Sonder: Janie's Story

De: Maureen Morrissey

Narrado por: Michele Rossi

Downtown New York City in the 1970s and '80s is a dark and dangerous place for Janie Thompson. Her indifferent parents give her little guidance, and leave her older brother, the only person who truly loves her, no choice but to run away. Her working-class Queens neighborhood offers too many opportunities to fail, and several of her closest friends fall victim. Janie needs to get away and moves to Greenwich Village to attend New York University. Her doubts follow her and derail her trajectory. She finds herself unequipped to make her way through the temptations and pitfalls of the era; at every turn she is in and out of danger. The journey takes her deep into rabbit holes as she tries to navigate a path through before it is too late.

A "sonder," the realization that she is not truly alone, may be the only thing that saves her. Janie calls herself “a solitary part of a million-piece jigsaw puzzle whose cover picture she could not see.” If she can truly “see” the people around her and learn from them, she might be able to survive.

©2022 Maureen Morrissey (P)2022 Maureen Morrissey

I'm in awe

I love this book! Traveling through Janie's life, seeing what she sees, experiencing what she experiences, it's - moving. I think that is the best description of Janie's life. The rollercoaster of emotions, her self-doubt, but also her determination - moving. This book made me think about people in a very different way. And I do indeed plan to start people-watching. I will be a sonder because of this book.

Terrific Read

Sonder is a well paced intricate story about the life of Janie, growing up in Queens NY in the 1970s with a typical working class family. From the outside everything looks normal, but like most families, home life is not what it appears. You quickly get wrapped into the day to day life of gritty NYC during a darker period in recent history. The book follows Janie as she navigates through childhood and adolescents to early adulthood as she struggles with the constant changes and challenges life throws at her. A roller-coaster of a read, I enjoyed every second of it. First time listening to Michele as a narrator and I was impressed, she performed character voices distinctively which added to the experience as a whole. I would highly recommend this book!

Unexpected

While I enjoyed part 1, I was wonder where the book was going, but by part two I understood. The author did a great job at painting the picture of Janes life before her downfall. I enjoyed this book and look forward to the authors future books!

One long pamphlet

Don’t do drugs kids - this book has all the nuance and subtlety of a drug prevention pamphlet. Name any cliche associated with addiction or drug abuse, and you will find it in this book There are better ways to spend your time.