I love those moments when I’m like hmmm, I have this audiobook for review and it’s about four hours long and I have at least two hours of driving, if not more in my day, might as well give it a whirl AND the audiobook turns out to be incredibly enjoyable. Y’all, over the course of yesterday I listened to the entire audiobook of Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz narrated by Jesse Eisenberg. After finishing it, I felt a little bit bereft because it just WORKED perfectly for me — from the writing style to the characterization to the mystery right on down to Eisenberg’s pitch perfect narration. Colin Fischer is certainly an audiobook that I would recommend to audiobook aficionados and newcomers alike.
Colin Fischer is a freshman boy with Asperger’s. He doesn’t like the color blue because it seems cold to him. He doesn’t like to be touched. However, he’s incredibly intelligent. When his classmate Melissa is holding her birthday celebration during lunch, a gun goes off. The main suspect is a bully named Wayne Connelly, HOWEVER, Colin who has a very keen eye for detail knows that it was, in fact, not Wayne who did it and so tries to solve the mystery.
Oh my goodness, friends, I loved reading about Colin Fisher. I thought he was eminently likable despite his quirks and extreme social awkwardness. Colin loves order and facts and rules.  He tends to be an observer of others. Yet, he’s often not a participant, for example he needs index cards to help decode social cues and facial expressions. In all honesty, listening to Colin’s detective methods and powers of observation reminded me a lot of Adrian Monk from the TV show Monk which I straight up love. Plus, he keeps this notebook filled with facts and would often footnote and interject with these facts that I found to be utterly fascinating. ALSO like I mentioned, Colin has Aspergers and it’s nice to see a differently abled person as main character. I am not sure the extent to which Colin is an accurate portrayal of a person with Aspergers as I do not have it, nor do I know a whole lot about it.
I am not sure if it is because I was listening to the audiobook and a singular narrator and not actually reading physically, but I was not able to tell when Ashley Edward Miller’s writing stopped and Zach Stentz’s writing began and vice versa. At least in audio form, the narrative of the two authors is rather seamless. If you like a quirky sort of writing with strong character voicing you will probably enjoy Colin Fischer.
This may sound kind of biased, but I’d really recommend experiencing Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz via audio book. Seriously, Jesse Eisenberg is the perfect narrator for this book. His voicing of Colin is very matter of fact with a pleasant sort of patois, which you’ll find to be important when Colin talks about phone voice vs. speaking voice. I also liked how when we got footnotes and excerpts from Colin’s notebook, it sounded as though Jesse Eisenberg was playing back a recorder or talking into a cheap microphone. It just added a sense of legitimacy to the audiobook without going overboard with sound effects or anything. Colin Fischer is a relatively short audiobook — it is only 4 hours and 16 minutes unabridged and produced by Penguin Audio. If you’re looking for a unique and quirky audiobook for your commute, this is a book I absolutely recommend.
Disclosure: Received for review
Other reviews of Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stenz:
In Bed With Books – “I loved the format of COLIN FISCHER”
Bookitsch – “Colin Fischer was a hilarious read for me.”
Wandering Librarians – “We actually get to see some interaction between parents and with their children that is positive.”
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I just ordered this for my library in print; maybe I’ll have to consider the audio version as well.
Oh yay! I hope your patrons love it as much as I did.
I love the idea of Jesse Eisenberg as the narrator!! This sounds like such an awesome read though, I’m definitely going to have to hunt it down… (And I’m glad you mentioned that the audio is the way to go!)
Colin sounds like my type of chracter.
-Jac @ For Love and Books
He’s a very good narrator for the book — his voice is perfect. I definitely recommend checking this one out via audio.
Colin’s character arc is very, very well done.
Totally agree with your review! Jesse Eisenberg is such a perfect narrator for this book. And good point about the co-authors- their writing style meshes together well. Looking forward to the next book.
I think that sometimes with co-authors it’s totally obvious who does what chapter — like Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I mean, it worked for that book, but it was nice to see a book where the authors’ styles meld perfectly.
You had me at Jesse Eisenberg but once you mentioned Monk (one of my all time top TV shows), I was sold. This is such a unique concept for a story and you bet your bottom dollar, I will be purchasing this for my commute, ASAP!
YES! Monk fans in the house! The story is totally fantastic and unique and a great commute book! 🙂
Dude, this sounds awesome. I had this on my tentative to-read list, but I am so going for the audio when I get the time! I have a pile I have to dig through of review books, but when I am done, THIS. Also, only four hours! HOLLA. I like when they’re under ten. More than that and I feel like I will DIE before it ends.
I hope my library buys this. :/
Tragedy strikes! I was going to go ahead and order at my local library, because if there are no holds you can basically check things out forever and guess what! THEY HAVE NO COPIES OF COLIN FISCHER. Not even in hardback! *weeps*
Oh well, maybe I’ll stumble across it someday in a used bookstore or something!
No, no, move it to your definite to read list. Also. I totally feel you on the digging your way out of the review book pile.
I don’t mind long books, but the shorter audiobooks are so nice because you get this giant feeling of accomplishment afterward.
Oooh this looks fun!! I know you mentioned it via gchat but I didn’t know what it was about. I’ll have to check to see if it’s in audio at the library!
Yes! This book is fun and good and worth audio-ing.
We have this book in the library where I work. I haven’t looked at the blurb, but the cover really catches my eye.
But hearing that it kind of reminded you of Monk (my all time favorite TV show!) makes me really want to read it. I do know a bit about Aspergers, and can see why someone with Aspergers might remind you of Monk.
I think I will take you advice and read this via audiobook. Thanks for the recommendation!
Oh man! I want this audiobook!
I love that the main character is differently abled. That immediately piques my interest when it comes to any book! This sounds really good too, especially when I saw that Jesse Eisenberg was narrating!
Thanks for linking to me!
I can definitely see Jesse Eisenberg being the perfect reader for this book. I may have to track the audio down.