Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde Narrator: Jasper Fforde, Chris Harper
Series: Shades of Grey #2
Published by Recorded Books on May 7, 2024
Genres: Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy
Length: 13 hours, 9 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Imagine a world where your position in society depended on what bit of the colour spectrum you could see. This is the world inhabited by Eddie Russett (red, middle-level) and Jane Grey (monochromatic, lowest in society). Eddie and Jane must negotiate the delicate Chromatic politics of society to find out what the 'Something that Happened' actually was, how society got to be this way, and crucially, is there Somewhere Else beyond their borders - and if there is, could there be Someone Else, too, someone whose unseen hand has been guiding the fortunes and misfortunes of the nation for the past 500 years?
It's a tale of a young couple's thirst for justice and answers in an implacably rigid society, where the prisoners are also the guards, and cages of convention bind the citizens to only one way of thinking - or suffer the consequences. . ..
Red Side Story is the long awaited *cough* since 2009 *cough* sequel to Shades of Grey, in the series of the same name. Set in a dystopian world where people see only one color usually and an entire society has been built around rules and hierarchy based on the color you can see. But, as we found out in the last book, this strange land and the people in it are far from the utopian society that Monson and all his rules tried to create. And there are so many ridiculous rules.
Eddy (a Red) and Jane (a Grey or low Green) are awaiting their hearing for the death of a Yellow that happening in the prior book. After Jane opened Eddy’s eyes to some of the happenings around them in their chromatic based society, he isn’t quite the good little citizen he was before, but let’s be honest, he was never that good (see the last Rabbit incident of the last book). Sent to East Carmine to learn some humility and do a chair survey after trying to improve queuing in lines Eddy has stubbled into a mystery of the ages. He has questions, as we all do, after the first story. Things like; what was the thing that happened, why are there no spoons, what is up with the metal swans, why does everything (including the citizens) have a barcode, who are the riff raff etc. There are so many mysteries out there to solve.
The humor of this book is just up my alley. It is smart and funny, with so many little jabs throughout. I really enjoyed the concepts of this society especially when we learn why it was set up in the first place. Jane and Eddy are great together and I really do adore they way they make their rebellions against the society they are living in. With the danger of being ‘greened’ around every corner for our two lovebirds they will have to be very clever indeed if they are going to find all the answers before those answers get them removed from whatever this experiment is.
I had so much fun with all the clever little things that are thrown into the story and all the oddities this dystopian culture has just adopted. Like animal watching and logging barcodes for fun, or using a RISK game as a map, along with how literature has been changed for books, well known to the readers, to have morals of the story completely changed to reinforce the Monson doctrine all the residents are supposed to live by. Really this is just a unique story that I’ve never read anything of the like and kudos to Fforde for how well he knocked Red Side Story out of the park. I’m hoping the next book in the series doesn’t take 15 years to get here but I’ll wait that long for another great addition to the series. Let the loopholery continue.
Narration:
Chris Harper is a new to me narrator. He did the English humor great in the story and made the book so much fun. I liked his dialoguing with the characters the most as it was hilarious at times. I was able to distinguish between all the characters very well and follow the story without getting distracted. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
 |
| Writing |
|
| Characters |
|
| Dialogue |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
Friend me at Goodreads.
- Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron @Rachel_Aaron #KindleUnlimited @snyderBridge4 - June 17, 2024
- Coven of Ill Repute bySL Prater #SLPrater @booksirens @SnyderBridge4 #KindleUnlimited - June 10, 2024
- 🎧 Icon and Inferno by Marie Lu @Marie_Lu @BeccaQCo @MacmillanAudio #RoaringBookPress @SnyderBridge4 #LoveAudiobooks #JIAM - June 3, 2024
I loved Jasper Fforde’s Eyre Affair series, but haven’t read any others, this sounds like I need to though! Great review!
I started that series and was trying to get all the books through the library so it was taking to long. I need to get back to it.
I remember with this series why I was enjoying his writing so much.
I started his other series but had a hard time getting them from the library. I need to start that series up again. His writing is so fun.
What a unique concept!