A Little Like Waking

Details:

• author: Adam Rex
  
• full title: A Little Like Waking
• narrator: Jess Nahikian; J. D. Jackson
  
• genre: YA, romance
  
• topics: #dreaming
  
• publisher: Dreamscape Media
• publish date: 01 Aug 2023
  
• timing: 8:44:00
  
  

My Rating of the Audiobook:

• content: 💙💙💙💙
• narration: 💙💙💙💙

My Thoughts:

Zelda is trapped in an endless dream. As always, in a dream, many unusual things happen. She even encounters her childhood cat, Patches. Later, she meets a boy named Langston, whom she really likes. Together, they all explore this mysterious world. Reading the novel feels like a dream, with numerous surreal and bizarre events.

This novel is categorized as a YA romance, and I do not enjoy reading conventional romance novels. However, in this particular case, I am happy I gave it a chance. Because A Little Like Waking is a delightfully surreal YA novel, and it truly is a unique read, with its original writing and setting. As a reader, you are stuck in a dream with Zelda. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, although I guess I'm not exactly the target audience.

There are two narrators, and the female narrator tells most of the story. The female narrator is perfect, but unfortunately, the male voice didn’t meet my expectations. The narration is not bad, but I think the narrator’s voice is not the right one for this character.

About the Author:

Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He was neither the smart one (older brother) or the cute one (younger sister), but he was the one who could draw. He took a lot of art classes as a kid, trying to learn to draw better, and started painting when he was 11. And later in life he was drawn down to Tucson in order to hone his skills, get a BFA from the University of Arizona, and meet his physicist wife Marie (who is both the smart and cute one).

Adam is nearsighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave. He can carry a tune, if you don't mind the tune getting dropped and stepped on occasionally. He never remembers anyone's name until he's heard it at least three times. He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comic books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.

Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really. 

About the Narrators:

Jess Nahikian

Jess is a British trained actor with their BA (Hons) in Acting from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. They have worked on and in sets, stages and sound booths around the world. In addition to having narrated over 70 audiobooks, she can be heard in video games and commercials, and seen in both indie films and on national television. They identify as non-binary and their pronouns are they/she.

J. D. Jackson

JD Jackson is a theater professor, aspiring stage director, and award-winning audiobook narrator. A classically trained actor, his television and film credits include roles on House, ER, Law & Order, Hack, Sherrybaby, Diary of a City Priest, and Lucky Number Slevin. The recipient of several audiobook awards for narration and an Odyssey Honor for G. Neri's Ghetto Cowboy, JD has also been named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of the Year for 2012 and 2013.