ALL OF US WITH WINGS

Narrator Maria Liatis's voice shines with youth and hope in this debut YA audiobook bursting with magic. Xochi is a teen runaway when she encounters 12-year-old Pallas in San Francisco. Hired as a governess, she moves in with Pallas's rock star family and is swept up in a whirlwind of parties and polyamory. While character voices are easily distinguished, some awkward pronunciations and accents interrupt the flow of the performance. Liatis's simple style and bright tone do enhance the fairy-tale nature of the story as its kaleidoscope of perspectives includes a bookstore cat and the vengeful water babies Xochi accidentally summons. It is this quality that makes it worth the listen as magic and love guide Xochi from abuse and hardship to a new experience of family. S.T.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2019]