AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ● THIS LIGHT BETWEEN US ●

BY ANDREW FUKUDA

NARRATED BY EMILY ELLET(5✯) & GREG CHUN (4✯)

●SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE●

THE DETAILS●●●

● UNLIKELY PENPALS

● A JAPANESE AMERICAN BOY --ALEX MAKI

● A FRENCH JEWISH GIRL --CHARLIE LEVY

● WWII BACKDROP --LOTS OF WAR SCENES

● INTERNMENT CAMP FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS

● JEWISH CONCENTRATION CAMPS

● LENGTH OF AUDIO - 10 HOURS, 40 MINUTES
● I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY THOUGHTS●●●

If you like stories based on WWII then you should really read/listen to this...it gave me some Between Shades of Gray vibes...although it didn't quite deliver the feels that BSOG did, it really shined from an educational point of view.  It was enlightening, with the hate that his family endured from their hometown to the bus ride to Manzanar, the war scenes and, the atrocities of the concentration camps.  I never really knew about the camp for Japanese-Americans...I may have learned about it in school, but it's been a while since I was in school.  

Told mainly from the POV of Alex Maki...this is really his story.  Charlie Levy is just a significant part of it...so is his family, especially his brother, the internment camps, and lastly the war itself.  The war scenes did get a little monotonous for me...because I just wanted more Charley.  Overall though...this is totally worth the read/listen.

The narration by Emily Ellet was phenomenal, she did a bubbly teenage french girl really well.  I wish she would've had more parts in the story. Greg Chun as the Japanese-American boy was really well performed for the most part, too.  His yelling-voice was really awkward and there are several instances where he does that, especially once he enlists.

BREAKDOWN●●●

● Narration Rating ⇢ 4½ STARS 

● Plot ⇢ 4.3/5

● Characters ⇢ 5/5

● The Feels ⇢ 4/5

● Pacing ⇢ 4/5

● Addictiveness ⇢ 4.3/5

● Theme, Tone or Intensity ⇢ 4.5/5

● Originality/Believability ⇢ 4.5/5

● Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ⇢ 4.3/5

● World-Building ⇢ 4.5/5

● Ending ⇢ 4/5

● Summation ⇢ 4¼ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW⤏ THE GHOSTWRITER

BY ALESSANDRA TORRE

NARRATED BY ANDREA IZZY ANTHONY

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
I have three months to write my last book. Three months to confess the details of that day, and how it changed everything for me.
My name is Helena Ross. I’ve written fifteen romance novels, ten of which have become international bestsellers. But this one isn't a romance, no Happily Ever After in place. This novel holds only the truth, which I have run away from for four years. The truth, which I have hidden from the police, from my loved ones, from the world.
This final book?
It's my confession. 

THE DETAILS⇣

⤏ MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER...WITH NO ROMANCE

⤏ NOT THIS AUTHORS USUAL KIND OF FARE

⤏ A JAW-DROPPING TWIST YOU WON'T SEE COMING

⤏ CONFESSIONS, HEARTBREAK, AND A BABY CALF BIRTHING
⤏ A NEW FAVORITE!!!

⤏ LENGTH OF AUDIO - 9 HOURS, 26 MINUTES
⤏ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE (TOTALLY WORTH MY CREDIT)

MY THOUGHTS⇣

Why did I wait so long to read/listen to this?  This is an amazing story...stunningly emotional.  It had some Verity vibes...or I should say that Verity has some Ghostwriter vibes...since this technically came out before Verity.  It's not in any way the same story, just that it has a similar feel.  Without giving anything away, a few of the similarities is both books are by authors whose usual fare is romance and also the plot's center on having another writer write your story...and of course, the freaky AF twists...which are freaky in totally different ways but still equally jaw-dropping.  One of the differences is Verity will mess with your head...and this will mess with your heart...either way they're both on my favorites list.

Andrea Izzy Anthony did a remarkable performance...in all, I believe she pulled off about 3...maybe 4 POVs.  Usually, I believe that different POVs need separate narrators...but I have to give her props for a job well done.

Overall, a very worthwhile read/listen, with an ending that is really heartbreaking but also really fulfilling...giving each (all except one, but I'm not sure they deserved it) of the characters the closure they need.

BREAKDOWN⇣

Narration Rating⇢ 5/5
Plot⇢ 5/5

Characters⇢ 5/5

The Feels⇢ 5/5

Pacing⇢ 5/5

Addictiveness⇢ 5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity⇢ 5/5
Originality/Believability⇢ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening)⇢ 5/5

Twisty-ness/Mystery⇢ 5/5

Ending⇢ 5/5

REVIEW⇢ RUST & STARDUST

BY T. GREENWOOD

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
The gripping, heart-wrenching novel of Sally Horner, the 11-year-old kidnapping victim whose abduction in 1948 inspired Nabokov's Lolita.
Camden, NJ, 1948. When 11-year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's, she has no way of knowing that 52-year-old Frank La Salle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute―unless she does as he says.
This chilling novel traces the next two harrowing years as Frank mentally and physically assaults Sally while the two of them travel westward from Camden to San Jose, forever altering not only her life, but the lives of her family, friends, and those she meets along the way.
Based on the experiences of real-life kidnapping victim Sally Horner and her captor, whose story shocked the nation and inspired Vladimir Nabokov to write his controversial and iconic Lolita, this heart-pounding story by award-winning author T. Greenwood, at last, gives a voice to Sally herself.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ FICTION BASED IN TRUTH
⤏ WITH NAMES AND FACTS KEPT 
⤏ SALLY HORNER KIDNAPPING
⤏ 1948
⤏ PEDOPHILIA (IT'S DIFFICULT TO READ/LISTEN TO AT TIMES) 

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ THERESE PLUMMER
NARRATION RATING⇢  4.5/5
BOOK COVER⇢ IT'S STRIKING

SETTING⇢ CAMDEN & ATLANTIC CITY NJ, BALTIMORE, MD, DALLAS, TX, & SAN JOSE, CA

SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)

AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 10 HOURS, 34 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

I've never read Lolita, and after listening to this...I'm pretty sure I don't want to.  I'm not sure who's pov it's told from, but if it's told from the pedophiles pov, I won't be able to get through it.  For me, it wasn't just the forced intercourse (which is not overly explicit, thank goodness), it's the lies he fed her...the terrible lies, I just wanted this girl to know more, to know better than this.  It was gut-wrenchingly sad at times.

This is really well-written and the story is poignantly told, and still, it didn't wrench me out of this slump.  I haven't rated anything 5 stars in quite some time...pretty much the whole year, actually.  I thought for sure this one would do it too.  I did love the way the title of the book and the cover are woven into the story.

Therese Plummer's narration doesn't always work for me...but in this story she did.  Her voice was a little whispery, but she did a little girl's voice perfectly...endearingly so.

MY RATING⇢ 4¼✰STARS✰

BREAKDOWN⇣

Plot⇢ 4/5

Characters⇢ 4/5

The Feels⇢ 4.5/5

Pacing⇢ 3.8/5

Addictiveness⇢ 4/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 4/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5

World-Building⇢ 5/5

Originality⇢ 5/5

Ending⇢ 4.3/5