New Reviews by Title: K-O

Narrator Ray Porter introduces listeners to the first installment of Maberry's new dark fantasy series. Porter's distinctive voice portrays Kagen Vale, the powerful and devoted captain of the palace guard and protector of the royal children, whose world is upturned when the empire is attacked and the royal family is slain. Porter's dynamic performance depicts the devastation... Read More

Soneela Nankani is often featured in South Asian titles. This fictional account of one part of the RAMAYANA, an ancient Hindu tale, is further proof that she's an excellent narrator. Nankani presents the lively, young princess Kaikeyi, who is maddeningly hemmed in and ignored by the sexist society she's grown up in. Listeners will feel sympathy for Kaikeyi as she fights to hold... Read More

Narrator Courtney Lin conjures a portrait of two sisters who are leading intertwined lives while keeping vital secrets from each other. Riley's world has always revolved around her charismatic older sister, Morgan. After tragedy strikes, timid and insecure Riley must seek her own path and face certain truths about her sister. Lin deftly navigates the complicated structure of... Read More

The fourth in Yang's Front Desk series is once again narrated by Sunny Lu. It's lovely to be welcomed back into Mia's life by Lu's familiar voice. Mia, however, is far from comfortable. Her PE class is focusing on soccer as the Women's World Cup is set to take place in Los Angeles. Lu fluidly expresses Mia's divided feelings of loyalty when the Chinese soccer team plays the... Read More

Narrators Ariel Blake, Karen Commins, Kathleen McInerney, Lee Osorio, and Melinda Sewak depict lush and humid Savannah, Georgia, from its homeless encampments to its turreted mansions, where beloved singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer once entertained. Reminiscent of MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, this mystery has colorful Southern characters and family mysteries best... Read More

Torian Brackett's joyful, ebullient narration sets the tone for this YA novel. Queer, Black besties Harrison and Linus have been each other's family for years. When Linus announces that he's moving away from Baltimore, Harrison decides what they need to cement their friendship is one perfect day in the city. What follows is a heartfelt, hilarious, and moving exploration of... Read More

Julian Elfer's pleasant British-accented voice and smooth delivery lend themselves to easy absorption of the fascinating story. A British deserter in 1820s India wanders improbably to Afghanistan, obsessed with finding lost cities founded by Alexander the Great. Part of Elfer's talent is to shift his tone subtly to fit the text. Describing foolhardy absurdities early on, he... Read More

Chef Michael Twitty's candid and warm style allows his intimate memoir to excel as an audiobook. Far more than an autobiography, KOSHERSOUL is a revealing account of Twitty's lifelong journeys--as a Black man, as a Jew, and as a gay man--and how those worlds have united and clashed. Twitty's style is engaging, and he narrates in a tone that embraces listeners and invites them... Read More

Suzanne Toren's engaging narration style is the perfect choice for this fascinating biography of the world's first female professional aeronaut and the early history of hot-air and hydrogen ballooning. A brief introduction immerses the listener in the social and political turmoil of late-eighteenth-century France, setting the scene for the birth of the phenomenon known as... Read More

This audiobook has an accomplished cast well suited to a story told from multiple points of view. Climate change has turned the Great Plains of the U.S. into a desert. A father and daughter's magic can make it rain--but the rain comes with complications. Curt Bonnem does double duty with the chapters told from the perspectives of the two major male characters. Hillary Huber... Read More

Chilly and atmospheric, this audiobook begins slowly, but the buildup is worth the wait. Abby Lovett has worked at The Passage Inn for 10 years, though she is still considered an outsider by the locals. The inn, located at Cutter's Pass on the Appalachian Trail, is connected to numerous cases of missing people, including Landon West, a reporter who was investigating the... Read More

Author/narrator Mohsin Hamid's voice is pleasing and clear. His restrained narration works well for this audiobook. The plot device is straightforward: A white man named Anders wakes one morning with brown skin. Hamid's uninflected voice lets this Kafkaesque story unfold without melodrama. When Anders's transformation is repeated by more and more people--even his pale lover,... Read More

Humorist Sarah Cooper shares her wisdom on how to reconnect with others in the post-pandemic era, taking as her guide author Dale Carnegie, whose 1936 book HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE is a perennial bestseller. Cooper shot to fame via her TikTok videos of lip-syncing to Donald Trump's tweets. Here, she warmly and amusingly narrates her own work, describing her... Read More

Susannah Jones narrates the strange story of a political candidate who is running for the Senate and her two adult children who just might derail the whole thing. Candidate Nancy Harrison wakes to discover that her daughter is on the news. As part of a protest group in France, she is throwing a bottle of champagne through a window. Back home, Nancy's son is writing a musical... Read More

With quick pacing that never slows, polished narrator Joy Osmanski portrays 12-year-old Korean-American Lia Park in this action-packed adventure filled with magic and mystery. As Lia and her best friend, Joon, prepare for their IMA (International Magic Agency) exam, Lia's parents are kidnapped by an ancient and vengeful sorceress named Gaya. This development sends Lia and Joon... Read More

Narrators Amanda Dolan and Anna Caputo balance psychological suspense and nuanced character development as they portray social chameleon Meg Williams and intrepid reporter Kat Roberts. Each of the women seeks justice on her own terms. Dolan brings calm maturity and an undercurrent of steely resolve to Meg as she plays the long game while pursuing justice for the man who... Read More

Narrator Jessica Garcie takes listeners through this memoir of ordinary days punctuated by traumatic events, as explored through the eyes of writer Mary Pipher. As the beloved author and well-known psychologist specializing in women's experiences describes her childhood and adult years, listeners hear the lessons of a well-lived life. Garcie's narration is thoughtful and... Read More

Flatboats were once the most common craft on America's great rivers, but when Rinker Buck took his down the Monongahela, Ohio, and Mississippi to New Orleans in 2016--as he recounts in this audiobook--it was an object of considerable curiosity. Narrated by Jason Culp, his story of that trip weaves together the history of America and the towns along the rivers, as well as the... Read More

Author and narrator Juli Berwald brings expertise and passion to this deep dive into the science and conservation of coral, which is being severely damaged by global warming. She guides the listener on a meandering journey from the waters of the Florida Keys to the corporate offices of the Mars candy company and the far-off reefs of Indonesia. Her own voice is crucial to the... Read More

Narrator Fajer Al Kaisi smoothly presents this informative guide to leadership amid massive change, as the subtitle promises. Listeners are introduced to information on the fourth Industrial Revolution, transformational leadership qualities, the global business environment, and contemporary life in a post-Covid society. Al Kaisi's crisp tones shift audibly to recount the... Read More

Listeners will never doubt that British narrator Karen Cass belongs in the Devonshire village of Middlemass and will feel as welcomed there as out-of-work librarian Jess Metcalf does. When Jess finds herself starting over after losing her beloved grandmother, she has no idea that her new cottage will offer the opportunity to create a library in the phone box on the property.... Read More

Popular leadership coach Amy Eliza Wong narrates her own audiobook on the five choices that can bring listeners to happier and more fulfilling lives. While many personal-growth audiobooks focus on how to make more money or build status, they do not necessarily focus on what can make a person feel like they have a purpose or live a life in which happiness is at the forefront.... Read More

Killing the judge is a fantasy that some litigants may harbor, but when one unhappy party is charged with actually doing so, the fantasy turns into a nightmare--and also a fast-moving audiobook. Delivered ably by Robert Petkoff, the novel centers on a one-judge Texas federal court in which patent lawsuits thrive, often with the aid of local lawyer James Euchre, who can charm... Read More

Maksik's riveting new novel is disappointingly narrated by James Patrick Cronin. The post-Trump-era story features Solomon Fields, a disillusioned young New Yorker who was raised by a troubled but brilliant mother and a bohemian grandmother who was a Holocaust survivor. When Solomon follows a woman to a tropical artists' colony, Cronin's voice has little inflection despite the... Read More

In this brief audiobook, the futurist and founder of the think tank Longpath Labs argues that short-term thinking results in long-term problems. While his voice is not commanding, Ari Wallach makes up for it with his enthusiasm and optimism about human motivations. Combining practical advice with anecdotes and personal history, the audiobook is a guide to thinking and acting in... Read More

This audiobook, which switches its time period and point of view for nearly every one of its 105 chapters, might have presented challenges for the listener were it not for the excellent performances of the four narrators. Will Damron, Hillary Huber, Elizabeth Garrett, and Steve West deftly take on the characters, clearly differentiating them by carefully conveying the outward... Read More

Morgan Hallett narrates this engrossing story set in a state institution in the 1970s. While Sage Winters seems both resolute and hopelessly naïve, listeners will be shocked and riveted by her mistaken imprisonment in the grim facility known as Willowbrook, a supposed school for "mentally defective" and otherwise unwanted children. While this story is partly an exposé of a... Read More

Kurt Kanazawa gives a keenly connected performance of this sweet and emotionally complex middle-grade audiobook. The setting is 1960s Japan, and dragons exist alongside humans; Japan's dragons are called ryu. Kanazawa sounds eminently believable as Kohei, whose little ryu, Yuharu, is always perched on his shoulder. Kohei's grandfather is angry and sick, and Kohei is convinced... Read More

Latonya Williams gives a voice to the talented child violinist Lotus Bloom as she takes her bodacious afro and retro style to a newly built performance arts school. But paper airplanes in her hair, lack of support, fights with her best friend, and discriminatory dress code violations are more than Lotus knows how to handle. She must choose: compromise her beloved hair or bloom... Read More

Kimberly Farr, much lauded for her narration of Strout's Amgash series, brings her characteristic blend of introspection and compassion to this next chapter in Lucy Barton's life. As the pandemic begins, Lucy, at the urging of her ex-husband, William, flees New York City for the relative calm of coastal Maine. Farr describes Lucy's initial confusion over William's worries,... Read More

Returning for the third installment of the BeWere My Heart series, Susan Bennett gives an energetic performance of the contemporary shifter romance. Verity Lane's status as a squib, a shifter who can't shift, leads her to a daredevil club of other non-shifting "wereanimals." After she washes up on his island, the handsome werebear Magus Berne can't shake the feeling that Verity... Read More

E.R. Fightmaster's performance is the perfect example of the unique magic that happens when a great narrator is paired with the perfect book. In this young adult novel of a nonbinary athlete's coming of age, River McIntyre spends every spare moment practicing for the swim team to escape their internal struggle with gender identity. But when River falls in love with another... Read More

Narrator Lisa Flanagan superbly narrates this audiobook based on history and enhanced by the engaging dialogue of a fascinating foursome in the 1920s. The characters' relationships rival the female friendships made famous in "Sex and the City." The story revolves around the legendary writer Dorothy Parker and her friends. The setting may be the Prohibition era, but women's... Read More

When Dorothy Moy, portrayed by Jennifer Lim, realizes that the visions causing her daughter to act out are versions of her own inherited memories, she decides to do something about it. Even author Jamie Ford gets in on the act in this audiobook, narrating a note on epigenetics and how it explains the parallels between the daughter and generations of women in Moy's family. Other... Read More

This debut collection of short stories combines magical realism, folklore, nature, and family in a wholly unique mix. Kyla García's expressive narration conjures the mystical atmosphere evoked in the wide range of stories. In one, women invoke magic in a course on witchcraft at a community college. Another involves the legacies of a California family's multiple Marias, and... Read More

Three talented women--narrator, author, and protagonist--combine forces for this gripping historical novel set in Renaissance Italy. Maggie O'Farrell, author of the award-winning novel HAMNET, here introduces us to Lucrezia de' Medici of Florence, who married Duke Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara in 1559. Genevieve Gaunt's captivating performance illuminates the suspenseful tale like... Read More

Narrator Beth Eyre shares the personal triumphs and heartbreaks of a young woman who is caught in the middle of WWII, Winston Churchill's youngest daughter, Mary. Taken directly from Mary's wartime diaries, this audiobook explores the day-to-day life of a young woman who is both growing up at the center of a powerful British family and becoming her own person during turbulent... Read More

Emily Ellet delivers a warm and gentle performance of the conclusion to the Bladesmith duology. Desperate to save her sister's life, Ziva rescues a magical healer at a huge cost. Ziva's ability to create magical weapons of awesome and terrible destruction sees her captured by a prince bent on world domination who will harm her loved ones unless she works for him. Ellet's... Read More

Noah Wall's engaging narration enhances this delightful audio and picture book production. A young kingfisher named Mel bravely decides to take her first dive out of the nest. As the tree's other residents anxiously look on--or desperately try to save her--courage prevails, Mel's fall turns to flight, and her friends' fears turn to cheers. Wall captures the playful, spontaneous... Read More

Frankie Corzo, who has narrated all the Merci Suárez audiobooks, delivers the series finale in which the courageous heroine takes on eighth grade, her troublesome younger cousins, and her beloved grandfather Lolo's Alzheimer's. Corzo shifts easily between the English and Spanish words that are gracefully integrated into the text. She captures the many moods of Merci in her... Read More

Carlotta Brentan gives a fine narration of this saga of Hollywood in the '30s and '40s. With her father in prison for anti-fascist activities in Italy, Maria, along with her mother, moves to an Italian neighborhood in Los Angeles. Maria becomes a secretary for the head of Mercury Pictures, Artie Feldman. Her secret romance with an Asian actor is disrupted when part of her past,... Read More

Caribbean accents from narrators Ben Onwukwe and Vivienne Acheampong animate this compelling story inspired by the Taíno legend of Aycayia, who is cursed to exist for eternity as a mermaid. The lonely creature lives in exile for centuries until one day, brutally captured by sports fishermen near Black Conch Island, Aycayia finds herself on land again. Rescued by David, a local... Read More

Narrator Katy Sobey inhabits Liv Green, a house cleaner who dreams of becoming a writer. Sobey gives unique British voices to the characters in this novel. Essie Starling, a reclusive author who is one of Liv's clients, has a demanding tone, even as she encourages Liv's dream to write. When Essie dies, Liv is forced to keep it a secret, straining her marriage. But her compliant... Read More

Narrators Erin Spencer, Will Collyer, Ana Osorio, Hillary Huber, Mirron Willis, and Sean Pratt make up the full cast of this audiobook about the downfall of the American dream and how one location can mean so many different things to multiple people. Six different renters at the Metropolis Storage Warehouse find themselves being viewed as suspects when a body is found at the... Read More

Biographer to the literal stars, Dr. Moiya McTier combines her background in folklore and astrophysics into an engaging performance of the Milky Way's life story, told from our home galaxy's point of view. McTier-as-Milky Way imbues her performance with confidence and grandeur befitting a dynamic galaxy that is billions of years old. With conversational flair and wry humor, she... Read More

Australian actor and narrator Stig Wemyss, whose goofy children's audiobooks are numerous, applies his talents to a collection of short stories that center adult alienation. The tales seem designed to test Tolstoy's assertion that unhappy families are each unhappy in their own way. The details may differ--a husband plots to kill his wife's rapist; a young woman channels her... Read More

André Santana's haunting performance makes perfect sense for this audiobook. Its main character, 12-year-old Moon, is Black, nonbinary, and suffering from depression. Santana gives a strong sense of Moon's feelings of isolation in the face of prejudice and misunderstanding. Intense first-person writing reveals their feelings--for Moon hasn't spoken aloud in months. As Moon... Read More

Ines del Castillo and Yareli Arizmendi make an excellent team for this unique drama about two women whose worlds collide through a complicated murder. Dolores Rivera lives a double life as the wife of two men--until they find out about each other. Cassie Bowman is an author in search of an excellent story, and she finds it when one of Dolores's husbands murders the other. The... Read More

Sherlock Holmes's greatest nemesis is reimagined as a misunderstood genius who claims he's been framed for murder. This 10-episode podcast series combines the intricate details of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's nineteenth-century originals with quick, tense dialogue and state-of-the-art sound effects. Portraying Professor James Moriarty and his sharp-tongued Scottish foil, Colonel... Read More

Soneela Nankani is an outstanding narrator of South Asian literature, and this novel on the partition of India is no exception. The creation of the Muslim state of Pakistan led to one of the most chaotic migrations in memory. Nankani evokes empathy for the teenage Alma, who is caught in these historical crosshairs. She uses a fretful undertone to express the heart of this story... Read More

Neil Shah is a strong narrator for this family drama about siblings Bhumi and Jaipal, who are separated by civil unrest on their small South Pacific island. Fans of world literature will be enthralled by this story of rising nationalism as the islanders turn on the minority Indian community. Shah shifts easily between dense narrative and dialogue. He maintains listeners'... Read More

Narrator Dara Rosenberg gives a magnificent performance of this hilarious and heartwarming rom-com. Dara Rabinowitz, a 30-something developer of a Jewish matchmaking app, appears on a television show hosted by anchor Chris Steadfast. Dara's matchmaker grandmother, Bubbe Miriam, accompanies Dara and shares with the audience the list of qualities Dara is seeking in her perfect... Read More

Valerie Rose Lohman and Max Meyers make a dynamic narration team as they portray two curiously gifted young people in 1920s Chicago. Lohman's portrayal of 18-year-old Ruby Newhouse is bright, confident, and lively. She appears to be a cheerful flapper, but she's also a mind reader who uses her ability to rid the world of corrupt men. In alternate chapters, Meyers portrays... Read More

An interesting array of characters expertly voiced by Janina Edwards and a mysterious list of murder victims combine for a cozy adventure in the second installment of the Peach Coast Library mysteries. Marvella, who works for the local library, involves other library staff in the murder investigations, along with her friend, Spence. They all seek to find a connection among the... Read More

A phenomenal narration by the esteemed Golden Voice narrator Barbara Rosenblat brings all of the characters of this cozy mystery to life. Delivering seamless transitions between Beryl, the American adventuress, and Edwina, the prim and proper Brit, Rosenblat deftly navigates this story of poison-pen letters and preposterous rumor mongering. Convincing accents for all the... Read More

This anthology covering the diverse lived experiences of Asian-Americans is enhanced by a full cast of vocal performers. Composed of 30 essays and poems, the collection covers a wide range of experiences from different intersectionalities. The talented narrators deliver the vignettes in varying styles, creating a compelling aural smorgasbord. Similar themes of being othered,... Read More

Author Reynolds and artist Griffin shine as they co-narrate this poetic memoir, which riffs on friendship, courage, self-expression, and coming of age. In the early 2000s, the roommates set off for Brooklyn to pursue their creative dreams. There, they struggled to balance family concerns and self-doubt with the desire to be recognized and make a difference. As the pair look... Read More

Sean Bridgers narrates the unique story of Yip Tolroy, who tells a colorful tale of adventure despite his inability to speak since birth. Bridgers's performance allows the listener to easily digest the sometimes stilted nineteenth-century speech and enjoy the author's delightful turns of phrase. Odd-looking Yip--who's short and completely bald--inadvertently commits a crime... Read More

Shaun Taylor-Corbett's narration is calm and friendly, and he handles this 1928 classic's occasional humor in a charming understated manner. This is a strength, given the book's didactic intent. However, at times this even-toned approach may become dull for some listeners. Despite this drawback, Taylor-Corbett brings the story to life, and his narration embodies its theme that... Read More

Beach has provided audiophiles with a tribute to narrators wrapped in a psychological suspense. It's all delivered with intensity by Scott Brick. Listeners will experience an intimate view of the mindset, challenges, and joys experienced by audiobook narrators. Brick's dramatic delivery draws listeners into the life of Shawn Frost, a successful playwright, who, having fallen on... Read More

Reena Dutt empathetically narrates this unique mix of nonfiction about immigration, which includes historical facts and true stories from the author's own family. Dutt conveys the author's emotional distress over historical and modern-day injustices. The listener hears her voice quaver when explaining the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty and the experiences of Jewish... Read More

Devon Hales, Cady McClain, Brittany Pressley, and Gary Tiedemann narrate Alex Finlay's thriller, which centers on a brutal murder that occurrs at the local Dairy Queen. Three high school girls are left for dead. One survives. The attack is reminiscent of a murder at a Blockbuster Video 15 years earlier. The use of four narrators works well due to each narrator's strong... Read More

From this audiobook's opening line, Joniece Abbott-Pratt's narration creates an immersive listening experience. She perfectly embodies the first-person perspective of Kiara, a high school dropout who is living with her older brother, Marcus, in a shabby apartment in East Oakland, California. Their father is dead, and their mother is gone, leaving them with only each other.... Read More

Narrator Carmen Torres delivers this poignant audiobook about best friends with the ability to switch bodies. Jess's bold personality belies her desperation to be wanted and accepted by the people around her. Nina's caution keeps her safe but unable to advocate for herself. Swapping bodies connects them deeply, but blurring boundaries comes with its own complications. Torres... Read More

This audiobook features a pulpy bad-guys-versus-good-guys plot that pits characters with dovetailing stories against each other. Fitch is a widower with cancer, and Wren is a runaway from an abusive foster home. The two find themselves looking after each other. Meanwhile, two lunkheads decide to join forces with a woman to scam unsuspecting men. Ron Lea weaves everything... Read More

Hillary Huber narrates a story of love, self-discovery, and forgiveness. Nora Hamilton is making ends meet, barely, as a TV screenwriter, when her luck starts to change for the better with the sale of a screenplay. Will these changes be permanent improvements, or are they simply too good to be true? Huber perfectly captures the wry and weary but cautiously hopeful outlook Nora... Read More

Narrator Zura Johnson is a perfect fit for the snark that infuses this lighthearted paranormal romance. Through her intonation, Johnson ensures that listeners won't miss a single inside joke. Violet "The Dud" Maxwell came to accept that she was a magic-less witch a long time ago, so it comes as a shock that something inside her sparks to life when she crosses paths with the one... Read More

The talented and capable María José Zuniga narrates this story about kindness at the Mexican-American border. Young Noemi and her mother, who are seeking asylum, arrive at the border and put their names in a notebook. The notebook lists people waiting to plead their cases to the American authorities. A kind woman named Belinda, the notebook keeper, encourages everyone to remain... Read More

Jesse Vilinsky channels Sally Holt, a brash, straight-talking young woman who blames her 13-year-old self for the accident that killed her older sister, Kathy. Vilinsky matches Sally's harsh assessment of herself as she reveals her feelings with self-deprecating sarcasm in a long, rambling letter to Kathy. She recounts the devastating changes experienced by her family after the... Read More

Eddie Lopez's performance oscillates between amusingly dry and bemused, a perfect dynamic for this short yet engaging audiobook. Working on a new novel, the titular writer spends little time writing and a lot of time thinking about the true nature of words, the contrast between Instagram and Facebook, and . . . bowel movements. Throughout, he opines over past sexual experiences... Read More

This Depression-era Dust Bowl novel, which won the Pulitzer in 1935 when its author was an astonishing 24, is beautifully written, and Carlotta Brentan's performance serves the plangent text perfectly. Marget is the middle daughter in a once-comfortable family now on a steep slope to disaster. Her beautiful older sister, Kerrin, is unstable, their farm is mortgaged, and their... Read More

Although there are WWI battle scenes in Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the most important action is all in the mind of its main character. Claude Wheeler seeks a place in the world that is independent of the expectations of his family and the world of rural Nebraska. Narrator Joel Richards focuses on the interiority of the story without minimizing Claude's complex... Read More

A cast of five narrators brings to life a group of wealthy and self-absorbed housewives whose lives center around visits to the local beauty salon. When the divorce of the perceived leader of the group triggers her downfall, one of the other members, Olivia, employs a range of evil tactics in order to take her place. The use of multiple narrators to tell the story from... Read More

In a clear, bright voice, Rachel L. Jacobs performs this implausible story of Bonnie Lincoln's attempts to escape her life. After winning a large sum of money in a lottery, Lincoln builds a fantasy world by cloning the apartment of the TV hit "Three's Company." Isolating herself in the mountain retreat, she plans to act out all the episodes of her favorite show, to become the... Read More

Narrator Nneka Okoye brings her British-Nigerian sensibilities to the mic in this exciting new middle-grade series about Onyeka, a teen who learns that her hair gives her a psychokinetic superpower, which is called Ike. Okoye nails Onyeka's mood swings as the girl and her mother leave London for Nigeria to search for her missing father. Onyeka also learns about others like her... Read More

Ben Onwukwe deeply engages the listening audience with this electrifying dark fantasy, which features characters with special powers who are in danger. They are being protected by a troubled female detective as they journey to a safe destination. Listeners must pay attention to the twists and turns that take them from London to the U.S. and other far-off places. The novel's... Read More

Adjoa Andoh narrates this poignant coming-of-age story about Oto, an intersex teenager who lives in Nigeria in the late 1980s. Listeners hear the lyrical cadences of Andoh's African-accented delivery as Oto's horrendous life story is revealed. Because he is regarded as a freakish changeling, he faces ongoing cruelty and superstitious hatred. But several supportive characters in... Read More

Matthew Lloyd Davies is the strong, somber voice of this searing novel set in war-torn Ukraine. He brings across the enormity of Pasha's task: He is trying to cross the conflict-ridden country to be reunited with his orphaned nephew. This is a well-told, suspenseful tale that Davies capably dramatizes. His style and delivery maximize the tension of Pasha's mission while also... Read More

The wistful sweetness in Siiri Scott's narration perfectly complements the small-town South Carolina setting of this audiobook. The residents of a five-unit complex become enmeshed in each other's lives when one of them is found dead inside her apartment. Each character is an "other bird," someone whose difficult family history or other trauma creates challenges for them to... Read More

Chloe Cannon and Emma Galvin share the narration of this urban fantasy about a mother, a daughter, and a dark, magical secret. Seventeen-year-old Ivy, who lives in "the suburbs, right now," is portrayed by Galvin in a tone of brash naïveté as she recounts the extraordinary events of the summer when a naked girl appeared in the woods, upending everything she thought she knew... Read More

Actress Lucy Liu narrates Ng's latest, set in a chillingly plausible near future in which anti-Asian sentiment has reached shocking proportions. Twelve-year-old Bird, whose Chinese-American mother abandoned him years earlier, lives with his father, plagued by constant fear of the racist laws that govern their lives. Liu captures the intensity of this world, propulsively... Read More

This haunting novel is beautifully written and artfully narrated by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway. Leah, a marine biologist, returns from a submarine research mission that trapped her at the bottom of the ocean for six months. When she returns, her wife, Miri, is frustrated by inexplicable changes in Leah. In alternating chapters, Holdaway captures Leah's pre-mission... Read More

André Santana and Neo Cihi narrate this dual-perspective queer fantasy romance. Crest is a "mer" who is heading off on their month-long journey. The purpose is to experience life as a human before deciding whether to remain on land or return to the sea to begin adulthood as a mer. When they arrive on land, in a human body with a new human name, Crest meets a human lifeguard... Read More

Fans of the cult classic DIRTY DANCING will be all ears as its female lead, Jennifer Grey, narrates the story of her rise to fame--and sudden loss of it--in this unflinching memoir. From her childhood with her famous father, actor Joel Grey, to behind-the-scenes anecdotes of the film, and beyond, Grey retraces her path from stardom to a mistimed cosmetic procedure, and then to... Read More