\u2019s my editor at Spotify. We argued over whether to keep the \u201cdeath\u201d line in, and I originally took it out. As I was going back in, I was like, \u201cYou know what? No, I really want it.\u201d I wanted this feeling of unease. I wanted her to sort of have this feeling, like, \u201cWho the hell is this guy? What is going on? This is not normal,\u201d and also to trust her instincts, but at the same time to be like, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019m curious. I\u2019m intrigued.\u201d Initially, the big reveal happened much later in the book. And I think it was really great of Bethany to say, \u201cI think you should move it earlier.\u201d Vero should find out that he is something interesting, because otherwise, they don\u2019t really have time to get to know each other as who they really are. I thought that was a really good call my editor made. <\/p>\n

I just truly enjoyed writing Bound. I think it\u2019s one of the most atmospheric things that I have ever written. I\u2019m a beauty editor, so let\u2019s discuss Vero\u2019s white Marie Antoinette\u2013syndrome hair. What role did physical beauty play in this story?<\/p>\n

I think I wanted Vero to be a little bit different from the people around her and a little bit of an outcast, but not necessarily in a deep, profound, woman-pain type of way. Just that there\u2019s something that sets her apart from others, and I think that is what eventually drives her and Viktor together: the fact that they are both a little bit different from the people who surround them. The Marie Antoinette\u2013syndrome thing happened pretty late. In my drafting, for a couple of chapters, I was writing her and she just had an appearance that sets her apart. And then I was like, what if it wasn\u2019t a choice? I thought about having her go prematurely gray. My hair started going gray when I was in grad school! Eventually, I thought, wouldn\u2019t it be cool if she had a really weird backstory that isn\u2019t necessarily something that makes it impossible for her to function, but rather something that has shaped her into her own unique self? And I thought of Marie Antoinette syndrome. Whether it exists or not, I think that, scientifically, there is some debate. <\/p>\n

You mention star-shaped pimple patches in the story. Are you a fan of the brand Starface<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Okay, so I love pimple patches. I love the most weird-shaped pimple patches. Online, somewhere, I saw, like, French-pastries pimple patches? And I was like, I love this! This is what we need as a society right now! Every household! We had a version of the Bound cover where Lilith, the artist\u2014who is, again, the best artist in the universe\u2014actually put a little star-shaped pimple patch on Vero. <\/p>\n

\"Brunch<\/a>SpaLife Brunch Date Undereye and Pimple Patch Duo\"Hydro-Star<\/a>Starface World Hydro-Star Hydrocolloid Pimple Patches and Hydro-Star + Salicylic Acid PatchesLet\u2019s talk about the backstory of Bound. What was the inspiration, idea, scene, or spark that pushed this book into existence?<\/p>\n

I wanted to write something about forgeries. This is funny; I am actually a huge fan of Rebecca Romney<\/a>. She was the rare-book expert on Pawn Stars. I don\u2019t particularly like Pawn Stars, but I like Rebecca Romney\u2019s compilations on YouTube. I love hearing her talk about rare books. And I was like, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be so cool if I wrote about a forger?\u201d And so that was the idea. I knew I wanted to write something that would somehow have a little supernatural twist. I find rare and antique books and manuscripts so fascinating. And so I did a lot of research, which is probably still not enough, to write correctly about manuscripts. So I really hope Rebecca Romney never comes anywhere close to this novella.<\/p>\n

You should reach out! The journalist in me is like, can you fact-check this?<\/p>\n

I am trying not to be perceived by Rebecca Romney. I cannot disappoint Mother.<\/p>\n

I mean, I\u2019m sure she would be thrilled to hear about this.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a collector, and she collects romances as well. I love how much she respects and loves romance. But that is separate. Anyway, I knew I wanted to write it. I had two novellas that I was supposed to write this year\u2014one for Amazon and one for Spotify, right? And they were both, like, Halloween, fall-themed. Originally, I started writing this one for Amazon. The Amazon novella was supposed to be 12,000 words, so I started writing it, and then I am about 10,000 words in and the story hasn\u2019t even started yet. I was having so much fun describing this dark academic setting, like a fictional sort of Ivy League New England story with little Halloween vibes. So I was like, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019m gonna shelve this, put it aside, and I\u2019m gonna use it for the Spotify novella that I also have to write, and I\u2019m gonna write something else for Amazon.\u201d I did end up writing Hot for Slayer for Amazon, which turned out to be over twice as long as it was supposed to be. I am not good at this. I have verbal diarrhea.<\/p>\n

Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood<\/p>\n

\"<i>Hot<\/a>Anything you write, I will read. So don\u2019t worry, they can be long. Actually, make them longer. <\/p>\n

This Spotify novella was supposed to be 30,000 words, right? The first draft was 45,000, and the last draft was 60,000, which is basically a novel. I could not stop writing about it, and I just loved it so much. There were issues, in the sense that I was in breach of contract with my full-length publisher, Berkeley, where I was texting my agent, and I was like, \u201cSo, talking about the legality of all of this\u2026\u201d I asked for an extension. My agent\u2014I owe her my life, and I also owe her many, many drinks, because she\u2019s the best. In the end, it worked out. Spotify was just so accommodating, and they were so nice. They weren\u2019t like, \u201cYou have to cut all of this stuff.\u201d [LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD] I just truly enjoyed writing Bound. I think it\u2019s one of the most atmospheric things that I have ever written. And I just enjoyed being there in that space and looking at these two people. What I love the most is how much he admires her skills and also just the fact that he\u2019s such a profoundly good guy, really, who has been around for so long. There\u2019s something about her that is just special to him, despite the fact that he has seen everyone and probably everywhere, and I just kind of wanted to be in that world for longer.<\/p>\n

[MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD] So we have vampires in Bride and in Hot for Slayer, and then we have [I MEAN IT, SPOILER COMING:] revenants in the world of Bound. They are not vampires. They\u2019ve made that very clear. Not vampires! Why revenants?<\/p>\n

Well, part of it is that all of this stuff is published by different people. So I\u2019m like, am I gonna get sued? I actually live in fear of lawyers. No, I wanted it to be a little bit different and more vibes and less world-building. In Bride and Mate, there is a lot of, like, \u201cThis is the science of this.\u201d There\u2019s a big part in Mate where it explains how different species came to be, and it has less to do with magic and more to do with the science of it all, speciation, and evolution. With this, I wanted it to be a little bit more magical. And I still don\u2019t think I\u2019m very good at writing an actual magic system, but there is this sense that there is a curse of sorts. You can turn someone into a revenant, right? It fit more of the vibes I wanted to go for, and then in Hot for Slayer, it\u2019s so hard to build a world in so few words. It\u2019s just a different type of vampire.<\/p>\n

Bride by Ali Hazelwood<\/p>\n

\"<i>Bride<\/i><\/a>What is your own personal split between print books, e-books, and audiobooks?<\/p>\n

I will have an audiobook, an e-book, and a physical book going. I will read the physical thing during the day. I really like to read in the sunlight or in natural light. Or I go on the porch and read between work. I always have an audiobook for when I\u2019m doing stuff. And then I always, always have an e-book. I like to fall asleep reading at night. It\u2019s me with my phone, which is terrible sleep hygiene. No one should do it, but I\u2019m there on my phone, and then I fall asleep. It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

Are there any other paranormal or supernatural areas you\u2019d like to explore in the future?<\/p>\n

For the Amazon anthology, originally, I wanted to write about a centaur. The editor was like, \u201cI think that\u2019s a little bit too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

I completely disagree. <\/p>\n

Thank you. I love this aiding and abetting we\u2019re doing. I want to write more, like, monster monsters. I have a bunch of ideas. There are two more things that I am contracted to write, and after that, I\u2019m free. I am excited to see what I\u2019m gonna write next. Every week, I am like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s gonna be my next project.\u201d I need to see what captures my heart afterwards, and there might be monsters. <\/p>\n

I am Team Monster. [LIGHT SPOILER AHEAD] So I don\u2019t think I caught any Easter eggs, but when Dr. Ashworth said he taught in a different field 10 years prior, I was like, was he a professor that we\u2019ve met before in a different book? I know you love a multiverse.<\/p>\n

I love the idea. I don\u2019t know if I am yet ready to bring The Love Hypothesis into the world of vampires. I am not denying it. Yeah, why not?<\/p>\n

So it could be, okay. I\u2019ll go back and check the text to see if we find a man in a jaunty suit anywhere. Have discussions around adaptations of any of your other books picked up since all of this The Love Hypothesis news?<\/p>\n

A lot of my stuff has been optioned for a long time. I don\u2019t think I am allowed to say by whom, but I think I can say pretty much everything either has been optioned or is in talks of being optioned, but I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s going to go anywhere. Literally, I knew that The Love Hypothesis [movie] would happen a couple of months before they were like, \u201cOh, it was greenlit.\u201d And then they were like, \u201cOh, we\u2019re filming.\u201d This stuff moves so slowly and then so quickly, and there are so many things that have to kind of slot into place and somehow work out for these adaptations to happen that I don\u2019t even understand. I feel like I\u2019m starting to understand publishing a little bit, and now this is a totally different industry, and I\u2019m like, \u201cOh God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider this my formal request for a Love, Theoretically movie. <\/p>\n

I can tell you that the person who\u2019s attached to write that movie\u2014I am obsessed with her. She has written some of my favorite things. And I don\u2019t think I can say who she is, but, like, I just love her. I had a conversation with her, and I adored her. She is someone whose work has very actively inspired me. Like, The Love Hypothesis wouldn\u2019t exist if she hadn\u2019t written some of the things that she\u2019s written. So I\u2019m just really, really excited by that and by that person having read something that I have written. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh my God, this is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood<\/p>\n

\"<i>Love,<\/a>As a writer and as a journalist, I am so inspired by you. There is even a line in Bound, in this story, where Vero says something like, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m an artist because I\u2019m copying things other people are doing.\u201d And he says, \u201cNo, that is art.\u201d I want you to know that your light and your voice are so important. Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives. <\/p>\n

Thank you so much. I appreciate it so much. Reading, in general, is so important for me. Like, whenever there is something that isn\u2019t going well for me, all I want is just to read a book and to have something that either makes me happy or that makes me think. That is so nice to hear.<\/p>\n