Audiobook Review: One Breath Away

One Breath Away

Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Narrators: Joyce Bean, Susan Ericksen, Laural Merlington, Kate Rudd, Buck Schirner
Duration: 9 hrs, 20 mins
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits. Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town's children in her hands. Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care. And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother. As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.

Review:

For those of you who don't know, some audiobooks include a bit of music. Not all the way through or anything, but at the very beginning and end. One Breath Away actually has music at the opening and closing of each disc. The music has a creepy sound, and seems like theme music for some sort of crime drama program. This fits One Breath Away perfectly, because it definitely felt more like a made for television movie than a serious consideration of a gunman taking over a school.

The topic, of course, inherently involves a lot of drama, fear and creepiness. The fact that a man with a gun would decide that the best way to make whatever point he has to make is to enter a school and take some children as hostages really freaks me out, mostly because it doesn't necessarily have to do with the children at all; they are merely innocent victims of a madman. Basically, this subject matter has plenty of natural intensity and shock value without adding additional sob stories into the mix.

Gudenkauf tells this story using multiple third person limited narratives. The first is a mother, Holly, recuperating slowly in a hospital. In the meantime, her children, Augie and PJ have been sent to live with her estranged her father, while her mother sits at her bedside. How was she injured? In a grease fire, and she was injured to an insane degree. Not only that, but the fire was inadvertently caused by Augie, who never apologized before this incident.

The second perspective is Augie's. Because of the guilt over her accidentally wounding her mother, when the school gets locked down, Augie decides she won't leave without PJ. Her class escapes early on, but she decides to stay and look for PJ, who's in the classroom with the gunman. Holly's perspective existed solely to add an extra level of sadness to this story, which really was not necessary. Why not make her any other mother, waiting outside the school? No matter the family situation, any relatively caring mother will be frozen with fear until she finds out her kids are safe; other than pure melodrama value, there's no reason to have her be gravely injured, at risk of ruining her skin grafts. Maybe that wasn't Gudenkauf's intention, but it detracted from the believability of the book for me.

The third perspective, and the only male one, is Will, Holly's father. He and Holly have not talked since she left home as a teen, sick of the farm and of Iowa and of her dad who cared more about cows than his child. Will spends his time worrying about everyone, rightly so, but also stumbling into crucial information regarding the case and saving people. Again, this had a sort of cinematic feel to it, more than might necessarily be going down in real life. Oh, also, there was a crazy snow storm too.

Our fourth perspective is Meg, a police officer. Her daughter would have been in the school, but she left before the last day to spend the weekend with her father, from whom Meg is divorced. Both Meg and Holly have a very powerful feminist attitude towards sex, though they seem to look down on themselves for it a bit, which is unfortunate. Their lives parallel somewhat, but more could have been made of that.

Rounding out the story is Mrs. Oliver, the so-close-to-retiring teacher of the hostage class. She does try very hard for the kids, but I had trouble accepting that a no-nonsense teacher like she is described to be would confront the gunman in some of the highly stupid ways she does. The reader also gets a lot of back story on Mrs. Oliver that, I personally did not find useful to the plot or interesting.

The audiobook version should have made their characters come more alive for me, but, sadly, that was not the case. I really did not like any of the narrators voices, though Meg was better than the rest. For one thing, they all had a really annoying accent, which I guess must be an Iowan accent for authenticity, but, whatever it is, I would have been happier without it. The worst performance has to be the one for Augie, as the narrator used a really obnoxious trying-to-sound-like-a-child voice, which skewed too young for eighth grader Augie and made her sound incredibly dumb.

Looking at Goodreads, I can see that there are 3000 plus ratings for this, most of them four and five stars. Listening to an audio can be a very different experience, so, perhaps, had I read this I would have liked it more. I really cannot say. If you're curious, look at some other reviews or try the book yourself, preferably in print unless you love the Iowa accent, before writing it off.

Overall Rating: 2/5

Art in Me - Jars of Clay

Dying to Know You

Author: Aidan Chambers
Pages: 275
ARC Acquired from: ABRAMS via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
In Dying to Know You, award-winning author Aidan Chambers has created an indelible portrait of a young man discovering his own voice in the world, and has constructed a love story that is as much about the mind as it is the heart.

In this contemporary love story, a teenage boy named Karl enlists a famous writer to help him impress his girlfriend, Fiorella. She has asked him to write her a letter in which he reveals his true self. But Karl isn’t convinced he’s good enough with words, so he tracks down Fiorella’s favorite author and begs him to take up the task. The writer reluctantly assents, on the condition that Karl agree to a series of interviews, so that the letter will be based on an authentic portrait of Karl. The letter, though effective, has unexpected consequences for Karl, Fiorella, and the writer.

First Sentence: "'Could I talk to you?'"

Review:
Dying to Know You is driven by the conversations between the characters, so it is a very brief read. From the beginning, though, it definitely captured my attention. Chambers does a lot of interesting things here, and, while very odd, I definitely wanted to see just where the story was going and how Chambers would get it there.

The only comparison I can come up with off the top of my head for a similar book is Adios, Nirvana. The style and mood of the two novels is quite disparate, but they both center around a young man learning from an old man. Through a series of interviews, the young men grow as individuals, overcome something with which they have been struggling.

I really respect Chambers for trying something different narratively from the usual YA fare. That said, Dying to Know You could be a tough sell, because it is just very much not like what I would have expected. For example, the book, though marketed to young adult readers, is told from the perspective of an old man, and not one looking back on his own life. There are several occasions where he describes his old man problems, rather than focusing on Karl. I think I would have preferred to see this done from multiple points of view, rather than just the writer's.

Additionally, I wasn't a huge fan of Chambers' writing. The story is interesting and unique, but his simple prose did not appeal to me, nor did his characters. No one in this book seemed to brim with life particularly, which is really a shame. There were some nice quotes and I enjoyed the coverage of the book's themes, but I just never felt invested. Also, I've never really been a huge fan of the novels that purport to be about real events; they generally turn out rather awkward.

You might like this book if you like sparse prose, a lot of dialogue and YA books with a unique perspective.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don't do in a few seconds, a heartbeat, when we either seize the opportunity, or just miss it. Miss the moment and you never get a chance again.'"

"Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, 'see the art in me'"

Are We the Waiting - Green Day

Starters
Starters and Enders, Book 1

Author: Lissa Price
Pages: 335
ARC Acquired from: Random House via Random Buzzers (and NetGalley)

Description from NetGalley:
Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson.

It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . .

Review:
Obviously, I was looking forward to Starters, because it includes the magic word in its description: dystopia. However, I wasn't nearly as pumped about it as about a lot of others (The Selection for example. Why? Because the cover seriously gives me the heebie jeebies! Most dystopias go for the gorgeous covers to lure the reader in, but they definitely didn't here, even though they could have justifiably. I admire that they did their own thing here, but I still don't want to stare at this cover for too long!

Starters grabbed me from the very beginning. From the first words, both Callie and the society she's living in come alive. Callie is an amazing narrator, strong and sassy, even when completely at wit's end. Actually, all of the characters are incredibly awesome, full of depth and personality. I really like Blake, but, hey, I also love Michael. Heck, I even like Tyler, and I don't usually much like moppets.

When I first read the description above, I already knew that the book was about old people (Enders) borrowing the bodies of young people (Starters), so I was really confused about the whole Spore Wars business. I was worried it might be overkill; some dystopias try to make everything that can possibly go wrong all happen all at once, which can end up just being ridiculous. Anyway, Price builds a firm foundation for her world of Enders and Starters with the Spore Wars. Excellent world building! The one thing I would really like to know more about in particular is how the Enders are able to live so long, and also how the society still functions the same with so many people gone.

I find it really comforting that, despite the sheer mass of dystopian novels, with more on the way, authors can still find new, astounding things to do with the genre. Although Starters can definitely be compared to some other dystopian titles (Unwind for example), it definitely stands on its own two metaphorical feet as something unique. Her story is in no way just a reimagining of something extant or an awkward mishmash of several other dystopias (which Matched sort of was).

Even though I guessed some of the ending, I still loved it. Price didn't go for the easy cliffhanger; there's a resolution of sorts, although obviously there's still more to be done. Usually, a book is less fun if you figure out a twist early on, but I actually liked Starters more because of it, because the reason that I knew is that Price hid a clue. I love finding the one hint; it makes me feel so smart.

I think I may just have found a new favorite dystopia and possible new favorite author. My ARC informs me that Enders will come out in Winter 2011, but I'm assuming they meant 2012, haha. CANNOT WAIT. Okay, I should officially have been asleep for about a half hour now, but I just had to finish reading this. If you like dystopias, get this now. Actually, if you like good books of any sort get this now!

Rating: 4.5/5

"Forget me nots and second thoughts live in isolation
Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown
The rage and love, the story of my life"

Forever Young - Rod Stewart

The Postmortal

Author: Drew Magary
Pages: 365
ARC Acquired from: Penguin

Brief Summary:
In 2019, a researcher stumbles across the cure for aging by accident while trying to figure out how to change hair color for good, because he wants to stop being a ginger. That's right. He cured aging. Of course, lots of people are really excited about this and go get the cure, even though its illegal. Others see it as the worst thing ever to happen to humanity and set out to prevent anyeone from reaping the benefits of it. One thing's for sure: being able to freeze the aging process at will has more consequences than anyone bargained for.

Review:
What an amazing book! Everyone knows I love dystopias, so imagine me doing a happy dance at finding a really great one. What I loved about this book was that Magary took such a philosophical view of the subject, considering the myriad reactions to and consequences of such a scientific breakthrough.

For example, people nowadays like to blather about the state of the family and all of that jazz, but imagine if everyone lived forever...could you make a marriage last indefinitely? When large changes happen, particularly dramatic ones, people turn to religion, so mightn't a new religion form? Because there are less deaths but the births aren't stopping, overpopulation is liable to become a huge problem. This might lead to harsher punishments for criminals, especially considering that it's one thing for the state to pay for life in prison for 60 some years and another to pay for what could be hundreds of years. Magary considers all of these issues and so many more...and I loved every minute of it.

The book starts with a frame story, a brief memo dated 2093, in which it is explained that the rest of the book consists of what are essentially diary entries by a man named John Farrell. These entries are intended to show why the cure can never be legalized. Starting the book off this way is a really interesting move, since it means that the reader has a good amount of knowledge of the ending at the beginning. This could seriously backfire, but it certainly didn't for me. Actually, the only thing I would change about it adding a brief frame story note to the end of the file as well.

I really want to see more from Drew Magary in the hopefully not too distant future, either later on in the post-postmortal society or some other fictional world entirely. If you love a book that makes you think or want something to incite some discussion in your book club, do not miss this one!

"And when you finally fly away
I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell"

Will I? from RENT

Ashes
Ashes Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Pages: 480
ARC Acquired from: Egmont USA via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Alex has a monster in her head, a brain tumor that has stolen her senses of smell and taste, along with her memories. Desperate to get away from all of the pitying and relieved (that it's her and not them) glances, she decides that before she's dead, she needs to make the trip to spread her parents' ashes (yeah, her parents died just before the tumor was discovered...this girl just can't catch a break) on Lake Superior. While hiking through the mountains, she meets a grandfather and granddaughter (her parents are dead too). They share a repast and then share some serious pain, as some sort of "zap" attacks their brains. This kills the grandfather, injures Ellie and her dad's dog Mina, and seems to fix Alex's brain, along with giving her a super sense. Now, only really old technology works and Alex has to figure out how to keep herself and this snotty girl alive in the face of some mysterious calamity that seems to have turned most teenagers into cannibals...

Review:
Let me begin by pointing out that I have read only amazing reviews of Ashes. Pretty much every blogger I follow raved about its complete awesomeness. Unfortunately, I did not find myself so much in love with it. The story was interesting and, by the end, I was definitely interested in what was going to happen. I even plan on reading the sequel to Ashes, because I cannot just let the story end where it did. Warning: the ending is seriously abrupt. Can you say cliffhanger?

Although I feel really sad for Alex and was exceedingly happy to see her healed, I never really liked her or connected with her. This is really weird, because she definitely knows how to take care of herself and kick ass when she has to, meaning that she's just the kind of heroine I generally love. In some ways, she reminds me of Trella from Inside Out and Outside In, bruised and not trusting. Alex's coldness, though, stems from the fact that she could die at any moment. Why get close to someone when you're only going to leave them or be left by them because they can't stand to watch you die? While I totally get that and would probably be the exact same way, it still makes her hard to get close to even as a reader, for me at least.

Her romances, too, were rather tough for me to accept, what with her being so closed off. There was no guy that I shipped her with and no relationship that seemed like it would pan out in the end. In fact, they seemed borne of stress, fear and proximity. One romance even struck me as little short of Stockholm Syndrome.

Since I don't want to spoil anything, I'm going to be kind of vague about what happened to create the crazy post-apocalyptic world in Ashes. Let's just say that it was pretty stellar. The fact that the event, the "zap" affected people's brains in different ways definitely intrigues me as well. However, I had trouble dealing with teens turning into people eaters. It seemed to lessen the credibility and seriousness of the novel.

What creeped me out in a more believable way was the way that normal people reacted to this calamity, which killed off everyone in middle age and turned most youths into cannibals, leaving only the elderly, young children and a few teens like Alex to keep the world going. These aspects were close to being Witheresque, what with their only being a few women of reproductive age. Plus, with limited resources come unlimited conflicts with other folks only trying to survive just like you are. Mostly, I just feel like the cannibalistic adolescents were unnecessary.

Even though I didn't love this, I do want to know more. Maybe Bick can convince me in book two. Before writing this one off because of my opinion, definitely check out some other reviews, like this one over at Presenting Lenore.

"Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
From this nightmare?"