Adachi and Shimamura (Light Novel) Vol. 1 Audiobook By Hitoma Iruma cover art

Adachi and Shimamura (Light Novel) Vol. 1

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Adachi and Shimamura (Light Novel) Vol. 1

By: Hitoma Iruma
Narrated by: Analise Scarpaci
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About this listen

What A Girl Wants

Adachi is skipping class when she first meets fellow truant Shimamura in the gym loft, and just like that, a friendship is born. Except now Adachi's having dreams about kissing her, and she doesn't know what that means, but she's pretty sure it's not something you do with a friend.

What are these strange feelings she has when she thinks of Shimamura? And is it possible Shimamura feels the same way?

©2013 Hitoma Iruma (P)2013 Hitoma Iruma LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction Romance
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I've already read the entire Adachi and Shimamura series, and it's one my all-time favorites, so I already knew this book well. I was excited when I heard an audio book was being released, and mercifully, I only found out a couple of weeks before the release date, so I didn't have an agonizing wait. My only two concerns were: 1) Would the narrator fit and be good, and 2) Why wasn't it showing up on Audible even mere days before the release-- was Audible not going to get it? The latter wasn't a super big issue, because I knew I could still get it elsewhere. The former was the bigger question, and luckily any doubts or concerns proved to be unnecessary.

Performance: Analise Scarpaci is great. She gives a sincere performance with life and character. She does what the best narrators paired with the right material do: make it feel like a performance, or radio drama, and not someone just sitting there reading a book into a microphone. The voices she uses for the main characters sound almost exactly as I pictured when I read the books. The minor characters aren't as close to what I pictured, maybe 90% there, but still great.

Story: Adachi and Shimamura is a translation of a Japanese light novel. If you don't already know, it's yuri, or girls' love. In English there are currently (as of the release of this audio book) 11 novels and 1 book of short stories. More is on the way. The series tells the story of two high-school girls who meet while skipping class and hiding out in the gym. They eventually become friends, and eventually their feelings change and grow. It's usually not a very smooth journey though, because in their changing and growing they're not always on the same page. It's a very slow-burn story, so if that's not your thing, be warned. It's also not lurid at all. But what's great about the series is how real the main characters feel. The book's point-of-view switches between the two characters from time to time; sometimes chapter by chapter, sometimes within the chapter. The audio book makes those switches easier to follow due to the changes in character voice. Shimamura is the initial POV character, and we learn that even at her young age, she's a bit burnt out on life. Adachi is shyer and more introverted than Shimamura. As they spend their days hiding out in the gym they don't even know how to converse with each other. So they're not meeting there as friends, more like simply sharing a space. But little by little they get to know each other, and slowly, a bond grows. For me, the characters felt so real that I didn't mind the pacing; they became people I knew and cared about, whose story I wanted to follow, even though there were times when they let me down or made me mad. Be aware though that there's one secondary character who may seem odd and out of place. I grew to really like that character though. Some people feel differently. I say just go with it and it'll be fine.

By the way, there's a 12-episode anime that covers the first 3 books or so. It's good, but not nearly as good as the novels, because in the books we're in the characters' heads, seeing it all from that POV and hearing all of their innermost thoughts, and almost all of that had to go for the anime. I think it really only works if you've already read the books. Also, there's a manga that's currently at volume 5, but again, as well done as it is, it doesn't hold a candle to the novels. But the fact that there's an anime, manga, and audio book shows how popular and loved the series is. The average rating of the novels on Amazon is 4.8.

I really hope the rest of the series also gets the audio book treatment!

A slow-burn love story and nearly perfect narrator

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This story is probably my favorite romance story I've ever read. The book is a slow burn, but it's a good burn that warms the soul. I love seeing Adachi and Shimamura's relationship slowly grow into a bond that transcends time itself. Hitoma Iruma knows how to write characters that love to sit around and do nothing and make them into compelling people with depth and agency.
Analise Scarpaci has done a wonderful job at bringing this first volume to life. Whether you are going into this series brand new or wanting to experience the first volume again, I give my highest recommendation to this audiobook! I await the next volume with great anticipation.

Yuri at its finest!

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