In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

It's not often I give up, but this is one of the big FAILS.

Perhaps I could have liked the book if it weren't for the horrible inflection and rhythm of the audiobook reader, Angela Goethals. It annoyed me from the start - her faux dramatic, hokey, hitching delivery - but I thought I could get used to it or get past it. But after 2 discs (somewhere about 2 hours of listening), I decided this was an aggravation I could do without and quit.

The book's about fake mysticism in turn-of-the-century America and a teenager's struggle to survive in a country turned upside-down by war and rampant racism. I kept waiting for the story to really grab me and ultimately I failed to find a hook.