ALL THE YELLOW SUNS

This story of a talented queer artist's coming of age finds a mostly apt vocal match in narrator offbeat kiki. Sophomore Maya Krishnan's life is upended by the arrival of two charismatic characters: her estranged father, a world-famous artist, and senior Juneau, a student activist. With her father Maya encounters the complications of family ties. With Juneau, Maya explores artistic resistance to a racist school administration and a newfound same-sex attraction. Maya's Indian parents, both described as having Tamil accents, sound as blandly Floridian as Maya, leaching the story of cultural texture. But offbeat kiki neatly evokes Maya's fervent yearning with warm tones and rounded vowels, and their airy unconcerned voice for the privileged Juneau is nearly perfect. V.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2023]