John

WTF?

Revisado: 09-22-22

WTF was this? I was expecting a rather straight forward story: guy makes a deal with the devil, ends badly for him. When and why did we end up in Ancient Greece talking to sphinxes and Proteus?

Not what I was looking for.

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Outstanding performance couldn’t save it

Revisado: 02-04-22

I loved Lockwood and Co so I wanted to read something else by Jonathan Stroud. This story was witty and dynamic enough. However, I could just barely finish it (had to play it on 1.5x toward the end). None of the characters were likable at all. Nathaniel is a prideful selfish little jerk who’s only two motivations are 1) ambition, 2) spite.

These are what drive the plot and they did not grasp my emotional buy-in. I didn’t care at all about his feud with Lovelace and I certainly didn’t care if he lived or died. I also didn’t care if Lovelace’s plot was successful or not because every single person in that room was terrible.

Picture Harry Potter except where all of the wizards are Slytherins, the magic is boring, Harry’s parents didn’t die protecting him (instead they sold him and laughed all the way to the bank), and Harry spends the entirety of the book at the Dursley’s instead of at Hogwarts. Also, Harry is a prick and Voldemort’s evil plot is to kill all the Slytherin’s (would you care?).

I will not be reading the rest of the series unless I’m desperate. If I do, it will be only because Simon Jones was incredible.

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Much Ado About Nothing

Revisado: 11-03-21

Did I miss something here? The main character spends 3% of the story witnessing two ghosts doing nothing at all, and 97% of the story fretting about them, jumping to conclusions, and driving herself and everyone around her mad.

Don’t tell me that the ghosts are scary; show me that they’re scary.

I suppose one could argue that this is the whole point. She goes crazy over this obsession and one is left wondering whether there were truly ever any ghosts at all. If that be the case then I’m still disappointed. A descent into madness would be interesting only if it were more obvious. I wanted to see some freakin’ ghosts being freakin’ scary or a freakin’ madwoman going freakin’ crazy. This is just stuck somewhere in the middle and you get the worst of both IMO.

Boo!

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I feel icky for even having gotten through half

Revisado: 10-12-21

I thought the story was dark but compelling, the themes of humanity struggling with its bestial passions was fascinating. Felt like an allegorical analysis of human psychology (a human’s experience of a traumatic event can perpetuate that trauma and lead to further victimization, i.e. the famous maxim “Hurt people hurt people). However, I couldn’t stomach the depravity written into this story (surprising for a book written in the 1930s). I found it distasteful. I threw in the towel when he had sex with his mother and she enjoyed it. This book was not for me.

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Beautifully written

Revisado: 11-19-20

As a cradle Christian, I have been interested in learning more about Islam for a while. What I wasn’t expecting was that I would also learn a lot about Christianity! Looking at Christianity as it compares to Islam gave me a new perspective on my own faith, which I haven’t experienced in a long time.

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Absolutely wonderful

Revisado: 08-04-20

Stephen Fry’s retelling of these stories has never been matched! Extremely entertaining. Definitely will be re-listening to these. Can’t wait for his version of the Trojan War! I only wish he would give a bit more of his analysis of the tales. I really enjoy that too. Much wisdom and insight to be gleaned.

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Charming

Revisado: 12-19-19

Tolkien was clearly a very dedicated father, probably why he never put together most of his work to completion 😉. I wish I would have been able to do this for my kids. The one time we did write them a letter from Santa they didn’t ever bother to read it!

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Interesting story but rather flat heroes

Revisado: 12-04-19

The story is good and the performance is outstanding. Marc Thompson’s impressions are uncanny! My only piece of criticism is that none of the movie heroes really feel like themselves. Han and Leia lack their witty and charming banter. C3PO is not nervous and annoying and there is very little humor.

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Fantastic performance but...

Revisado: 06-10-19

I didn’t love the artistic liberties that they took with the story. They took a classic novel/story and made it a bit more of a modern moral treatise (where those who seem evil are actually good in their own way when compared to the bigoted, hypocritical wealthy). A bit cliche.

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The Epitome of Swashbuckling Adventure!

Revisado: 05-31-19

Loved the story! Riveting and hard to put down.
My only criticism:
BJ Harrison is my favorite narrator but I hate. Hate. HATE his impression of Peter Blood. Horrible high-pitched Irish accent that robs him of a lot of his badassery. It actually detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

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