One Death, Nine Stories

I’ll admit: I hit pause twice during *One Death, Nine Stories*. The first time was during Matt de la Peña’s contribution, where Graham’s narration of a soldier’s spiral into violence is so visceral, I had to step away. The second was during Traister’s delivery of A.S. King’s story—a mother’s voicemails to her dead son, rendered with a quiet devastation that made my throat tighten. This isn’t an easy listen, but it’s a *necessary* one, especially for teens (and adults) who’ve been numbed by sanitized portrayals of grief. The audiobook’s structure is its greatest strength and occasional weakness. The rapid-fire shifts between narrators and styles keep you off-balance, mirroring how death disrupts routine. Yet a few stories—like the janitor’s darkly comic monologue—feel tonally jarring next to the rawer pieces. And while Graham and Traister are both powerhouse performers, Traister’s cooler tone in the more detached stories (like the coroner’s report) sometimes blunts their impact. Still, the production’s minimalism works: no frills, just two voices and the weight of the words. It’s the kind of audiobook that lingers, not because it’s polished, but because it *hurts*—and that’s the point. If you’re looking for catharsis wrapped in a neat bow, look elsewhere. But if you want YA fiction that stares into the void and doesn’t blink? This is it.