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    Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel
    Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel
    Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel
    Audiobook16 hours

    Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel

    Written by Trent Dalton

    Narrated by Stig Wemyss

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Now a Netflix original series starring Simon Baker, Travis Fimmel, and Phoebe Tonkin!

    “Hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. . . . Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous.” —Washington Post

    ""The best book I read this decade."" —Sharon Van Etten in Rolling Stone

    A story of brotherhood, true love, family, and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe is the tale of an adolescent boy on the cusp of discovering the man he will be.

    Eli Bell’s life is complicated. His father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim—a notorious felon and national record-holder for successful prison escapes—who watches over Eli and August, his silent genius of an older brother.

    Exiled far from the rest of the world in Darra, a neglected suburb populated by Polish and Vietnamese refugees, this twelve-year-old boy with an old soul and an adult mind is just trying to follow his heart, learn what it takes to be a good man, and train for a glamorous career in journalism. Life, however, insists on throwing obstacles in Eli’s path—most notably Tytus Broz, Brisbane’s legendary drug dealer.

    But the real trouble lies ahead. Eli is about to fall in love, face off against truly bad guys, and fight to save his mother from a certain doom—all before starting high school.

    Powerful and kinetic, Trent Dalton’s debut is sure to be one of the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novels you will experience.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 2, 2019
    ISBN9780062908735
    Author

    Trent Dalton

    Trent Dalton is a two-time Walkley Award-winning journalist and the international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, All Our Shimmering Skies, and Lola in the Mirror. His books have sold over 1.3 million copies in Australia alone. He lives in Brisbane, Australia, with his wife and two daughters.

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    Reviews for Boy Swallows Universe

    4/5

    263 ratings18 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I think this is one of the best books of my life and I’ve been reading for 42 of those, prolifically. I loved every minute of it. It’s a big book, with big ideas that it manages to bring off masterfully, with an ending that doesn’t disappoint. It’s a classic, I believe. The book is a streaming series now, but really read the book. You won’t regret it. I don’t want to give more details than this because, this one’s better going in without knowing what to expect.
    • 3/5
      Loved - really warmed to the positive characters: Eli, Gus, Slim, Lyle and Caitlyn Spies- really loved to hate the negative characters: Tytus Broz, Dustin Vang, hitman- loved the bizarreness and humor of Broz prosthetic limb research, Dustin Vang’s teenage bravado, - Gus and Eli’s brotherly interactions- group hug- stories about Boggo Road prison and Eli’s Christmas break in- Eli’s struggle to contain his tears - Eli’s love for Caitlan Spies- the positive male characterizations and role models in Slim and Lyle even if they are imperfect - your end is a dead blue wren- the final reveal under the red silk - the high paced thrilling endingDidn’t love- the meandering pace for some of the book- the voice (I found it a bit self aware)
    • 5/5
      The story captured my attention and held it. Trent Dalton is a talented writer and has a way with words. I began with an e-book and finished with the audio version. Fantastic! I'll see how many incidents or experiences I can summarize in three words.
    • 5/5
      In complete honesty, this is one of the greatest books I have ever read
    • 5/5
      Incredibly well written, a story of charming and alarming details.
    • 4/5
      This is a beautifully written book, which was essential for this to be an enjoyable read. Why? It's big. It feels like it's bigger than it needs to be. Even though there's always plenty happening, the core plot progresses slowly. It does snowball gradually, but there are a lot of digressions. It all adds up to the overall story but if the writing hadn't been so good, it would have been excessive. I did enjoy this. I do think, however, that you need to be Australian to really get a lot of the content. It's always good to get an authentic Australian story, but overseas readers won't understand a lot of references.
    • 5/5
      This is told in that kind of narrative style where the earnest optimism of the protagonist is easy to be swept up in, much like how I felt about The Heart's Invisible Furies.It's difficult to describe how this never distilled someone's humanity down to their worst mistakes or actions-big or little-and it never got bogged down in cynical meditations despite Eli Bell's often heartbreaking realizations about the world around him and its fragility and how wrong he can be about how he perceives it.The writing is full of imagery and gorgeous. It walks a line carefully between magic and reality. It never gets indulgent, and it never bores.Quite simply: brilliant. I loved it. Thanks to Jultri for the recommendation.
    • 4/5
      A different type of story. I enjoyed the stories and the characters. The story is told by Eli from the ages of 13 to 19. Like many teenagers, this book heads off into many tangents but always returning to the main story. The tangents, many and oh so varied, make the overall book a pleasure to read, while at the same time they take the reader to places you weren't expecting.
    • 2/5
      Honestly, I struggled with this book, at times it almost defeated me and I just wanted to put it down and never pick it back up again but I persevered as many people have said it's a slow burner. Sadly finally reaching the conclusion of the book last night (due to not being able to sleep because of the horrible heatwave) this book just wasn't for me, and that's okay.
      The biggest letdown for me was the repetitiveness, I really need a break from 'bitumen, tomato sauce, tiptop bread, Devon, Dunlop KT-26, Margarine' and the repetitive phrases of 'Boy Swallows Universe, Your end is a dead blue wren, Caitlin Spies...'
      I felt that the Australian imagery was very forced and sometimes unnecessary, you don't need to name every single 90's Australian food-brand to give the reader a nostalgia hit. I think the book could have been edited a little better too.
      I've never read a book that's 60% autobiographical with elements of magical realism and I do take my hat off to the author for that but sadly this just wasn't for me.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable romp that will make for a great TV series. Not sure it will stick with me for long but was good while it lasted. A decent summer read.
    • 1/5
      Started twice. Gave up at 145 pages (one fifth of the book) the second time. Something about the writing style really irritated me and reading this felt like such a chore. I just don’t get all the hype. At least I have enjoyed reading the other 1 star reviews. I feel better now.
    • 4/5
      Very well written, really evokes the Australia of the era (early '80s). But I found its really hard to get into, worth it once I did, just a bit of a slog.
    • 3/5
      This one rushed to the top of the charts here in Australia, and I bought it. Wasn't money well spent, at least for me. Doubtless, lots of people enjoyed it but I was rather disappointed. Dalton is certainly a competent writer but sometimes his descriptive passages have an enervating whiff of thesaurus about them. The plot is creative enough, and there's enough weirdness about the characters to engage the reader. I loved the evocation of Brisbane where I spent a decade and a half of my teens and young adult life. Always fun to read something set in familiar places.However, the book is longer than it needs to be (almost 500 pages) and the climax tamer than I hoped. Not to mention, it begins to read like a chase from a screenplay. In a cinema near you soon.
    • 4/5
      A little bit hard to follow at first, but perseverance paid and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Delightful characters of the two boys and their parents and even the "criminals " they met along the way.
    • 3/5
      Slick and interesting - if a bit creepy
    • 5/5
      Wonderful book - partly a page-turning thriller, partly a slightly mystical family memoir, and partly a boy-does-good-from-bad-background tale.I was spellbound from the first chapter, and read the book in two days, wishing there was more to come.
    • 3/5
      This is a very engrossing story, once you get halfway in. Suddenly millions of things start happening, all at once, tying every loose thread together. A bit over the top. I didn't really like it, though. The writing style was very grating. It isn't bad writing, it feels right for the character, but too harsh for me.
    • 5/5
      Smiling through tears. Favourite book in years.