I Was a Teenage Were-Panda

About This Audiobook

Amanda Lash’s *I Was a Teenage Were-Panda* is the kind of novella that sneaks up on you—whimsical, irreverent, and just weird enough to feel fresh. This isn’t your grandma’s werecreature tale; it’s a snarky, self-aware romp through puberty and paranormal transformation, wrapped in the absurdity of a panda’s curse. The premise alone—a teenage boy who turns into a panda mid-breakdown—should be a hot mess, but Lash leans into the chaos with sharp humor and a surprisingly heartfelt core. It’s like *Napoleon Dynamite* meets *Teen Wolf*, if the lead were a snack-obsessed herbivore.

The audiobook’s razor-sharp delivery by Cherise Knapp makes this even more of a standout. Knapp’s narration crackles with energy, shifting seamlessly between deadpan sarcasm and genuine emotional beats. Whether she’s voicing the protagonist’s mortified teenage angst or the dry, logical narration of the supernatural rules, her performance feels like a best friend reading you the funniest Wikipedia entry ever. The pacing is tight, the jokes land, and even the world-building—limited though it is—feels vivid thanks to her knack for making the absurd feel grounded."

"review": "I went into this expecting a cute, forgettable diversion, but *I Was a Teenage Were-Panda* won me over with its sheer audacity and surprisingly sharp humor. Cherise Knapp’s narration is the secret weapon here—she sells the absurdity without winking so hard it collapses. Her teen protagonist, a mortified kid named Jason, sounds like every awkward 16-year-old who ever wished they could just *vibe* instead of dealing with homework, crushes, and now magical panda transformations. Knapp’s timing is impeccable, especially during the dry asides about were-panda lore, which could’ve read as boring but instead feel like a parody of bad lore-heavy YA.

That said, the novella’s brevity works against it in spots. Some emotional beats feel rushed, and the resolution wraps up a little too neatly, as if Lash was more interested in the joke than the catharsis. The production is otherwise clean, with no distracting breaths or weird audio artifacts, but I did notice a few spots where the ADR (additional dialogue replacement) felt a tad over-processed, like someone hit the ‘enhance’ button a little too hard. Still, the laughs are plentiful, and the ending leaves you wanting just one more chapter—always the mark of a good comedy. If you’re in the mood for fantasy that doesn’t take itself seriously, this is your audiobook."

"tags": ["were-panda humor