Slumber (20th Anniversary Edition)

About This Audiobook

You’ve read the fairy tales where the princess gets the prince and the castle—this isn’t one of them. In *Slumber’s* gothic-tinged coming-of-age, Rory isn’t rescued; she’s awakened. At 15, she’s ripped from her gilded life and dumped into a decaying estate where time bends like a broken pocket watch. The catch? If she hasn’t broken a century-old curse by her 16th birthday, she’ll simply… stop. No fanfare, no crown, just silence. Crystal Taché crafts a world where privilege is a prison and magic is a minefield, weaving folklore into something raw and immediate. Every creaking floorboard and whispered incantation feels like a ticking clock, and Rory’s rage and vulnerability make her impossible to look away from.

The narration by Cailey Lupiccini is the spell that binds it all together. Her voice shifts with Rory’s moods like mercury—silken when Rory recalls stolen moments of safety, jagged when the curse claws at her, and eerily calm when the estate itself seems to breathe. Lupiccini doesn’t just read the words; she *performs* the suffocating dread of a girl who’s always one misstep from oblivion. The production leans into the oppressive atmosphere, with layered whispers, distant church bells, and a sense of being watched even when the narration stops. If you crave stories where the real magic isn’t in spells but in resilience, this audiobook delivers it in spades.