Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: The Cuckoo’s Call

AUTHOR: Lily Morton

NARRATOR:  Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 10 hours and 39 minutes

RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2022

BLURB: 

Can a summer romance last forever?

Wren Roberts thought he’d found his fairy tale when he met Mateo Rossi on holiday in Majorca. The wealthy and successful older man swept him off his feet, and before he knew it, he’d thrown caution to the wind and was living in Mateo’s waterside apartment in Venice. It’s a far cry from his harsh upbringing and crummy flat in London.

But as the summer turns to autumn, cracks begin to show. Mateo’s family aren’t welcoming, and there doesn’t seem to be a place for Wren in Mateo’s world. He could have coped with all of that, but Mateo himself seems like a different person away from the sunshine island.

Should Wren have been more cautious in riding off into the sunset when he wasn’t sure what lay over the horizon?

From best-selling author Lily Morton comes a romance about two men who find that sometimes happily ever after doesn’t end there.

REVIEW: 

There are very few authors who can consistently produce five-star books, but Lily Morton is one of them. Each book of hers is breathtakingly beautiful and impactful in its own unique way. Each one is guaranteed to have plenty of snarky humor, crisp, witty dialogue, amazing world-building, and relatable, endearing characters. So it’s no surprise that her latest, The Cuckoo’s Call, is a masterpiece.

The Cuckoo’s Call is beautifully written with a rich, detailed, well-crafted story between two fascinating men. Everything Morton does is done superbly, but if I had to call out a particular strength, it’s in her dialogue and her character development. Wren and Mateo (Teo) are so different yet so obviously suited to each other. It’s a pairing you wouldn’t predict but can’t deny its perfection. I fell in love with Wren from page one. He’s witty and kind, yet ostracized, often scorned for his class status, and lonely. Despite it all, he maintains an indefatigable optimism, made even more remarkable in light of the crappy hand he was dealt in life.

Mateo, for his part, is like a tethered bird. He has the heart, mind, and soul of a dreamer. He wants to be free but he’s saddled with responsibility for a family he generally despises, cleaning up his father’s repeated messes. In his ivory tower, he’s oblivious to the fact that the world can be cruel to someone like Wren. But Wren opens his eyes to the reality and harshness of the world and Mateo chafes against it, hard. He wants to make it right for everyone, but at least he can make it right for Wren. At least that’s his goal. Both Wren and Mateo are multi-dimensional, deep, and unerringly lovable even with all of their flaws. Despite the improbability of their relationship, it developed in a very real way, and proves to be authentic and true.

Morton’s books are not about events. They are about her characters and the world they live in and experience. Her world-building is exceptional with vivid details and descriptiveness that paints a picture in our heads as we read the words. She then uses that same skill to bring Wren and Mateo to life and allow us to experience their emotions as they transform in front of us.

Speaking of skill, and extraordinary skill at that, let’s just pause for a minute to hail the king of accents, Joel Leslie. If Leslie had requested that Morton provide him with a story that he could use to showcase his expertise with a variety of accents, Morton’s couldn’t have given him a better one than The Cuckoo’s Call. This international story features characters with a myriad of accents, Italian, Spanish lilt, British, just to name a few. Leslie delivers them all with a precision and consistency that only a true master of his craft can accomplish.  

But Leslie doesn’t rest on his laurels and let the accents do all the work either.  He makes Wren and Mateo, as well as the members of the secondary cast, unique and distinct from each other. Leslie’s repertoire of intonations, pitches, timbres, and nuanced choices in pacing and dynamics are put to effective, impactful use in bringing Morton’s complex characters to life.

The Cuckoo’s Call’s story mirrors how Wren describes Venice: melancholy and beautiful. The story starts at the end, so we know Wren and Mateo’s relationship is going to fall apart. Reading of their happiness and seeing them fall in love makes my heart feel like a balloon with one of those party weights on the end of its string – so jubilant and happy to see Wren and Mateo together, yet weighed down by the sense of foreboding of impending disaster and heartbreak.

Morton has written two other titles, After Felix and Beautifully Unexpected, with similar gravitas – call it anxiety, disquiet, or even sadness. Each book is poignantly beautiful with a lovely, hard-earned HEA, but there’s a pervasive feeling throughout that something is wrong and we’re waiting for it all to go wrong and then be set right. Leslie is superb at that dynamic because his vocal performances are fulsome – he captures everything from the literal words and phrasing to the emotion we expect from them and the hidden doubts and vulnerabilities that Morton seamlessly weaves into her story

The Cuckoo’s Call is an emotional journey brought to life through Morton’s stellar writing, Leslie’s invested vocal performance, and the remarkable ability of both to tell an amazing, immersive story. I loved this audiobook and give it my highest recommendation.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Audible  

Amazon