Krystal S.

Wish they'd put out a new version with a different narrator

Revisado: 04-01-24

Lonesome Dove became one of my favorite books of all time after I read it for my book club a few years ago. I decided it was time for a re-read and wanted to experience it as an audiobook. Well, I sort of regretted it. While Lee Horsely has that twang, he completely ruined Gus for me. I understand that he voiced Gus in the way that this iconic character was created, but Gus became so annoying with his loud voice. Again, I guess it's spot-on for Gus, but it really ruins the experience. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook, though I'll highly recommend the book itself.

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Wish they'd put out a new version with a different narrator

Revisado: 04-01-24

Lonesome Dove became one of my favorite books of all time after I read it for my book club a few years ago. I decided it was time for a re-read and wanted to experience it as an audiobook. Well, I sort of regretted it. While Lee Horsely has that twang, he completely ruined Gus for me. I understand that he voiced Gus in the way that this iconic character was created, but Gus became so annoying with his loud voice. Again, I guess it's spot-on for Gus, but it really ruins the experience. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook, though I'll highly recommend the book itself.

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Disappointed

Revisado: 04-07-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Though I haven't loved this series anywhere near as much as I loved the Mackenzie & Mackenzie P.I. series (you should totally listen to it!), it hasn't been horrible.

"But, Krystal, you rated this only two stars!"

Why, yes, dear review reader, I did. And I'll tell you exactly why, hopefully without going on a rant. I've already wasted too many minutes of my life ranting about this book to family, friends, and co-workers.

Look, I said it earlier: I love the Mackenzie & Mackenzie series. It set me up to love Jennifer L. Hart as an author and Suzanne Cerreta as a narrator (she's so great). So I probably went into this series with a higher expectation than it warranted, which is why I've been a bit disappointed in the Southern Pasta Shop series.

But what set me off with this book in particular was the author's treatment of mental health issues.

SPOILERS BELOW
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[We found out in the first book that Andy's mom suffered from depression throughout most of her life and eventually committed suicide after being diagnosed with cancer. On top of all that, Andy was the one to find her mother. So totally understandable that she might be a little messed up when it comes to her mom.

But the scene when Andy and Malcolm are in the vehicle after having met her father for the first time, Malcolm called her mother deranged. Yes, deranged. I absolutely lost my temper with the audiobook at that point. I had to double check when this book was published to see if Hart's ignorance around mental health issues stemmed from the book being published many years ago. Nope, 2015. So Hart has absolutely no excuse for her choice of words and dismissiveness when it comes to mental health issues. I can't even with this book anymore.]
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Argh, I promised myself no more rants over this book.

Because of that one small incident, the rating for this book dropped. Otherwise, it would have been maybe a 3.5-star listen. On top of all that, I have lost a desire to continue with this author, even though I have more of her audiobooks lined up in my Audible account. Words matter and how you portray mental health issues and how your characters - especially your main characters - respond to them matter. Do better, authors. Do better for your readers, your listeners, and for anyone who suffers from mental health issues, whether they consume your books or not.

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Loved the heroine; over-the-top storyline

Revisado: 02-06-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I'm very grateful that this book's synopsis included the fact that this would be an over-the-top romance. If not for that little heads up, I probably would not have liked this book. Forewarned is forearmed.

I really liked Echo (despite her ridiculous name). She was sensible and pragmatic, and when I had a thought that something was stupid, she often voiced the same sentiments immediately after I thought it. Honestly, it was refreshing to have a heroine call out the bulls*** that can often be found in a romance novel.

That said, this book was over-the-top and didn't make much sense for the scenarios that occurred, especially when it came to "The Game." It probably took three-quarters of the book before we even found out what exactly "The Game" was, and, even then, was it really even a game? It felt more like a hook to draw in readers and never delivered, which is also how I felt about the Leo arc.

The biggest issue for me was something that didn't even take up much time in the book itself, but just hit me so wrong. Echo loved her sister, but she referred to her younger sister, who had Muscular dystrophy, as useless. Even though it was in reference in caring for the sisters' mom, this dismissal, which was voiced in less severe terms at other points in the book, really disgusted me. Just because the sister was bound to a wheelchair didn't mean she was useless. I place the blame fully on the author for wanting to create sympathy for Echo in her struggles while leaving her sister as less than a cardboard character.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I was pleasantly surprised. The narrator, Laurie West, did a good job with the overall story and Echo, but she did a pretty decent job with the male characters too. I would definitely enjoy listening to Laurie West narrate another romance audiobook.

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Loved the meet cute aspect

Revisado: 02-06-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This was definitely a 3.5 star listen for me, but one aspect of this book did not allow me to be generous and bump my rating up to a 4.

I absolutely loved this wrong number meet cute. It was naughty and cute without being too outrageous, and the progression of texts seemed believable (if anything about that situation could be believable). Honestly, I loved nearly everything about this short book. Nearly.

It's that *nearly* aspect that immediately dropped the rating for me and nothing the book could do after would bring it back up. My love for this book was riding a high right up until Dixie talked about her biggest fantasy (I won't spoil what this was). This may not bother some people, but that fantasy hit me so wrong personally that I actually felt my enjoyment of this book crash and burn.

I've listened to Meghan Kelly narrate a romance book before and she's not a favorite narrator of mine. However, she handled this book well even if her narration is not my cup of tea.

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There is better YA science fiction out there

Revisado: 12-27-20

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was a DNF for me. I picked this out of my Audible TBR while waiting for Aurora Burning to come through from my library. Honestly, The Aurora Cycle series is what this book strives to be and falls far short.

The premise of this book sounds great, but the actual story is somewhat ridiculous and unbelievable. Let's use The Aurora Cycle series as an example. In that series, authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff lay out why a bunch of teens would hold such important titles on a spaceship (it's because of how space travel wears on a body). Meanwhile, in The Quest every. single. high-ranking person is a teen or in their (very) early 20s with no explanation for why. On top of that, nearly no older adults made an appearance (at least as far as I listened). It's as if all the adults had been wiped out, again with no explanation for why.

Second, this is supposed to be a science fiction series, but there was little to no worldbuilding going on. Between the names, the ball, and the outfits, this could easily have taken place now rather than in the future or some far-off planet. Again, comparing it to The Aurora Cycle series, which featured a ball/party scene, there was a sense of being somewhere else among other peoples. In essence, worldbuilding.

Finally, and what made me decide not to continue listening to this audiobook, is how Arcadia reacted to SPOILER BELOW
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meeting her brother again and his torture.

END SPOILER

As for the audiobook itself, the narrator, Claire Duncan, wasn't bad. I had no real complaints with her narration or voices.

Overall, I had a lot of hope for this book, but I just couldn't handle the immaturity and the lack of worldbuilding, especially coming on the heels of great YA science fiction like The Aurora Cycle series and Skyward or Starsight by Brandon Sanderson.

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Slow pace and aggravation with main character

Revisado: 09-07-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I had high hopes for this book, but it ended up being fairly mediocre for me.

The premise hooked me right from the start, and the beginning of the story felt really promising. But then the pace slowed down and nothing really happened. What really aggravated me, however, was the fact that Jasmine Char was supposed to be an anthropologist, but she only acted with a scientific mind half the time. An incident occurs in the last third of the book where Char participates in a Kawokee tradition, but she gets so bored that she no longer pays any attention. You're an anthropologist! All of this is important to your mission! Without giving too much away, that scene goes on to pay an important part in the end, but because she essentially failed at doing her job properly, Char never realizes it until the last minute.

All that was honestly too much for me to handle. If Char lived up to her potential as an anthropologist -one who actually does her job- and there was a lot more science built into this book, it could have been really good. But my aggravation with Char and the slow pace left me very underwhelmed.

I listened to the audiobook and Caren Naess did a suitable job. Nothing to write home about, but nothing that held the book back, either.

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Great RC Bray performance, somewhat good story

Revisado: 07-27-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

There were two sides of this book for me. On one side, there's the iconic R.C. Bray. On the other is a story that sometimes had me scratching my head over specific plot points and unable to move past.

Let's get the best out of the way first: R.C. Bray. You've most likely heard of him, you may have already listened to something narrated by him. I'm officially part of the club besotted with Bray's work. Yes, his gravelly baritone was perfect for Marco Guerro. But what set Bray apart from the pack is how he sometimes says a turn of phrase or narrates a scene where it doesn't even feel like you're listening to an audiobook anymore - you're actually there in the moment. It takes just the right touch to get to this point without overdoing it, and I think Bray just nailed this performance.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. Though I wasn't expecting the backtracking at the beginning, it laid the groundwork for how Guerro and his team operated, which I really enjoyed seeing. I wasn't as excited about the con/heist in the second half of the book. It just seemed rushed and not as exciting. I think the second half of this book could have been much better, but I did overall enjoy listening to it.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request from Audiobook Boom and have voluntarily left this review.

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I hated this "hero"

Revisado: 07-12-20

I needed time to distance myself from this audiobook, because ... really?

Being upfront, dark romance really isn't a genre that I care for, but I love mafia romances. So I felt like I would be able to handle the darker aspects of the romance just for the mafia part, but this was just too much.

I hated Miguel. I don't think I've ever disliked a hero in a romance novel more than I did him. I hated the emphasis on master and slave, especially when no BDSM rules had been established. He demanded respect and obedience without ever trying to gain Valencia's trust. He freaking spanked her on the side of the road without her consent while traffic drove by honking in appreciation! And then the bathroom scene?! How in the ever-loving hell could anyone show respect for someone who treated you that way when there were no terms or discussion beforehand?

"You have nothing of importance, Valencia."
How freaking demeaning and cruel. Why do readers like this treatment of the heroines? This is not BDSM, it's treating a person like crap. In fact, it's borderline abuse. If a woman said their spouse was treating them this way, from barely consensual spanking to keeping Valencia's cello from her to refusing to allow her to talk to anyone, we'd be seeing all the red flags and telling her to get away from her significant other.

As romance readers, we should be expecting better from our heroes and heroines. I don't care if this was a dark romance. This was abuse, pure and simple. Just thinking about this book has me angry all over again.

Sorry, I'm off my soapbox.

As for Valencia, I felt the author made her way too one-dimensional. She honestly felt more like a prop for Miguel than anything, and a stereotypical one at that. I honestly don't know why she fell in love with Miguel. Were the sex scenes hot? Yes, but they often didn't come with with any kind of emotional connection.

I'm trying to think of something positive to say about this book and ... well, the narrator wasn't awful?

It took me a while to adjust to how Jack Calihan read this book. Miguel lived in South Florida and was a first generation Puerto Rican, so hearing him have a slight accent sort of made sense. But Valenica was 100% Cuban and sounded like a typical rich American woman. Why? Just to make Miguel seem sexier? That's stupid. But as the book progressed, Miguel's accent slowly disappeared. Valencia's accent never appears, but at least it's sort of more even. I guess.

I will say that Calihan did a pretty good job handling a woman's voice, even if she didn't have an accent. Then again, I don't know how this came across to those who read it, but Calihan made Miguel seem like a huge stereotype and it really turned me away from this book.

And this is just more of a personal taste, but I wish authors would stop referring to grown women as girls. They're adults, treat them the same way you do the men.

I received a free review copy of this book from Audiobooks Unleashed as part of its Verified Reviewer program and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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Believable sci-fi but was bored through most of it

Revisado: 06-28-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

This book and its plot are very believable as something that could happen in the near future. I think that, combined with the narrator, was one of the pluses with CRISIS MOON. But . . .

In the middle of this book I had the sudden thought ... what if Matthew Reilly had a shot at writing this? There are some similarities between CRISIS MOON and Reilly's Jack West Jr. series, at least when it comes to geopolitics and gathering a group of individuals together to beat the big baddie. Now that I think about it, maybe there aren't that many similarities, but I think Reilly could do wonders with this premise.

Why do I think Reilly could have done this better? You know what you get with a Reilly book: nonstop action. In CRISIS MOON, there's interesting action at the very beginning, a long lull in the middle and the training montage, and then a little bit more action at the end of the book. I was so. bored. for about two-thirds of this book. The dialog also came across as very stilted and a little bit amateurish with all the he saids, she saids, they saids throughout a conversation. It was a lot more noticeable, I think, with the audiobook because of the repetition. I just wanted to give the author a thesaurus to change up his word usage a bit.

It didn't help that, as a listener, that you never got a good feel or created much of a connection with the characters. I would say that I felt something for Jim because of his mom and his dog, Apollo, but other than that I really didn't care. You never got much of a sense for Richard, Christine, or the two military guys.

As for the audiobook, it wasn't bad. I thought the narrator, Jack Clancy, did a pretty excellent job. He created different voices for all the characters - he didn't even had a bad voice for a woman! I especially liked that the producers chose to make the voices sound as if they were coming through a communications channel or from a tunnel when the situation called for it. It added another level of quality to the story that I greatly enjoyed.

I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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