This review is part of Melody’s Summer Reading: Diversity Spotlight. Enjoy!
The Living by Matt de la Peña
Narrated By: Henry Leyva
Release Date: November 27, 2013
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: YA Contemporary, Mystery, Adventure
Running Time: Unabridged | 7 hours 48 minutes
Source: Free via Summer 2015 Sync Program
Add it to Goodreads
Shy took the summer job to make some money. In a few months on a luxury cruise liner, he’ll rake in the tips and be able to help his mom and sister out with the bills. And how bad can it be? Bikinis, free food, maybe even a girl or two—every cruise has different passengers, after all.
But everything changes when the Big One hits. Shy’s only weeks out at sea when an earthquake more massive than ever before recorded hits California, and his life is forever changed.
The earthquake is only the first disaster. Suddenly it’s a fight to survive for those left living.
The Living was a really solid story about a kid making an honest living taking a chance on the summer job of a lifetime on a luxury cruise ship, only for him to witness a suicide and later, experience the ship going down after a tsunami. And there’s more to expect that I haven’t even mentioned. I loved that the main character, Shy not only came from the middle class but his economic status and the culture surrounding such was prevalent all throughout the book. I loved that! I also loved that he wasn’t the only employee on the ship in the middle class and all of the staff was well aware of their place not only in the world but on the cruise ship tending after wealthy, privileged white people. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year, probably the best so far in regards to addressing complex race and class dynamics.
That aside, I really loved how three dimensional all of the characters were, how human they were, and how well not only the characters jumped off the page, dialogue and all, but I really truly appreciated each and every relationship that was built here. As for the story, I was taken by the natural disaster element. Show me a novel with a natural disaster and I’m there. And this…. this was a SLOW burn into the danger. Typically, this slow of a burn in what I’m expecting to be an action packed novel wouldn’t keep me glued to the page but this did. There’s something to be said about that.
Matt’s characters and the journeys they were on really had a hold on me so I was not only invested in the action from the beginning and waiting for it to all unfold but I quickly became enraptured in the personal arcs of the characters. Yes, this book has plenty of action but it’s very character driven. Not only that, there’s plenty of mystery and I really liked that aspect and how the strangest of things tied together. I also really enjoyed where the story ends because if Shy thought he was in danger before, well, that’s nothing compared to his journey ahead. And that intrigues me the most which is why I’m adding the sequel, The Hunted to my To Be Read list. The Living is kind of pre-apocalyptic in a sense and the sequel is apocalyptic in the same sense so I’m really looking forward to seeing what challenges Shy faces in the sequel.
I listened to the audiobook of this but I also had my hardcover copy on hand so, yes, I read along to the audiobook and it was so much fun. The audiobook was great, the narrator, Henry Leyva was one with the story and his pacing, his tone, his inflections were on point. He did work a few accents in as well and the effort was appreciated. I really love what he did to bring this story to life and couldn’t have imagined taking in this story any other way. I might just have to listen to the sequel in audiobook format as well. Only time will tell!
The Living by Matt de la Peña is available today.