The Terrible

In this memoir, poet Yrsa Daley-Ward, the author of BONE, delivers a lyrical narration of her past troubles involving sex, drugs, and issues of womanhood and identity. Not typical in memoirs, Daley-Ward's nonfiction title brings in elements of fiction. "My little brother and I saw a unicorn in the garden in the late nineties," she narrates. Although her delivery is very fast in places, her vocal variation makes it work. Howard Daley-Ward's voice comes in later in the audiobook to give life to Yrsa's younger brother, Roo. In contrast to Yrsa's rich voice, Howard's sounds a bit stiff. This work, like BONE, aims to be accessible but still poetic. Told unflinchingly, its rawness is elevated by the author's voice. A.C. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine