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This Is A Book That Will Make You Think

Revisado: 04-15-13

When I was halfway through this book, I was scrolling through facebook and one of my friends had posted the quote: "I want someone who says I love you every night and proves it every day." I nearly asked them if they were reading this book, because this story has made me look at that quote in a totally different way!
Gone Girl is brilliantly written. I found the first half start to get a bit tedious towards the end, but had read reviews to persevere past the halfway point, so I did. The story changes tack completely at halfway, and then you won't be able to put it down.
Though many have complained about the ending, I loved it. It is the perfect ending for the disturbing, but exciting thrill of a ride while living in Nick and Amy's world. It's a psychological thriller, that's for sure!

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A Sweet, Old-Fashioned Story

Revisado: 11-22-12

I really enjoyed this story. You are drawn into it almost instantly. It is a sweet romance with the merest hint of thriller in it. While it is rather predictable, it can be forgiven if you remember that you are reading it for light entertainment and not for the pursuit of intellect. It is very wholesome and sweet, and I liked the characters.

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esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Mixed Feelings

Revisado: 11-10-12

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love Tom Clancy's writing. He's so brilliant at characterisation that I am drawn into his stories, even when they are as dull as ditchwater. I loved the characters in this - enough that I was crying at the end - but I did not enjoy the long, drawn-out, meandering story with brief moments of excitment dotted a few times throughout the book.
Pay attention to the Russian names and the descriptions of the Russian characters, because there are a lot and you will get them confused if you don't take notice. There are a lot of characters in this book, and some of the sub-stories don't really go anywhere - but at the same time, I thought it was an interesting study in the cold war and the possible scenarios that may have occured during this time. I happen to have an interest in Russia having known several Russians in the past, but if you don't have an interest in that country or culture, this book may be hard for you to finish.

I liked the narrator's voice - a good reading voice, deep, mature and slow, but sometimes it was hard to differentiate between changes of scene and changes in dialogue.

But still worth a credit to listen to.

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Very Entertaining

Revisado: 10-30-12

This book was a very pleasant surprise. I kind of expected to be a bit bored by it and thought I'd be rolling my eyes all the way through, but it was really, really good. I loved it. It's humurous and it's thought-provoking. It's a teensy bit predictable, but probably only to an adult reader. It can be tense and it can be sweet. My pre-teen children have listened to it and I noticed that they had their earplugs in a lot! And one of them did tell me at one point that they were really enjoying it.
A good, entertaining read that won't disappoint.

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Worth It

Revisado: 10-30-12

This was my first Tom Clancy book. I was in the mood for a thriller and stumbled upon this. I have never read his books before and I have never seen the movie adaptations. This story starts off with a bang and a good deal of excitement to get the reader hooked. Then it slows down quite a bit for quite a few pages - but Tom Clancy is such a brilliant writer it was a joy to listen to the way he crafted this story.

I did find it a bit slow in the middle of the book - maybe a little too much detail, but I can appreciate this writer enough to overlook the dull bits. And the ending is worth it. By the end of the book, I had grown to know these characters in such a detailed way, that I could not stop listening until I found out what happened to them. I got so caught up in the tension and excitement that I completely lost track of time.

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My First Nora Roberts

Revisado: 10-30-12

This was my first Nora Roberts book, and I bought it purely on what I had read in the reviews here on audible. Firstly, let me say how much I enjoyed it. It's a compelling story that pulls you in from the first page. I'm so glad I read it, and I will be adding it to my favourites. I always rate a book on how attached I get to the characters and how believable they are, and the author's skill at doing this in this story deserves a mention.
The only criticism I have of it is that I found the ending to be rushed and slightly anti-climactic after the build up of the plot throughout the entire book. I would have liked a more drawn out ending with more detail on what happened to some of the minor characters. The ending is satisfying, but I finished it feeling slightly robbed of a grand finale. Everything is wrapped up in the last half hour or so which was too quick. But if you have enough imagination of your own, you can finish it off for yourself - as I did. :o)
A great read, though.

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A Brilliant Book

Revisado: 09-06-12

This is the third book in the trilogy by Jennifer Worth on her life as a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950's. After being hooked on the BBC adaptation of her first book, Call the Midwife, I have devoured what I can find of her writings, and she does not disappoint.

But I must emphasise that it is not a book for the faint-hearted! Most of the stories are sad, but she writes the accounts in such a way with humour sprinkled liberally throughout the book, that somehow you don't mind the sadness, and the characters you meet are filled to the brim with life, with all with the sweetness, brutality, stoicism, fortitude and love that comes with the desperately poor conditions Jennifer was working among. It is the stuff of real life.

Her writings on this period in history is an education as well in a time of English history that is not so glittering, and Worth deals with many of the social issues that are not so widely talked about such as back-street abortions, suicide, infanticide and prostitution - so it is not a 'light' read, but I enjoyed it because of the richness of characters and the interesting lives and stories weaved around those lives, and found myself many times with tears on my face, or laughing out loud.

I loved the ending because she gives a brief summary of the lives of the nurses she worked with and what happened to them. Chummy, Cynthia, Trixie, the Nuns and herself. There are no loose ends at the finish, and I find that very satisfying when you have come to love the main characters.

You will run the gamut of emotions in this brilliant book.

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It Never Grows Old

Revisado: 09-01-12

Wuthering Heights is one of those books that you don't forget. If you love the classics, then you will be familiar with this story. Brutal and sad, it is a strange love story - if you are looking for something different to the hundreds of 'predicatable' romances available to read, then this will satisfy. This story will make you think and analyse and ponder, long after you have finished reading it.
What I liked about this particular reading is the dual narration. David Timson as Mr. Lockwood is good, but Janet McTeer who has the bulk of the reading as Nellie Deans is brilliant in her narration. You forget that it is one woman reading the many voices and interpreting the many and diverse personalities in this story. I have read Wuthering Heights many times - I know it inside out, but this is my favourite 'reading' of it.

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Surprisingly Good

Revisado: 05-26-12

I am not often very tolerant of romance novels, but this one intrigued me because of the latest excitement for all things Edwardian - although this is probably strictly more Victorian. I actually listened to the first 3 hours and then couldn't be bothered with the rest of it, until a few weeks later I thought I'd give it another try and then found I couldn't put it down. It follows Cora, a young, naive American heiress who accidentally meets and falls in love with a British aristocrat. She marries him for love, but can the same be said of him? With twists and turns and a good deal of intrigue, you can't help but become caught up in Cora's life and romance, and the lives of those around her, such as her maid, Bertha.
I really enjoyed the historical facts that were woven through the story and you can see that the author has researched her subject and time period thoroughly.

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Creme de la creme of the Classics

Revisado: 05-05-12

Rebecca is one of those books that stays with you long after you've turned the last page. It's haunting, it's even a little terrifying, it creates moral conflict, and the plot builds and builds from the first sentence until it's crescendo near the end. Anna Massey is the absolute perfect narrator for this story - she bring atmosphere to the story. I am in awe of the brilliance of Daphne Du Maurier in creating Rebecca. The story starts with the ending. It is written in first person from the second Mrs. de Winter - we are inside her head, but we never know her name. And the main character, who never actually is physically present in the entire story because she is dead, fills every page. It's brilliant. I love it. I'm sure you will too.

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