I'm giving up. I think there's a fascinating story here, a fish-out-of-water tale set in exotic locales, featuring colorful characters with unusual names, but the narrator absolutely destroys it. Instead of a gutsy voice that might emphasize the introduction of each new foreign name, we get this soft-spoken, low-energy voice, like she's reading "Winnie The Pooh" to us six-year-olds. It's infuriating. (Full Disclosure: the author and I were high school friends. This narrator's voice resembles that of the author, but that doesn't make her the best choice to deliver the audiobook. Impossible to hear this soft, breathy voice while commuting in the car. Please read all of Aimee Liu's books in hardcover. She has a vivid imagination, and a strong command of our language, but this audiobook is a bust.)