emmygar

Made me rethink Lydia...and everyone else

Revisado: 09-29-22

As someone who loves P&P and has read many different retellings and additional books about these characters, I think this has to be my favorite about Lydia. The immediate disillusionment about her marraige and her struggles seemed much more likely than the other myriad of tales I have read about her. I think this is the first book (including the original) in which I can see her character as flawed but redeemable.

This book also made me rethink some of the characters I know and love. I won't give away spoilers, but I felt for her in her desolation at being alone so far away from family. Her return home is heartbreaking, as is her treatment by others in Newcastle. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I found myself cheering for her at the end, and wishing it was longer. The only thing that detracted from the experience were the frequent, loud musical interludes that honestly did not really enhance the story and also felt very out of place. Just let Lydia tell her story, no need for weird rock music.

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Okay, Not Great

Revisado: 02-05-19

I was very excited to read a book about a Queen that may have been lost to history. Early British civilizations are very interesting to me, and the promise that we would hear more of Merlin's tale was just too good to pass up. However, I was completely underwhelmed by this book.

The book starts off very well, and is descriptive and captivating. I loved the detail given throughout, especially as our main characters grow and begin learning about their world and the battles raging between their religion and newfound Christianity. Learning about the Dragon Warriors and the way that society worked so long ago was very interesting and the details and descriptions made it come alive. Toni Frutin's narration was fantastic and her voice changed convincingly for each character. I honestly think I enjoyed the book more because of her voice.

However, I have two main problems with the book, which caused me to only give it three stars. The first is that, like so many historic novels, it turns into a romance novel, with Languoreth falling in love with a man she can't have. I just felt this was unnecessary. But I honestly would have even been okay with that- except for the fact that she never actually becomes the "lost" Queen at any point in this book. I listened and listened, waiting for her to come into her own and learn to rule....and then the book ended. I just feel as if the pages wasted on a love triangle could have been used more effectively by showing Languoreth growing up and becoming an effective ruler, and explaining all of her many accomplishments as Queen. Instead, I felt that there had been very little character growth when the last bit was read, and I wasn't sure what the point of the book was.

I did not know this until after I finished it, but I guess this is the first book of a trilogy (with the second book coming out in 2020), and so we can hope for more character growth from Languoreth in the future, but I felt overall that the book did not really give me what I expected, and so I was disappointed. I guess this all could've been rectified if it had a different title, but I just expected a book called "The Lost Queen" to have the main character be....a Queen?

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Wow...

Revisado: 02-05-19

This book was so phenomenal that I can't stop talking about it. I've read several books about the Trojan War, and thought I knew the story pretty well. However, after reading this, I feel like I didn't know anything. This book is told mainly from the perspective of Briseis, a Queen and then slave, and her retelling makes the entire last year of the war brand new. I felt her helplessness and anger and desperation thanks both to the descriptive passages and the amazing narration. Kristen Atherton was perfect, she embodied Briseis and made her come alive.

This book makes you think about freedom and the mostly silent sufferings of women throughout history in a way that I (am ashamed to admit) never really had before. The most terrifying aspect of it was honestly how anything could become "normal", even something has horrible as being enslaved. If I had any criticism, I would say that some of the men's dialogue was very modern which did sound a little off at times, but I don't think it took away from the message and the story, which was devastating, haunting and perfect.

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Insightful, but some tales were better than others

Revisado: 10-18-18

Esther Perel is so insightful that I jumped at the chance for this free original. I was not disappointed, although the production does suffer from some changes in volume/some muffled parts which are obviously from people on the phone. I thought that the street sounds of her NY office brought something very real to this, as it made me feel more like I was actually sitting in her office listening to the sessions.

As for the sessions, some felt more resolved at the end than the others, but that is definitely life. I liked that she had couples from every stage of relationship: dating, happy marriage, struggling marriage and divorced. However I did not feel like the fourth story really fit in with the rest. Monique and her mother's relationship felt like it belonged to a different collection, as it was about a family relationship. I downloaded this to learn about the different stages of romantic love, and so I listened to about 10 minutes of it and then just skipped it for the last story.

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Captivating book about a frustrating time

Revisado: 09-10-18

I loved everything about this book. Juliet Grey's detailed descriptions and well-written dialogue brought both the French and Austrian courts to life. I have read many books about Marie Antoinette, but all of them began with her arrival to France, so to see the many years of preparations and the stress that she went through prior to even her formal betrothal was eye-opening. And it made this very sad story even sadder to see that she was always just not quite right for the role she was destined to inherit. Marie tries so hard throughout the book (As I am sure she did in real life), and it made me angry on her behalf to see all of the ways that the adults around her just continually let her down, purposefully or not. This book really hammers home how tragic her story (and that of her husband, who was also woefully under-prepared for his role) really is, and I came away from this book feeling so sorry for her. I want very much to read the rest of the series, but at the same time I think I have to prepare myself for how sad it will become.

The narration by the author was very good, although at first it took some getting used to as I didn't expect Marie to have an American accent. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that. But it was great once I did get used to it. I really enjoyed listening to it!

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Interesting, but not great

Revisado: 08-28-18

I really, really liked the characters in this novel, and I felt that it was a good story overal, especially the scenes with Johannes and Andreas together. That part was my favorite. However, I felt like it was a little like a Disney movie and it followed a pretty predictable arc. Another con is that the book used modern phrasing and words which would not have been in the vocabulary of people in Madlen's time. That took away from the realism. Overall, though, I thought it was a good summer read. As for the narration, I don't think it added or took away from the book. Very standard, but enjoyable.

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Awful....

Revisado: 08-28-18

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

First of all, the narrator was basically an Amazon Echo. There was no real expression to her voice at all, which made me glad that I could also read this book on my Kindle. But the narration was actually okay when put up against the actual plot.

There were so many issues with this plot that I don't even know where to begin. First of all this woman loses her fiance unexpectedly and five months later her friends are pushing her to date? The sheer amount of times that the main character is told to move on, or to stop 'wasting time' thinking about James astounded me. Maybe I am just too traditional (or maybe I like my husband too much??) but I feel like 5 months after losing the person you love unexpectedly, it isn't really a shocker if you're still pretty resistant to moving on. But, as I am often told, it's just a book, so I could probably forgive that.

What I couldn't forgive were the plot holes large enough for a truck to drive through, and the very stereotypic characters. Of course James' parents were abusive and controlling, of course Phil is the "bad guy". You could tell the first time she met Ian that they would end up together. Thank God this book was free because it was awful. I agree with other reviewers who said that this book would be good for readers that are very interested in romantic fiction. But if you do decide to give it a try, read it on your Kindle- don't listen to it. It makes an already painful experience almost unbearable.

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Detailed look into early America

Revisado: 08-20-18

This was a long, but beautifully written and detailed look into the early colonies, and how they were created and formed by the Puritans and others who came to America. Elizabeth Winthrop's life was definitely colorful and scandalous for her time period and I enjoyed hearing about her struggles with her position, her new life in America and her faith. Anya Seton was so good at immersing you in a place, and her detailed descriptions of the different colonies, and the identities and the daily tasks of the people living in them were realistic and wonderful. However, unlike with Katherine (the first Seton book I read), which I never wanted to end, I have to admit I did start becoming restless towards the last third of the book, and began wishing it was a paperback and I could skip a few pages here and there. I did listen to the end and it was a good book, but I just thought it was a tad too long. Also, out of all of the characters, Elizabeth is the one that did annoy me the most, as she was very rash throughout the book, and then blamed others for the things that happened to her, most of which were at least a little self-inflicted. However, as the point of the book is to show you Elizabeth's growth throughout her life, I think we are supposed to become a bit frustrated by her backslides and impulsiveness, and Seton does write her as a very well-rounded character, with very obvious strengths and flaws.

As for Corrie James' narration, I found it to be well-paced, clear and easy to follow, as far as different character voices go. It was nothing wonderful but also nothing that took away from the book.

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Great Story and even better Narration

Revisado: 08-20-18

I received this book for free during Listener week. It is not what I typically listen to, but I was just about to finish another book and figured I would save my credits and give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did. This was a fantastic story about a man trying to piece his life back together. It was so hard to keep myself from googling the ending because I just wanted to know!! But I didn't, and it was well worth it. The story is heart breaking at some spots, infuriating at others, and very entertaining throughout. Ray Porter's narration makes it even better; not only is he able to differentiate voices well, but his cadence changes with Pat's thoughts which enhances the writing and makes me feel as if I am actually in his head. What a wonderful read, I am excited now to watch the movie and compare the two. One warning, though: If you don't like football, or particularly the Philadelphia Eagles, prepare to be inundated by them. I am not an Eagles fan, but I do like football quite a bit, so this did not bother me, but the repetitive nature of the book can make you cringe a little by the three hundredth time you hear Ray Porter say "E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!"

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Unexpected

Revisado: 07-12-18

This was a wonderful look into the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and into the much maligned emperor. It was very interesting to see the story through his eyes and especially to listen to what he went through as a child. Honestly, the biggest shock for me was how young he was throughout the whole book, especially for the decisions he is making. Margaret George does a great job painting a picture of ancient Rome and keeping the tale both engaging and believable. She also does a great job ensuring that we don't get caught up in all of the strange names and places, which helped keep me immersed. She is sympathetic to Nero throughout, but also does not forgo mentioning the wrongs he did (and there were quite a few). I felt that the female narrators were fine, but really unnecessary for how much they were needed throughout the book. This was Nero's story, and I did not think the other points of view added much. Steve West did well, although sometimes he was a little too good at portraying Nero's tantrums and got a little annoying. Overall, a great, immersive tale about Ancient Rome and enough to make me want to learn more about this interesting emperor.

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