THE KNOCKOUT QUEEN

With a smooth tone and steady pace, narrator Michael Crouch opens this dark coming-of-age audiobook. Michael Hesketh is lonely, gay high school student. When the awkward and unusually tall girl next door, Bunny Lampert, catches him smoking in her backyard, they forge an unlikely friendship. Bringing the characters to life, Crouch makes their voices recognizably different without exaggerating. The deep but meandering storyline and conflicted principals make this audiobook hard to listen to, at times, as there is a lot to unpack: violence, abuse, sex, bullying, and addiction. But Crouch maintains an authentic-sounding narration, striking the perfect balance between dark and witty. E.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2020]