El penultimo sueno

Adriana Sananes doesn’t just narrate *El penúltimo sueño*; she inhabits it. Her voice has this smoky, lived-in quality that makes Joan—once a free-spirited artist, now a woman tangled in regrets—feel achingly real. Early on, I was skeptical of the time jump premise, but Sananes sold me on it by the third chapter. By the time the story circles back to Cannes fifty years later, you’re already invested in these two souls who can’t seem to let go. That said, the middle act sags a bit with exposition, slowing the momentum just enough to make the audiobook feel its 17-hour runtime. Still, Sananes’ ability to modulate between Joan’s clipped frustration and Soledad’s softer, almost lyrical introspection keeps the listening experience seductive. The production team deserves praise for their understated use of ambient sound—distant waves during beach scenes, the clink of wine glasses in a high-end bar—without ever distracting from the narrative. My only real critique: Becerra’s flashbacks to the 1970s romance sometimes feel overly sentimental, like the prose is straining for the kind of soaring melodrama that doesn’t quite land in audio format. But then Sananes would swoop in with a vocal inflection that reminded me why I was listening in the first place. If you’re a romance fan who believes in love that transcends time, this audiobook is worth every minute.