Massive

by Charlie Josephine, Sophie Melville (Reading), Nima Taleghani (Reading)

Written by British playwright and actor Charlie Josephine, Massive is a queer love story that is pulsing with urgency and unapologetically poetic.

Emily's life changes after a terrible car accident when a magnetic stranger, Jax, steps in to take her hand. Their serendipitous union empowers Emily to finally feel comfortable in her own skin, but when the couple's relationship veers off course, Emily is drawn into a web of obsession and lies.

This audio play features immersive audio techniques; to maximize the listening experience, headphones are recommended (but not required!). Please note this audiobook contains strong language and adult themes. Discretion is advised.

Playwright Charlie Josephine was awarded a commission through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, an initiative dedicated to developing innovative original plays driven by language and voice. As an Audible commissioned playwright, they received funding and creative support to develop Massive.

Genres: Audiobook

Audio CD

First published October 22, 2020

Reviews

[Gabriela Bazan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really the type of story I enjoy listening to. It was ok but a little confusing at the end. It does show the thoughts of someone suffering this type of disorder.

[Ronie Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballerina is a profession on tier wirh Otaku. They are both intense. I wonder how the make it through the day. I know it's routine. Wanting to fell right in their carved out safe space. Yet an autistic child's tantrum last for 30 minutes. The injured party is always their care taker.

[Isabell Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

It kept me on my toes. It felt very real and relatable to the honest struggles people go through.

[Ziggi Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good representation of queer/Bi/Non-Binary character and relationships. TW/CW for detailed inward look into the thought processes and severity of eating disorder sufferers. I nearly teared up during some of the high-anxiety portions. I struggle with Body Dysmorphia myself, and found the internal dialogue and pressure incredibly relatable. CAUTION: this story picks up in the middle of a traffic accident, including highly tense acting in the performance, and background noise of traffic sounds and sirens. It caught me totally off guard when I started this audiobook while driving, and definitely got me tense, with an accelerated heart beat. I recommend not listening to this in the car 😅. I agree with some other reviews that the ending is a bit unclear. For anyone not familiar with other media surrounding eating disorders, it may be hard to follow the transition between characters’ thoughts over the penultimate scene, leading into a hospitalization, and then secluded therapy the victim character enters.

For fans, or for anyone who wants a deeper introspection into the mind of someone suffering with an eating disorder, I recommend “A Trick of the Light” by Lois Metzger, which deep dives into the mind of a male eating disorder victim. I found it very intriguing as the story is narrated by the voice in the victim’s head. I rated it 5 stars.

[Hannah Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride! Even though I came to this to hear Erin Doherty, I fell in love with Sophie Melville all over again (her performance in Iphigenia in Splott was breathtaking!)

It really gave voice to what it feels like to have a mental health problem and what it can do to those around you. Great LGBTQ+ piece of work 👌

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly an exceptional writer with exceptional talent, asbolutely gorgeous dialogue. I also loved the moments when monologues would suddenly transition to spoken word poetry.

Still, I have begun to notice that there are novels/stories/plays where I stay engaged because I am interested in the stories and characters, and then there are those where I stay engaged because I'm thinking, what the heck is this author saying/doing? There are some writing styles that do this intentionally, that want you to think about the form (eg. surrealism) or the message (eg. parables) more than the plot and characters. My favorite kind of book is the kind that manages to do both (recent examples include Asymmetry or Intimacies).

This audio-play seemed to want its audience to care about the characters, but I never really got there. Gorgeous and compelling writing all the same. I'd read more by this author.

[W.J. Cintron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is NOT for everyone! Be Aware! Do a research before listening to it.
You need to be open minded to new styles, intense narration and new adult stories.
For me this book was unique. I listened to the audiobook. The performance was, damn, SO GOOD. If you like poetry slam, this one is for you. They are amazing!! Themes about mental health, LGBTQ, sex, eating disorders.
I love how at the ending, the writer gave meaning to the title, but I think it left me wanting more. An answer.
Overall a great audiobook!

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I listened to this audio play. It was beautifully written and so intense. It was quick witted and switched between scenes so smoothly. I loved the way the playwright explored the complexities of gender, sexuality and identity through such a uniquely relatable story. The plot is full of depth and I felt so consumed by the plot until the very end. I highly recommend giving this a listen!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the interchanging of the poem prose to regular story to describe the different things that were going on.

I find this story to be interesting because it touches on a few different topics like LGBTQ+, eating disorder and what happens when you get caught up in all your lies.

However I thought the two lovers were way too invested in this one girl. I would’ve left but that’s just me.

Overall, very good

[Felicia B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm surprised there is no mental health trigger warning on this audio play.
The voice cast does a good job, the writing style works as a play, but the actual story is SO boring and cliche. To make this more interesting I decided after the first few minutes of manic dialogue between Em and Jax that Em has multiple personality disorder and all the characters are part of her psyche. That's my personal headcanon and I suggest you borrow it if you really feel the need to listen to this too.

[Sylvie Rochon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook is unique. Classed as an lgtbq romance, it features a woman Emily who identifies as bi sexual woman and Jax who identifies as queer. Emily has an accident and Jax is there to hold her hand. They start a very intense, all consuming love affair where they are extremely happy until Emily starts her descent into not eating/throwing up, over exercising., lying, cheating,,, and it the ending is confusing and does not answer much.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: Eating disorders, car crash, lgbtq+

I wasn't expecting to be so drawn into this story. This is one of the best dramatic tellings of an audiobook I've ever listened to. Listening to em try to keep control while spiraling out of it felt so real, especially when she was in the gym. Although this story is very short, it's easy to connect to all 3 characters. It's massive.

[Kathleen Woodcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman walks out into traffic and is rescued from a broken relationship. This leads to a new relationship which affects her fondness and distaste for food. She works really hard to lose weight and becomes confused about what she really wants in life. A bit real and jazzy listening on Audible.

[alamerysl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow what a dud. Didn't warn for eating disorders or homophobic lines said by characters. Overly pretentious prose overacted by the narrators.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those productions I think I am “supposed” to like. I found it noisy, confusing and boring. I didn’t really enjoy it but I did finish it hoping it would get better. Sadly, it did not.

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listened on audible. I did not like it. Story was weak and the “enhanced audible experience “ was too much for me.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea, at least it was short!

[Kristina Lovel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me. Very hard to finish.

[Thalia Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself is good but the production and style was really not for me.

[Denise Wittig · Rating 1 out of 5]

didnt even make it through the first chapter would've been nice to know this was a woke agenda book.

[Nicole SaBell-Stoltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this intense ride of a story. The style and performance is fantastic. Dark, dramatic and realistic.

[i wanna be a mermaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

how is this not more known? omg it was incredible. it made me feel a lot.