A review by sarahetc
The Leavers by Lisa Ko

4.0

Four and a half stars for prose. Ko's writing is evocative and sometimes beautiful, after a rough beginning. Not sure what was happening with the sudden leveling in tone after the first quarter or so, but something real happens, as if she finds her stride to write her characters. And five stars for characterization. Both Daniel and Polly or Deming and Pei Lan, whichever set of them you'd like to choose, is so precisely, realistically human and awful I can't help but be impressed. The story is direct and only occasionally wavers when Ko tries to describe what must be Daniel's synesthesia (she never says or references it other than in describing Daniel's lived experience, but that's certainly how it comes across).

Meanwhile, the narrator for the audio book was less than ideal. If your main character is a young man, perhaps choosing an actor that can do mens' voices would have worked best.