Spontaneous

By: Aaron Starmer

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Now a new motion picture starring Katherine Langford, Charlie Plummer, and Hayley Law!

“Truly the smartest and funniest book about spontaneous combustion you will ever read.” (John Green, number-one best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars)

Mara Carlyle's senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until - wa-bam! - fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period precalc.

Katelyn is the first, but she won't be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara's suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in, and the search for a reason is on.

Whip-smart and blunt, Mara narrates the end of their world as she knows it while trying to make it to graduation in one piece. It's an explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, lifelong friendship, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bloggers, ice cream trucks, "Snooze Button™", Bon Jovi, and the filthiest language you've ever heard from the president of the United States.

Aaron Starmer rewrites the rulebook with Spontaneous. But beneath the outrageous is a ridiculously funny, super honest, and truly moving exemplar of the absurd and raw truths of being a teenager in the 21st century...and the heartache of saying goodbye.

“Wildly inventive.” (Entertainment Weekly “Must List”)

“A comically surreal novel that will blow your mind.” (People Magazine)

©2016 Aaron Starmer (P)2016 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"A blood-soaked, laugh-filled, tear-drenched, endlessly compelling read." (Kirkus)

Interesting but a little long

The story is definitely intriguing and new, but towards the end started to drag a little. The choice of a gravel-voiced reader (sort of a cross between 90s Lindsay Lohan & Emma Stone) was equally as intriguing and definitely took some getting used to. Her vocal inflections & performance were great at making her sound like her a teenager, but the voice was not what I expected from an audiobook reader.

Funny poignant story that explodes your insides with laughter

Righteously funny all the way through. Brutal if you’re a visual person. Perfect for 2020

Great voice

This is a totally believable and relatable protagonist that carries the reader through a totally (intentionally) unbelievable situation. Unique and surprising story, definitely not formulaic! Love the strong role of female friendship.

The ending is terrible!

The narrator was excellent, no complaints there. The book however had no humor and was just a teenage girl rambling about insignificant things in her life. The worst part, you never find out why people are exploding! Ugh!

Funny and clever. But beware!

This book is original and hilarious! However, if you are the type of reader that needs the ending to tie up everything neatly in a bow, you’re going to be disappointed. Can’t wait to see the movie now.

decent beginning, dull middle, terrible endind

Everything starts out interestingly enough. But the character's "personality trait" of sarcasm dulls the actual content. She's not shocked from the get-go about what's happening. Her relationship is believable, but hardly noteworthy. The ending... ugh.

Story aside, the narration is not my favorite. Vocal fry makes me constantly feel like I need to clear my throat, so I didn't enjoy it. When sped up to 1.4, it's bearable.

Meh

The story was dumb. The ending was anticlimactic. And the dang narrators voice was scratchy. Too much swearing and debauchery IMO for a story that is clearly aimed for adolescents. I’d like my credit back.