Narrated by: Lauren Ambrose, Vikas Adam, Michael Crouch
Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 06-04-19
Language: English
Publisher: HarperAudio
YA Fiction
Maybe emotional YA fiction is the fiction for me. It always have a bigger impact.
This book has 3 narrators and it works so well when they read their chapters. First there is Vikas Adam as Reza, and yes I absolutely love his voice so that was a big yes for me. Reza is the one fighting his feelings for other boys. He grew up in Iran, he was there during the revolution, and now he has a new life in NY. He is the one in the closet, the one afraid that just being gay will give him AIDS. Since no one is explaining things. I liked Reza, it is not always easy to be brave.
Judy wants to be a fashion designer, at school she is known as the girl with the gay bff and well, for being overweight. She was voiced by a good narrator too. She was the one standing in the shadows, wanting to break out. I also liked her parents, sure her mum could say the wrong things, but considering Art's parents, yes, Judy had the best ones. The book is also about her uncle Stephen who is dying from AIDS. And that does brings so much more into the book. Stephen was so wonderful, and seeing him on what must be his last breath was so hard. I know the 80s was bad, but reading about it is always different. Heartbreaking.
But yes, last there is Art, out and proud, and not giving an f who knows. I really do not have anything more to say about Art, other that he did break my heart at the end.
It was a great story, I knew it from the moment it began. It pulled me in at once, the voices was well done and brought the characters to life.
It was heartbreak, love, fake love, love for Madonna, love for life. Love for being alive.
A great listen
Narrators
I already say that I love Vikas Adam, and I do, he has the perfect voice.
It was my first time listening to Lauren Ambrose and Micheal Crouch, but their voices fit really well with the characters they voiced.
It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.
Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.
Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.
Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.
As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.
I received this book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review
It sounds like audio is the way to go with this book.
ReplyDeleteYes all the way
DeleteIt's great to find a good YA like that!
ReplyDeleteI agree :D
DeleteI think I'll add this as my next audio read and see if I like Vikas more this time around (don't throw things at me!! lol)
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
But I LOVE him. I LOVE HIM! ;)
DeleteThat sounds like an emotional story.
ReplyDeleteIt sure was :/
Deleteawww this sounds like it would make a good TV show
ReplyDeleteHBO would get it right, or netflix ;)
DeleteI love audiobooks that use multiple narrators. This one sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI had not realised there would be 3, but I did like it
DeleteOh this does sounds so good, with great characters struggling to be who they are.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful story
DeleteIf you had AIDS in the 80s it was pretty much a death sentence. Medicine has come a long way. This does sound like a good emotional YA. :)
ReplyDeleteI knew it, but they hoped, and I hoped, even though I knew no, it will not happen
DeleteI don't usually ready YA but this sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI say listen :D
Delete