SAVAGE TONGUES

Samara Naeymi is the dreamy, disappointed voice of Arezu, an Iranian-American teenager who is neglected by her father and shuttled to his vacant apartment in Marbella, Spain. Naeymi vividly captures the angst and hope of a young woman who becomes romantically entangled with the wrong person. Naeymi's performance evokes the feelings of confusion, dislocation, and loss that are awakened in Arezu when she returns as an adult to confront the memories of that fateful summer. Part dissection of class and sexism, part personal exploration, this is a deeply felt performance that resonates with the coming-of-age struggles of the main character. Naeymi deftly evokes listeners' empathy for the trials Arezu faces. Fans of feminist fiction will find much food for thought. M.R. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2021]