3.5 - This English translation was on the Canada Reads 2021 longlist and I loved that the main character has cystic fibrosis! The author does a great job showing the challenges that come with living with such a chronic lung disease - daily preventative treatments, work absences that often lead to unemployment from unsympathetic employers, hospitalizations, etc, etc. As a person with a very similar condition I could relate to MUCH of the main character's challenges but I struggled to connect or care too much about the tangents he goes on dreaming about a better/different life on the imaginary Star Wars planet of Tatouine. Overall great concept but poor/lack luster execution I just wasn't that invested in. Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for an advance listening copy of the new audiobook edition!

Tatouine was longlisted for Canada Reads this year and I was happy to learn about it because I need to read more novels written by French-Canadian authors. It's a gap in my Canadian literature that I am eager to fill in.

The narrator of this novel is never named and there are no chapters. It is written as a stream of consciousness of this young man living in a basement apartment of Montreal. This young man has cystic fibrosis, has a hard time holding down a job, he doesn't have many friends, he's depressed and quite lonely. What makes him endearing is his incredible imagination and a dry sense of humour.

I enjoyed the references to pop culture and the way he used his imagination to make his life less mundane. I had hoped the ending would have been different. This is an enjoyable book for readers who like character driven novels and don't mind being in someone's head for a few hours.

The audio is narrated by Adam Kenneth-Wilson who reads in a French-Canadian accent and gives the character another layer of depth.

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW press audio for the free audio of this book.

Bookworm Rating: 🐛🐛🐛🌱