I Crawl Through It by AS King | Audiobook Review

I received this book for free from Purchased, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Four teenagers are on the verge of exploding. The anxieties they face at every turn have nearly pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of past trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope, but no one is listening.
So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will even build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away...but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it.
The genius of acclaimed author A.S. King reaches new heights in this groundbreaking work of surrealist fiction; it will mesmerize readers with its deeply affecting exploration of how we crawl through traumatic experience--and find the way out.

Why Did I Listen To I Crawl Through It by AS King?

I Crawl Through It by A.S. King is an audiobook that I recently purchased because I had Audible credits burning a hole in my pocket. Plus, I was all, hey it’s on my Netgalley queue and this is a fast way to finally get to reading the book. Also? I just really tend to like books by A.S. King in general and I had such good luck with Glory O’Brien’s History Of The Future via audiobook.

What’s The Story Here?

So, I Crawl Through It is about four different teenagers, but only two of them really land in my memory two weeks after listening to this audiobook. First, there’s Gustav who is building a helicopter. Oh, and the helicopter is invisible, kind of like Wonder Woman’s. Then there’s Stanzi who has PTSD. OH oh and there’s this guy who stands in the bushes by the school and gives letters out to people. So, yeah, overall, this story is about people who are dealing with trauma.

What Did I Think Of This Book?

Literally, I retained maybe 5% of this book. I guess it was just really surreal and weird and went over my head. Maybe I am just not intelligent enough to get this book, but I’ve read other surrealist and kind of understood it, soooo. In addition, I think that listening to the audiobook has impacted my feelings about this book as well. I wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more had I actually physically read it.

How’s The Narration?

The audiobook of I Crawl Through It is narrated by the author, A.S. King. Friends, I don’t like to think I have a bias against authors reading their own audiobooks, but wow. The narration was not good. I don’t know, I just was so bored and kept spacing out and I kept wishing that it was a professional narrating the book, not the author. Seriously, if you decide you want to read this, DO NOT get the audiobook. Get the actual physical book because the audiobook is just terrible. I think maybe someday I will try reading this book again, but via the physical book and not the audiobook.

Other reviews of I Crawl Through It by AS King:

• Xpresso Reads – “This book really hit the mark“
• Reading Lark – “odd, surreal, wonderful world“
• Pinkindle – “Some stuff is just straight up weird“

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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