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deebee554's review
4.0
There are two storylines in this beautiful family story of love, loneliness, grief, and loss. One is of a pilot who falls out of the sky in the desert in Libya in 2011 and the other is of lonely and neglected 10 yr. Lenny Lockhart in his hometown of Roseville taking place in 2012.
The single narration, done by John Chancer, was well done.
Chapters were announced and I was able to differentiate between the different characters as they spoke. Chancer’s recital kept me so engrossed in the Roseville/Libya saga that I listened to it in just one sitting!
The grandmother in me just wants to throw my arms around Lenny and give him a much-needed hug. When his dad, Jim, returns home from fighting in the war his mom (I'm so upset with her I won't even post her name here) abandons Lenny stating that it's Jim's turn to take care of the boy. I'm not judging here, just reacting to Lenny's situation!
With the help of Lucy, the librarian, and Miss Julie, his elderly neighbor, Lenny is barely able to function daily as his father, suffering from PTSD, searches for a job and gets drunk nightly.
McVeigh's novel, although sometimes sad, has great moments of kindness and love, giving us life lessons in caring, consideration, and compassion. She has created well-developed characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses which makes this a hard novel to put down.
One of my favorite audiobooks of 2022!
My thanks to #NetGalley, Saga Egmont Audio and the author for allowing me to listen to Lenny for an honest review.
The single narration, done by John Chancer, was well done.
Chapters were announced and I was able to differentiate between the different characters as they spoke. Chancer’s recital kept me so engrossed in the Roseville/Libya saga that I listened to it in just one sitting!
The grandmother in me just wants to throw my arms around Lenny and give him a much-needed hug. When his dad, Jim, returns home from fighting in the war his mom (I'm so upset with her I won't even post her name here) abandons Lenny stating that it's Jim's turn to take care of the boy. I'm not judging here, just reacting to Lenny's situation!
With the help of Lucy, the librarian, and Miss Julie, his elderly neighbor, Lenny is barely able to function daily as his father, suffering from PTSD, searches for a job and gets drunk nightly.
McVeigh's novel, although sometimes sad, has great moments of kindness and love, giving us life lessons in caring, consideration, and compassion. She has created well-developed characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses which makes this a hard novel to put down.
One of my favorite audiobooks of 2022!
My thanks to #NetGalley, Saga Egmont Audio and the author for allowing me to listen to Lenny for an honest review.
mel_books's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Format: audiobook
Author: Laura McVeigh ~ Title: Lenny ~ Narrator: John Chancer
Content: 4.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars
Complete audiobook review
This is a story of a 10-year-old Lenny. His father, Jim, came back from the war and now suffers from PTSD. His mother, Mari-Rose, left. Lenny's elderly neighbor Miss Julie and local librarian Lucy Albert care about him and try to help him. Lenny is a slow-paced literary fiction set in Roseville, Louisiana, where a chemical factory causes an environmental issue.
We follow two timelines: Ubari Sand Sea (Libya) in 2011 and Roseville (Louisiana, US) in 2012. The novel deals with family, love, loneliness, and a few sensitive topics, like loss and grief. It is often sad but still a heartwarming story.
I enjoyed the narration of John Chancer, who made this story come to life.
Thanks to Saga Egmont Audio for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.
Author: Laura McVeigh ~ Title: Lenny ~ Narrator: John Chancer
Content: 4.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars
Complete audiobook review
This is a story of a 10-year-old Lenny. His father, Jim, came back from the war and now suffers from PTSD. His mother, Mari-Rose, left. Lenny's elderly neighbor Miss Julie and local librarian Lucy Albert care about him and try to help him. Lenny is a slow-paced literary fiction set in Roseville, Louisiana, where a chemical factory causes an environmental issue.
We follow two timelines: Ubari Sand Sea (Libya) in 2011 and Roseville (Louisiana, US) in 2012. The novel deals with family, love, loneliness, and a few sensitive topics, like loss and grief. It is often sad but still a heartwarming story.
I enjoyed the narration of John Chancer, who made this story come to life.
Thanks to Saga Egmont Audio for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.
roshreviews's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
In a Nutshell: If you are looking for a book that will enthrall you and at the same time, shatter your heart, this is the one. It is all things good and all things depressing. I hated it and yet I loved it. (Go figure!)
Story:
False River, Louisiana, 2012.
Jim: A war veteran who is struggling with PTSD and unemployment.
Miss Julie: An old widow who can’t move about much and spends her days talking to her long-dead husband.
Lucy: A young librarian who has borne much loss early in life and still tries hard to make a difference in a disillusioned town.
What is common to these disparate characters is a little nine-year old boy named Lenny. Jim’s son; Miss Julie’s neighbour and friend; Lucy’s young customer at the library. Lenny wants to help out all these people, and even their town of Roseville, which is facing a bleak future after a sinkhole threatens to destroy it. Will Lenny succeed in his mission?
The story comes to us in the third person omniscient narration from two timelines: Louisiana in 2012 and from Ubari Sand Sea, Libya in 2011.
Where the book worked for me:
❤ Lenny is the perfect titular character. Unlike so many recent novels I have read, he is a 9 year old child who behaves like a 9 year old child. His chatter, his personality, his uncertainties, his bravery, all will end up ensuring that he stays in your heart long after the last page. In other words, I want to give Lenny a bigggg hug and shower him with all the love he deserves!
❤ This is a character-driven book all the way. And for a character-driven book to make an impact, you need well-carved, memorable characters. How the book delivers on this promise!!! Every single character, whether main or secondary, whether active in the narrative or only mentioned in passing, is etched beautifully, never leaving you in doubt about their motivations or actions.
❤ The writing suits the characters perfectly. Lenny’s dad has supposedly gone to "go fly planes, help some folk needing help." Miss Julie is “as old as the ancient bald cypress trees." I loved the way the characters’ personalities shone through the writing. It doesn’t go OTT on the descriptions at any point and yet you can visualise everything clearly.
❤ The town of Roseville is a character unto itself. It has a constant presence in the background, with its environmental damage, its unfortunate denizens and its insecure future. Through the town’s experience, the author delivers a stinging commentary on abusing nature and natural resources, and how humankind, in its quest to enhance the short-term bottomline, has forgotten its long-term security on this planet. We need to remember that it is we who need the planet, not the other way around.
❤ Usually, when two timelines are close to each other, the story ends up sabotaging either one of them. Not this time. Both the timelines are beautiful and have their distinct role to play in the overall narrative. I enjoyed both the timelines and found them equally thought-provoking.
❤ Though it is set just a decade ago, the story has a very old world feel to it because of its setting and characters. Yet, in some other ways, it has a very dystopian future sort of feeling because of the gloomy town environment. I found this unusual mix intriguing.
❤ The story covers many dark and depressing themes. The struggles of helplessness, hopelessness, depression, loneliness, financial difficulties, and homelessness come out strongly, and balancing out the gloom are the ideas of courage, loyalty, and friendship. The book handles all these elements beautifully.
❤ If you are a fan of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The Little Prince’, you will love how it has been used in this story. The entire narrative becomes stronger though this allegorical reference to what was already an allegorical novel.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
I can’t think of anything which I didn’t appreciate about the book. But it might be a tad slow if read. Then again, it’s literary fiction, which is supposed to be slow. I heard the audiobook, which helped keep the pace going, and I also was in the mood for a reflective read. So no complaints about anything from my side.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at a little more than 9 hours and is narrated excellently by John Chancer. How beautifully he narrates the characters! Without sounding caricatural, he manages to create a distinct personality for each character. I simply loved his performance.
For the first time ever, I found myself crying while hearing an audiobook. The credit (or blame, as you see fit) for this is distributed equally between the author and the narrator.
This book isn’t for everyone. It’s very literary in its essence and will disturb you if you aren’t in the right mind-space to read it. But I do hope you pick it up, and at the right time, so that you may have as mesmerising an experience as I did. The human in me is broken-hearted but the reader in me is enthralled. It was the perfect introspective read, making you contemplate both the external natural environment and your own internal environment.
One line from the book that hit me hard, and describes the book aptly:
“A story can end all sorts of ways...happy, sad, and sometimes, it doesn't end at all, it's just beginning.”
4.75 stars.
My thanks to Saga Egmont Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Lenny”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
Story:
False River, Louisiana, 2012.
Jim: A war veteran who is struggling with PTSD and unemployment.
Miss Julie: An old widow who can’t move about much and spends her days talking to her long-dead husband.
Lucy: A young librarian who has borne much loss early in life and still tries hard to make a difference in a disillusioned town.
What is common to these disparate characters is a little nine-year old boy named Lenny. Jim’s son; Miss Julie’s neighbour and friend; Lucy’s young customer at the library. Lenny wants to help out all these people, and even their town of Roseville, which is facing a bleak future after a sinkhole threatens to destroy it. Will Lenny succeed in his mission?
The story comes to us in the third person omniscient narration from two timelines: Louisiana in 2012 and from Ubari Sand Sea, Libya in 2011.
Where the book worked for me:
❤ Lenny is the perfect titular character. Unlike so many recent novels I have read, he is a 9 year old child who behaves like a 9 year old child. His chatter, his personality, his uncertainties, his bravery, all will end up ensuring that he stays in your heart long after the last page. In other words, I want to give Lenny a bigggg hug and shower him with all the love he deserves!
❤ This is a character-driven book all the way. And for a character-driven book to make an impact, you need well-carved, memorable characters. How the book delivers on this promise!!! Every single character, whether main or secondary, whether active in the narrative or only mentioned in passing, is etched beautifully, never leaving you in doubt about their motivations or actions.
❤ The writing suits the characters perfectly. Lenny’s dad has supposedly gone to "go fly planes, help some folk needing help." Miss Julie is “as old as the ancient bald cypress trees." I loved the way the characters’ personalities shone through the writing. It doesn’t go OTT on the descriptions at any point and yet you can visualise everything clearly.
❤ The town of Roseville is a character unto itself. It has a constant presence in the background, with its environmental damage, its unfortunate denizens and its insecure future. Through the town’s experience, the author delivers a stinging commentary on abusing nature and natural resources, and how humankind, in its quest to enhance the short-term bottomline, has forgotten its long-term security on this planet. We need to remember that it is we who need the planet, not the other way around.
❤ Usually, when two timelines are close to each other, the story ends up sabotaging either one of them. Not this time. Both the timelines are beautiful and have their distinct role to play in the overall narrative. I enjoyed both the timelines and found them equally thought-provoking.
❤ Though it is set just a decade ago, the story has a very old world feel to it because of its setting and characters. Yet, in some other ways, it has a very dystopian future sort of feeling because of the gloomy town environment. I found this unusual mix intriguing.
❤ The story covers many dark and depressing themes. The struggles of helplessness, hopelessness, depression, loneliness, financial difficulties, and homelessness come out strongly, and balancing out the gloom are the ideas of courage, loyalty, and friendship. The book handles all these elements beautifully.
❤ If you are a fan of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The Little Prince’, you will love how it has been used in this story. The entire narrative becomes stronger though this allegorical reference to what was already an allegorical novel.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
I can’t think of anything which I didn’t appreciate about the book. But it might be a tad slow if read. Then again, it’s literary fiction, which is supposed to be slow. I heard the audiobook, which helped keep the pace going, and I also was in the mood for a reflective read. So no complaints about anything from my side.
The audiobook experience:
The audiobook clocks at a little more than 9 hours and is narrated excellently by John Chancer. How beautifully he narrates the characters! Without sounding caricatural, he manages to create a distinct personality for each character. I simply loved his performance.
For the first time ever, I found myself crying while hearing an audiobook. The credit (or blame, as you see fit) for this is distributed equally between the author and the narrator.
This book isn’t for everyone. It’s very literary in its essence and will disturb you if you aren’t in the right mind-space to read it. But I do hope you pick it up, and at the right time, so that you may have as mesmerising an experience as I did. The human in me is broken-hearted but the reader in me is enthralled. It was the perfect introspective read, making you contemplate both the external natural environment and your own internal environment.
One line from the book that hit me hard, and describes the book aptly:
“A story can end all sorts of ways...happy, sad, and sometimes, it doesn't end at all, it's just beginning.”
4.75 stars.
My thanks to Saga Egmont Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “Lenny”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
nicolepaul_ine's review
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.0
Lenny is a novel that explores the impact of family and friends by switching between two timelines of war, loss, and hope. In 2011 a pilot falls from the sky in Libya while in 2012 a small town Roseville, Louisiana, faces the degradation of its economy and environment. We follow 10-year-old Lenny, his family, and their neighborhood as they try to navigate their lives.
I really enjoyed the small-town vibes and the relative mundanity of the story, showcasing the magnitude of these lives and topics. The story kept me company while working around the house and Lenny, Jim, Lacey, and July (I'm not sure about the spelling here since I only listened to the names). I mostly just wish we'd been able to hear more about the people and time in Libya.
Listening to the narrator's voice, tone and style, I was strangely reminded of the narration in the movie 500 Days of Summer. Although I loved the movie, considering the different topics in the two stories it was a very strange sensation to hear the voice and let go of the romantic comedy sensation and focus on the topics being told.
Overall I think this would really suit readers who enjoy American narratives and small-town stories about intersecting lives. Thank you to Saga Edmunt Audio and @Netgalley for this advanced reader copy!
I really enjoyed the small-town vibes and the relative mundanity of the story, showcasing the magnitude of these lives and topics. The story kept me company while working around the house and Lenny, Jim, Lacey, and July (I'm not sure about the spelling here since I only listened to the names). I mostly just wish we'd been able to hear more about the people and time in Libya.
Listening to the narrator's voice, tone and style, I was strangely reminded of the narration in the movie 500 Days of Summer. Although I loved the movie, considering the different topics in the two stories it was a very strange sensation to hear the voice and let go of the romantic comedy sensation and focus on the topics being told.
Overall I think this would really suit readers who enjoy American narratives and small-town stories about intersecting lives. Thank you to Saga Edmunt Audio and @Netgalley for this advanced reader copy!
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
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