Flight Risk Audiobook By Joy Castro cover art

Flight Risk

A Novel

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Flight Risk

By: Joy Castro
Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo
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A woman is forced to face her past in a heartbreaking and triumphant novel of old wounds and family secrets by award-winning author Joy Castro.

Isabel Morales is a successful Chicago sculptor hiding a brutal family history - one not even her husband knows. After decades of turning her back on her past, she’s forced to return to Appalachia when she receives news of her estranged mother’s death.

But going back means revisiting the traumatic childhood she escaped - and the family that cast her out when she needed them most. Back on the land she has inherited, she’s flooded with memories of the forest where she once roamed free, of her beloved lost brother, and of the old house in the West Virginia hills where she grew up. Her mother has left her another legacy, too, which reveals secrets that Isabel is only beginning to understand.

As forces bear down and threaten to take what she has left, it’s time for Isabel to step into her power, reclaim her roots, and finally confront the painful memories that have kept her from the life she truly wants.

©2021 Joy Castro (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction World Literature Chicago

Critic reviews

“…the characters and emotions portrayed make this well worth reading.”—Booklist

“In Flight Risk, [Castro] does an excellent job at balancing the ambiguity of her characters’ choices, while challenging readers’ expectations. Raised in West Virginia, she shows her insider knowledge in the concerns and interactions of the characters.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Joy Castro’s writing is like watching an Acapulco cliff diver. It takes my breath away every time.”—Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street

All stars
Most relevant  
Complex emotions and possibilities
Loved “hearing” it…well spoken without self pity. Sumptuous descriptions of wealth and not

Loved it

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The basic story line and the life lessons deserve a 5 star rating. Stretching the book out and mixing up the timeline just takes away from the book. It was a difficult book to finish because of this.

Convulated

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I would never have picked up this book on my own, due to the poor reviews and the not great cover, but a good and trusted friend recommended it to me. I enjoyed it thoroughly! I loved how the author was able to take me from a luxury high-rise in Chicago to the clapboard homes in disrepair next to an abandoned mine in West Virginia.

For those who love great writing, this book is a treasure trove. Here's a quote about a funeral director: "He paused between utterances, as if to give each phrase sufficient time to sink and sift through layers of stunned grief in the hearer's mind before finally settling on the sandy floor of comprehension, and he used no contractions, as if mourners might be insulted by the casualness of leaving letters out." Genius!

I did not understand the negative reactions in other reviews to the underlying messages of this book. I did not feel like the author lectured, just simply reflected an opinion about things like the hazards of coal mining, but never got too heavy handed. To me, it was a small part of the book and gave it some added depth. Over all, a fun, engrossing read.

Good story with surprising ending

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This story captured my attention from the beginning and the narrator was superb. My only criticism is that it seemed to lag a bit toward the end. I was hoping for a more meaningful ending.

Powerful novel

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The story started out slow but turned out to be an excellent and captivating story.

Great story! Hard to put down!

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I didn’t have a clue how this book would end. Ms Castro is an excellent writer. Plus, I felt like I had learned a lot about the challenges of and artist’s life.

The storyline of our heroine is convoluted and painful. Unfortunately, the story is too true to the lives of far too many people who are disadvantaged. People who are told they are losers begin to feel and act like they are losers. Isabel has done so much to overcome the limitations. The battle to survive her worst impulses seems hopeless. For me, the story builds momentum right up to the end.

I listen to most audio books at 1 1/2 speed. Maybe this reader was trying to emulate some southern speech patterns but I had this story running at over 2X the normal speed without any loss of understanding.

I found this book a very worthwhile read.

Surprise Ending

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I rarely write a full review, but this story caught me quickly and I really appreciated the topics it covered. I have lives in West Virginia and Chicago so the locations were very familiar. I often feel terrified of the world we have created. The main character was very well developed and the images described accurately portrayed. Great story!

Timely!

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I'll give this one a 3.5. I'll admit my initial reaction to the earliest chapters wasn't at all positive, but decided to hang in and listen a bit longer. As usual, the protagonist nearly (symbolically) shoots herself in both feet by keeping secrets. The inevitable communication breakdowns occur. There were a few very interesting topics mentioned that the author could have explored in depth -- these were all thrown in, creating a form of "ADD tension goulash". Basic truths revealed: 1) regardless of economic status, some people are mean-spirited bullies. 2) regardless of economic status, some people are wonderful human beings. 3) regardless of economic status, some people suffer abuse, trauma, emotional insecurity. 4) some victims of abuse do unspeakably horrific things. 5) It's a bad idea to make assumptions about people based on appearances. None of the aforementioned 5 points are revelatory. Attention and patience are required while listening due to VERY frequent, often brief, flashbacks occurring unexpectedly. A significant 7 year Svengali-like relationship Isabelle had during her 20s is expressed primarily through a contractual dinner date, then rarely glimpsed. No doubt *that* guy is worth a sequel. The narration was, well, just okay.

Worthwhile book (requires attention and patience).

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I enjoyed the story quit a bit actually. Adding in all the virtue signaling was hard to get past. It’s always the wealthy who are the most outraged. Dreaming of a world where no one owns land while also owning a lot of land. So hypocritical. And like quite a few others recently you checked off every Woke box.

The Wokeness Kinda ruins it

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that turned into a ±330-pg sermon that hit all, and I do mean ALL, the current-day talking points.

Could've Been A Great Book . . .

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