Florenzer

By: Phil Melanson

Narrated by: Krysten Peck

Leonardo da Vinci, twelve years old and a bastard, leaves the Tuscan countryside to join his father in Florence with dreams of becoming a painter. Francesco Salviati, also a bastard and scorned for his too-dark skin, dedicates himself to the Catholic Church with grand hopes of salvation. Towering above them both is Lorenzo de' Medici, barely a man, yet soon to be the patriarch of the world's wealthiest and most influential bank. Each of these young men harbors profound ambition, anxious to prove their potential to their superiors—and to themselves. Each is, in his own way, a son of Florence. Each will, when their paths cross, shed blood on Florence's streets.

Fifteenth-century Florence flourishes as a haven of breathtaking artistic, cultural, and technological innovation, but discord churns below the surface: the Medici's bank exacerbates the city's staggering wealth inequality, and rumors swirl of a rift between Lorenzo and the new pope. Meanwhile, the city has become Europe's preeminent destination for gay men—or "florenzers," as they come to be crudely called. For Leonardo, an astonishingly gifted painter's apprentice, being a florenzer might feel like personal liberation—but risk lingers around every corner.

©2025 Phil Melanson (P)2025 Highbridge Audio

the dysfunctional mismatch between story and narrator...

the is the most wrong narrator this book could possibly have. Kristin Schall would've been better...at least she would have been audible!#$@ this narrator has a sibilant (hiss s) aspirational (extremely breathy) whisper of a voice. Does NOT make sense for powerful iconic historical male characters. Character voices (if any) are indistinguishable as well as so hard to hear making even following the story unecessarily complicated. incredibly poor decision making on everyone's part. 1/10 would recommend to AVOID.

Ultimately Fascinating

I started to give up on this but I’m glad I didn’t. I’m not sure why it’s a slow start, other than there’s a lot going on by weaving all three of these together. It’s a fascinating way, though, to dive into the story. And when it gets going, well it’s impossible to put down. Also seeing the aftermath of these famous events through the eyes of such an artist, well, it made an impact.

I’m not going to tell the plot—if you know what happened then you don’t need any more info. If you don’t, it’s pretty detailed but an unforgettable era in Florence with impacts that still reach us today. Do we know of the Florence artists because of the diaspora that happened due to the events? Certainly. I’d like to say we know of them regardless but the events centered in this book also helped them and their art spread. What an amazing time.

I have to admit (and I am not usually concerned about this) that the choice of a female narrator was actually distracting at first, especially considering how women are not, at least initially, at all centric to the plot. (Thankfully they become more so later, as they should be!) But I stuck with it and eventually was able to just get into the story.

Ultimately very well done. Really glad I read.

worst narration ever

i couldn’t wait to start this story after reading multiple reviews of the book. pre-ordered through audible and regret having this story ruined by the narrator.

will be reading in hardback. not going to bother finishing the audible version.

Such a Disappointment

The worst of it was the reader. Her continual MIs-pronunciation (or inconsistent pronunciation) of key facts, figures and families in the story drove me up a wall. And please, the articulation of interior “T’s” is not optional. Words like “button” are not pronounced “buh-uhn”. The story wasn’t awful…kinda slow. But the rendering of that story was just so infuriating I couldn’t get through it.

What a shame!

It’s a shame when a good story is ruined by a bad narrator, as is the case here. I think a good percentage of audiobooks are listened to while driving, but it was impossible to hear this lackluster, unemotional, inaudible performance. I gave up on the audiobook and downloaded the Kindle.