Audiobook Review: A Cautious Trip

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

Read by Katie Leung and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Publication Date: June 18, 2024

Summary from Goodreads:

It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket.

There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train’s last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the train’s secrets.

Now, the train is about to embark again, with a new set of passengers. Among them are Marya Petrovna, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist looking for redemption; and Elena, a beguiling stowaway with a powerful connection to the Wastelands itself. Weiwei knows she should report Elena, but she can’t help but be drawn to her. As the girls begin a forbidden friendship, there are warning signs that the rules of the Wastelands are changing and the train might once again be imperiled. Can the passengers trust each other, as the wildness outside threatens to consume them all?

Confession:

This was a very different story that I mostly enjoyed. It was a little slow moving, and I’m not sure I totally got what the wastelands were all about, but the characters were an interesting bunch that I found myself invested in their stories.

This is another book that maybe I might have enjoyed a little bit better if I had read it. Both narrators were excellent, but the plot was complex and there were many points of view, and it was at times hard to keep track of everything.

This was the second book that I have listened to recently narrated by Katie Leung. She really is a wonderful narrator, but she still has a tendency to talk too quickly. I actually slowed down the speed a bit and found that to be a better way to listen to her. She does have an excellent range of different voices for all of the characters which were a joy to listen to. I would definitely pick up another audiobook narrated by her. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith was also good, but he had a very small role in this one, only narrating the small snippets of the travel book that was a guide to this train trip. But still I liked his voice and would listen to him again.

The story is told through three points of view, Marya Petrovna, Henry Gray and Wei Vei. I liked all three of these characters and found their journey both in the physical sense and in the emotional growth they showed throughout the story. I especially enjoyed Wei Vei story. She is a worker on the train, but she was also born and raised on it. Her storyline was sort of a coming of age story and it was nice to see her growth. I didn’t like Henry very much. He is a scientist, but not a very ethical one. Marya was just trying to find the truth about the train and her father’s death. I did enjoy her journey as well.

The train itself is almost a character in the story. At times it felt very much alive and a part of the story. This was also true of the wastelands. The creatures and fauna that live there were just as much a part of the story as the people in this story. I did at times wish that the train and wastelands were real so that I could take the journey too.

The writing was very immersive. The descriptions of the train and wasteland were vivid and very rich in the details. All of the passengers and crew were also described in such a way as to make them feel like real people, even the very minor characters. The world building could have been a bit better, as I really never completely understood what the wasteland was about and why it was there. This didn’t totally affect my interest in the story, but it did leave me with a lot of questions at the end of the book. The pacing was also very slow throughout most of the book with a lot of action happening in the last quarter. The speed of the conclusion also was a little confusing and I kind of felt like I was missing pieces.

This was really quite good for a debut book. It was very complex and I loved the descriptive writing. I will definitely keep an eye out for more books by this author. If you are looking for a book that is beautifully written, with a complex and pretty original plot, this is one you probably want to add to your list.