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Heaven
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Scott Keiji Takeda
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the best-selling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami comes a sharp and illuminating novel about the impact of violence and the power of solidarity in our contemporary societies.
Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormenters.
These raw and realistic portrayals of bullying are counterbalanced by textured exposition of the philosophical and religious debates concerning violence to which the weak are subjected.
Kawakami’s simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature.
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Ever come across a situation that simply wasn't right - where someone was getting the dirty end of the stick and you wished you could make things right but didn't know how? Fourteen-year-old Jack knows how. Or rather he's learning how. He's discovering that he has a knack for fixing things. Not bikes or toys or appliances - situations...It all starts when Jack and his best friends, Weezy and Eddie, discover a rotting corpse - the victim of ritual murder - in the fabled New Jersey Pine Barrens. Beside the body is an ancient artifact carved with strange designs.
By: F. Paul Wilson
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Horrid
- By: Katrina Leno
- Narrated by: Heather Costa
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Following her father's death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor's doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone...and more tormented.
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Reader
- By Kindle Customer on 11-14-21
By: Katrina Leno
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The End and Other Beginnings
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- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, MacLeod Andrews
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- Unabridged
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No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems. In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.
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The Vanished Series, Books 1-3
- By: B. B. Griffith
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- Length: 24 hrs and 43 mins
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When the crows gather over a remote Navajo Reservation in the deep Southwest, it is a sign that the thin veil that separates our world from the one beyond is about to open. Without a barrier between life and death, things pass between both worlds. Some of them are good. Most of them are not.
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Going to slog through to the end
- By KatieReviewsStuff on 04-28-21
By: B. B. Griffith
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Tornado Brain
- By: Cat Patrick
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- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Things never seem to go as easily for 13-year-old Frankie as they do for her sister, Tess. Unlike Tess, Frankie is neurodivergent. In her case, that means she can't stand to be touched, loud noises bother her, she's easily distracted, she hates changes in her routine, and she has to go see a therapist while other kids get to hang out at the beach. It also means Frankie has trouble making friends. She did have one - Colette - but they're not friends anymore. It's complicated. Then, just weeks before the end of seventh grade, Colette unexpectedly shows up at Frankie's door.
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Relatable
- By Megan Kammerer on 10-10-21
By: Cat Patrick
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The Mayfair Moon
- The Darkwoods Trilogy, Book 1
- By: J.A. Redmerski
- Narrated by: Kate Reinders
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
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After a nightmarish encounter with a werewolf, 17-year-old Adria Dawson loses her sister, but gains the love of a mysterious young man and his legendary family. Strange and tragic things begin to happen in the small town of Hallowell, Maine: residents come down with an unexplainable 'illness' and some disappear. In the midst of everything, Isaac Mayfair is adamant about keeping Adria safe, even from her sister whom he has warned her to stay away from.
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An average book which would appeal to werewolf fan
- By Suzanne Finnegan on 08-09-13
By: J.A. Redmerski
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MORE OSAMU DAZAI TRANSLATIONS PLEASE!!!!!
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whiny lost woman
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A meandering mess
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Interesting concept but boring story
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Asa’s husband is transferring jobs, and his new office is located near his family’s home in the countryside. During an exceptionally hot summer, the young married couple move in, and Asa does her best to quickly adjust to their new rural lives, to their remoteness, to the constant presence of her in-laws, and the incessant buzz of cicadas. While her husband is consumed with his job, Asa is left to explore her surroundings on her own: She makes trips to the supermarket, halfheartedly looks for work, and tries to find interesting ways of killing time.
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Murakami-esque in much except its brevity
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If Cats Disappeared from the World
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The postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat, Cabbage, to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the Devil appears to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, our narrator will get one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week....
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I couldn't finish this
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A Naked Singularity
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A Naked Singularity tells the story of Casi, a child of Colombian immigrants who lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan as a public defender - one who, tellingly, has never lost a trial. Never. In the book we hear what happens when his sense of justice and even his sense of self begin to crack - and how his world then slowly devolves. It's a huge, ambitious novel clearly in the vein of DeLillo, Foster Wallace, Pynchon, and even Melville, and it's told in a distinct, frequently hilarious voice, with a striking human empathy at its center.
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This book isn't for everyone! But it is quite good
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What listeners say about Heaven
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gaetana C. Smith
- 06-11-21
Fascinating true narrative about preteen bullying.
A young boy and his girlfriend philosophise about being bullied. Also with his same-age tormentor.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Smart, AZ
- 10-31-22
The cruelty is nearly overwhelming
I rethink my own adolescence and wonder: "Was I ever that cold and unfeeling?" I wasn't physically violent, but yes - in retrospect, there were times I steamrolled more vulnerable kids without realizing at the time I was doing damage to them - not due to physical differences or disabilities, but simply bc I was intellectually smarter (and emotionally chaotic, having been traumatized by abusive parents). I would never have encouraged the boy to avoid a simple operation that would improve his life significantly, as his "friend" did. This book is a very tough listen, but it's an honest one. The narration is VG.
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- John A.
- 07-20-22
A great book
A wonderful book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age such as myself. I found this book relatable and generally well written. I further highly recommend this book.
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- Radha Srinivasan
- 02-21-23
A gentle story about darkness and light
This is the kind of book that makes you look back at the kind of person you were when you grew up. It does not matter whether you were participating or a witness, the thing is you were part of it.
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- JB
- 12-27-21
Painful
Not sure why I felt compelled to finish this story. It describes bullying in us most sadistic form. The passivity and helplessness of its two victims is very disturbing. Not sure what the moral to the story was. Suffering can be endured endlessly? The narrator was excellent. If violence upsets you, skip this one.
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- Criticalthinker
- 10-19-22
Could not get through this
The extreme cruelty was too much for me, and was made worse by the reader’s flat delivery. I had to stop listening part of the way through. The writing is fine, but the overall experience was not.
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- Manzoku
- 03-09-23
Beautifully written!
Even though how clueless humans can be, the wisdom and power within didn’t give into any of weakness, and that kept helping to seek the light to Heaven.
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- M.L.
- 12-26-21
Disturbing topic but glad to have listened
It is disturbing to find the complete lack of empathy and callousness of some of the characters, who are young children, in this book. Given the ability to change his circumstance to prevent future bullying and torture, I am glad the main character made the possible life changing decision to move forward with the change. I am equally disturbed by his supposed friend, Kojima, for attempting to guilt him into not making this change just so he could continued to be bullied as she had. Translation and performance for this book are very good but do not listen if you are sensitive to this topic.
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- Tiffany Payne
- 07-26-23
A cruel story, not sure why it’s named Heaven.
Don’t get me wrong, the author is obviously very skilled at painting a scene/invoking emotion. However, it was basically gruesome kid on kid assault at every turn. Not to mention the friendship formed between the two main characters seemed toxic by the end. We never find out what heaven was. Not sure why it’s the books title. There were loose ends and what felt like no resolve or justice. I would give this author another try, but this book was just sad and disappointing.
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- Anthony
- 07-30-21
Great listen
Wish I spoke Japanese because I know some parts were lost in translation. I speak two languages and have noticed the different instances of this before.
A profound story on bullying but way different take then I’ve heard before. I’ll have to give it more thought to really understand just exactly what the meaning of this gifted author intended. I’m familiar with bullying having led a life time of activism against it and other forms of discrimination and violent treatment but to me at this moment the sad sad part came through in the female character.
Feels like I know what might have happen to her even as the male character gets a new lease on life so to speak.
Disturbing actually. Like I said, I wish I could have either read it in Japanese or at least be more familiar with their customs. Maybe then that part I feel language missed would help the conversations in this book where “Momosai(?)” tried to explain why he & his friends who did the bullying…did the bullying. That left something lacking!
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3 people found this helpful