I downloaded Donny's Brain during the Audiobook Sync promotion and finally got a chance to listen to it! I feel like the LA Theatre Works audiobooks are very much hit-or-miss for me. Obviously, I would prefer to actually watch the play and think that some are more suited than others for audiobooks, but this one worked fairly nicely as an audiobook!

Basically, Donny has been in a car accident and has brain damage. His memory has been set back some years, so he remembers loving and being married to a woman who is now his ex-wife, and can't remember his current wife at all. And I thought some past situations I had involving exes were awkward --

This play revolves around relationships and basically how hard it is to communicate and be in a relationship. Sometimes, we guess at what people are intending when it's not really what they mean to say or do, and sometimes we completely misremember events to make us out to be better than we actually are/were in the situation. This play goes into all of these things and involves some really interesting aspects of people not really remembering what went wrong, what went right, or what even happened. There's even an ironic aspect of maybe the guy with brain damage remembers the most clearly, after all. It's short, sweet, and drives the point home that when relationships don't work out, it's most likely the fault of both parties in some way or another.

Overall, this listening experience was enjoyable. The actors did a lovely job and having it be full cast really helped me follow the story. If you have an hour and a half to spare, I think this is worth your time.

In October, you didn’t see a lot of reviews from me. This is in part because things got hectic with a lot of deadlines and in part because of my reading slump. But, along with deadlines came a lot of monotonous work that was well suited to me listening to audiobooks on the side. So today, I’ve got a bunch of audiobook recommendations for y’all!

First, before I get into my recommendations, I showed on the video a really beautiful art piece I’d received from Cindy Pon, and I’d like to urge all of you to read Serpentine by Cindy Pon again. I’ve talked about why I really enjoyed that book, and I hope that you’ll give it a chance. I also received an updated ARC of Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, so that is something I will be reading this month along with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (which has been on my TBR for yeaaaaaars). If you want to read Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, I’m also currently hosting a giveaway, so be sure to check that out!

Audiobook recommendations –

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier was on offer from audiobooksync (another reason why you should really mark that program in your calendar!) in 2014. I believe it’d been paired with Beautiful Creatures. In the face of monotonous work, I was searching for something to listen to, and voila. I played the audiobook aloud so that my friend could also listen. The narrator is SO TALENTED. There’s this character introduced in the beginning who’s supposed to be a snooty gossip elitist (Mrs. Van Hopper) and the VOICE the narrator used to imitate this character (and really all her voices for all the characters!) was AMAZING. My friend was doing her own thing, her own work, but at the sound of the narrator’s voice for that character, she turned to look at me and was like, “Wow, that is a great voice.” I highly enjoyed the audiobook because of the narrator’s prowess and ability to match the characterization, which was already done well.

Rebecca is about a young, inexperienced woman who had been training to be a companion but who falls in love with and marries a mysterious, brooding gentleman instead. At his giant estate, she finds their new marriage overshadowed by the one he'd shared with his dead wife, Rebecca.

However, it reminded me a lot of Jane Eyre, and I think that was a bad thing for me. I LOVE JANE EYRE. One of my favorite books of all time. This book... I couldn't understand the supposed charm of Mr. De Winter; how on earth was this supposed to be a man in love and ugh the verbal abusiveness, the condescension! (he's calling his wife "child." I'm sorry--what?). The main character also doesn't have Jane's spirit; it's lovely to see her gain confidence once she stops being afraid of everyone, but it's not the same as Jane declaring to Rochester that she is his equal in every way. I have no problem with the main character remaining nameless--rather I have a problem with how that reflects her characterization. It's easy to connect with her feelings of insecurity, jealousy, and shyness, but she also fades away as the only character without a name and she really does have less power and agency than anyone else in the book.

But the atmosphere, the writing, the characterization of Mrs. Danvers and Mrs. De Winter (the first) are all excellent. If you like Wuthering Heights, you'd probably enjoy this.

Set in the seventies, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is a close character portrait of a mixed-race family beset by tragedy. The first line has to do with Lydia dying (Lydia is the daughter of James and Marilyn Lee, and the sibling to Hannah & Nathan). The book goes through the perspectives of each of these characters in the wake of her death, along with past timelines (i.e. how Lydia ended up dying, how James and Marilyn met). Ng explores the different character relationships and how the characters got to be who they were when Lydia died. Really fantastic – they felt real and completely alive, fears, worries, insecurities, joys and all. And the narrator for the audiobook has this soft voice that worked well with Ng’s writing style and subtle characterization; the voice lent an extra transcendence to the story. It’s no wonder this has been getting a lot of praise. I’m really looking forward to what Ng writes next.

And my last audiobook: The Rose Society by Marie Lu. If you haven’t already heard of The Young Elites, the book has been described as X-men meets Game of Thrones in an alternate fantasy version of Renaissance Italy. It chronicles the character arc of a villain, who is, as Marie Lu said, a sort of female Darth Vader. The Rose Society is the sequel to TYE. I hadn’t expected to listen to this on audiobook, but I’m glad I did. I usually like reading fantasy stories in print because I need time to imagine the worlds and characters etc. on my own, but the audiobook narrators for TRS captured the atmosphere and the emotions of each character so well. When the action and tension were rising, their voices matched the increasing pace. This one, I highly recommend in audio. And as for the actual story, there seemed to be a lot more action in TRS and the plot veered in unexpected directions. There’s more world-building and epicness to the sequel, since you get to explore other countries. So, if you liked TYE, check out the sequel for sure.

So that’s what I listened to last month! I’ve got some other audiobooks lined up along with the print books I mentioned earlier.What will you be reading in November? What did you read in October? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Let me know!

Have you tried one of the audiobooks offered by Audiobooksync? Maybe I should have written this earlier in the summer - oh well, remember this for next year, if you're interested, and these next two weeks. Audiobooksync is a program sponsored by AudioFile magazine, in which a classic is paired with a young adult novel, and available for free download during the week that they are offered. If you're in the U.S., well, here are a lot of big name titles like The Ring and the Crown and Around the World in 80 Days (and if you're not in the U.S., there are still plenty of titles for you too).

For me, Audiobooksync has offered titles that have introduced me to some fantastic authors. Last year I was introduced to Code Name Verity, a book which nearly made me cry and which made me a huge fan of Elizabeth Wein. I was so excited to learn about Rose Under Fire being offered this year, and indeed it was an absolutely excellent read (hugely recommended if you haven't already read it!). This established Elizabeth Wein as one of the queens of historical YA for me. And not just YA titles cause the excitement. For years I have been meaning to read books written by more "traditionally classic" authors. This year I got to listen to Great Expectations, and Charles Dickens was as fabulous an author to finally have read as was Elizabeth Wein.

Whether I'm walking to the train station before work or performing mind-numbing repetitive work, I'm going to be & have been taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I hope that you will be too, and perhaps we can discuss these books. There are only a couple of weeks left now, but you can definitely also mark your calendars for next year (mark the beginning of May & then check back with the website, or at least that's what I'm planning on doing).

This review isn't posted at Christina Reads YA, but you can find others (plus discussions and giveaways).

I don't usually review MG titles, which is why this isn't my typical review, but I would definitely recommend this to MG and younger YA readers! And older readers who are looking for something akin to The Thief but want more action and a more delineated plot. (Side note: is this MG? It was on the NYT Bestsellers List for MG, but I believe Sage is 14. And I think audiobooksync is considering it YA. I don't know which classification I'm to believe, but I'd probably give it to MG readers first.)

Here are the things that kept me from fully engaging with the story:

-World-building: In the beginning, you don't know much about Carthya, so why should you care? Why should you care about installing the prince and a civil war? It takes a huge risk in that unless you identify with Sage, you might not care.

-Sage's attitude towards the servants. He does occasionally apologize and his attitude towards Imogen kind of balances that as well... but in the beginning, I thought of orphan Harry Potter who would not treat anyone (besides bullies) poorly. Not like the haughty Tobias, who Sage is more like than he'll care to admit. And obviously this is explained later, but that doesn't excuse the rudeness to the lot of them.

-Predictability, which is why I recommended for younger readers. I was kind of bored in the beginning because I wanted something a little bit different. This is different, but I could also see where it was headed. ((That didn't mean, of course, that it was any less exciting. I kept listening to find out if I was right and to see what happened to dear ole Sage, to whom I eventually connected.))

-Lack of female characters. Which is mentioned in the synopsis but *shrug* I can still want more than SPOILER the orphanage owner and the romantic interest(s) END OF SPOILER and a few other vague mentions.

-Some things about the audiobook are a bit weird. SPOILER Why does the head regent sound like he has a French accent? (???) END OF SPOILER Maybe that's just me, but I nearly laughed aloud when I heard him. Cregan, one of Conner's men (who you meet from the start--not a spoiler), also sounds like the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean - the one who calls Elizabeth Swan "poppet" and whose name I can't remember. The exaggerated villain voice might appeal to younger readers, but again I nearly laughed.

Other than that? Everyone else was pure awesomeness, and I appreciated the effort on the part of the narrator, who sounds much older than I expected, to distinguish their voices and attitudes. Conner sounds exactly as I imagined: like a scheming, haughty douchebag who will do anything for his country--very well done--and the emotion in Sage's voice was also top-notch. The narrator also got me full on-board with Sage because of that. Tobias, Roden, all the characters.

If you can get over those few things that I mentioned earlier, you're all set for this book.I actually liked this book more than The Thief. I found the quiet, steady guard Mott more palatable and developed than Pol; the haughty, hungering orphan Tobias more understandable than Ambiades; the villainous group leader Conner more of what I wanted from the Magus (Roden: Sophos doesn't work, though I did also find Roden a more compelling side character). While I liked Gen more as a protagonist, I can't deny that Sage has his own kind of appeal too. (Other Thief reminders: political antics, fighting countries, an elicit scheme, a cast nearly full to the brim of male characters on some quest.)

ANYWAY: if you like high fantasy or fast-paced adventure stories that have the competitive bent of The Hunger Games, or are a fan of The Thief, try this one out! Sage is a hero worthy to rival many of those in MG and YA lit. Clever, witty, strong, cunning, cocky, heroic: He's all those things and more, and if you're a fan of Gen, you'll likely also be a fan of his kindred spirit, Sage. I am definitely going to follow this one into the sequel. Thanks for letting me listen, audiobooksync & Scholastic!