The Shape of Thunder
by Jasmine Warga
performed by Reena Dutt and Jennifer Jill Araya
HarperAudio, 2021. 7.25 hours on 6 discs.
Review written November 29, 2021, from a library audiobook
Starred Review
The Shape of Thunder is about two best friends, Cora and Quinn, who have been torn apart by grief and horror.
Almost a year ago, Cora’s sister Mabel was killed in a school shooting. Quinn’s brother Parker was the one who did the shooting.
Neither girl’s family is coping well with what happened. They still live next door to one another, but Cora refuses to even speak to Quinn.
Then Quinn gives Cora some articles – articles about time travel. The girls get caught up in the idea that they can find a wormhole and put back time and fix all that was broken.
Cora approaches the effort as a scientist, reading interviews from scientists at MIT, clinging to any thread that time travel might be possible.
I’ll be honest, at risk of spoiling the story – if two twelve-year-old girls had managed to discover a wormhole and go back in time, I would have been disgusted with the book and the false hopes it might give to other girls.
So maybe I’m giving something away when I say that this book is a beautiful look at hard things – grief, friendship, family, life itself. A heart-wrenching story that is ultimately hopeful.
jasminewarga.com
harperaudio.com
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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