Shine Shine Shine a Novel by Lydia Netzer AudioBook Review
I love to read. I used to have a stack of books that I would power though in a weekend and through out the week. Since I began writing and working more, the amount I read has dramatically been reduced. I do, however, get to listen to audiobooks while I am working and that makes me a happy camper. I have a new book I want to share with you today that would be excellent for a nice weekend read by the pool or beach. It is called Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer.
SHINE SHINE SHINE
By Lydia Netzer
Read by Joshilyn Jackson
Unabridged | ISBN-13: 978-1-4272-2139-1| 9 CDs | 11 hours | $39.99
On Sale NOW
Published simultaneously with the print edition from St. Martin’s Press
Audiobook includes original music composed by the author!
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Shine Shine Shine is quirky love story between two, well, totally different and dare I say, odd people that you have never read about before; A super smart yet slightly autistic man and his bald wife. They have been friends since they were kids and in love forever too. It is a love story and a story about a woman on the edge dealing with massively stressful situations. It is a book that is written in a way that is different and contains twisting histories of the characters and the family. It is a fun and totally different book that you will remember as it will be hard to forget this story and this family.
Here is an Overview of Shine Shine Shine:
When Maxon met Sunny, he was seven years, four months, and eighteen days old. Or, he was 2,693 rotations of the earth old. Maxon was different. Sunny was different. They were different together.
Now, twenty years later, they are married, and Sunny yearns to be “normal.” She’s got the housewife thing down perfectly, but Maxon, a genius engineer, is on a NASA mission to the moon, programming robots for a new colony. Once they were two outcasts who found likely love in each other, but now they’re parents to an autistic son. Sunny is pregnant again, and her mother is dying. Their marriage is on the brink of exploding – what exactly has gone wrong?
When an accident in space puts the mission in peril, everything Sunny and Maxon have built hangs in the balance. Dark secrets all come tumbling to the light, and nothing will ever be the same. Shine Shine Shine is a unique love story, an adventure between worlds, and a stunning novel of love, death, and what it means to be human.
The audiobook program also includes original music specifically composed by the author to connect readers to the characters. Netzer describes her songs as exactly what Sunny and Maxon would have been feeling throughout the course of the story. “These are love songs for and about my characters,” Netzer explains, “they connect readers to the characters in a visceral, emotional way and allow me to say with music what goes beyond the words on the page.”
The program also includes a bonus interview between the author and narrator Joshilyn Jackson.
My thoughts:
When I first started listening to this audiobook, I have to admit it was tough to follow it sometimes. I couldn’t just have it on in the background listening as the story is full of twists and turns. In one minute you are here in today’s world and in the next minute, you are back into the characters childhood learning more about their story.
Sunny, the wife is a complex woman with huge stresses on her shoulders. She is bald to begin with and if that isn’t the main issue, she also has a husband in space, is due to give birth any second, has a mother dying, an autistic son and is just a bit frazzled and ready to crack, it seems. She is everything that women go through and deal with at any given time. This is Sunny’s story – and yours – and mine.
As I got further and further into the audio, I was enthralled with the language and style of writing. The author is a skilled storyteller and crafts and weaves an amazing story that will keep you connected to the characters in a deep and touching way. Sunny teaches and guides her family yet together they learn and grow.
The narrator is gifted in her reading skills and applies different voices to each of the characters that you can identify with and makes the story come to life.
If you want a great story to listen to or read, you need to get this book or audiobook. I know you will be engaged just as I was. Enjoy!
About the Author:
Lydia Netzer was born in Detroit and educated in the Midwest. She lives in Virginia with her two home-schooled children and math-making husband. When she isn’t teaching, reading, or writing her next novel, she plays the guitar in a rock band.
Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.