The Beast Player

By: Nahoko Uehashi, Cathy Hirano - translator

Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly

One of YALSA's 2020 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

©2009; 2018 Text copyright Nahoko Uehashi; Translation copyright Cathy Hirano (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Beautiful story of a young girl in a fantasy world

This story really warmed my heart. It is a story about a girl, who has struggled to live by her choice. The development of the characters have been amazing and the audio book was phenomenal. It reminded me a bit of the stories that Miyazaki (director) uses to make his movies.

I highly reccomend this to anyone who loves fantasy, action, and adventure with a slice of life component.

More than I had imagined

The story line is intelligent and unpredictable. The characters compelling and worth while. The narration was as fine as any I have listened to…and they have been many

This was an amazing to listen to.

I have watch the anime so I wanted to read the book. It was an excellent. And I would recommend it to everyone.

captivating story

well done, interesting plot.
spoiler: ending doesn't have closure like American writers. still enjoyable

Good writing but unsatisfying ending

I enjoyed the main character, the world, and the supporting characters who were all well drawn. The pace was good also. The ending was disappointing... a lot of threads were left unresolved, and the main character has a mental rant that sounds very adolescent in comparison to the adult choices she often made as she matured through the story. Everyone else has fallen short in their choices and judgements and only she sees clearly what the correct choices are or should have been. This fell short of her development throughout the book so made the conclusion of the story a disappointment. 4 stars only because the rest of the book was very good.

Kept us on the edge of our seats!

My son and I really enjoyed this book. We have a long drive every morning and afternoon. Audible books help us pass the time while sitting in traffic. Amazing story. It was definitely hard to pause and wait to come back to the book the next time we were in the car.

Great story lame ending

I loved the story and performance. However, I do not like brief endings in stories. It felt like the author got tired of writing after the end climax and just stopped.

Kept asking for more!

My middle school boys and I really enjoyed this moving story. Author does a great job of weaving the characters’ stories together. Hoping the 2nd will come out on audio book!

Good characters

I enjoyed reading this story. This story had interesting characters and the story line was not predictable. Voice performer was excellent.

A lovely, calming world to get away in

If you enjoy Studio Ghibli movies (particularly Princess Mononoke), I have a hunch you will enjoy the Beast Player. The world that is built for us, inspired by ancient Japan, is enchanting. There is a lot of beautiful imagery, and you learn a great deal about caring for beasts both real and imagined (In fact, one character is a beekeeper, and I enjoyed learned about the bees in detail more than the fictional Royal Beasts that take the stage later in the story.)

While this story certainly has it’s share of dark themes and bloodshed, there are a handful of characters who are unwaveringly good and kind throughout, which made the story a feel-good read for me, though I know some are not as fond of that kind of characterization.

The ending was fairly abrupt in my opinion, so much that I had to double check that I hadn’t accidentally skipped a chapter on accident. A lot of relationships and the main conflict are then left outright unresolved, though a resolution is implied. Still, if you’re someone like me who enjoys their standalone novels concluded with every loose end tied up nicely, the end may frustrate you a bit, lol.

Caitlin Kelly did a lovely job in my opinion; with her voice calm and serene to match the main character, and her voices for the cast are distinct. There were a couple times however, that she pronounced things differently each time she said them, though as the narration is heavy with Japanese terminology, this is understandable.

All in all, a enjoyable read for someone who wants to be taken into a new world with a strong but emotionally honest main character.