Like a modern-day Rapunzel, Norma's hair has magical properties. In this Finnish tale, Norma also gains special powers through her magic hair: She can read other people's emotions through her hair's reaction. Narrator Fiona Hardingham is an excellent choice for this complicated twist on a familiar story. She uses a steady, capable delivery to connect the listener to the winding storyline, which includes an international crime syndicate and long list of characters. Hardingham gives this feminist story a strong undertone through her crisp pronunciation and consistent cadence. Did Norma's mother kill herself? How many people know about her secret power? These are some of the questions that will keep listeners engaged until the dramatic ending.
Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780525500490
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This highly satisfying quest brims with humor and friendship courtesy of Church.
During a magical adventure set in a traveling bookshop, narrator Imogen Church ensures that each conversation is a dramatic experience. Listeners meet failed book witch Louella Twig, whose strident tones mask her loneliness. She encounters former thief Everett Sharp who, intrigued, parries Louella's defenses with his deep, rolling voice. When Louella's former mentor, Feralorn, asks for her help finding pages from his grimoire, Louella accepts the quest. Church's voice for Feralorn is that of a creaky trumpet—highly distinctive, occasionally overwhelming. Church gives each character their own voice and mannerisms, including gnomes and a European wizard. Pacing, phrasing, and inflection are deployed skillfully to denote emotion, especially between Louella and Everett.
This highly satisfying quest brims with humor and friendship courtesy of Church.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798898856663
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
Suvari’s strong performance commits to the drama, increasing the stakes of a plot that has more atmospherics than...
This audiobook’s plot satisfyingly deploys familiar motifs of retro New England academia and of witchery as metaphor for the stigmatization of women’s power. Ava and Lauren, in their first year at the elite women’s Radcliffe College in the 1950s, are recruited into the secret Lilith Society of witches. When Mena Suvari is portraying adult Ava and Lauren and their Radcliffe milieu, her narration is delivered as seriously as the women take themselves, in defiance of a sexist era that belittles them. Memories of Ava’s childhood in small-town Maine sound guileless and open, bright with the child’s sparkling potential and curiosity, even as her family cruelly attempts to suppress her magical destiny.
Suvari’s strong performance commits to the drama, increasing the stakes of a plot that has more atmospherics than action.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 50 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668117026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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