Review of Charon Docks at Daylight by Zoe Reed, Audiobook narrated by Jessie Roynon

Wow, this audiobook rendered me completely speechless. I’ve wanted to read this novel for a few years now after the high praise from my co-reviewer Lex Kent. But with a length of 1054 pages, I just couldn’t gather the courage to tackle it (I’m a slow reader). But when the audiobook was released earlier this year, I decided to give it a go. And 48 and a half hours of length couldn’t deter me.

The world has been attacked by an infection that turned most of the population into ferocious creatures that hunt humans during daylight. The few non-infected people are forced to hide to survive. Facing violence, starvation and chaos, sometimes their worst enemies are the other humans.

This book is a fantastic tour de force. On the surface, this novel is about survival, which is true, but there’s so much more. It’s a long reflection on redemption, impossible choices, moral principles, and the best and worst of humanity. It’s also a character study in which the leads, women in their early twenties, are forced to face extreme situations while at the same time learn to forgive each other and themselves. It’s a fast-paced book with amazing action-packed scenes and an incredible level of detail. But beyond the action, the struggle, and the survival, it’s a book about love conquering all. I would have never thought that a dystopian apocalyptic book could have a romance that prominent, with such strong chemistry and a profound love message.

As it’s typical of fanfiction, this book is long. Extremely long. Even though many scenes could have been deleted, everything is so well written that I’m glad the author kept it all. The level of detail in the descriptions makes it almost a cinematographic experience. Entertaining, heart-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat experience.

If you dare to listen to the audiobook, it’s a daunting 48.5 hours. However, it’s worth every single second. I listened to this audiobook on YouTube (here’s the link) which has the advantage of featuring the book fan art created by Lesly O. (check her work here) and Maili Taniguchi (check her work here). Both websites are worth browsing. If you’d rather not listen to it on YouTube, you can get the audio (the entire audio is divided into smaller files to make it easier to download) following this link.

Jessie Roynon states that she isn’t a professional voice narrator but she could have fooled me. Her voices are distinct, and her male voices, which is sometimes a weak point in female narrators, sound authentic. Her performance of the varied range of emotions in this book is absolutely fantastic. And the best part is that this audiobook/video is completely free. If you want to support the creators, here is the link to the author’s Patreon.
Or support the narrator’s music band here.

My rating: 5+ stars

Audio and Video available to download here:
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=bJJN5hu888k

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkjFuMfsuw4iflQCK7o_qaffXwQoGYfub

Length: 48 hours, 30 minutes