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mudder17 's review for:
Into This River I Drown
by T.J. Klune
4-4.5 stars
Dang, T.J. Klune does it again! The story is structured so that the main character, Benji, is telling the story about a traumatic event in his life and a pivotal moment 5 years later when an angel fell from the sky and changed his life and the town's life forever. The style is such that he tells us the story, but then he also shares all the thoughts that flit through his mind as those events take place. I didn't think I would like this, but the narrator, Matt Baca, did an amazing job distinguishing between Benji's head voice and his storytelling voice, and it totally worked for me. He did a great job conveying the emotions without making it seem over the top. This is the first audiobook I've listened by Baca and I thought he was perfect for this story. The only thing with the sound was that occasionally you could hear background sounds (including breathing) and sometimes the tone of the recording would change. But those were minor issues for me.
For the story itself, well, I thought it was going to be a romance story about an angel and a human boy, and yes, that was an important part of the story and the connection between Benji and Kal was real. I also thought this was going to be about the mystery of what happened to his father, and once again, that was part of it and I felt the danger and suspense as the villains threatened, killed, and did all the horrible things. But at its core, it was about the relationship between Benji and Big Eddie, even though Eddie died before the book began. Through mostly flashbacks, you end up getting a full picture of the amazing man and father Eddie was, and it was amazing.
This book made me sob, but it also made me laugh, and sometimes it just quietly made me smile. In many ways, this felt to me like Benji was sharing the story of all that happened, and then commenting along the way, sort of how directors might do with a movie that they created. Occasionally the story seemed to lose steam, but never completely, and Klune always brought me back with an emotional moment that made me love the characters even more.
Many of Klune's books are long and this audiobook is almost 19 hours long (although I tend to listen to it at 1.5x speed), but that never ends up mattering to me. As with every one of his books, he makes me feel all the feels for his characters, and that's enough for me. Highly recommended.
Merged review:
4-4.5 stars
Dang, T.J. Klune does it again! The story is structured so that the main character, Benji, is telling the story about a traumatic event in his life and a pivotal moment 5 years later when an angel fell from the sky and changed his life and the town's life forever. The style is such that he tells us the story, but then he also shares all the thoughts that flit through his mind as those events take place. I didn't think I would like this, but the narrator, Matt Baca, did an amazing job distinguishing between Benji's head voice and his storytelling voice, and it totally worked for me. He did a great job conveying the emotions without making it seem over the top. This is the first audiobook I've listened by Baca and I thought he was perfect for this story. The only thing with the sound was that occasionally you could hear background sounds (including breathing) and sometimes the tone of the recording would change. But those were minor issues for me.
For the story itself, well, I thought it was going to be a romance story about an angel and a human boy, and yes, that was an important part of the story and the connection between Benji and Kal was real. I also thought this was going to be about the mystery of what happened to his father, and once again, that was part of it and I felt the danger and suspense as the villains threatened, killed, and did all the horrible things. But at its core, it was about the relationship between Benji and Big Eddie, even though Eddie died before the book began. Through mostly flashbacks, you end up getting a full picture of the amazing man and father Eddie was, and it was amazing.
This book made me sob, but it also made me laugh, and sometimes it just quietly made me smile. In many ways, this felt to me like Benji was sharing the story of all that happened, and then commenting along the way, sort of how directors might do with a movie that they created. Occasionally the story seemed to lose steam, but never completely, and Klune always brought me back with an emotional moment that made me love the characters even more.
Many of Klune's books are long and this audiobook is almost 19 hours long (although I tend to listen to it at 1.5x speed), but that never ends up mattering to me. As with every one of his books, he makes me feel all the feels for his characters, and that's enough for me. Highly recommended.
Dang, T.J. Klune does it again! The story is structured so that the main character, Benji, is telling the story about a traumatic event in his life and a pivotal moment 5 years later when an angel fell from the sky and changed his life and the town's life forever. The style is such that he tells us the story, but then he also shares all the thoughts that flit through his mind as those events take place. I didn't think I would like this, but the narrator, Matt Baca, did an amazing job distinguishing between Benji's head voice and his storytelling voice, and it totally worked for me. He did a great job conveying the emotions without making it seem over the top. This is the first audiobook I've listened by Baca and I thought he was perfect for this story. The only thing with the sound was that occasionally you could hear background sounds (including breathing) and sometimes the tone of the recording would change. But those were minor issues for me.
For the story itself, well, I thought it was going to be a romance story about an angel and a human boy, and yes, that was an important part of the story and the connection between Benji and Kal was real. I also thought this was going to be about the mystery of what happened to his father, and once again, that was part of it and I felt the danger and suspense as the villains threatened, killed, and did all the horrible things. But at its core, it was about the relationship between Benji and Big Eddie, even though Eddie died before the book began. Through mostly flashbacks, you end up getting a full picture of the amazing man and father Eddie was, and it was amazing.
This book made me sob, but it also made me laugh, and sometimes it just quietly made me smile. In many ways, this felt to me like Benji was sharing the story of all that happened, and then commenting along the way, sort of how directors might do with a movie that they created. Occasionally the story seemed to lose steam, but never completely, and Klune always brought me back with an emotional moment that made me love the characters even more.
Many of Klune's books are long and this audiobook is almost 19 hours long (although I tend to listen to it at 1.5x speed), but that never ends up mattering to me. As with every one of his books, he makes me feel all the feels for his characters, and that's enough for me. Highly recommended.
Merged review:
4-4.5 stars
Dang, T.J. Klune does it again! The story is structured so that the main character, Benji, is telling the story about a traumatic event in his life and a pivotal moment 5 years later when an angel fell from the sky and changed his life and the town's life forever. The style is such that he tells us the story, but then he also shares all the thoughts that flit through his mind as those events take place. I didn't think I would like this, but the narrator, Matt Baca, did an amazing job distinguishing between Benji's head voice and his storytelling voice, and it totally worked for me. He did a great job conveying the emotions without making it seem over the top. This is the first audiobook I've listened by Baca and I thought he was perfect for this story. The only thing with the sound was that occasionally you could hear background sounds (including breathing) and sometimes the tone of the recording would change. But those were minor issues for me.
For the story itself, well, I thought it was going to be a romance story about an angel and a human boy, and yes, that was an important part of the story and the connection between Benji and Kal was real. I also thought this was going to be about the mystery of what happened to his father, and once again, that was part of it and I felt the danger and suspense as the villains threatened, killed, and did all the horrible things. But at its core, it was about the relationship between Benji and Big Eddie, even though Eddie died before the book began. Through mostly flashbacks, you end up getting a full picture of the amazing man and father Eddie was, and it was amazing.
This book made me sob, but it also made me laugh, and sometimes it just quietly made me smile. In many ways, this felt to me like Benji was sharing the story of all that happened, and then commenting along the way, sort of how directors might do with a movie that they created. Occasionally the story seemed to lose steam, but never completely, and Klune always brought me back with an emotional moment that made me love the characters even more.
Many of Klune's books are long and this audiobook is almost 19 hours long (although I tend to listen to it at 1.5x speed), but that never ends up mattering to me. As with every one of his books, he makes me feel all the feels for his characters, and that's enough for me. Highly recommended.