Central Places
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Natalie Naudus
-
By:
-
Delia Cai
About this listen
A PHENOMENAL BOOK CLUB PICK • “A sensitive, sharp-eyed, slyly funny novel of venturing back into the foreign country that is your past—and discovering that you can never really shake the places and people that shaped you.”—Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts
A young woman’s past and present collide when she brings her white fiancé home to meet her Chinese immigrant parents in this vibrant debut from an exciting new voice in fiction.
A HARPER’S BAZAAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Audrey Zhou left Hickory Grove, the tiny central Illinois town where she grew up, as soon as high school ended, and she never looked back. She moved to New York City and became the person she always wanted to be, complete with a high-paying, high-pressure job and a seemingly faultless fiancé. But if she and Manhattan-bred Ben are to build a life together, in the dream home his parents will surely pay for, Audrey can no longer hide him, or the person she’s become, from those she left behind.
But returning to Hickory Grove is . . . complicated. Audrey’s relationship with her parents has been soured by years of her mother’s astronomical expectations and slights. The friends she’s shirked for bigger dreams have stayed behind and started families. And then there’s Kyle, the easygoing stoner and her unrequited crush from high school that she finds herself drawn to again. Ben might be a perfect fit for New Audrey, but Kyle was always the only one who truly understood her growing up, and being around him again after all these years has Old Audrey bubbling up to the surface.
Over the course of one disastrous week, Audrey’s proximity to her family and to Kyle forces her to confront the past and reexamine her fraught connection to her roots before she undoes everything she's worked toward and everything she's imagined for herself. But is that life really the one she wants?
©2023 Delia Cai (P)2023 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Maame
- A Novel
- By: Jessica George
- Narrated by: Heather Agyepong
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.
-
-
A dang good book!
- By Christina on 02-10-23
By: Jessica George
-
Romantic Comedy (Reese's Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Curtis Sittenfeld
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life. But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actress who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show.
-
-
Not really for me
- By Emma on 04-19-23
-
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- A Novel
- By: Gabrielle Zevin
- Narrated by: Jennifer Kim, Julian Cihi
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have heard before.
-
-
This book sucked the life out of me
- By RMan on 08-08-22
By: Gabrielle Zevin
-
Yellowface
- A Novel
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
-
-
I've never hated a character harder
- By ashelyn downs on 07-26-23
By: R. F. Kuang
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- A Novel
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus, Pandora Sykes
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
Making my 3 adult daughters read this
- By Teresa H. on 04-07-22
By: Bonnie Garmus
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
-
Book was great, performance terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-23
By: Ann Napolitano
-
Maame
- A Novel
- By: Jessica George
- Narrated by: Heather Agyepong
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.
-
-
A dang good book!
- By Christina on 02-10-23
By: Jessica George
-
Romantic Comedy (Reese's Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Curtis Sittenfeld
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life. But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actress who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show.
-
-
Not really for me
- By Emma on 04-19-23
-
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- A Novel
- By: Gabrielle Zevin
- Narrated by: Jennifer Kim, Julian Cihi
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam and Sadie—two college friends, often in love, but never lovers—become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have heard before.
-
-
This book sucked the life out of me
- By RMan on 08-08-22
By: Gabrielle Zevin
-
Yellowface
- A Novel
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
-
-
I've never hated a character harder
- By ashelyn downs on 07-26-23
By: R. F. Kuang
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- A Novel
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus, Pandora Sykes
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
Making my 3 adult daughters read this
- By Teresa H. on 04-07-22
By: Bonnie Garmus
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
-
Book was great, performance terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-23
By: Ann Napolitano
-
Someone Else's Shoes
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Daisy Ridley
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because Sam Kemp—in the bleakest point of her life—has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag—she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat.
-
-
Bad language
- By Kerbear on 02-25-23
By: Jojo Moyes
-
The Man I Never Met
- A Novel
- By: Elle Cook
- Narrated by: Fiona Button, Chase Brown
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hannah picks up a call from an unknown number, she thinks nothing of it—it’s just an easygoing American named Davey who misdialed her while calling into a job interview. And when Hannah wishes him luck after clearing up the confusion, she never actually expects to hear from him again. Then she gets a text saying he got the job and he’ll be moving to London, and she can’t help but smile. Soon their texts become phone calls that turn into video calls, and their friendship becomes a relationship they can’t wait to start in earnest.
-
-
Touching
- By Tina G on 06-14-23
By: Elle Cook
-
Happiness Falls (Good Morning America Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Shannon Tyo, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Thomas Pruyn, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
-
-
A mixed review, but recommend
- By Andrea B. on 09-07-23
By: Angie Kim
-
Anywhere You Run
- A Novel
- By: Wanda M. Morris
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Shayna Small, Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the summer of 1964 and three innocent men are brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Against this backdrop, twenty-one year old Violet Richards finds herself in more trouble than she’s ever been in her life. Suffering a brutal attack of her own, she kills the man responsible. But with the color of Violet’s skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice in Jackson, Mississippi. Before anyone can find the body or finger her as the killer, she decides to run. With the help of her white beau, Violet escapes.
-
-
The suspense
- By Anonymous User on 07-26-24
By: Wanda M. Morris
-
The Christmas Orphans Club
- A Novel
- By: Becca Freeman
- Narrated by: André Santana, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. When the pair starts their adult lives in New York City, they add stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to the group, solidifying a found family and sense of belonging they’ve always craved.
-
-
Such a cute holiday read about friends!
- By Katelyn Canon on 01-05-24
By: Becca Freeman
-
The Half Moon
- A Novel
- By: Mary Beth Keane
- Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat. His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.
-
-
It's a Teachable Story
- By Olivia McKenzie on 05-13-23
By: Mary Beth Keane
-
Land of Milk and Honey
- A Novel
- By: C Pam Zhang
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles. There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body.
-
-
Started strong
- By Harry on 09-29-23
By: C Pam Zhang
-
Regretting You
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
-
-
Great book, terrible narration
- By LaurenV2003 on 01-17-20
By: Colleen Hoover
-
The Rachel Incident
- A Novel
- By: Caroline O'Donoghue
- Narrated by: Tara Flynn
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork city, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them.
-
-
Best narration
- By LG on 01-12-24
-
Birnam Wood
- A Novel
- By: Eleanor Catton
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last. But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place.
-
-
Outstanding thriller w/ exceptional character development
- By Bradley T. Collins on 04-21-23
By: Eleanor Catton
-
Bad Summer People
- A Novel
- By: Emma Rosenblum
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
-
-
Not a thriller, not a mystery
- By Anonymous User on 05-25-23
By: Emma Rosenblum
-
If He Had Been with Me
- By: Laura Nowlin
- Narrated by: Gina Rogers
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Autumn and Finn used to be inseparable. But then something changed. Or they changed. Now, they do their best to ignore each other. Autumn has her boyfriend, Jamie, and her close-knit group of friends. And Finn has become that boy at school, the one everyone wants to be around. That still doesn't stop the way Autumn feels every time she and Finn cross paths, and the growing, nagging thought that maybe things could have been different. Maybe they should be together. But come August, things will change forever.
-
-
Waste of time.
- By Eric Vinton on 10-29-21
By: Laura Nowlin
Critic reviews
“Delia [Cai] does an incredible job of capturing the complicated feelings that returning home can evoke—especially when an old boyfriend is involved. I love this intergenerational immigrant tale and Delia’s sharp social commentary about identity, and cultural differences. Delia Cai is an exciting new voice in fiction.”—Emily Giffin, The Today Show
“For anyone who spent the holidays listening to Taylor Swift’s “Tis the Damn Season” and brooding in their hometown . . . [Central Places is] a Hallmark movie plot with a literary bend, and Cai’s musings on being a person of color in a small town add a refreshingly nuanced layer to a classic story.”—Buzzfeed
“[A] luminous depiction of the complications of relationships with friends, old and new romantic loves, and immigrant parents.”—Electric Literature
Related to this topic
-
Save Me
- By: Kristyn Kusek Lewis
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daphne Mitchell has always believed in cause and effect, right and wrong, good and bad. The good: her dream job as a doctor; Owen, her childhood sweetheart and now husband; the beautiful farmhouse they're restoring together. In fact most of her life has been good - until the day Owen comes home early from work to tell her he's fallen head over heels for someone else.
-
-
story
- By ngoza on 08-10-15
-
You Say It First
- By: Katie Cotugno
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One conversation can change everything. Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: She and her best friend, Emily, plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she works at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio.
-
-
Good for a placeholder
- By KJzCola on 07-16-21
By: Katie Cotugno
-
Be the Girl
- By: K. A. Tucker
- Narrated by: Katie Schorr
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost 16-year-old Aria Jones is starting over. New postal code, new last name, new rules. Now she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better. With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship. And Cassie's older brother, Emmett - a popular Junior-A hockey player - well...Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more.
-
-
✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 06-01-19
By: K. A. Tucker
-
A Constellation of Roses
- By: Miranda Asebedo
- Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since her troubled mother abandoned her, Trix McCabe has preferred to stay on the move. But when she lands with her long-lost relatives, she finds out that the McCabe women have talents like her own that defy explanation: pies that cure all ills, palm-reading that never misses the mark, knowledge of secrets that have never been told. Before long, Trix feels like she might finally have found somewhere she belongs. But when her past comes back to haunt her, she’ll have to decide whether to take a chance on this new life...or keep running from the one she’s always known.
-
-
A Constellation of Scars
- By Dana Al-Basha on 04-22-20
By: Miranda Asebedo
-
Picture Us in the Light
- By: Kelly Loy Gilbert
- Narrated by: James Chen
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Danny discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined. Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember, and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words.
-
-
A poignant, touching novel for the Asian American millennial
- By Jenny on 06-30-23
-
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
- By: Ben Philippe
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Norris is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A Black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Texas. Plunked into a new high school, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs. Yet those labels soon become actual people to Norris....
-
-
Heartwarming...but profuse profanity.
- By Dajah B. on 01-28-19
By: Ben Philippe
-
Save Me
- By: Kristyn Kusek Lewis
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daphne Mitchell has always believed in cause and effect, right and wrong, good and bad. The good: her dream job as a doctor; Owen, her childhood sweetheart and now husband; the beautiful farmhouse they're restoring together. In fact most of her life has been good - until the day Owen comes home early from work to tell her he's fallen head over heels for someone else.
-
-
story
- By ngoza on 08-10-15
-
You Say It First
- By: Katie Cotugno
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One conversation can change everything. Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: She and her best friend, Emily, plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she works at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio.
-
-
Good for a placeholder
- By KJzCola on 07-16-21
By: Katie Cotugno
-
Be the Girl
- By: K. A. Tucker
- Narrated by: Katie Schorr
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost 16-year-old Aria Jones is starting over. New postal code, new last name, new rules. Now she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better. With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship. And Cassie's older brother, Emmett - a popular Junior-A hockey player - well...Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more.
-
-
✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 06-01-19
By: K. A. Tucker
-
A Constellation of Roses
- By: Miranda Asebedo
- Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since her troubled mother abandoned her, Trix McCabe has preferred to stay on the move. But when she lands with her long-lost relatives, she finds out that the McCabe women have talents like her own that defy explanation: pies that cure all ills, palm-reading that never misses the mark, knowledge of secrets that have never been told. Before long, Trix feels like she might finally have found somewhere she belongs. But when her past comes back to haunt her, she’ll have to decide whether to take a chance on this new life...or keep running from the one she’s always known.
-
-
A Constellation of Scars
- By Dana Al-Basha on 04-22-20
By: Miranda Asebedo
-
Picture Us in the Light
- By: Kelly Loy Gilbert
- Narrated by: James Chen
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Danny discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined. Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember, and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words.
-
-
A poignant, touching novel for the Asian American millennial
- By Jenny on 06-30-23
-
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
- By: Ben Philippe
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Norris is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A Black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Texas. Plunked into a new high school, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs. Yet those labels soon become actual people to Norris....
-
-
Heartwarming...but profuse profanity.
- By Dajah B. on 01-28-19
By: Ben Philippe
-
The Fragile World
- A Novel
- By: Paula Treick DeBoard
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kaufmans have always considered themselves a normal, happy family. Curtis is a physics teacher at a local high school. His wife, Kathleen, restores furniture for upscale boutiques. Daniel is away at college on a prestigious music scholarship, and 12-year-old Olivia is a happy-go-lucky kid whose biggest concern is passing her next math test. And then comes the middle-of-the-night phone call that changes everything.
-
-
Inaccurate
- By CCB on 03-10-15
-
10 Blind Dates
- By: Ashley Elston
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophie wants a little freedom from her overprotective parents for Christmas. When they decide to spend Christmas with her very pregnant older sister, Sophie looks forward to some much needed private (read: make-out) time with her long-term boyfriend, Griffin. Except Griffin wants a little freedom from their relationship. Heartbroken, Sophie flees to her grandparents' house, where the rest of her boisterous extended family is gathered for the holiday. That's when her nonna devises a plan: Over 10 days, Sophie will be set up on 10 different blind dates by different family members.
-
-
Incredible 👌
- By Anonymous User on 05-06-20
By: Ashley Elston
-
On the Corner of Love and Hate
- By: Nina Bocci
- Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Emmanuelle Peroni’s father - and mayor of her town - asks her to help rehab Cooper Endicott’s image, she’s horrified. Cooper drives her crazy in every way possible. But he’s also her father’s protégé, and she can’t say no to him without him finding out the reason why: Cooper and her have a messy past. So Emmanuelle reluctantly launches her father’s grand plan to get this Casanova someone to settle down with and help him lose his Lothario reputation.
-
-
Sweet, Sassy and Intelligent
- By Belle Barrell on 10-26-19
By: Nina Bocci
-
True Biz
- A Novel
- By: Sara Novic
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges listeners into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress.
-
-
A good story with added features both intriguing and informational
- By A Signing Mom on 05-15-22
By: Sara Novic
-
Rules for Being a Girl
- By: Candace Bushnell, Katie Cotugno
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl.... Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright - and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her. But when “Bex” takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she’s shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault?
-
-
THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!
- By Laya Fisher on 04-11-20
By: Candace Bushnell, and others
-
The Start of Me and You
- By: Emery Lord
- Narrated by: Angela Goethals
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been a year since it happened - when Paige Hancock's first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school...and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her - the perfect way to convince everyone she's back to normal. Next: Join a club. But when Ryan's sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team, her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop.
-
-
Better for MG readers
- By Pink Amy on 06-21-24
By: Emery Lord
-
The Never Never Sisters
- By: L. Alison Heller
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave's work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat.
-
-
Julia Whelan makes it worth the credit.
- By Ellen Zelda on 09-15-15
By: L. Alison Heller
-
Gone Again
- A Thriller
- By: Minka Kent
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her fortieth birthday, Celia Guest has reason to celebrate. She has a loving marriage, a beautiful Connecticut home, and treasured friends. Celia has everything she’s ever wanted. But among the cards and well-wishes, she discovers a disturbing note: You don’t deserve any of this. Who could be so cruel, so resentful, so…knowing? Then, in the early morning hours, Celia vanishes without a trace.
-
-
Nothing really happens
- By A reader on 04-11-23
By: Minka Kent
-
The Opposite of Loneliness
- Essays and Stories
- By: Marina Keegan
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Even though she was just 22 when she died, Marina left behind a rich, expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation.
-
-
Probably buy the book too.
- By Soupergirl on 09-14-15
By: Marina Keegan
-
Dumplin'
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dubbed "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked...until Will takes a job at Harpy's, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn't surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
-
-
Enjoyable heartwarming story
- By Jenjer on 08-26-16
By: Julie Murphy
-
The Rest of Her Life
- By: Laura Moriarty
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leigh is the mother of high-achieving, popular high school senior Kara. Their relationship is already strained for reasons Leigh does not fully understand when, in a moment of carelessness, Kara makes a mistake that ends in tragedy, the effects of which not only divide Leigh's family, but polarize the entire community.
-
-
Obnoxious musical interludes ruin the story
- By Joan on 12-25-11
By: Laura Moriarty
-
No Hiding in Boise
- By: Kim Hooper
- Narrated by: Devon Sorvari, Stephanie Willing, Hillary Huber, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department and thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be when her husband is sleeping right next to her? But when she turns to wake him, he isn’t there. Tessa is the 23-year-old bartender who escapes to a backroom storage closet during the shooting. When it comes to light that five people were killed, she is burdened with the question of why she survived.
-
-
fantastic audio involving contemporary issues
- By Barbara S on 07-07-21
By: Kim Hooper
What listeners say about Central Places
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Arwen
- 05-06-24
slow
Struggled to finish. A slow story lacking in depth. The ending was weak and needed more substance.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- rosalinda lam
- 07-09-24
The struggle of the immigrant’s child
I loved this book. I am an immigrant myself and I have a daughter who I’m sure feels like Audrey sometimes. Audrey is not particularly likable but she is very human and real. Her parents’ cruel behaviors (by cultural standards) are described with compassion and the clueless all American boyfriend is given the benefit of the doubt. A great book about the immigrant and assimilation experience
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 10-27-23
Easy story to follow along
The narrator does well to distinguish between characters. I appreciate that. The story does reference some racism and an intimate scene. overall, it is a good story about growth and reflection on one's life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- evelyn whitten
- 05-10-23
Struggled through this one
This book started out okay until all the racial and political rhetoric. The mother was not that bad just being a mother. Audrey thought a lot of herself just because of her heritage. All people are special, not just Asian and immigrants. I got really fed up with the references to white people. I would not recommend this book to anyone, far to racial.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alliecat
- 12-04-23
Judgment meets Judgment
While the main character has struggled with being the a victim of discrimination, she is constantly doing to others the very thing she has spent her life fighting. When did equality become putting others down and preemptively making them the lesser person? I could not finish the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!