The Moon Sisters

By: Therese Walsh

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

After their mother’s probable suicide, Jazz and Olivia Moon struggle to move on with their lives. Olivia, an 18-year-old who can taste words and see sounds, blinds herself by staring at the sun, then decides to walk to the remote setting of her mother’s unfinished novel to resuscitate her hopes and dreams. Jazz, 22, plagued by unresolved conflict with her mother and a hidden trove of her unsent letters, takes a job in a funeral home before being forced back into the role of her sister’s keeper.

The sisters’ journey through the wilds of West Virginia, disaster-prone from the start, takes a turn when they meet two train-hoppers with dangerous secrets, and Jazz learns that Olivia holds a dark secret of her own in the form of their mother’s final unread letter. Mistrust, resentments, and new attachments threaten to tear the two apart, until a final bizarre misadventure forces them to decide what’s really important.

This mesmerizing coming-of-age novel, with its sheen of near-magical realism, is a moving tale of family and the power of stories.

©2018 Therese Walsh (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wasted opportunity

I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks. This author did a decent job with the framework of the story but it became a painful and disappointing listen for two reasons:

1. The story centers on two sisters, both of which are subjects of first person writing. The story jumps back-and-forth between them, also jumps back-and-forth and time, and also involves their mother in the same manner.Unfortunately the author does not do a great job making it obvious who is talking. This was exacerbated by the narrator, who does a solid job, but she was inconsistent and slipped in and out of accents for the two sisters, the mother, and “herself” as narrator.

I was constantly double checking who was talking because it was often not clear enough from the story and or the narration. Frustrating.

2. This may be a minor issue for some, but one of the main characters has synesthesia, which was a point of interest for me as I know something about it. Not an expert by any means, hence my interest. I felt that many of the references the author was throwing in regarding synesthesia experiences in the pertinent character were off. Turns out I was right. It just seemed like the author was throwing in these references for extra color, they didn’t really add to the plot, they were often just metaphors for someone’s feelings at the time. That was also disappointing.

Unusual and interesting

I first thought I couldn’t get into this story and abandoned it for a couple of weeks. When I came back to it it captivated me and I couldn’t wait to get the time to continue listening to it.
I loved the humility in it.

The Moon Sisters

This is an incredible book, So enjoyable ...couldn’t stop listening to it...if your quiet, you “can taste hope”

must read

Loved this novel so mcuh. It truly took you into the story and made you feel all the feels and then some. I wish it could have continued on a little more, but the ending really fit. Both the author and the narrator did an amazing job.

liked but felt disappointed

I really liked the story. hearing the sisters was interesting but waited all book for the opening of the letter and was disappointed

Sounds familiar

First I thought it was way to familiar to The Lincoln Highway but then it took on its own life. Love the characters.

Intriguing characters & relationship dynamics

I loved this book.
For me, the story is about how different people deal with disappointments and the realities that are often part of life and their interactions. There are some real-life wisdom and understanding to be found in many of the relationships. Characters are relatable. I struggled to put this book down.

loved it

I really enjoyed this story. the readers are excellent. well written and moving story with twists and turns.

Has that way of needing to keep going to find out

Some parts were a bit... how would that really happen. but got to keep listening because you want to know what's next. True depiction of how different people handle death

All the males sound the same!

The narrator is awful when it comes to male voices! They all sound the same. I can't tell the difference between the father and any other male in the story.