Weatherby

Interesting start, lackluster finish

Revisado: 04-28-19

I guess I am more interested in Greek/Roman mythology, but it seemed like the first lecturer was the only one that was able to keep my attention. Mediocre listen 🤙🏻

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Very real and thought provoking

Revisado: 04-28-19

The diet fads that keep cropping up like weeds has really impacted society and its poor relationship with food. I feel like the data presented in the book is very interesting relative to what government bodies try to shove down our throats. As a scientist, I can appreciate the data 👍🏼

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Fun tales of some silly screw ups

Revisado: 04-28-19

This book is a collection of H. Jon Benjamin’s various life bloopers, made that much more comical by the actor’s very recognizable voice. The reason for 4 stars is only that there were some parts that could have either been left out, or presented differently. Other than that, it was an entertaining listen 👍🏼

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Usual great for Scalzi

Revisado: 04-28-19

I’m a fan of Scalzi’s quirky works, so this one didn’t fail to disappoint. There were a few questionable scientific points, but I think the suspension of reality really helps with that. The narrator was pretty good for the most part as well 👍🏼

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Give Lock In a shot first

Revisado: 06-04-18

I've listened to a lot of John Scalzi's works, and I do like his style of narration. This book is part 2 of the series, with Lock In being the first. I can't say the two are intimately connected, other than the main character, as well as the world containing drones controlled by paralyzed citizens known as Threeps. These things are developed in the first novel, and are picked up in the second with little explanation and a different kind of story. I found the story part of this novel interesting enough... I DID care about the characters, and I was waiting to find out the "who done it", but I was mildly disappointed in all the twisty ways it got there and the reasons for it.

I chose Wil Wheaton's narration since I listened to some of this other audiobooks, and as always I enjoyed it. He doesn't make female voices sound terrible like some male narrators do. I didn't want to choose the female, because in my experience they have always made the male voices sound awful.

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Had in my wish list for months

Revisado: 05-18-18

*Some spoilers* I had this in my wish list for a long time, and I was really interested in the story. I had never heard of the podcast series, so I went into this book not being a fan or anything, but I knew the story would be quirky. I can enjoy quirkiness when done right, but this book does not do it right. There are concepts that are interesting~ like the mysterious angels, Troy being in multiple places, Josh being a shapeshifter.... all these things are woven into the "story" as if they were relatively normal, which is good quirk.

I'm on chapter 27 right now and nothing has happened. LITERALLY. The excessive strange in this book completely takes away from the main story line. For example, Diane is receiving texts from an unknown person, which I assume is part of the main story~ then the narrative shifts to something like, "there is a lot we don't understand about orange juice... the house thought". I heard this, and through the sheer absurdity and misplacement of that sentence, I involuntarily rolled my eyes.

Another example is the scientist character.... Cecil's "radio" show interjections, which I think is a good concept, but just inserts more oddness in an odd world that has already been established as odd, initially introduced the scientist as a woman named Carla (I think?) who goes on to describe how clouds are tiny drops of water that you can't see, but form the mist that makes clouds. This makes sense because it's completely true! The people listening to the show reject this as nonsense, which makes it funny because of the irony in that it's not nonsense. Later, I can't remember which character visits the scientist, but now he's "Carlo" and he's studying a pink lawn flamingo, acting like a child discovering his hands. Carlo reminds the visitor that "he's a scientist! he has equations!" This interaction completely stole the fun out of the original introduction, reducing the peculiar role of scientist into a moronic bag of potatoes.

Apparently people hold jobs in this world, and it's hard for me to understand how this world hasn't collapsed in on itself from the weight of whimsy for the sake of whimsy.

The narrator did a wonderful job... I don't know how he was able to read this and make sentences sound clear. I couldn't imagine having a paper copy and trying to read through it... I probably would have beat my head against the wall.

Like I said, I'm on chapter 27, but it's unlikely that I'll finish it. It's sad, because I like the idea of the story, and the author is talented-- he can insert strange concepts into the narrative in a way that the reader adopts as normal... but there is just too much.

Too much.

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The story concept is good, executed poorly

Revisado: 04-11-18

Any additional comments?

At several points throughout and many times near the end, I found myself rolling my eyes. I read the first book, and I didn't find anything truly remarkable about it other than a little entertainment, so I went ahead and chose the audible version of the sequel.

First, I don't think I'm particularly fond of this narrator. All the male voices sounded like they had emphysema and made me constantly want to clear my throat. The main character's responses to people had a flat tone at times, which I'm assuming was meant to illustrate the "cold hearted" nature of the protagonist. I just found it redundant and took away from the story. The choked-up tears near the end were cringey.

The story has an interesting concept, but the constant moaning and groaning about wanting a mother, wanting a home, la de da de dah was so grating to me. Wah wah wah and my eyes roll again. I feel like the themes building up to the protagonist ultimately performing her main objective (no spoiler here!) were lost in the constant emotional back and forth. Maybe the emotional back and forth was purposeful, but it just wasn't executed properly. Until writing this, I actually forgot what some of them were (example: Eli and the couple, Kingston's relationship with Viv, etc.) Wah! Mother! Wah! That's all I got from it.

Little spoiler here: The wilderness being chaos manifest didn't seem so imposing as Eli simpered on about before entering. For this "astral creature", whom the author spent thousands of words describing as emotionless and evil, sure did show some emotion and not-so-evilness by comforting Claire from the awful awful forest full of pink and gold fairies. Claire... what a bland name for this type of character.

For a little reference, I'm nearly 40 years old. Maybe this kind of story appeals to teenagers. Although the violence, language, and sex within would slap it with an R rating, and really isn't something teenagers should indulge in in my humble opinion. That's a general assessment of the world Kahler created, not specifically this volume. I gave it 2 stars because the story concept is good and I came back for the second volume. Probably won't read the 3rd though.

Anyway, in summary~ Cringey and eye-rolling

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Well written and well read

Revisado: 04-02-18

Which character – as performed by Nick Podehl – was your favorite?

T.J. and both doctors

Any additional comments?

This was well-written and descriptive... if you were a fan of John Dies and the End, you won't be disappointed in the sequel. The narrator did a wonderful job with the voices, and I could always tell who was talking. It's a difficult task for men to portray women and vice versa, but he did well without sounding like a drag queen. The only thing I found kind of annoying was the Facebook exchange between Amy and the drone pilot's daughter Nevaeh.

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Story was ok

Revisado: 04-02-18

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

It was entertaining enough, so sure

What did you like best about this story?

The end

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

No

Any additional comments?

I thought the story was interesting enough, but I was distracted by the fact that every accent in the book was the same... I could tell she was trying to distinguish the different people, but the only ones I could tell the different between were the "African" accents and the other one which I don't have a name for. It was the annoying accent. Anyway, the story itself had some grating bits about it, such as the over-explanation of technical events/tools/things. I dunno, just "eh".

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Less than mediocre

Revisado: 07-06-16

What disappointed you about The One That Got Away?

Mostly the narration- it might have been a better story with a different narrator. However, the story was very cliche aside from narration.

What could Simon Wood have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Used more realistic scenarios

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Emily Durante?

Steven Weber

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The One That Got Away?

Not sure

Any additional comments?

The actions of the main protagonist made me roll my eyes several times. The sloppy behavior of the serial killer was surprising, and the ineptitude of the detectives was formidable. The narrator did a horrible job with male voices, making me cringe during all-male dialogues, which happened more frequently than you'd think. She gave all the men the same, drab dopey tone which made them sound mentally challenged. I don't know what else to say other than the story didn't really maintain my interest, particularly when it mattered during the climax.

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