Our Guncle

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the idea of a 10-minute audiobook about grief—how much depth can you pack into a runtime shorter than my commute? But *Our Guncle* proved me wrong in the best way. Steven Rowley’s narration is the kind of performance that makes you forget you’re listening to an audiobook; it’s like eavesdropping on a private, pivotal moment. His delivery walks a tightrope between campy warmth (that drag queen voice he slips into? *Chef’s kiss*) and gut-punch vulnerability. The scene where GUP tries—and spectacularly fails—to distract the kids with a poolside ‘fashion show’ had me laughing, then immediately choked up when Maisie calls him out: *“We’re not dumb. We know you’re sad too.”* That’s the whole thesis right there: grief isn’t a problem to fix, but a space to share. My only critique? The pacing feels *almost* too brisk. The emotional whiplash between humor and heartache is intentional, but I wished for just 30 more seconds to marinate in certain moments—like when Grant asks if their mom is ‘still a mom’ in heaven. It’s a question that deserves a beat of silence, but the narrative barrels forward. And while Rowley’s voice work is stellar, the lack of a child narrator for Maisie and Grant’s lines occasionally pulls you out of the immersion. Still, these are quibbles. What Rowley achieves here is rare: a story that respects kids’ intelligence *and* their need for levity, wrapped in a package that’s as efficient as it is affecting. It’s not just for children processing loss—it’s for any adult who’s ever fumbled for the right words in the face of someone else’s pain.