Lost Children Archive – Valeria Luiselli

Lost Children Archive – Valeria Luiselli
Published in: 2019
Reviewed by: Nicole
Rating: 5/5

Ground Control to Major Tom

I consume most of my books on audio at this point, and I feel like sometimes I’m missing out.  For example, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous must be read, whereas, Daisy Jones and the Six was enhanced by the audio experience.  At first I thought this book should be read.  It’s narrated by the author, and I found her narration rather flat, though I was utterly enchanted by her mild accent.

But this is a book about (among other things) the sounds in our lives and after about an hour of listening, I knew this book was designed for audio and nobody could have read it but the author.  This book felt deeply personal – as if she were telling us about this point in her life.  A crossroads where relationships and careers should be examined.

There’s a road trip, the border crisis, history, a girl with a brother, a boy with a Polaroid, a man with mission, a woman with a map and children …. Lost. Found. Other.

It’s a multi-media experience (the audio comes with a 30-page PDF) and great decisions in the audio performance that I feel would have been lost in the reading.

It was an original story, relateable and beautifully told.