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Supernova

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Supernova

By: Ericka Waller
Narrated by: Ella Lynch
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About this listen

1997 - somewhere dull on the outskirts of London (think middle-class home counties dull as dishwater suburbia). School oddities April, Jamie, and Tom, are trying to work out how to be 15.

April is battling anxiety, is obsessed with Sylvia Plath, and has a crush on Tom. Tom's dad died 18 months ago. His mum has turned into a ghost and his little sister has become his big responsibility. His life is held together by secrets and Britpop, and oh yeah - Tom is in love with April. Jamie is angry, and she wants everyone to know it. There's more to her story, but Jamie won't tell. Yuki, Tom's weird neighbour, thinks he has life sorted and imparts his pearls of wisdom by channelling Jim Morrison, leather trousers and all.

Four friends, one year. Sex, drugs, rock n' roll. What can possibly go wrong?

If you've ever felt overwhelmed, anxious, or out of your depth, if the four right chords can make you cry, this is the book for you.

©2018 Ericka Waller (P)2019 Live It Ventures Ltd Death & Dying Difficult Situations Family & Relationships Friendship Literature & Fiction
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Excellent. this book is engaging, funny, emotional and deals with difficult issues in an accessible way.

Highly recommended

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Supernova focuses on a small group of teenagers struggling to navigate their new world of complex social interactions while beset on all sides by too little spoken about, and often ignored, adolecent mental health issues. It is a novel that shines a light on these difficulties, giving rare and sorely needed attention to a complex subject that is often ignored. The author does a fantastic job of doing this without sounding lecturing or preachy. The characters are well rounded and interesting, the story is touching and painfully familiar. If your personal experiences don't resonate with this book it is doubtful you were ever a teenager.

The narration is handled expertly and is utterly flawless throughout, bringing each character to life with their own voice, inflections, and accent. The range of the narrator is remarkable, giving equally distinct and believable performances to all the varied characters.

Overall a superb read/listen that had me laughing one minute and sobbing the next. It is not often I grieve for a completed book, but this one will have me in black for a month.

A superb novel

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This is the most meaningful book I have listened to in a while.It has an important message to tell and does it in a very tactful way, it discusses the fragility of mental health through the eyes of teenagers in the late 90's, considering how they think of themselves and how death can affect a young teenagers life. As a secondary school teacher it made me revaluate some of the actions that my pupils do and how sometimes they could just be a cry for attention or be masking something deeper.
The narrator does an excellent job, making each character individualistic and have their own personality, absorbing you into the story making the story seem much more real.
It is not a perfect book, with some scenes obviously created by a female, in that as a man who has played a lot of rugby and football, the idea of teenage boys standing around a changing room rating girls being completely untrue and stereotyped.
While some chapters I could not believe in one of the main characters "Tom" as I could see that is not how he would act or think but an interpretation by a female.
However this is a book trying to tackle a very difficult issue in modern society and it does that very well, it is a book I will recommend to some of my students and it is the first audio book that has made me emotional enough to cry.

A difficult story told in a moving way

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Listener received this title free

Beautiful, poignant, well written, well read. Evocative. Desperately sad when it ended. Would happily listen again.

Loved it

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This story helped me come to terms with some of the mental health problems and resulting actions I had experienced as a teenager. It really made me feel like I wasn't alone or crazy in my experiences.
The narrator really brings the characters and situations to life with such realistic tone of voice and distinct personality.
I would recommend this book to anyone from teen onwards.

Wonderful

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I was given a free copy off this book in exchange for an honest review of the narrator.

Ella (narrator) was fabulous. I found her voice clear and gentle. She made the different characters easy to distinguish.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed listening to this audio book. I thought the story covered many relevant issues for young people today.

An unexpected delight!

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