Though one shouldn't judge an audiobook by its cover, the jarring clinical image of a heart set against an abyss of black warns the listener that this isn't a warm and fuzzy story. Jennifer Almasy is Loa, who is lost in grief after her sister succumbs to a genetic ailment and she witnesses her close friend struck by a vehicle. Almasy voices the dichotomy of Loa's deep fear of death with the cynical impartiality of one who distances herself from a family that is falling apart. Almasy's raw, wavering tone, emphasis on key words, and odd phrase breaks turn the heartbreaking prose into poetry. Her narration perfectly mirrors Loa's tentative search for comfort in a world in which only math and science make sense.
Young AdultPub Date: Jan. 22, 2011
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audible Inc./ Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Myths come to life through Bahni Turpin and Robin Miles's stellar narration of this young adult fantasy. Marisol and her mother left their home in the Caribbean to live in Brooklyn. Marisol hopes to leave their island traditions and her family's magic behind. Genevieve grew up listening to her white father's mythical stories from her unknown mother's homeland. When the teens' lives collide, both discover secrets that change their views of their worlds. It's no surprise that both Turpin and Miles are Golden Voice narrators. Their skills bring Genevieve's and Marisol's stories to life as they capture the teens' personalities. Miles exquisitely delivers Marisol's Caribbean accent, while Turpin channels Genevieve's frustrations with her family and her own health. Simply magical.
(Verse fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
Duration: 6 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063395589
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Susannah Jones's high-speed pacing conveys Maeve's jangly thoughts and obsession with every potential scary outcome of her life--complete with research that feeds her anxiety. Jones does an equally fine job portraying minor characters. Whether calm, compassionate, or frustrated, these secondary characters allow listeners a bit of relief from Maeve's intensity. Maeve does have reason for concern as she moves in with her father and his family for six months. Her situation is complicated: Her father struggles with alcoholism, her stepmother is determined to have a home birth, her mother is working far away in Haiti with a new lover, and Maeve has broken up with her girlfriend. Jones builds the tension and then relieves it as Maeve develops honesty, courage, and love for her new girlfriend.
(Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2017
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: Audible, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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