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The Other Valley
- Narrated by: Alexandra Boulton
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
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The Other Valley
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Summary
Sixteen-year-old Odile Ozanne is an awkward, quiet girl, but everyone knows she's destined to land a coveted seat on the Conseil. In her apprenticeship, she competes to become one of the judges to decide who amongst the town's residents may travel across the border. If she earns the position, she'll decree who may be escorted deep into the woods, who may cross the border's barbed wire fence, who may make the arduous trek over the western mountain range—or perhaps the eastern range—to descend into the next valley over. It's the same valley, the same town. However, to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it's twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness. The only border crossings permitted by the Conseil are mourning tours: furtive viewings of the dead in towns where the dead are still alive.
Odile, wise beyond her years, will surely pass the Conseil's vetting. But when she happens upon a mourning tour she wasn't supposed to see, she realizes her dear friend Edme's parents have crossed the border from the east, from twenty years in the future, to view their son still alive in Odile's present. Edme, who's so funny and light. Edme, who's a violin virtuoso at just sixteen. Edme, who's the first boy to even see Odile, to really like her.... And it's Edme who's going to die.
Sworn to secrecy by the Conseil in order to preserve the timeline, Odile finds herself drawn even closer to the doomed boy. When Edme dies far sooner than Odile expects, when she does nothing to thwart his fate, she's deeply shaken. The loss, her foreknowledge, the weight of her rare and varied grief all throw Odile's own future, her adult life, into a devastating, downward spiral.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joe Murray
- 11-08-24
Great take on time travel
Disregarding the question of how the setup of the multi time zones exists (you just have to take a leap, this is as much an exploration of the limits of sci-fi narrative - and you feel complicit with the author about this) it’s also a wonderful romantic journey into loneliness and love in a totalitarian state. I can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough to read this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nicola Robinson
- 13-09-24
One of the best books I’ve read this year
I loved this book. Such an interesting idea of time travel, drew me in straight away. The ending is gripping and I was on tenterhooks to finish as fast as possible and see what happened. I will read again at a slower pace in a few months. Simply wonderful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate R.
- 25-04-24
plot + prose 👌
tight prose + appealing & satisfying plot. will re-listen. if you like the watchmaker of filigree street you (natasha pulley) you’ll enjoy
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- David Said
- 25-06-24
Absolutely superb
Brilliant, thought provoking and incredibly believable. The narrator has a wonderful way of speaking with an almost angel like tone.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- R. Maines
- 03-05-24
A bit dry till it isn’t
I almost DNFed this book as the first part is very dry, however things pick up after a time jump in the second part and the ending was very satisfying.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- dwgerman
- 06-08-24
Really struggled with this book
I found the writing style irritating and the narrator monotonous but persevered purely because I was intrigued to know how the story ended. Not a book I can recommend unfortunately
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mrs Amy Harris
- 16-08-24
didn't finish
Ended up leaving the book 5 hours from the end, I just felt like it wasn't going anywhere sadly. I'd been looking forward to this one for a while.
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