This is a perfect book to listen as an audio book. It truly made me feel every word on the page that more deeply. I think this is a book that every parent should read/listen to as it shows just how deep a fathers love is for their child. In this book Adam is transitioning from female to male. This change impacts not only adam but those in his life. I will say that this book focused mostly on Adam's father and I would have loved to hear more of how it effected Adam as well as his siblings a little bit more.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

In <i>Soar, Adam, Soar</i>, Rick Prashaw tells the story of his son Adam, a transgender man who didn't let the struggles in his life keep him from living life to the fullest before his untimely death due to a seizure-related drowning. Rick draws on his memories of Adam and direct quotes from Adam's Facebook page to tell the story of Adam's life. He also tells about the legacy Adam left behind, not just through the memories with family and friends, but also by donating organs to give 4 other people a second chance at life.

I generally prefer to hear audiobook memoirs read by the authors themselves so we can really hear the emotion/tone behind their words. However, if Rick couldn't or didn't want to narrate this book himself, I think it is really neat that John Dickhout, the recipient of Adam's heart, was able to narrate the book instead. I enjoyed reading about Adam's life, but my favorite part of the book was how open and honest Rick was about his grief in the aftermath of Adam's death. My main complaint with the book would be the flow of the story. I think it could have been better organized or edited. 3.5 stars

Adam Prashaw's life was an adventure from the moment he was born. Assigned female at birth, he spent years living as "Rebecca Danielle Adam Prashaw" before coming to terms with being a transgender man and sharing that with the world openly. Adam captured hearts with his humor, compassion, zest for life. and his intensity for life itself. After a tragic accident while swimming cut his life short, he left a legacy of changed lives and a plethora of social media posts documenting his life, relationships, transition, and struggles with epilepsy, all with remarkable transparency, boldness, bravery, and directness. Your foray through Adam’s life also shows you that despite pure love for your child, the distance that “growing up” (never mind “growing up” with gender identity issues) creates between parent and child, and how hard it can be for parents to supress their protective urges when it comes to their children and allowing them the room to grow into their own person, whomever that may be. It spotlights a deeply emotional relationship between a father and son, and the oceans of support and unconditional love always present in Adam’s life.

This is a powerful tale of not just strength, resilience, and hope, but also of acceptance, grace, and the ever present legacy we leave behind with family, friends, and the world as a whole.

I extend my utmost gratitude to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and the author Rick Prashaw for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Initially I did find the narrator off putting, robotic, and sometimes inappropriate, however when I read the note from the publisher, that the narrator is the recipient of Adam’s heart, how can you find fault in what you hear. It’s coming from that deep place of love allowing part of Adam to continue on. Definitely worth the read (or listen if you don’t mind an audiobook narrated by someone with a few “quirks” to their speech patterns!) A 3.5 star audiobook for me.

You can see my reviews at oceansofbooks.com, as well as Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble,

I listened to this over two days. It is just wow! The story is of Bekka/Adam’s life and how he struggled through being a girl until he finally admitted he was trans. The struggles that Adam went through were heartbreaking but what shone through the whole time was his personality and zest for life. Not only did Adam contend with being trans, he also suffered from epilepsy and had two surgeries in the hope that these would stop his seizures. Unfortunately Adam died, far too young, from a tragic accident. What ensues is then a testament to his life, his friends and family and the struggles they went through grieving for him! I though this was an incredibly powerful book which shows the strength and resilience some people have. Adam came across as a wonderful young man with a huge zest for life. What was also lovely, was the realisation after I finished the book as to who the narrator actually was.

I haven't read books with Trans MCs before so this was definitely a new experience for me. I was not able to listen to the entire audiobooks as there was a lot of hospital-related stuff and I, unfortunately, wasn't aware before heading into this book. Being a hypochondriac, it became very difficult to follow the detailed descriptions of the various surgeries and problems Adam goes through.

But, having said that, I also heard enough to understand that the author has handled the story in a very sensitive and respectful way. I felt that the story was more about the father and how he adjusts to what happens VS slightly less about the son and his journey.

This is a story about transformation and loss, of family and love and acceptance.

And yes, this is definitely the most heartfelt tribute from a father to his son!

This isn’t so much the story of Adam as it is the story of his father Rick. No content was written by Adam himself other than share FB posts that often were so randomly placed. I will refrain from giving away too much, but basically Rick always wanted to write a book about his child, from pretty much the moment they were born, and that was the real motivation for writing, not Adam himself/or his transition it seemed.

The story is interesting enough, but I was disappointed that it was completely one sided. Basically Ricks view, through the lens of Facebook. Which while heartfelt, isn’t really the story of Adam, it’s the story of Ricks journey as Rebecca/Adams dad.p which made it very one dimension.

I also didn’t care for the narrator at all. At first I thought it was Rick himself because it seemed so armature, but was surprised to see it wasn’t. His over inflections and theatric was of telling make it seem either disingenuous or like he didn’t agree with what he was reading. Pretty off putting.

Powerful, beautiful, emotional story!
Adam's father narrates the story of his child, of the love and respect he had for their journey through transition and the legacy Adam left after their too early departure.
Eccellent narrator!

‘Soar, Adam, Soar’.
‘Coming Out. Coming In. Coming Home.’
‘He is back mixing his two epic journeys: conquering epilepsy and transitioning from a woman to a man. The two seem joined at the hip. The seizures and surgeries frustrate Adam’s primary agenda – to be all boy’.

*** I received a free Advanced Review Copy from NetGalley. This review is entirely my own and reflects my honest opinion.

Real Rating: 3.5/5 (for the audiobook version)

Let me start with a truth: I struggle with audiobooks. My mind doesn’t find it easy to focus on audio unless I’m engaged in some kind of grounding activity which meant it took me longer than usual to get through this novel. All that aside, ‘Soar, Adam, Soar’ is a deeply emotional account of the relationship between a father and son. The narrative follows Adam in his fight against epilepsy and through his transition from a woman to a man, with his father supporting him along the way.

Emotional, personal, and easy to digest. This is a heartfelt story that had me reaching for the tissues on numerous occasions. ‘Soar, Adam, Soar’ is written from the perspective of Adam’s father and is made up of recollections supported by posts from Adam’s social media accounts. It touches on the distance between parent and child – especially with the rise of social media – and how hard it can be for parents to supress their protective urges when it comes to their children. It explores Adam’s transition from female to male, showing the struggles that can come along with it (i.e., dysphoria, counselling, and long waiting times). Then, the most upsetting subject of all, Adam’s battle with epilepsy and the toll it takes on his health.

These topics have the ability to be alienating or difficult to understand if you are approaching them from the outside, however ‘Soar, Adam, Soar’ breaks them down into digestible chunks resulting creating an informative and accessible narrative.

Unfortunately, in the audiobook, many moments are undercut by lapses in formality. In some cases, the emotional moments are outright ruined by an almost-comedic reading of otherwise unfunny events. I can’t tell if this is an attempt to balance out the tragedy, using humour to elevate the narrative, or if it is a misunderstanding on the narrator’s end. Either way, it just didn’t work for me. I also felt that the narrative often focussed more on Adam’s father than it did Adam. This is something I can definitely understand but it was not what I was expecting when I first approached the novel.

Despite a few misgivings I see ‘Soar, Adam, Soar’ as an important read, one that will be weighing on my mind for a while, and I would recommend it readily. Though, what with the audiobook issues I mentioned, I’d probably suggest picking up a physical copy.

This is a powerful story told from a father/son perspective! Life hasn’t been easy for Adam. Born a girl, his parents supported him coming out as a lesbian and then transitioning to become a man. This is a book of resilience, courage and strength.

Sending a sincere thank you to NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of Soar Adam Soar for my honest review!

Review posted on my Goodreads.account

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12409011-donna-beiderman

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The narrator of the audiobook version performed well and, using different tones, quickly alerted the listener each time there was a shift in the point of view of either the father or the son, as well as added a depth of qpersonality to each storyteller.
The story is written well and draws your attention to the important details of Adam's life, both before and after announcing his transition. The major events and the mundane daily life activities are interesting and the author's ability to utilize imagery to describe the lives and interactions of the wonderdully accepting and supportive family is the main tool used to develop Adam from an unknown figure to a fully rounded person that anyone would love to be around and hang with both at work and in play.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this audiobook to listen to and review. The opinions expressed here are my own honest opinions written voluntarily.

Soar, Adam, Soar was such an amazing, emotional read! The author is Adam’s father who has a unique perspective as he is also a former priest. He somehow managed to convey hope, joy, sadness and throw in a dash of comedy all while showing the love he had for his child and helping to tell the story of Adam and how he became the person he was and the legacy he left behind. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent at helping to set the appropriate tone in each part of the book.