Today’s friend is Brandee from Unconventional Bookworms. I’ve loved getting to know her through books and this wonderful community. We sort of met in passing at the RT Convention in Atlanta, May 2016, since I spent all my time with Melanie and they roomed together. I look forward to getting to know her better at Book Bonanza this August in Dallas. She was kind enough to do this review, even though she was at RARE Paris last weekend.
Far from the Tree by Robin Benway Narrator: Julia Whelan
Published by HarperAudio on December 5, 2017
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult
Length: 8 hours, 54 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble
Being the middle child has its ups and downs.
But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—
Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.
And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.
Don't miss this moving novel that addresses such important topics as adoption, teen pregnancy, and foster care.
Far From the Tree was an incredibly thoughtful, thought-provoking, gripping, and emotional read. Benway crafted such a genuine story with engaging characters. And Julia Whelan did an excellent job with the narration. Both Benway and Whelan were new-to-me and I was, obviously, impressed.
The story is told from three POVs: Grace, Maya, and Joaquin. We’re initially introduced to Grace. She’s 16 and has recently had a baby that she gave up for adoption. Having been adopted herself, this experience leads Grace to wanting to find her birth mother. This, in turn, leads to her meeting Maya and Joaquin, her biological siblings. Maya was adopted into a family that later had a biological daughter. Joaquin has spent his life in the foster system, although he’s currently in a loving and supportive home.
Getting to know these 3, as they get to know each other, was fascinating. The similarities they have, thanks to biology, the differences they have due to their circumstances, were interesting to see and made me think. A LOT. I appreciated how Benway allowed us to get to know them, revealing things little by little. My heart broke for each of them in small ways because they each were dealing with the typical teen struggles with belonging and then they all had these additional elements added into the mix. And they each had preconceived notions about each other based on the perception of how they’d been raised. As I said, it was fascinating. And thought-provoking. And so very emotional. (you’ll need tissues!)
Far From the Tree was an amazing read. (Thanks, Diana!) I’ll be on the lookout for more from Benway and Whelan.
Narration:
Whelan’s range for male voices was lacking at times but otherwise, she ROCKED. Her delivery was wonderful, the pace was excellent, and she did a great job of keeping the female voices consistent.
Listen to a clip:
About Julia Whelan
Julia Whelan is a screenwriter, life-long actor, and award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and Creative Writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. While in England, her flirtation with tea blossomed into a full-blown love affair, culminating in her eventual certification as a tea master. When not writing her own books, you can find her reading other people’s out loud into a microphone.
About Linda at (Un)conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature. She’s an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
About Robin Benway
Robin Benway is a National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of six novels for young adults, including Audrey, Wait!, the AKA series, and Emmy & Oliver. Her books have received numerous awards and recognition, including a 2008 Blue Ribbon Award from the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, 2009’s ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and 2014’s ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. In addition, her novels have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, and have been published in more than twenty countries. Her most recent title, Emmy & Oliver, was published in 2015 by Harper Teen, and was named one of the best books of summer by the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, and Publishers Weekly. Her latest book, Far From the Tree, won the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and was published on October 3, 2017 by Harper Teen.
Robin grew up in Orange County, California, attended NYU, where she was the 1997 recipient of the Seth Barkas Prize for Creative Writing, and is a graduate of UCLA. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she spends her time hanging out with her dog, Hudson, making coffee, and procrastinating on writing
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Yeah, that would be a pretty poignant read, Brandee. I haven’t listened to Whelan for a while, but I do enjoy her narration work. 🙂
I also enjoy Whelan. She just won an Audie as well. This sounds like some very emotional topics.
I was really impressed with Whelan when I listened to a sample and that’s why I chose to listen to this rather than read it. I was also extremely impressed with Benway as this was my first book from her. I’ll certainly find more from them both. 🙂
[…] Brandee has a guest post over at Book of My Hearts, where she’s chatting about Far From the Tree by Robin Benway – you should check it out […]
The book sounds wonderful and I enjoyed the review. It seems a lot of people were at RARE Paris last weekend. How fun!
Yes I’m so happy to have Brandee review a book with such fascinating topics.
Thanks, Laura! I hope I did the book justice (and the narration). This was my first read from Benway and first listen from Whelan and I was impressed with both. The story really rocked me. Even over a month later, I’m still thinking about it. 🙂 And RARE Paris was fantastic!!
Hi Brandee! *waves frantically* I’m so glad you loved this one! I read it back in 2017 and it became an instant favorite. I already knew I loved Benway but this one was so above and beyond her other books. It’s great to hear the audio version was so well done, too.
And this is a reason I love Friends on Friday because people bring out great books I wouldn’t have chosen but would enjoy if I did.
Hi Tanya! Obviously I’m a little late with comments but thanks for leaving one! This was my first read from Benway and I was blown away. You’ll have to give me recs for her other books. And I listened to the sample and was so impressed with Whelan that I decided to go with audio so you can certainly give this one a listen when you want a re-read. 😉
Brandee, Thanks for being my Friend on Friday. I hope you make it home today.
I love that you chose a book with such emotional journeys for the main characters. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Anne! You’re most welcome and thank YOU for having me. I hope others will give this book a go because it has really stayed with me. It’s just such a great read…er, listen. 😉
I didn’t make it home as planned because of a blizzard. My flights were cancelled and I had to spend 2 days in Dallas. But that wasn’t so bad as I stayed with my mother-in-law. 🙂 I did make it home and then promptly got sick. And then I’ve dealt with jetlag. And now I’m dealing with the fact that my kids graduate in 2 weeks! Gah! But I had a wonderful time and I’m all recovered from my trip now. I look forward to spending time with you in August!!!! 😀
This sounds like a great story, Brandee. I haven’t had a chance to read this author yet but I do love Julia Whelan’s narration. I will have to look for this one.
I agree. Exactly. I didn’t even know about this but I really think it would be wonderful.
I hadn’t read or listened to Benway or Whelan before this, Carole. But I tried the sample and was impressed so I went with the audio version. The story, obviously, blew me away. I hope you’ll pick it up sometime. 🙂