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Hours
- GenresAudiobook
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 19, 2014
Hours is a fascinating, thrilling, yet beautiful story from Jessy Ribordy. Jessy is the lead singer of Falling Up, one of the most underrated and original rock bands ever. The story is published in the form of an audiobook which can be listened to for free at: http://hoursthestory.bandcamp.com
Hours is accompanied by a music album from Falling Up: twelve chapters, twelve songs. Of course one is not obliged to listen to the music as well, but the songs really add to the story in my opinion. You can find the album at http://fallingup.bandcamp.com/album/h...
As for the story itself, I won't be giving away much here, but it's one of the most exciting stories I've heard for a long, long time.
Hours is accompanied by a music album from Falling Up: twelve chapters, twelve songs. Of course one is not obliged to listen to the music as well, but the songs really add to the story in my opinion. You can find the album at http://fallingup.bandcamp.com/album/h...
As for the story itself, I won't be giving away much here, but it's one of the most exciting stories I've heard for a long, long time.
February 17, 2019
Among the most original and creative stories I have read in my lifetime.
The characters are lovable and memorable, the story is engrossing, and the journey stretches your brain with imagination and your heart with emotion.
Do yourself a favor and jump on this train. I promise you will not regret it. (I have listened to it four times, and am working on a text transcription for those who cannot stand audiobooks.)
The characters are lovable and memorable, the story is engrossing, and the journey stretches your brain with imagination and your heart with emotion.
Do yourself a favor and jump on this train. I promise you will not regret it. (I have listened to it four times, and am working on a text transcription for those who cannot stand audiobooks.)
March 10, 2019
Very much of my opinion of this book might be based on the fact that I cannot do audiobooks. I might have followed this book better if I could have read it but alas, it’s confided to its format.
The concept is interesting and I like the over all plot. However, I feel like every chapter Jessy introduces some new idea that “pivotal” to the plot but then blatantly says some variation of “but I can’t explain this just yet”. I get there’s some things you need to save for the twist the author anticipates, but this constant prolonging got old.
Finally, not sure how I feel about a “cure” for autism. The big twist at the end felt unnecessary and the story of a neurotypical “saving” those who are not just perpetuates a negative view. I might have missed the point on this one solely due to the format but man, the final chapter just kinda takes a dump on mental health.
The concept is interesting and I like the over all plot. However, I feel like every chapter Jessy introduces some new idea that “pivotal” to the plot but then blatantly says some variation of “but I can’t explain this just yet”. I get there’s some things you need to save for the twist the author anticipates, but this constant prolonging got old.
Finally, not sure how I feel about a “cure” for autism. The big twist at the end felt unnecessary and the story of a neurotypical “saving” those who are not just perpetuates a negative view. I might have missed the point on this one solely due to the format but man, the final chapter just kinda takes a dump on mental health.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2016
OH MY GOD. It is one thing that I absolutely LOVE Falling Up, but this was beyond what I was expecting. <3 Loved the narration and OST too, probably my ALL time fav Scifi-thriller now.
May 6, 2016
Has a creepy, magical, spacey feel that's easy to get lost in. Thoroughly enjoyed the story and plot twists.
January 15, 2025
3.0 stars
Originally reviewed on The StoryGraph
I discovered and first listened to this book a few years ago after getting back into Jessy’s band, Falling Up (which released a companion concept album for this book, also titled Hours). I’ve revisited a few times over the years, and while I still love the world and the story, some aspects aren’t holding up with relistens.
I’d describe this, for the unfamiliar, as Harry Potter meets Stranger Things. The story takes place within a boarding school/orphanage called Bethel Woods, and the children (our characters are the Year 6 students) are highly intelligent, specifically in STEM subjects. When the Year 6 class is given access to a supervision-free secret gymnasium for one hour each day, they discover a legacy of mysterious games - then invent their own, leading to discoveries and consequences greater than their wildest imaginings.
As with any sci-fi/fantasy universe, there is much worldbuilding, and this stilts the pace of the narrative whenever Seth/Finn, our narrator, pauses to explain the details. The actual narrative builds slowly, and then all at once, but once we get there, I find the world inside of the gym quite immersive.
Sometimes the characters can behave in illogical ways, but they’re so intelligent and well-spoken that you forget they’re also all 11-12 year old kids, so their emotional immaturity is very much in character after all.
The ending is somewhat satisfying in a bittersweet way, but odd, and may come off as ableist (from my non-disabled opinion) as
Originally reviewed on The StoryGraph
I discovered and first listened to this book a few years ago after getting back into Jessy’s band, Falling Up (which released a companion concept album for this book, also titled Hours). I’ve revisited a few times over the years, and while I still love the world and the story, some aspects aren’t holding up with relistens.
I’d describe this, for the unfamiliar, as Harry Potter meets Stranger Things. The story takes place within a boarding school/orphanage called Bethel Woods, and the children (our characters are the Year 6 students) are highly intelligent, specifically in STEM subjects. When the Year 6 class is given access to a supervision-free secret gymnasium for one hour each day, they discover a legacy of mysterious games - then invent their own, leading to discoveries and consequences greater than their wildest imaginings.
As with any sci-fi/fantasy universe, there is much worldbuilding, and this stilts the pace of the narrative whenever Seth/Finn, our narrator, pauses to explain the details. The actual narrative builds slowly, and then all at once, but once we get there, I find the world inside of the gym quite immersive.
Sometimes the characters can behave in illogical ways, but they’re so intelligent and well-spoken that you forget they’re also all 11-12 year old kids, so their emotional immaturity is very much in character after all.
The ending is somewhat satisfying in a bittersweet way, but odd, and may come off as ableist (from my non-disabled opinion) as
September 4, 2023
As a fan of Jessy’s work in music and overall imagination, I would want to give this a five star just based on the concept alone. It has a good fair bit of originality for this genre and will probably appeal to a wide variety of sci fi fans. The magic system/Miracle Machine is a GREAT concept. It’s a strong debut (in this medium) and I think it definitely deserves some expansion and honestly would do great with some rewriting and maybe some sort of rerelease. I understand that this was written on the fly to some extent, so while I am open minded about author intent, this book definitely has some flaws to be objective. (Which is difficult because the concept and premise of this story is AMAZING).
My pain problems with this book would simply be that that the pacing makes it fairly hard to connect details, which is why a lot of the dialogue comes across as expository. There are a few solid plot holes, and while I can appreciate a magic system that doesn’t really have an explanation, this needs a bit more than we got, particularly in regards to what it’s rules, limitations, and actual gained abilities are.
The characters in this book do a LOT of things that would be insane by any standards, but some of the reactions just feel unrealistic.
Opinions on our main character Seth seem to be divided on the internet. Some people think the guy is a total prick while others find his motives meaningful and get where he’s coming from. I generally liked the voicing of the character but probably would have appreciated more framing of who he is narrating this to and why.
Overall, I said this is a solid debut and a highly imaginative, fun concept, but I would LOVE to see Ribordy follow up and expand further on this.
My pain problems with this book would simply be that that the pacing makes it fairly hard to connect details, which is why a lot of the dialogue comes across as expository. There are a few solid plot holes, and while I can appreciate a magic system that doesn’t really have an explanation, this needs a bit more than we got, particularly in regards to what it’s rules, limitations, and actual gained abilities are.
The characters in this book do a LOT of things that would be insane by any standards, but some of the reactions just feel unrealistic.
Opinions on our main character Seth seem to be divided on the internet. Some people think the guy is a total prick while others find his motives meaningful and get where he’s coming from. I generally liked the voicing of the character but probably would have appreciated more framing of who he is narrating this to and why.
Overall, I said this is a solid debut and a highly imaginative, fun concept, but I would LOVE to see Ribordy follow up and expand further on this.
August 28, 2019
i finished this one awhile ago but never got around to writing a review. I had this recommended to me after I listened to the limetown podcast. I really liked the concept of having a musical album that went along with the concept/story. I was really confused at the beginning but by the end of chapter 2 I was hooked and by the end of the actual audiobook I was touched by the message about disability’s being gifts and felt connected to the characters. The narration was very unique and I liked it a lot! It made me think a lot which was pretty cool! I highly recommend for sci-fi fans.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2024
It’s not awful, but it wasn’t that great. Hours has some cool concepts, but it’s really hampered by the constant “this is important in the future, but I’ll tell you later” comments that we get often. Also, the ending having a “cure” for autism is definitely not where I saw this going. I’ll give the accompanying Falling Up album a listen again and see if I notice any connections.
Overall, I’d rate this how I rate most of the bands albums: I dig the vibes, even if things don’t make a whole lot of sense. I’d watch a movie version.
Overall, I’d rate this how I rate most of the bands albums: I dig the vibes, even if things don’t make a whole lot of sense. I’d watch a movie version.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2021
What a page turner… well actually it’s an audio book so I guess it’s… pause resistant??
Anyway there are some really annoying writing tropes and some lack of maturity in his craft that keeps it from being five stars. But it is excused just by it’s weirdness and imaginative premise and the fact that the musical album counterpart (“Hours” by Falling Up) compliments the story so well. Definitely worth a listen.
Anyway there are some really annoying writing tropes and some lack of maturity in his craft that keeps it from being five stars. But it is excused just by it’s weirdness and imaginative premise and the fact that the musical album counterpart (“Hours” by Falling Up) compliments the story so well. Definitely worth a listen.
November 14, 2021
What a wild ride. Very creative and unique story. This one will stick with me for a while!
September 28, 2025
I just recently finished this audiobook for the 5th or 6th time (I lost count at this point). Every time I finish it I already feel I want to start it again. This book is such a delight to me and has been so inspirational to my creative life.
Hours is one of my favorite fictional stories of all time. Beloved characters, intriguing and mysterious story, a unique and original experience. It has a lot of Stranger Things vibes (being about preteens with unique abilities, and mystery and sci-fi esque, darker tone, wonderful characters) except this book even came out years before Stranger Things ever did!
The book being about preteens by no means makes it for child audiences, it is very dark and emotional, very sad at times, such experiences of loss and even death. Such a beautiful tale and vivid story is painted through Jessy's words that it imprints these characters and their environments in your soul and makes it feel like you've seen this whole story as a live action film series or show.
Such a beautiful and unique adventure of these mysterious children and young teens at an orphange called Bethel Woods.
Such beloved characters like our main Protagonist Seth Jorin (aka Finn), Olive, Pete, Birdie, Alexis, and more.
The original music featured in it is wonderful and fits the tone of the book very well.
This is my favorite audiobook experience I know of. And all around just one of my favorite stories and fictional universes.
I had the privilege of experiencing Hours during it's original release when it released episodically, chapter by chapter. A part of the Machine Del Ella Project, where author, Jessy Ribordy of the experimental rock band Falling Up released two albums and the tracks from those albums one at a time at the same time as the book. One of the albums was not directly related, but the second album was directly related to the book with the abum name being "Hours", and each track named after each chapter of the book. Both great albums btw. Hours is very interesting considering the unique experiment of it's creation...each song was not only related to each respective chapter of the book, but each individual song was written, recorded, and mastered under an experiment of having an intentional self imposed time restriction of 7 days. If you know anything about music creation and the industry...to write a song from scratch in 7 days is pretty challenging, recording a full song and all of of it's components in 7 days can be done but still not easy, and mixing and mastering can also be time consuming. So all of those things in just one week is pretty intense! And then moving on and doing it yet again and then again---wowza! I love the album Hours, but with that in mind I have simply always been blown away by how good it is considering the quickness and unique way it was created.
And the way it has connections with Falling Up band lore and their album "Fangs!" is amazing too.
The book even inspired a board game based on the lore. Also an incredibly fun and challenging game. Even the board game got its very own original music soundtrack as well (which is fantastic!).
Hours is one of my favorite fictional stories of all time. Beloved characters, intriguing and mysterious story, a unique and original experience. It has a lot of Stranger Things vibes (being about preteens with unique abilities, and mystery and sci-fi esque, darker tone, wonderful characters) except this book even came out years before Stranger Things ever did!
The book being about preteens by no means makes it for child audiences, it is very dark and emotional, very sad at times, such experiences of loss and even death. Such a beautiful tale and vivid story is painted through Jessy's words that it imprints these characters and their environments in your soul and makes it feel like you've seen this whole story as a live action film series or show.
Such a beautiful and unique adventure of these mysterious children and young teens at an orphange called Bethel Woods.
Such beloved characters like our main Protagonist Seth Jorin (aka Finn), Olive, Pete, Birdie, Alexis, and more.
The original music featured in it is wonderful and fits the tone of the book very well.
This is my favorite audiobook experience I know of. And all around just one of my favorite stories and fictional universes.
I had the privilege of experiencing Hours during it's original release when it released episodically, chapter by chapter. A part of the Machine Del Ella Project, where author, Jessy Ribordy of the experimental rock band Falling Up released two albums and the tracks from those albums one at a time at the same time as the book. One of the albums was not directly related, but the second album was directly related to the book with the abum name being "Hours", and each track named after each chapter of the book. Both great albums btw. Hours is very interesting considering the unique experiment of it's creation...each song was not only related to each respective chapter of the book, but each individual song was written, recorded, and mastered under an experiment of having an intentional self imposed time restriction of 7 days. If you know anything about music creation and the industry...to write a song from scratch in 7 days is pretty challenging, recording a full song and all of of it's components in 7 days can be done but still not easy, and mixing and mastering can also be time consuming. So all of those things in just one week is pretty intense! And then moving on and doing it yet again and then again---wowza! I love the album Hours, but with that in mind I have simply always been blown away by how good it is considering the quickness and unique way it was created.
And the way it has connections with Falling Up band lore and their album "Fangs!" is amazing too.
The book even inspired a board game based on the lore. Also an incredibly fun and challenging game. Even the board game got its very own original music soundtrack as well (which is fantastic!).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews