A CIGARETTE LIT BACKWARDS

With refreshing honesty and an empathetic tone, author Tea Hacic-Vlahovic narrates this first-person story of a music-obsessed teen named Kat who aspires to be part of the North Carolina punk-rock scene in the early 2000s. While attending a show, Kat achieves a measure of glory when a journalist snaps a photo of her sitting on the lap of a famous musician. With her youthful timbre and relaxed pacing, Hacic-Vlahovic recounts incident after incident of Kat's demonstrating poor judgment in her friendships, romantic encounters, and school obligations. Hacic-Vlahovic's confessional style and her choice not to clearly differentiate the story's many young characters make this audiobook sound more like a memoir than a novel. Fans of young adult literature, especially stories of music culture, will find much to appreciate. M.J. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2022]