Jeannie M

Narration kept me from listening to this one

Revisado: 12-31-24

With over 300 titles in my library, I know that narrators are a mixed bag, and I can get used to almost any voice after an hour or so. Not so with the narration by Elizabeth Knowelden. Fiona Hardingham is an excellant narrator and Emma Feeney is fine, but the whispery tones and pedantic pace of Ms. Knowelden really kept me from getting into the story. She's going to have to go on my "no fly" list along with another narrator who reads with a cough drop rattling around her teeth.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Good to put you to sleep

Revisado: 07-21-24

The reader seems to be just rattling off names, dates and locations. The story is uneventful and boring. For some. reason this is not returnable--if it were, then for sure I would send it back to the deep hole where it belongs.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

What a depressing piece of garbage

Revisado: 11-14-23

I bought this because it got rave reviews--what are these people on that they think that a book about committing suicide is a good thing to read. There were reviews that said it was "enlightening" and amazing and all sorts of lauditory things and it is a book about a loser woman deciding to kill herself--she doesn't have a terminal disease, she's not in dire straights--she is depressed, needs treatment and lost her job. What a horrible message to send to people. I don't care if there is a mystical librarian in the sky that give her options to see how her life could have been--bottom line is, she is a depressed person who needs treatment and instead commits suicide. I wish I could return this book, but somehow I can't, so I will jus t1) delete from my library and devices 2) vow never to let something sit in my library for months before reading it and 3) read summaries someplace other than audible to get a real idea of the subject of a book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great reader

Revisado: 07-30-23

Loved this second installment—it kept me guessing until the end. Although the series is a bit formulaic, the characters are interesting enough and the reader is very good to capture your imagination. The reader is so pleasant to listen to that I am going to search to see what else she has narrated.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A tale of two whiny sisters

Revisado: 03-02-22

I tried returning this book, but I apparently don't have that option for some reason. I really tried to get into this book, and listened about half way hoping that it would improve, but the very thin plot set in the 1950's has the counterpoint of two very whiny, entitled, selfish sister voicing their personal insipid angst. Save your credit and skip this book. I have no idea how it has averaged 4 + stars.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Annoying ghost!

Revisado: 11-16-21

I absolutely could not make it through this book--I was not prepared for the annoying ghost which would cause the protagonist to repeat to her guests ad nauseum that she "talked to myself". The characters did nothing to distinguish themselves, and left me not caring if they lived or died or who killed the woman in the barn. I have listened to more than 300 audio books over the years and this one is right up there with a particularly unfortunate reading of Sinclair's the Jungle, which my kids listened to (required summer reading) on a road trip. And that's saying something because it was 20 years ago and we still laugh about how bad it was.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Best Inspector Rutledge mystery ever!

Revisado: 02-14-19

I love the Inspector Rutledge series and I really enjoy Simon Prebble as a reader, but this time they outdid themselves- I truly did not see the end coming---great book!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Addictive series but watch out for duplicates!

Revisado: 06-06-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a very engaging series, but it is very frustrating to try to get into a series when the Book 1 and Book 2 are not available as recorded books in the U.S.--- Audible offers Book 3 under two different titles (A War of Flowers and Scent of Secrets) and Book 4 under two titles ( In Pursuit of Pearls and Faith and Beauty) which is confusing--it looks like Audible offers four titles in the series, and in reality it is only two. Readers should be advised to check the length of the books to avoid re-purchasing the book you just read!

What other book might you compare A War of Flowers to and why?

It is in the same time period and flavor of The Milliner's Secret and The Beast's Garden. In nonfiction, Erik Larsen's "In the Garden of the Beasts" covers much of the same factual material.

Have you listened to any of Julie Teal’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I had not listened to Julie Teal before and was impressed with her ability to clearly delineate the characters without resorting to silly voices.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A story in search of a plot

Revisado: 03-05-15

What would have made That Night on Thistle Lane better?

There is no story here--the previous book, The Lost Summer was OK and, set this book up. The author, however, repeated the story line from the first book over and over and over and over again ad nauseum.

Would you ever listen to anything by Carla Neggers again?

Never. I enjoy reading books set in places that I have lived, so I gave this series a try. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Susan Boyce?

Narrator was terrible. One might give the excuse that she had very little to work with, but in both this book and the first book, The Lost Summer, the narrator mixed up the names of the female characters and used the wrong female character name in at least one scene in each book! The narrator was probably so bored she was not following the story either.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from That Night on Thistle Lane?

If I could play book editor, I would fire the intern that worked on this book. Unless this was done as an editorial project by someone still in training I have no idea how a real editor could let the wholesale recollection of scenes from the author's other book dominate this one. The editor needs to go back to school.If I could play audio editor I would consume massive amounts of caffeine and stay awake long enough to hear the narrator mess up the names.

Any additional comments?

If the review program would allow no stars for the story, that's what I would have rated it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Book OK reader bad

Revisado: 09-02-06

The story was just OK---just another novel based on Holy Blood Holy Grail, which seems to be flavor of the year. I usually like this type of historical fiction, but the repetitiveness of the text and the inability of the reader to vary her tone or inflection gets really old really fast. I ended up getting the book in print to end my misery of having to listen to this reader!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona