This was great fun! It is basically a murder mystery. The setting is a future where we've made contact with and established diplomatic relations with an alien species. These aliens communicate in a vaguely telepathic way that requires human translators. The process of translating causes the human translators to feel drunk. Our main character is one such translator and gets caught up in trying to solve the murder mystery.

This was fun and not terribly deep, but did manage to touch on xenophobia, classism, and police corruption. It also portrayed basically a surveillance state in a generally neutral way. It was described with the bored neutrality one might use to describe any bureaucratic process.

On the whole, I liked the protagonist and found her sympathetic. The aliens were really fun and different. It was a good mystery. It reminded me just a little bit of A Memory Called Empire in that it involved a murder mystery, questioning your mind/memories, alien cultural exchange, and alien diplomacy. Although, I would say this book has a lighter tone to it.

The audio was good and enjoyable, but once again, a British reader can't seem to do an American accent haha.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio arc.

Sexual violence? No. Other content warnings? Murder, some mildly grisly descriptions (not a lot), manipulation, gas lighting, guns, fat phobia/shaming, drug use, xenophobia, suicide.

I was surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved the well-thought out scifi elements and how they went hand in hand with the murder mystery. This book was a delight to read and I'm so happy I listened to it on audio because the narrator was fantastic!

I’m not sure this book would have been on my radar prior to the release date if I hadn’t seen it on NetGalley, who provided an e-arc and audiobook arc for review. I’m so glad it caught my eye because it’s exactly what I needed! Now I’m not sure we could call it a subgenre all on its own, but I do happen to particularly enjoy sci-fi stories involving human translators for space aliens. (It’s a thing.) This book has its own unique take on the trope and I thought it was done very well - in this world, the act of translation has a peculiar and specific effect on the human body, rendering the human “drunk” after an extended period of work. This of course poses a problem when our MC, the translator to an alien diplomat in New York, wakes up one morning at the center of a murder mystery with no recollection of the night of the murder.
As a murder mystery, I thought this was a very satisfying read, and as a sci-fi novel, I enjoyed how it was grounded in a personal, individual scale story while still giving us glimpses of an intriguing larger world/society beyond. The scope was just right for the length of this story.
I’d also like to note that the audiobook narrator did an excellent job and her performance was a large part of what drew me in to the story so quickly. Her voice was melodic but expressive, and she captured the humor in the story well. Finally, especially in comparison to some distractingly bad American accents I’ve heard recently (I know that sounds harsh but it’s true), this British narrator handled the various accents and dialects in this story with ease. Highly recommend this book!

This story had an unusual premise and an intricately woven story to get to the bad guy, who turned out to only be part of a bigger network to cover up a murder. It was well-written and I really enjoyed it.

Not quite the mystery I was hoping it would be, but I still enjoyed myself to a good extent. I think that my expectations were too high with this one ... I was hoping for more aliens, more intrigue, just ... more than what we get with this. There's quite a bit of info-dumping and backstory-dumping, and all I wanted was to be in the present learning about this crazy reality where human and alien life live side by side.

Not bad, but not something I would recommend to sci-fi lovers per say.

Science Fiction yarn dealing with languages and translations amongst different species + A Murder Mystery yarn put together. This was a pretty light read not Hard Sci Fi that takes a lot of brain power to fully comprehend. Its a fairly short novel that will appeal to any sci fi/mystery fans looking for a quick and fun read.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for sending me an audiobook arc of this title.

A short, fast paced mystery sci fi.

In a futuristic New York City an alien race named the Logi live amongst the human population as they study the culture with the help of their human translators.

Lydia one of the human translators is struggling with whether to continue on with her job until her alien boss Firz is killed and she's the number one suspect.

Part locked room mystery, conspiracy thriller, and futuristic Sci Fi, Drunk On All your Strange words is an unputdownable wild ride.

Props to the narrator who not only brought Lydia to life, but she also voiced the sometimes emotionally vague aliens fantastically.

A book I think I'll end up rereading to pick up on some more of the fantastic foreshadowing.

4 stars

Thanks NetGalley and RB Media for this Audio Arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. I requested an audio ARC on the strength of a single glowing review (and was approved, thank you NetGalley and Recorded Books). This is a fun sci-fi murder mystery with an interesting premise, which I won't rehash here because I know you know how to read a Goodreads synopsis for yourself.

I genuinely liked Fitz, even from the short time we spend with him before the murder, and Lydia's perspective was interesting to follow. The plot was engaging, especially around three-quarters of the way through when it felt like Lydia's amateur detective work was starting to unravel, and overall the resolution to the mystery worked for me.

Audio narration by Amy Scanlon was terrific. Her "New York" accents could use some work, however the vast majority of the book is in Lydia's accent so that didn't really bother me - I still recommend the audiobook.

Lydia is a translator for an alien species that communicates telepathically. When translating, the process causes a kind of drunkenness to occur in the translator. As a result, Lydia wakes up one morning with no memory past a certain point in the night and a dead boss. Now the center of an intergalactic incident, and a suspect for murder, Lydia begins investigating on her own. Following leads she knows the police won't. All with the assistance of an unexpected ally.
I loved the science fiction elements of this book. There was such a high degree of sci-fi, but it was never confusing. There were intricate details, but Robson managed to clearly convey them in a way that every scene painted a picture in my mind. The way the world had changed, the way investigations, shopping, the internet, housing, has all changed seemed so obvious. I would almost consider this a prophecy of the future. Something that could fit into one of the more believable Black Mirror episodes.
One detail I had issue with was at one point he mentions that the elevator shaft had been removed to make room for more housing, causing everyone to use stairs. The way this was said so blaze as though this were typical of all apartments in the city in addition to the lack of disability evident, makes me winder if its implied disabled people don't exist, or if Robson simply didn't think of them as he was writing. As a disabled person, the absence was glaring. I do wonder if it was intentional or not.
However, that was my only real caveat with the book. I was a little dissatisfied with the ending. The reveal was great, but I don't like when the murderer is just some random person that you've had no reason to suspect from the beginning, and the entire premise of the game really confused me. But I'm sure a secondary reading will absolve me of this issue. A second reading I very much intend to do.

I do love the whole concept of alien contact living in eart to learn everything about humanity. I do get the Murderbot Diaries vibe with the main protagonist.

It is a great read though but the conflict is somewhere good. Not that very fresh and new but the characters lift the novel.

Full disclosure, received for free in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

I’ve now had the opportunity to listen as well as read this solid little mystery! I definitely recommend listening over reading. The narrator really helped bring this book to life, and brought out a lot of humor that I didn’t see before.
Plenty of clues, didn't feel like any of the solutions were too outlandish, did a good job of breadcrumbing it along the way. I do like the ideas in it, regarding translation as a long term job and whatnot.
The audiobook brought the book from a 3 to a 4 star experience.

This review is for the audiobook, not the text.

Usually when I listen to an audiobook, I read along in the text.

However, although I applied for both the ebook and the audiobook on NetGalley,
I was only approved for the audiobook.

So please overlook any errors I make relating to the text, as I had no access to it.

Overall, Amy Scanlon was an excellent audio narrator. I sometimes found her voice mesmerizing.

Her narration was cool and smooth at times; more expressive at others. She voiced the characters very convincingly. She was a good fit for the material.

My one complaint about her would be that, like many British audio readers, she doesn't get the regional variations in American accents very well. She used a generic American accent for all American characters.

The story is set in New York. I'm a New Yorker, and she did reproduce New York accents at all.

I have mixed feelings about the story.

I was captivated by the wonderful title.

The story started out quite intriguing, but devolved as it went on. The denouement was disappointing.

It's a science fiction murder mystery, set in near future NY City. NYC is surrounded by a sea wall, there are driverless cars and smart glasses, etc. The NYPD gets involved and lots of others.

The main character, Lydia, is the translator for the for Fitz, the cultural attache on Earth from
the planet Logir (I hope I spelled it correctly, but don't know, since I had no access to the text).
Lydia is a British emigre from Halifax in Yorkshire. She was trained at a London school for translators.

Lydia and Fitz work well together.

But translating Logisi makes trained translators feel "intoxicated". (Which explains the title of the book).

I don't want to say much more about the story to avoid giving away spoilers.

As science fiction, it's not terribly interesting as the entire story takes place on Earth, and there's little world building. The Logis remain mysterious and unexplained. We learn next to nothing about their culture. Perhaps this is fine, because the story takes place entirely on Earth.

As a mystery, it's convoluted, involving video gaming and game development; conspiracy theories about the Logi disseminated on social media; police corruption, etc. But ultimately the ending is disappointing.

However, the story kept my interest all along. A lot of this was because of the excellent audio narrator.

The main character, Lydia, was the most compelling, as she’s the only one we really get to know. The other characters were interesting too, but we don’t learn as much about them, and are therefore less invested in them.

So:

Audiobook: 4
Novel itself: 3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) of the audiobook.

#DrunkonAllYourStrangeNewWords #NetGalley

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words has made me the #1 Logi fan. This was such a fun story and the strongest part of it was the characters. I loved Fitz, Lydia, and Madison a lot. Lydia brought so much humor, made even better by amazing narration. I also found the use of a translator for human/alien communication to be a unique and interesting aspect of the book. However, too much focus was on the murder mystery. It kept me on the edge of my seat, but didn’t have a satisfying ending (not to mention all the deadends). I would have much rather learned about alien first contact or more about Logi culture. I hope the author writes more books in this world because I would love to know more about the Logi and how their relationship with humankind develops. Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook!

This was very clever and well done. Recommended.


Review copy provided by publisher.

__________________________________

Firstly, I'm going to apologize in advance because this review might end up being the equivalent of one of those annoying YouTube comments where some genius pops in to be like "FIRST!" and sometimes they're not even first but they're so proud of themselves anyway. I hope I don't descend to that level but I can't promise anything because I had such a good time with this book I'm afraid my filters for reasonable behavior may currently be affected (appropriate, considering the book's plot).

I was approved for this book yesterday morning when I was sitting on the couch in my PJ's and I got so excited I squealed, downloaded it instantly, and immediately started listening. I have now finished it approximately twenty hours later and can safely say this is one you should add to your TBRs if you like mysteries and/or near-future science fiction (with aliens!). There is so much packed into this tiny book. Lydia is our main character, and she's a translator for the cultural attaché of the Logi, an alien race that made first contact with humans years back, and whose presence has affected human culture greatly (and human culture is of course beginning to affect them back).

The Logi need translators not because they can't learn to speak human languages, but because their method of speaking is only available physiologically to a small percentage of humans, as they speak telepathically. Hilariously, the people chosen to train for these jobs have to also be trained to overcome the side effects of speaking with a Logi, which is a state very much like drunkenness (hence the title of the book). This state of being drunk is one our narrator, Lydia, very much has to deal with, and instances of it affecting her are significant to the plot, especially as her boss winds up murdered in his study, while she is the only living person remaining in their shared house, and due to being language drunk the night before, she has no memory of anything after about 9 PM.

The plot to uncover who murdered Fitz, her former boss, is a twisty one full of genuine surprises, but more importantly, being with Lydia as she is first blamed for the murder, and then gets caught up in trying to find out what's really going on, is a genuine great time. There's an undercurrent of humor to this entire book, even when dark things like murder are happening. The narrator of the audiobook, Amy Scanlon, does a fantastic job voicing the UK-expat Lydia (although some of her American accents are a bit weird) and especially manages to grasp (and enhance) the tone of the book, which another narrator could have easily butchered. The worldbuilding in this is also really fun, and the concepts Robson is able to explore because of it are intriguing (but full of spoilers). This is a sci-fi future I really don't think I would mind living in, although I wouldn't go so far as to describe it as cozy. This is still a world in which people are struggling to filter out the bullshit.

For most of the book, this was a solid five-star read for me, but while the denouement of the mystery was great, the end of the book afterwards felt just a tiny bit lackluster, like it was missing something to bring the whole thing together. I could have done with just a bit more of whatever my brain thinks is missing. But I still loved it, and will read it again, and need to buy myself a hard copy when it goes on sale in two weeks.

[4.5 stars, rounded up]

A great cat-and-mouse crime story, inventive alien technology, amazing world building, and the dumbest villain I've read in awhile.

Aliens have made it to Earth, psychic ones with cool hats, and our main character is a psychic translator working for one of their ambassadors. One of the biological effects of the psychic effects is the human body releasing hormones to cause a feeling of drunkenness so working a long shift gives you a hard buzz, but not in a good way.

The story if full of interesting plot points like this, little things that can change how people make decisions, like in real life that rarely makes it to stories. Like a character talking about government censorship but with a "what are you going to do about it" defeatist attitude, like, you know, people today. Everybody feels real, even the side quest characters.

After a crime, our girl starts trying to find the criminal and people do that thing they don is "Law & Order" where they conveniently remember something and give the detective the next clue to the next person who does the same... but this is explained! I was building up criticism, finding more and more flaws in the story, until it turns out this was all for a reason and the reason doesn't suck! I was impressed and excited.

The deus ex machina is pretty strong though, which is a bit annoying. Some is explained by the plot, some is just happening to people.

The world building impressed me the most. Technology is slightly ahead of our time, but the alien tech is alien so doesn't count. But people use technology like people, so we see advances in social media and how hate groups and click-bait AI's use them, it feels real. I appreciate how natural the language is... there is not "Company X built glasses that interact with each other so people can share information", none of that just language like "Back home she really valued her hardscape connections [...] her friends back home have drifted to the edges of her circle and rarely get pushed at her anymore." I didn't know the meaning of hardscape, circle, pushed, in this context, but figured it out easily. I didn't need definitions, because this is how people talk now. Google and TikTok are verbs, we can just use them. I liked the use of "circle", reminded me of T-Mobile's MyFav feature (link) from the late 2000's.

The strength of the world and character building still didn't fix the ending for me, but the writing quality makes me excited for more Robson.

**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel brings to life a remarkably original world. Set in the future, after first contact, Lydia is a translator for the Logi cultural attache on Earth. She lives in New York and has a good relationship with Fitz, a Logi. She translates English to his language, if you can call it that, since it happens in her head and has the side effect of making her drunk. There is a murder, and Lydia has to find out whodunit. I enjoyed the plot, but my favorite part was the world-building and the characters. New York is both, familiar and alien, and the new world Lydia lives in is so well though out that the author makes it feel real (I loved the cat-house, which is not what you think). I enjoyed reading about the culture, the technology and, especially, the Logi. There is remarkably little about them, so the reader has some freedom to imagine them however they want. I was very attached to two of these alien characters, which is not easy, considering they’re hard to relate to them because they are not human. Amy Scanlon aces the audiobook narration, creating different voices for all the characters. Again, some of these guys are not human and yet she comes up with voices that show how alien they are, but still makes you care about them. Just a great whodunit!
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#RB Media, Recorded Books!

Overall, I liked it. I really liked the fact that this was a post-first contact situation, where aliens are already just a part of society (and the various ways that's affected the world are just facts of life), and the murder mystery was an excellent way of exploring the changes made to the world. But I felt like the mystery was just sort of... there. I didn't feel overly engaged in trying to figure out whodunnit or why, and when the case was solved it felt more like just... "Okay, well, that answers that." There were so many red herrings that the actual resolution felt like one of several options and the author just pointed at one at random and said, "That one's right."

Overall, as a scifi novel, it's an excellent world and stands out among others in the genre. I felt like the world was similar to one China Miéville might create while still being separate enough that it didn't feel like it was cribbing from him.