Last year, A Monster Calls was released. Patrick Ness had developed an idea that originated with Siobhan Dowd. It is absolutely AMAZING and you can read my review of it HERE.
Just recently, I had an almost 5 hour car trip in front of me (round trip in one day) and was looking for an audio book that could fit neatly into that journey: this one, running at 3 hours 52 mins was the perfect candidate. Particularly because I'd been desperate to revisit this book, and as I'd been given the Bolinda audio version of it, my decision was made.
And WOW.
This is the best quality, best read audio I think I've ever listened to. The book itself is amazing, but you can read that in my other review. Here I want to talk about Jason Isaacs.
To be honest, when I saw that he was the narrator, I thought to myself, OK, so Lucius Malfoy is reading it, this will be interesting. I couldn't think of any other movies I'd seen that he'd been in so I couldn't compare styles or know what to expect.
Well, what can I say, he is incredible. And not just incredible, but the PERFECT match for this book. He deftly creates distinct voices for each character, there is never once confusion over who is saying what (as can sometimes happen). And his voice! His narration voice is deep and scratchy, perfectly eloquent, seemingly detached (as the narrator should be) but containing the perfect amount of compassion for the subject matter. For me, it sounded like Jim Kay's illustrations had found a voice. And that was even before the monster began talking. Deeper still, gruff and rumbling. An age old yew tree come to life. Oh I felt it. Not for one moment did any voice, any character, feel forced.
I'm not sure what else I can say. If audio books are at all your thing, I couldn't think of a better way to spend four hours.
Find it on Goodreads
8/40
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