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Difficult Reader

Revisado: 07-30-12

Would you try another book from Victoria Laurie and/or Eileen Stevens?

Doubtful. The author has previously made some public, distasteful comments, that make me want to stay away from more of her books. I read this because I had already bought it.

What didn’t you like about Eileen Stevens’s performance?

Well, several things. It's a pet peeve of mine when a reader mispronounces words, especially constantly. My second biggest pet peeve is when a reader uses an incorrect accent for a character. A very heavy monotone Latin accent does not jive for a character that says he grew up in Germany. Very Annoying. And this may be harsh, but in my opinion, if you can't tell the difference, then don't be a reader.
Another issue that made me cringe is less important for the general population, but was nerve-racking to me, at least. I can't be too mad when a reader, someone who's career is essentially acting, stumbles over terminology related to another career field. But since I belong to that field, I end up gritting my teeth when readers struggle over Computer/IT/Computer Science talk. And since the main character's best friend,cousin, and roommate is an M.I.T. C.S. grad, it was brought up often. I mean, just take a quick course on the topic, or ask when you run into a term you're not sure how to say. Otherwise, the ignorance takes away from the actual story.

What character would you cut from What's a Ghoul to Do??

Gilly, Steven, the parrot. So pretty much all of the supporting cast. All they did was manipulate and push M.J. around. It was more than frustrating.

Any additional comments?

I know I picked on the reader over the computer talk, but really the blame should be shared with the author too. Who clearly was only vaguely familiar with the topic. Or who makes her German bred medical doctor struggle over every....single.....sentence...he has in the entire book. (Germans, like many Europeans are actually taught multiple languages -including English. Americans aren't for the most part. It was mildly insulting that the handsome awesome doctor makes very easy mistakes, especially in medical terms.)

First example - 'His cholesterol was elevator.'

Overall, it was just bad writing. M.J. has no back bone, everyone that she cares about takes advantage of her left and right or pushes her into things she clearly has no interest in. And the guy we are supposed to fall in love with, can barely speak of a word of English and has the ego of Charlie Sheen. My final thought? Ew.

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Performance Is Lacking

Revisado: 06-04-12

Would you try another book from Carolyn Keene and/or Nancy Wu?

I love the Nancy Drew books, I don't care for the narrator.

What was most disappointing about Carolyn Keene’s story?

The reader also did the Undead series, which makes it extremely distracting. She uses the exact same voices for Nancy and Hannah as she does for Betsy and Jessica. And if you've read those, you realize what works for two 20 somethings/an undead vampire queen, doesn't really work for an 8 year old and her nanny. It's more than distracting.

What didn’t you like about Nancy Wu’s performance?

I wish she had some variation in her character voices.

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Anticipating the rest of the series!

Revisado: 02-10-11

I really enjoy this series. This was a refreshing topic in the Paranormal genre. I'm an older reader, and there is a bit more sexual content than I would necessarily prefer (for the teen audience), so keep that in mind if you are considering this for your child. (The two main male characters both have a reputation as a 'ladies man', and it's brought up alot.) I know this is a natural topic for teens, but the heroine never makes a clear decision on it for herself, other than an internal conflict of whether she should be sexually active or not. so I'm not sure what the authors point is, in keeping her indecisive. So that's really my only complaint. That it feels as if it should be geared to older teens (17 and up) or adults. Again that's my only complaint. The context of the story is awesome.

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Great Story

Revisado: 02-10-11

The author has a greal deat of talent. Making this a good read for both teens and adults, smoothly, without leaning more one way or the other. I could relate to the heroine (even as a 29 year old) and I was routing for Gabriel (the romantic interest.) She intertwined witchcraft and time travel easily, much more easily then you would think. It does touch on underage drinking and smoking. But neither condemns or approves of it, it just...is apart of the character. The story had this organic and natural feel to it. I certainly hope they continue the storyline.

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Negative 5 Stars

Revisado: 01-17-11

I've never been so thoroughly disgusted with a book and the distorted view that this author has for men in general, that I actually wish I could give a negative star rating.
The universe that she created sounded interesting (obviously, that's why I got it.) But I was so let down, I don't even know where to begin.
Tessa, appears to have the making of a strong heroine, but this is never met.
I think I will begin with the love triangle, since it's what has provoked such a strong reaction from me. First off. This author has no idea what a healthy relationship consists of.
If she were trying to make us fall in love with the hero (Will), she fell short....by alot. I can understand that she was attempting to give him depth, by making him push everyone away by being rude, but come on. There has to be a limit. In fact, every time he interacts with Tessa, he's either immediately kissing her, telling her he has feelings for her, then pushing her away from him (literally...she fell to the floor in one chapter), or he's outright calling her a slut. And insinuating that the only type of relationship they can have is sex.
Every time Tessa speaks of Will, the only words she seems to know to describe him is 'beautiful', 'perfect', 'gorgeous'. And since every interact with him results in him insulting her, one can only imagine that she attracted to him purely because she's sexually attracted to him.
(Which seems to contradict the whole point of Tessa, the plain ordinary girl with two 'beautiful' angel boys fighting over her.)
Speaking of the second boy, Jem. Jem is nothing but kind and devoted to Tessa. But does she even notice him in any way resembling to the way she fantasies about Will? Oh no, that would make too much sense.
I won't be reading the next two books, because I can see this author has a very warped view on how women should/want to be treated by men. I think she should keep her dysfunctional opinion to herself and stop writing.

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Undecided

Revisado: 01-07-11

I felt this story had a solid premise but as others have commented about, it dragged and was slow in several parts. Overall I felt the background story, the characters, had a really good basis. But that too much of the book was 'filler' that could have been used to give the characters more than their two dimensional feel. Alot of the language felt odd for teenagers to use. Alot of the reactions were under or over exaggerated, especially for Tate. She either has a really good theory of what's going on in the town and is angry over it or totally oblivious when proof is presented to her, it felt silly. It was also very confusing what sort of relationship Macky and Tate really had throughout the book, which was frustrating. I didn't know if I should like her or be wary that she was just using him. It wasn't consistent. Macky's personality was timid and frail at one point and then BAM! heroic and a confident jock the next, then back to being an uncertain outcast teenager again. There was an attempt at character growth but it came in jolts which didn't fit the slow pace of the the rest of the book.
Like I said, I felt this was a great start, very interesting premise, and I didn't hate it. But it felt more like a rough draft then a final revision of a story.
Having said all that I would still love to see a continuation or another attempt at the story, because I do think the premise is a very interesting one, and deserves more attention.

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