Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks narrated by, Matthew Brown

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks narrated by, Matthew Brown

How do I write this review without complete gushing and no spoilers? I fell in love with Budo and Max and Oswald too. I did not want this story to end I wanted to stay with these characters, they were just so special.

This story is written with such feeling but in that straight forward way children use to describe their world. I loved how the author had Budo describe Max’s aspergers and how his mind worked. Budo is an extraordinary imaginary friend because he has been around longer than most, he has seen many imaginary friends go *poof* and he doesn’t want that to happen to him although he knows one day it will, because no imaginary friend is needed forever. I enjoyed that there were other imaginary friends and they could talk to each other and the whole imaginary universe the author concocts is great, with all the different kinds of imaginary friends there were and how different each personality is based on what the child/imaginer needed at the time.

This may start slow for some but I enjoyed the daily life of Max to see who he was and how he handles life, then when the big story takes over you are already invested and for me a bit in love with these characters that your stomach is in knots and have some tissues ready towards the end! I so want Budo to be my imaginary friend!

When the events in the middle of this book happen (trying for no spoilers) I loved how strong Max becomes but at the same time I didn’t want him to because as we have seen throughout the book once an imaginary friend is no longer needed *poof* and I did not want to see Budo go that way! My favorite imaginary friend other than Budo has to be Oswald because he was so different than all the others yet was very childlike himself.

There are parts of this book that will make you giggle, parts that will make you cry and parts that will make you cheer. This book just had it all, a unique voice and unique storytelling for a very unique story that will tug at your heartstrings and not let go. When I finished this audiobook I thought about starting over at the beginning just because I didn’t want to leave these characters.

Matthew Brown narrated this book so well, he brought the little boy quality to his voice that was so well done that I totally believed he was the voice of Budo not an adult trying for a child’s voice. I honestly don’t know if I would have had the same emotional connection to this book without Matthew’s narration he truly brought Budo and all the other characters to life for me. I would definitely listen to this new to me narrator again.

This book will be in my top 5 of the year! It is a book and characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Highly recommend this one especially on audio!

5 stars

Full disclosure: I received this audiobook from the Audiobookjukebox Solid Gold Reviewer program and the publisher in return for a fair and unbiased review.