Justin Z.

Modern ode to Tragedy

Revisado: 02-07-25

Brilliant in many ways, from the unassuming grandeur of what unfolds to the subtle technique by which the author carries his protagonist’s metamorphosis and sets up a tragedy as gentle as it is inevitable. The performance of the narrator is sublime - rarely do you hear a character starting off so inauspiciously and maturing over the course of 32 chapters the way this one does.

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An Original Protagonist you’ll want to Murder

Revisado: 01-18-25

The voice performance is 5 star because right from the first quarter of an hour, you’ll be hoping that whatever has happened in the plot, the protagonist-narrator gets a come-uppance. Candlish has written a character who’s sardonically charmless, a victim-NPC type of character turned protagonist by the power of her pen. Even as his irritatingly slothful voice and despicably shallow nature grate through the hours, I wanted to keep listening to the clearly unfolding train wreck. I will also praise Candlish’s elegance in devising an ending that feels authentic, is original and true to the characters and theme, and doesn’t force the final plot twist so much as it lets it slide out of the book like a gentle and masterfully concocted sigh.

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Fun but implausible

Revisado: 12-26-24

The author in the acknowledgments says her mother never ‘gets’ the twist at the end. Somebody needs to tell her it’s not her mum’s fault: the twist is simply logically implausible. Otherwise if you’re willing to overlook a plot with the most gullible teenager in the world and the Most Plotting yet Careless-at-key-moment villain of the year, you’ll enjoy this one to the same extent I have.

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Gripping, Compelling, Hot

Revisado: 12-09-24 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novella - I found a non-formulaic take on the illicit teacher/student trope that kept me at once hooked and guessing with twists worthy of a KL Slater thriller, while their relationship is described with intensity and the finesse of some of the best literotica around.

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Overdrawn Pastiche

Revisado: 10-18-24

After the first three hours you’ll be thinking - ok, this feels awful like a derivative work from the movie [spoiler]. Along the way you’ll then feel it’s also ripping off two other sci-fi movies from the last two decades. By the time the reveal starts around hour 17 you’ll be bemused that he’s also ripping off his own previous book trilogy. If The Passage is what you brought you to this like me - this will leave you wishing you hadn’t.

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Good short thriller

Revisado: 06-06-24

Fascinating premise, flowing execution, good twists and turns throughout right till the last minute, you see the unreliable narrator from miles away but kept guessing and doesn’t feel one bit stale or stretched. Voice performers not up to the excellence of the book though.

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Fresh plot, somewhat flat characters

Revisado: 05-16-24

Pros: I found the plot arc to be quite fresh and the way the twists were delivered was elegant, and satisfyingly unpredictable. Cons: “It’s ridiculous how I put up with this so long!” the protagonist says in the last quarter. And indeed that’s what we’re thinking for a large chunk of the book, as the protagonist’s capitulation in various situations just jars with the streetwise way in which she’s presented. The child in the book is also depicted oddly, at times mature for his age (9) and at others in very infantile ways.

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Techno-babble Apocalypse

Revisado: 05-07-24

You expect a good level of fantasy tech in this kind of dystopian near future book, but keeping up with the different types of nanotechnology and manufacturing units was a slog at times. The performance wasn’t that great either, seems as though at times the narrator forgot who had which voice.

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Fast crime fiction

Revisado: 03-02-24

The performance is great, the plot good and fast moving and the characters quite believable in their rural simplicity. There is one flaw in the book which is revealed at the end and that is a headscratcher, and ties into the very heart of the motivation of one of the main characters- but you’ll be willing to forgive it.

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Deserves the accolades

Revisado: 02-20-24

Poignant, well paced, great performances. Touching portrayals of flawed, good people trying to cope within a complex and sometimes uncaring universe

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