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Smart, Sweet, and Funny

Revisado: 03-19-18

Not only is this incredibly clever and smart, but this also has the appeal and excitement of a children's story. This is a fun listen for both adults and parents and children!

The performance is fantastic and engaging - I love the celebrity narrators! The storyline is progressive and thoughtful but suited for the children.The lesson itself is fantastic. I love John Oliver and his team's wit and that proceeds benefit the Trevor Project and Aids United.

A wonderful story for children detailing marriage equality and democracy with themes of advocacy, tolerance, and diversity.

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Decent storyline, Not a fan of the narrator

Revisado: 02-12-18

I started my journey into Laini Taylor’s works by listening to (and falling in love with) “Strange the Dreamer”. After that, I started this series based on the all around high reviews and my enchantment with my first listen to Laini’s audiobook. I felt iff-y about “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” but ended up really liking the last third of the book, despite my dislike of the narration, and decided to continue the series.

I don’t know if it’s because I listen and multi-task, but I could not keep track of the storyline. I feel like I must have missed an important part or something because a majority of the time I had no idea what was going on. However, with “Strange the Dreamer”, I followed every moment completely immersed - even while listening and working (typing up reports and analyzing excel data), running, cooking, cleaning, and riding the train. In contrast, I just did not feel captivated by this listen at all. I would zone in and out and completely forget if characters were chimaeras or seraphims. The characters themselves were pretty one dimensional - either a “good guy” or a “bad guy” - so the story itself wasn’t mysterious or surprising.

The narrator is the same as the first novel in the series, which I didn’t particularly enjoy, and I found it continually irritating in the sequel. There isn’t much differentiation between the voices of the characters which makes it difficult to discern who is speaking. Additionally, aside from finding Mik and Zuzana’s extraneously unnecessary relationship boring, I was constantly annoyed by the poor, failing attempt at a Czech accent. Maybe its the tone, pace or pitch, but the narration didn’t help me visualize Laini’s descriptive imagery. Finally, it really irks me when female voices come off as helpless damsels and that’s the impression I got.

All in all, I wasn’t crazy about this listen and would probably have enjoyed it more if I read it since I mostly had issues with the narration/performance. However, I’ll probably listen to (or maybe read) the final book just to finish the series.

Sent from my iPhone

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A fun, quick listen for mythology lovers

Revisado: 02-08-18

As a kid, I loved Greek mythology and as an adult, I chose this listen as my bedtime story! I loved listening to different versions of the tales I already knew. The level of detail was just right for a relaxing, mythical performance to doze off to - make sure to use your sleep timer! The narration was great - strong, robust, and an accented voice you would imagine telling old stories passed on through generations.

One piece of advice - if you’re looking for an extensively detailed Greek mythology listen, you may not be satisfied with this. It covers a lot of stories within a short time and its more like a synonpsis of each tale rather than being emotion or imagery driven.

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Fun, Captivating Listen - Despite If-y Narration

Revisado: 01-26-18

At first, this took me awhile to get into. After listening to "Strange the Dreamer", I fell in love with Laini Taylor's imaginative storylines and style. However, in "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" I wasn't expecting a story in present time (probably should have read the summary first...) and didn't really like the portrayal of Karou, Zuzana, or Kaz. I think this had a lot to do with the narration as I didn't care for Karou's sing-songy tone and the inaccurate Czech accent of Kaz and Zuzana.

Despite my initial perception, I kept listening because I was intrigued with the mystery of Karou's past and relation to Brimstone, and the dynamics between the chimaera and seraphims. Things became much more interesting once Akiva entered the storyline. Once I got through about a third of the listen, I was totally captivated. To my delight, things became even more exciting when diving into Akiva's past and relationship with Madrigal. The final third of the book I was completely entranced! As a fantasy lover, these parts really lived up to my expectations!

As for narration, I found it so-so. Some characters were better than others but it sometimes became hard to differentiate the speaker. I also didn't care for the portrayal of Karou, finding it a little trite and stereotypical.

On a final note, the interview with Laini and her editor was awesome. I loved learning about Laini's creative process - especially her growth in storytelling and writing from creativity and art. It was also really insightful to learn about her inspiration and hear her passion. I loved Laini's voice and laugh - wish she narrated the audiobook! It seemed like such a genuine conversation and it was so interesting to find out more about what inspires her and fuels her creative.

I would definitely give this a listen, keeping in mind it gets better and better as the performance progresses. Excited to start on the sequel!

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Interesting, Thought Provoking

Revisado: 01-22-18

This was a really cool listen. Aside from the great narration, it was really interesting to see so many esoteric connections made across history. However, it wasn’t so esoteric that it was not relatable. This genre/type of book was new for me, and I really enjoyed it!

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Great collection. Thought provoking.

Revisado: 01-22-18

I really, really enjoyed this. Each piece was extremelt thought provoking and interesting - challenging me to look at things from a different point of view. What I particularly loved was that David Foster Wallace narrated this himself. I feel like his own voice and tone added to each thought he shared.

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Basic storyline, hard to follow

Revisado: 01-22-18

I typically listen to audiobooks while doing other things and this audiobook did not really capture my attention. The storyline was really basic but hard to follow because there were a lot of characters who had similar voices. Also I would zone out a lot listening to this, while I usually am able to multi-task and be fully captivated by a performance.

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Magically Entertaining and Exciting

Revisado: 01-20-18

This was such a wonderful listen. Laini Taylor writes with such vivid imagery and the narration brings the scenery and characters to life. I loved how Steven West was able to convey a unique, memorable voice and tone for each of the numerous characters - which really added to my depth of understanding of and feelings toward the characters. My only minor qualm with the story was that at times some of the quips and one-liners can be a bit trite and make the story feel less genuine. Aside from that, I loved every aspect of this story - the plot, characters, climax, mystery, and originality. I CANNOT wait for the sequel!! Definitely recommend this listen!

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Decent Story, Strong Themes

Revisado: 01-06-18

While thematically I enjoyed this listen, I often found the plot irritating as I became frustrated with Theo’s secrecy and lack of transparency. The narration was decent and I particulary liked the rendition of Boris - finding the accent and intonation to add to the depth of his character. However, I found the narration for female characters to be extremely annoying and almost unintentionally condescending and unrealistic. The story was interesting and it was fun to follow the life of Theo from teenage to adulthood - especially finding the ways the disaster from his childhood shaped his tone, world view, and actions.

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Hauntingly Romantic

Revisado: 12-30-17

One of the best romance novels I have ever listened to. From the imagery of the scenery to the details of Elio and Oliver’s dynamic, I was transported to Italy and related to Elio in a way I never thought possible. The themes of tension, love and regret resonated so deeply with me that sometimes I found it hard to listen - but still did. Stunning performance and heart wrenching story.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas