Linda B

Worth multiple listens

Revisado: 04-23-23

I don’t need to repeat the praises everyone else has given - they are all correct. Will just share that I love this book so much I’m on my second listen. Rocky the alien is so perfect. I love him and wish very much such beings existed. Well done aliens are rare, in my opinion, and this is a great example.

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The leftist racism and climate alarmism is strong

Revisado: 04-03-23

Bang over the head with far left climate alarmist propaganda and seasoned with a dash of hatred of white people, this story drags on forever with the survival details of some pill popping, unlikeable woman and her impotent husband and dances around forever before ever getting to something like the actual story. It tries to draw on the multiple story telling devices of world war z but fails as it’s too light on content. Preachy stories regardless of the type of preaching or the politics are irritating but can work if the story itself is strong. Not so here.

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I hate to criticize so unkindly but…

Revisado: 02-23-23

The narration was just awful. That’s not to say the narrator is awful. This was a complete mismatch and needed lots more direction.

Aside from that it suffers what su many potentially good stories do- good idea with no path to make it a well functioning narrative that has direction. The film improved it, though was a’major rewrite, same premise and basic characters set up with a much better plot and development and follow through and ending. . Too many great ideas get published. An idea isn’t enough.

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not good

Revisado: 02-22-17

I don't see the point of this. It's like a diary entry from a bitter, unpleasant woman who has a big hang up about being Mexican, and who is a racist. It isn't interesting, or well written or in any way engaging. Lots of people don't like their jobs. Lots of people don't have a lot of money. Lots of people don't have a perfect life - I don't see how being "chicana" is connected. It is simply incidental to her complaining, aside from her racism. The prose is poor and the "story" not at all engaging, even a little. It was work to stay focused. At no point does the listener/reader care about the character, or even hate her - just shallow contempt and boredom. And it feels too personal, but not in a good way - like a train of thought journal entry that really should have stayed private because it's not good enough to be shared. I am very surprised this writer has won any acclaim - though I think there has to be some political correctness going on as it is just very poor stuff. I am REALLY surprised this is from LA Theatre Works, as they usually put out pretty solid stuff.

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Story has gone downhill

Revisado: 06-13-16

I suppose it is really hard to write a series. I wonder why so few writers just write a complete, finished novel as the story anymore. This would have been a good idea, I think, for this story.

I really liked the first book. I thought it was well written, and compelling and interesting. The main character, whose plight is the center of the story, was interesting, easy to relate to, believable, and well developed and the plot was well paced and well developed.

This next installment lacks any of that. It has too many scattered, unlikable characters who don't seem to really figure in to the overall story in any important way, and whose back story isn't at all interesting or well developed. It also features something I personally find incredibly boring and too easy in apocalypse or disaster stories, which is almost everyone becomes some crazed, violent insane person, or everyone is some untrustworthy monster and there is all kinds of dull group fighting. I suppose there is the possibility that would happen in a real crisis, but I find it dull, and too easy. I also find giant conspiracies that make zero sense to be dull. The idea that the government would so quickly do something so pointlessly destructive, that wouldn't work, and that was just insane seems hard to believe to me. I suppose the author felt it made for an interesting mystery or something, but I think it is just too implausible as presented to be anything but kind of annoying and silly. As a result of all this, the plot in this book is kind of just a mess, and the new characters are unlikable, and partly unbelievable, even the ones we are supposed to like,

I think the first book would have been better as a stand alone book - and a complete story.

The narration is great, again, and that helped somewhat.

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Well done!

Revisado: 06-11-16

I love zombies. And I love well written stories. As a result, I am VERY jaded about zombie fiction, and reluctant to even try anything because the market is so saturated by poor writers doing unoriginal, redundant, poorly written zombie novels, in the hopes of riding the wave of zombie popularity. So this book was a very pleasant surprise.

The narrative voice is very well done, and you feel like you are experiencing the outbreak with him. He's likeable, and multi-dimensional and believable as a character. It isn't just endless - run, fight a zombie, run, have some infighting with some boring crazy group, run, fight, etc, as so many of these weak zombie books are. This one is clever and the introspection and monologue of the main character, his assessments of the crisis, his dilemma, and plans are interesting and different enough to be engaging. The story is well paced and overall it was a fun, very well written book. The narrator does a very good job too.

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Wait.... what?

Revisado: 05-25-16

It is painful to give this only three stars. Especially since I thought the first book was so well done. I had high hopes for how the series would end. But sadly, I'm disappointed.

It has a lot of the elements that made the other two successful - well developed characters, well developed relationships, loads and loads of action, and some twists and revelations, solid writing. But the problem I had with it is that the premise/plot just got more and more preposterous as the series went on.

In the first novel, it is an alien invasion. That in itself is always an interesting premise, but this particular invasion was done very well, was somewhat unique, and the way the story unfolded we were left with many questions that we were eager to have answered. In the second novel, the author decided he didn't like his premise - even stated so in interviews, and decided in some ways it didn't make sense to him. So no longer are we dealing with an invasion. Okay, so then the big question we are left with in the second book is what are we dealing with, what are these aliens up to and what exactly is happening here?

I can't tell you, as it would be a spoiler, but the answer given in the final book is just flat out silly. And makes a whole lot less sense than the original story premise that the author rejected. I suppose it was necessary to explore a theme that the writer seemed to really find fascinating (what is humanity, what makes us human, how could you destroy who we are on a fundamental level, etc). I didn't find it a fascinating enough theme though to justify contriving such a wacky turn regarding the aliens and why all this was happening. The motivation of the aliens makes absolutely NO sense at all. Again, I don't want to spoil any plot points, but given what we are told the aliens hoped to achieve, it really, really makes no sense at all - yet continually is presented as the "only" solution. I can easily think of many alternate solutions that would be far less pointlessly vicious, much more effective, much more logical, and would likely require less resources and energy, though again, to propose them here gives away the story a bit, so I won't.

And the notion there is some kind of altruistic motive makes no sense too, given what the aliens did. So ok, is it some kind of interplanetary conservation effort or something ? Again, it makes no sense. If we take the insect analogy the writer uses at several points in the story, and apply it to humans and insects, there is NO WAY we would look at even insects and think this is a good solution, or makes sense in any way. And it seems to me that it wouldn't even work... And it would only have a chance of working if the aliens were to stay forever to keep it going... Okay, given that, why not stay forever and do something else - any of the MANY alternatives, which I won't propose as I can't spoil it, but just a little thought and anyone can think of other ways that make way more sense. It reminded me of The Day the Earth Stood Still, but the solution is just preposterous and not something any species that valued life would do - at least not an intelligent species...

Also, the notion of a benevolent motive was muddled with all the clear hate of humanity, and outright evil actions... And it just isn't plausible that aliens would go to this much trouble just to be evil with nothing to gain and no one to benefit really, but also wouldn't do this if they wanted to be saviors. And if we are to assume that the nature of the aliens is that same nature they want to instill in the humans, that they already embody the "solution", then by the very solution itself, the aliens should never have developed enough to be able to do all this in the first place... (It is hard to explain without spoilers) The motivations just made NO sense. Which is really weird as the writer rejected his original motivation as he thought it made no sense, though I would ague it made far more sense than this turn of events.

When it is finally fully explained what is going on, my feeling was "wait.... what?"... It seemed so anticlimactic in that it really was just weak in so many ways and didn't make sense. So without that major aspect being worthwhile in this story, we are left with your typical YA stuff, and that is more emphasized in this book- the banter and relationships of the characters, who ends up with whom, who is a bad guy, who is a good guy, who is a hero, loads of fights and action scenes, how do these teens deal with their crisis, and teen romance, etc... It is pretty typical stuff. That said, those who enjoy that will enjoy this and the writing is still strong. I however found that once the main premise and plot had degraded to silliness, the little skirmishes and battles got very dull, and the tension had diffused for me, as I couldn't get past the many jarring aspects of the plot which had really devolved.

The narrators do a wonderful job - as with the other two books.

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A LOT of fun!

Revisado: 09-12-15

The number one word for this book is FUN! The plot is very solid, and the story very engaging, with unexpected turns and a well-paced, well-developed story. But aside from that, the real power of the book, and what makes it special, in my opinion, is the characters and dialogue. The banter is laugh out load funny at times, and the characters are more than colorful, and are really unique, quirky, and extremely funny in their interactions. The relationships are well-developed too, and not predictable or excessively sweet, which can be a problem in some books in this genre. Yet they are likable, and overall, they are very fun. The banter is really entertaining.

The narrator does a spectacular job as well, and really brought the book to life! The narrator captures the characters perfectly, better than my imagination could have done in fact, and I am pretty picky about narration as I listen to so many audiobooks. It felt very performed, and never, ever felt like it was being "read aloud" to me. Aside from the characters, the pacing and flow and energy of the reading worked perfectly with the content. In fact the narrator gave me this as a gift, for my honest review and I am really glad she did. I don't want to give anything away, but the book leaves a few questions, which will likely make you want the next installment. That said, it is very solid on it's own, as a stand alone book, though part of a series. Particularly if you enjoy this genre, you will really like this series, and I highly recommend it.

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An engaging, well-paced story

Revisado: 08-30-15

If you've never read a "shifter" book, this story would be a good place to start. First of all, the main character is compelling and I felt connected with her story. What is interesting is that, aside from just a paranormal romance, the story feels like it is deeper than that... with a bit of mystery, and we see our main character grow and change and confront some serious issues. It is a fun and engaging read, and the main character's story has some complexity to it, that makes it more than just a straightforward paranormal romance.

Our heroine suffers a fair bit of tragedy (but I don't want to give away any spoilers or wreck the story with a plot summary) that lead her to some painful life choices, and repression of who she is, and some personal crosses she has to bear. She returns to her home town, after a period of self-exile/hiding, and she is confronted by a responsibility she's avoided till then - she is needed and she can't escape her own nature forever. Her romantic choice will be critical in determining what life path she chooses and have an impact on her role in the town - so the stakes are high. But it isn't as simple as just picking the guy she likes best. I appreciated that there was some complexity to the character, and that the story was neither overly complicated nor simplistic - an interesting mystery at times, and by the end of the story I felt drawn into and very involved in her story, her life. The writing itself is also strong, and the story is well-paced and well-developed, with a bit of mystery that unfolds well and characters that we come to care about/have genuine interest in.

Also, the narrator does a really great job, and it is very well performed - the characters seemed voiced in a distinct, compelling way that made it feel like real interactions, and the flow of the narration was solid and engaging. Also, if you like a bit of steamy sex scenes, the book delivers some of that that without being excessive or silly about it. In other words, it doesn't cross into the annoying territory of a "story" that seems to exist solely to kill time between bedroom scenes - that isn't the case at all in this book. Rather, these elements were used well, and often in a unique way, and served to increase the intensity of the relationships, and to illuminate some of the mysteries/dilemmas our heroine is grappling with.

The story is a cliff hanger, so I will need to read the next to find out how it concludes. But even though the story doesn't really end, it doesn't just stop - the ending is not at all unsatisfying and in fact it is pretty intense. On the whole, I enjoyed this story, which Tasha Black gave me for my unbiased review through audiobookblastdotcom. It was interesting and engaging enough that by the end I really want to know what happens next.

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Interesting and thoughtful story

Revisado: 08-29-15

As a huge science fiction fan, I was curious as to how this topic - AI, and the possible dangers of consciousness of artificial intelligence - could be done in a new way- since it is a topic that has featured in many science fiction stories. I was pleasantly surprised. This is an extremely thoughtful book - with an interesting blend of philosophy and science, and it made me think, wonder, worry. It seemed well balanced between scientific explanation and plot, and never read like a text book. Though the science wasn't "watered down" or overly simplified, it was accessible to the lay reader - to the non-expert. It was also thoughtful in terms of questions like what is consciousness, what are we facing in our quest for artificial intelligence, why are we seeking it, who would be seeking it, what is our moral obligation, what are the real dangers given human nature, etc. And that kind of thoughtful exploration, to me, is what makes science fiction fun and interesting. I think particularly if this is a topic that is new to you, this will be a really informative and thoughtful book.

In addition to that, it is fairly well-written, in my opinion, and well-paced. The story and plot itself are strong, and I felt engaged by the characters and their dilemmas - in fact some of their plight was a little scary at times, and I felt involved in the goings on. For those who are not into philosophy or "hard" science fiction, this book is pretty strong in terms of plot as well - it is a bit of a thriller, with villains and good guys, and plenty of action, etc.

But I do have a few small criticisms. It is, at times, I think, perhaps a bit more descriptive than it needed to be, but not so much that it ruined the overall experience. Also, I think I would have liked it had the main hero been a little less perfect from the outset - had a bit more of a complex or flawed character, to make him a bit more accessible and relatable. But still, he does work as the hero, so it's not a major problem. The ending was a little open - as though a sequel is not out of the question. Personally, I am not a big fan of that - but it is so common these days, I can't really single this out, and to be fair, I would probably be interested in a follow up story.

The narrator does a good job too and it felt performed and audibly engaging, not simply read - in fact, the narrator gave me the book for my unbiased review and assessment through audiobookblastdotcom, and I am glad he did - I really did enjoy it. Overall, it's a pretty engaging and thoughtful book, and kept me entertained, and had some interesting insight as well from a scientific and philosophical point of view.

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