Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers, for the opportunity to listen to this. Abscond was not bad at all—short, crisp, and well-written, just missing that extra wow factor I was hoping for. Still, a good read and worth picking up if you enjoy compact, thoughtful storytelling.

For a short story, this packs a bunch. The grief, expectations, mental health rep…. All come together to make a beautiful story that could be a full length novel. This is my first experience with the author and I would read more.


For the audio!- it was great.

My first ALC! The narration by Fajer Al-Kaisi was great, each character had a distinct tone and voice, so it was easy to follow the story. It definitely brought the text to life, as I read this immersively while reading my ARC copy so it helped me both with pacing focus and separating the characters in my head.
I felt the story itself was an emotive snapshot-style exploration of those few days surrounding big life events like death, and I really appreciated a window into how another culture approaches such a universal experience. I maybe would have wanted a slightly longer ending, on how Ravi and his mother are perhaps a week down the line or something, but the story as is still felt strong and I liked the ending.
I would recommend either doing an immersive read or picking up the audio version!

A heartfelt short story about a boy who must navigate the challenges of growing up quickly in the face of an unexpected tragedy and culture expectations.
Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to listen to this complimentary advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a very well written short story about grief and growing up. The narrator, Fajer Al-Kaisi, has a very nice voice. Although I enjoyed the beautiful writing, the story was as expected. I think it would’ve been nice if it was a little longer. This was a great introduction to Abraham Verghese. I would read another book by him. Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.