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Skipshock

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Skipshock

By: Caroline O'Donoghue
Narrated by: Natasha Hodgson
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About this listen

 "Readers will burn through the pages as they traverse gorgeous, fully realized worlds replete with their own varied dramas. . . . Incredibly immersive and utterly unique." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Set in a universe where time is key to power and privilege, this dazzlingly inventive, genre-defying fantasy romance is the first in a duology by best-selling author Caroline O’Donoghue.

Margo is a troubled schoolgirl. After the death of her father, she’s on her way to a new boarding school in a new city.

Moon is a salesman. He makes his living traveling through a series of interconnected worlds on a network of barely used train lines.

They never should have met. But when Margo suddenly appears one day on Moon’s train, their fates become inextricably linked. If Margo wants to survive, she has to pass as a traveling salesman, too—except it’s not that easy.

Move north on the train line and time speeds up, a day passing in mere hours. Move south and time slows down—a day can last several weeks. Slow worlds are the richest ones: you live longer, your youth lasting decades. Fast worlds are sharp, cruel, and don’t have time for pleasantries. Death is frequent. Salesmen die young of skipshock. That is, if they’re not shot down by the Southern Guard first.

As Margo moves between worlds and her attachment to Moon intensifies, she feels her youth start to slip between her fingers. But is Moon everything he seems? Is Margo?

Told through the eyes of both naive Margo and desperate Moon, the unforgettable realm of Skipshock will shake the way you think about love, time, and the fabric of the universe. The first in a planned duology from the best-selling author of the Gifts series, this utterly original epic is a must-read. Coming of Age Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy
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The premise with different worlds that have different amounts of time in a day was really interesting and the reason I picked up this book in the first place, but I feel like it didn't really have much of an impact on the story? Yes, a day in this region technically only has 6h, but the people still lived their lives like normal? I think there's a lot of unused potential here with the premise and worldbuilding.

But overall the story was still really nice and I really enjoyed it. I just think we could've left out the whole "Travel to the north and days are really short, life is cutthroat. Travel to the south and days are longer, people live in riches" thing; which is the whole premise of the story,

Narration was pleasant to listen to, just sometimes it was a bit difficult to tell who was speaking because sometimes the accents and tones were a bit inconsistent. But overall good performance.

The story was really entertaining and fast paced,

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