Solace

By: Therin Knite

Narrated by: Julia Knippen

Corina Marion's father is dead.

Off to a never-ending war as a Red Cross doctor before Corina was even born, Luther Marion has been a constant but increasingly distant presence in his daughter's life for 16 years. Damaged pictures. Short letters. And three brief phone calls received before Corina was old enough to walk.

But now Luther Marion has returned home at last - as a body in a box to be buried. Corina's mother is devastated. Her small, backwoods town mourns the loss of its local hero.

And Corina...isn't sure how she feels about the death of a father she never really met.

But when a mysterious old man confronts Corina at her father's funeral, she finds herself drawn to his impossible offer: a chance to know the now late Luther Marion. And in a moment of uncertainty, Corina makes a choice with consequences she can barely fathom. A choice that sends her to the last place she ever expected to go.

Her father's hometown. Six hundred miles south.

And 25 years in the past.

©2014 Therin Knite (P)2015 Therin Knite

Time Travelers Daughter!

What made the experience of listening to Solace the most enjoyable?

The narration of this book was excellent.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the description of the characters.

What about Julia Knippen’s performance did you like?

Julia's performance was spot on.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Luther gives her that first hug. I teared up at that.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

take the plunge

Any additional comments?

(I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.)

Nothing pleases me more than receiving a free copy of a book that I enjoy. Sometimes it’s hard to write these reviews and stay pleasant. Sometimes it’s hard not to be the grammar Nazi, the critical editor, the disappointed reader/listener. (Especially since I go into these types of books without expectation other than for what I’ve read in the summary.)

Usually, it’s a toss up. Sometimes I end up not liking the genre at all. Sometimes I discover a new favorite (author, narrator, series). The second, well, those are what I am honestly looking for when I volunteer to review.

This one was honestly a surprise. I liked it so much, I’ve listened to it twice.

And cried both times.

Sure, it’s time travel. But not like any sci-fi time travel you’d expect.

Sure, it’s emotional…a roller coaster, really. (And I do not say that often.)

Sure, it’s a teenage daughter with a smidgeon of angst and a whole lot of anger toward an absent father.

It’s all those things all wrapped up in a neat package of something different.

Don’t go reading other reviews. Avoid spoilers at all costs.

Listen to Julia Knippen take you on this wild ride and sound just like you’d expect Corina to sound, every nuance, every snarky remark, every bit of understanding she gains on her unexpected path.

Understand the parallels between Corina’s world and our own. Maybe, just maybe, gain some insight about yourself.

Do not pass this up.

You’d be missing out.

Charming protagonists; outstanding narration

The main character is captivating, and Julia Knippen finds her voice perfectly, so I was very happy to live inside her head. Honestly I found the story fairly predictable, and the revelation that the main character reaches by the novel's end I made about a third of the way through. But that almost didn't matter, because she is so compelling, and the narration so good.

Did I say the narration was "good"? I should revise that to "outstanding". Julia Knippen is going to be one of those narrators you decide to follow, listening to everything they do.

this novel wasn’t what I was expecting

Solace by Therin Knite is a type of coming of age novel. Corina Marion is a high school student who’s always heard that her father, Lou Marion, a Red Cross doctor, is a great man. But in a world set in the near future where a long war is raging, her father comes home from the battle ravaged war country in a casket. When a supernatural opportunity knocks on her door, Corina gets the opportunity to get to know her now-deceased father and learn whether or not he lives up to the hype of being such a great guy.

While this novel wasn’t what I was expecting, I really ended up liking it. It’s a novel about a frustrated and resentful teenage girl trying to figure out how her family situation came to be the way that it is. The plot revolves around Corina’s relationship with her father. All the supporting characters, even her mother, are really just that, supportive to the plot. Normally, I prefer to have a really robust cast of characters, but from the beginning it was clear what this novel was going to be and it worked. It was really interesting to see how both Corina and Lou grow though the novel as individuals even over a short period of time. I thought it was especially touching to see how Corina’s relationship and feelings toward her father change as she gets to know him better. The end of the novel is heartwarming in a bittersweet way.

The narration by Julia Knippen was great. I think she did a great job of voicing the characters. I didn’t particularly feel like she aged Lou much over time or had dramatic differences in the voices of the characters, but I liked her narration. The production quality of the novel was good. I would recommend this novel to people who like coming of age novels for strong female protagonists and stories that tug on your heart.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at audiobookreviewer dot com

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A great 4.5 STARS!!

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review*
This was the first book from Therin Knite that I’ve read/listened too and I was thoroughly impressed! I wasn’t too sure at first because Corina has some major teenage attitude issues, but once I got going into the book things became way different. Corina goes on a major ride and learns some great lessons about her past and for her future. I loved this book. Definitely 4.5 STARS!

Richly imagined audiobook Great story & narration

SOLACE

Author: Therin Knite

Type of Book: Audiobook - Unabridged

Narrator: Julia Knippen

Length: 11 hours, 1 minute

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Drama

Release Date: May 13, 2015

Publisher: Knite and Day Publishing

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

* I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I just finished listening to the audiobook version of Solace.

I'm not sure what I thought this audiobook would be like, but I know that I did not expect to be so completely sucked in to the story, nor did I expect the narration to be so incredibly well done.

If you follow my blog at amiesbookreviews dot wordpress dot com you know that I read A LOT of books and listen to A LOT of audiobooks. That is probably why I do not rate many books or audiobooks as 5 out of 5 stars. If I enjoy a book and like it a lot it gets a 4 star rating from me. To get a 5 star rating, it must be exceptional. The audiobook version of SOLACE is exceptional.

The author has captured the emotions of Corina Marion perfectly.

Corina Marion's father is dead.

Before she was born, her father left to be Red Cross doctor in the War in Asia. That war has been going on for the entirety of her sixteen year life.

Luther Marion has never been a tangible presence in his daughter's life. What little she knows about him has come from her mother or from the damaged pictures and letters he has sent home over the years.

But now Luther Marion has returned home at last, but not in the way his family had hoped. Instead of a joyful family reunion, Luther Marion arrives home in a body bag. His wife, Corina's mother, is devastated and it is up to Corina to pick up the pieces of her mother's shattered hopes.

The residents of the small town where Corina and her mother live all mourn the loss of Luther Marion and talk about him as if he were a hero. Everyone tells Corina how proud she should be of her father, but it is difficult for her to feel much (other than anger) about the man she sees as a 'glory hound' and who chose war over being a real parent to Corina.

But when a mysterious old man confronts Corina at her father's funeral, she finds herself drawn to his impossible offer: a chance to know the now late Luther Marion. It's an offer she can't resist.

What she doesn't expect is that her choice will send her to the last place she ever expected to go: Her father's hometown. Six hundred miles south. And 25 years in the past.

You may think this sounds like a story that will be predictable and full of emotional trope, but you would be wrong. Corina is no push-over and she has a bone to pick with her father (and rightly so).

This story kept my interest for the entire 11 hours, which is a feat in itself.

I really liked the character of Corina. She came across as realistic and not just as a one dimensional character in a novel. She is snarky. She is strong and she's a badass. But, she is also just a girl who missed out on having a father in her life.

I am sure that many readers/listeners will be able to relate to Corina and the things she has gone through in her fictional life.

This audiobook is very engaging and entertaining. Even though this is fiction, it addresses some very real and very socially relevant issues facing people in the real world.

With the "War on Terror" still being fought and with so many American and Canadian military, medical and volunteer personnel being deployed overseas, the media often overlooks or ignores the effect this has on those who are left behind. I cannot (thankfully) imagine what a spouse would go through emotionally knowing that their loved one is facing mortal danger on a daily basis. The stress and worry must be mind-numbing. I also cannot imagine the toll it takes on a child knowing their parent is in danger. It would be very difficult for a child to form any sort of emotional bond with someone that they rarely see.

This audiobook has a great story with terrific narration and interesting subject matter. I rate SOLACE as 5 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

To read more of my book and audiobook reviews visit my blog at amiesbookreviews dot wordpress dot com

a father/daughter relationship YA story

The bones of this book are really great. The idea of a teenage girl who never knew her war-hero father being offered the chance at his funeral to go back in time and meet him at seminal points in his life to understand who he is and why he made the choices he did is so unique and heart-wrenching. The fact that the teenager is funny, resourceful, and really does open herself up to trying to understand her father's personality and motivations, allowing herself to get past her resentment and anger and forge a bond with him really makes the story poignant and enjoyable. I liked that the mystery of how she is given this chace is never fully explained, and that it is not a superpower of her own that makes it possible are also positive elements of the story. Corina felt like a real teenager, mercurial and sarcastic but yearning for connection and a sense of how she fits in the world, not quite adult but not a child any more either.

The book flows smoothly, starting off perhaps a bit slowly and then speeding toward an increasingly intense, emotional, and satisfying ending in which our characters really find a better appreciation for what makes each other tick.

My main complaint about this book is that the author is never content to say a thing once. It's always a staement followed by three elaborations or rewordings on the statement. It's not just windy, it's gusting like a tornado, enough to blow her socks off, so windy she can't breathe. A paring down of the descriptive phrases would allow the reader to focus on the deeper messages more than the wordplay.

The narration by Julia Knippen is very good. She was a believable teenager without being grating, and handled pacing and the male voices well.

NOTE: I was given a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Gah! I've got a Book Hangover

Narration - Julia Knippen - Exceptional! Really just a great story teller. Half the time I didn't even notice the narration because she had me so sucked right into the story. And that's the point right?

So, the story... I'm having a bit of a book hangover right now. I think I'm a little sad about this book.
This is a story of opportunity. If you read the blurb, you now the basics. Corina never met her father - be's been away with the Red Cross, at war since before she was born.

This is a kid who is filled with some anger and resentment towards her father for not choosing her. Not choosing their family...Choosing strangers...over her...and now he's gone.

She's given a paranormal opportunity to get to know her dad and she takes it.

It's an interesting concept for a book, and I so enjoyed every moment that she got to spend with her father. It was, at times, tense, suspenseful, dangerous, humorous and in the end, loving and heartbreaking.

I was hoping for a different ending, but that wasn't the point of the story and that's probably why I'm sad. I guess you could say that this has a happy ending, just not the one I hoped for.

Really great book! I think you'll enjoy it!

That's all!

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review

A moving YA story.

What did you love best about Solace?

How the main character's opinion changes as she gains perspective about her father and herself.

What did you like best about this story?

See above question.

What does Julia Knippen bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good Narain makes the characters seem more real.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook free in return for a review. I liked the book. It has a very good message and is well written

Solace review

Would you listen to Solace again? Why?

Yes I would definitely. Because it's a fantastic audiobook.

What other book might you compare Solace to and why?

I can't compare it to another book.

Which character – as performed by Julia Knippen – was your favorite?

Corine.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

A favorite.