Never and Again

By: Justina Ireland

Narrated by: Lynnette R. Freeman

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

NEVER AND AGAIN combines the subversive critique of fascism in STARSHIP TROOPERS, the irreverent tone and horror of GIDEON THE NINTH, and the hard-hitting fictional war memoir format of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED.

In an all too imaginable future, where the privileged lead lives untouched by wars that have become a global pastime, disenfranchised young people who “volunteer” to become super soldiers are injected with nano technology that repeatedly brings them back from death.

In a race against time, one such soldier and an analyst struggle to understand strange phenomena that occur after too many resurrections: glitches known as nostalgia, which even in the midst of combat can hurtle a soldier into the past.

But after eight, nine, even ten resurrections lies something much worse than just glitches…

Intense, visceral, and disturbingly plausible, NEVER AND AGAIN explores America’s addiction to war, the myth of meritocracy, and the ethics of technology, all feeding into the ultimate question of what makes us human.

©2023 Justina Ireland (P)2023 Recorded Books Inc.

Interesting concept/good story

Justina Ireland just does it! She draws the reader in and then mows you down with humanity.

the right kind of horrifying

Justina Ireland brings the (anti-) militarism, racialised/classed ethical questioning, and politics of reanimation together again in an entirely new fashion. This is the dystopic future-current, with tons of body horror, that exposes our interrelationality. I think it's particularly useful right now to question complicities, small acts of intervention, dehumanisation and trauma. This book delivers all of that while remaining super compelling, scientific, and retaining the necessary strangeness of sci-fi. The narrator offers a strong performance, too! 5/5

Well told sci-fi story

Justina is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The prose she uses to tell this dual tale is brilliant, consistently kept me on my toes. Freeman did a wonderful job as well telling the tale and making sure it was easy to determine which characters were which.

Gripping, horrifying, Sci-fi dystopia at its finest.

Ireland is a masterful author, but this book really punches. The epic story is only heightened in intensity by Freeman’s delivery. Not an audiobook to relax to, it’s a wild ride and sick from start to finish.

Change up in style of writing!

I have been a longtime fan of Ireland and while this book departed from her usual style, I found the POV interesting and fresh.

Really enjoyed this book

Ireland creates a vivid and terrifying reality of a future where life is expendable and government, and resistance alike, move people around like pawns in their sick game. The dystopian future she creates in this book is believable and well rendered, and the characters and rich and interesting. The perspective of the narration is unique and serves to put you right into the story in a way that comes together so clearly in the end. I really enjoyed this story and the brilliant narration.

favorite war-centric book so far

Not my first Justina Ireland read, and while not my favorite, definitely a stand-out text. The use of second person is jarring, imo, especially in audiobook form; I found myself going back to relisten to short sections because I got confused, but instead of frustrating, I found it more engaging.

I'm always here for bisexual representation, and Justina Ireland never disappoints. The characters and world are crafted in a way that has caught my imagination and engaged my idle thoughts for the past few days, and I expect to sit in and process this graphic, terrifying, dystopia for quite some time.

Excellent read coming off of the Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman. A thrilling and on-the-nose look at the commodification of individuals through the military.

Warning! Written in the second person

Something written in the second person is so rare, I didn't listen to a sample. I love Justina Ireland and like the audio narrator so... There is another POV (in the first person) but most of the story is 2nd person, e.g.: You should feel something but you don't. You wonder where they took your friend, but decide you don't care. I despise the second person. Most people do and that's why it's rarely used. It generally adds nothing (except distance and annoyance on the reader's part). Add to that, the story just isn't that good. Had it been in first or third person, however, it would have been at least 2 stars and I wouldn't be returning it.