AN ECHO IN THE CITY

Neither artistic Kai nor wealthy Phoenix, portrayed by Ewan Chung and Christina Ho, feels at home in Hong Kong. Phoenix spent several years in the U.S. and Kai lived in Shanghai. Now both teens struggle with Hong Kong's Cantonese dialect, a plot point clearly made in audio. Resigned and bitter, Kai is enrolled in the police academy by his estranged father and becomes an informant during the protests of 2019. Phoenix joins the protest movement despite parental pressure to return to the U.S. to attend an Ivy League college. Joy and flirtation emerge when the teens meet and begin dating. The narrators' deliveries of their evolving emotions match the intensifying pace of the story. The depiction of secondary characters consistently also fits the narrative of this unflinching production. L.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2023]