Tinkerbell

Fun story of finding one's calling (and love!)

Revisado: 01-18-21

I really liked this story, it was more than a formula romance, it was the story of Gaby's adventures trying to figure out what she wants to do when she is grown up, oops she is already grown up and feeling a bit lost and behind her siblings and friends. There is romance, but it's not front and center, and is very slow burn. If you are looking for fun story with interesting quirky characters and happenings and some serious moments, this is a good choice. Narrator did a great job.
I appreciated the love story being 'background' and really building on friendship, not sex. If you are looking for steamy, this is not the book for you. If you like a good story without a lot of 'heat', this is a very good listen.

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LOVED THIS!

Revisado: 01-09-21

I have not enjoyed an audio book as much as I enjoyed this one in a long long time. The characters were likeable and real, but there was enough of the 'fantasy' element to keep is solidly in the romance genre.
The back and forth was great, it was more of a play than a novel, which works super well for audio. I will definitely seek out more 'written for audio' books in the future, it really makes a difference.

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Narration better than the book

Revisado: 09-26-20

This was 'ok'. The narration is great, saves it really. I could listen to Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon all day - one of my favorite narrator sets.
The story....its not bad, its got some interesting turns, but the writing is borderline cheesy to the point of being almost a parody of romance - some of the phrases and things could almost be programmed into a romance writing robot. Its a shame because the storyline had potential if it had a better writer who wasn't just recycling typical romance phrases and concepts.
I gave story 2 stars because there is no 'quality of writing' rating. I would actually give the story 3.5 stars, but the writing drags it down.

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LOVE LOVE LOVE, riveting story, awesome narration

Revisado: 01-10-20

It is rare that I like a single narrated book over a duet narrated book, but Erin Mallon's rendition of Christina Lauren books are the exception. Her male voice is excellent (I'd date him!) and distinct enough from her female voice that the story has fullness. I also loved this story though it does have a lot of similarities with Love and Other Words, I didn't mind because I loved that book as well. I judge a book by how many hikes and steps I do while listening and this one was off the charts, I was walking an hour extra a day to get in more 'book time' (I don't listen unless I exercise, makes it last longer and motivate me!).

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Meh - interesting, not inspiring

Revisado: 12-19-19

I had high hopes for this book and it as 'ok'. Not horrible, but not great. I found myself spacing out in some places because it was just more of the safe. She is a Writer with a W...meaning lots of deliberate and overstated metaphors and turns of phrase, seemed slightly more concerned with seeming writerly than actually making great points. Additionally...she isn't very likable and that is hard to get over. She comes across as supremely narcissistic, greedy and needy - very ME ME ME!!! She expected everyone in her world to support her sobriety, rails about dinner parties not thinking of her and providing beverages, she resents her husband and everyone for having a drink in her presence. I was hoping that as her story progressed and she got sober, she would evolve into a more mature and less self-absorbed person, but that is not the case. She talks about how she has learned to accept the support of others, but from the earlier part of the book it seems that she has always expected the support of others and was super bitter when she didn't get it. Now she has the wolf pack (her friends/support group) and talks about how great they are , how much they have done for her, then admits she hasn't been picking up the phone lately, not participating , but she is sure when she needs them again they will be right there for her. You don't get the idea she has been as good a friend/support to others as she requires.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Unlistenable due to female narrator (better read)

Revisado: 11-09-19

I started reading this, then switched to listening, then went back to reading because the female narrator is all wrong and unlistenable - she does not portray the character at all well and accent is way overdone.

The story is also problematic. I love a slow burn, but this just missed the mark, too many stereotypes and mis-types.

An ok plane read, but not worth a credit.

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Amazing, Riveting, I didn't want it to end

Revisado: 10-22-19

This was sooooo GREAT! I rarely listen to books that I haven’t first read, but I'm so glad that I listened to this book without having read it first. The audio narration is STELLAR! Erin Mallon is truly gifted, she made every single voice/character come to life in a unique way, I truly forgot that it was just one person reading.

I LOVE slow burn romances, I love all Mariana Zapata's books and this book is the only one that even comes close to my all time favorite Wall of Winnipegg and me. Macy and Eliot's relationship is real and epic at the same time - it is honest, raw, funny and heart breaking.

I only let myself listen to books while I'm walking and I didn't miss a single workout the week I was listening to this book and had to use every ounce of my discipline to turn it off when it was time to go home!

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Better read than listen, narration is not great

Revisado: 09-06-18

I read The Butterfly Project and LOVED it so I was excited when I joined audible and saw I could experience it again by listening. Unfortunately, the listening experience was not what I had hoped. The female narrator (Amy Bentley) is pretty good, took a bit to get used to her voice(s), but after awhile she did feel like 'Zelda' to me and her renditions of the other characters showed talent and was enjoyable (her Darlene voice, made that character much more pronounced than when I read the book).

The problem was with the narration for Becketts point of view. The two narrators should have sync'd up and agree on whether he was going to have a strong Brooklyn accent or not as it is every disjointed when Amy reads him with an accent and Guy reads him without. Additionally, Guy Locke reads like he is at a poetry slam or book reading, not narrating a book. Good narrators have subtle differences in inflection and tone when reading thoughts/narrative pieces vs. dialogue and that was largely missing in his reading. His stilted awkwardly emphasized (too dramatic) reading was cringe worthy and honestly I almost stopped listening. If I hadn't read the book first and knew it was good, i would have as I was missing much of the story that is the essence of Beckett by this weird reading. It was very much amateur reading/poetry night at the local indie bookstore, not a 'performance' worthy of a book on audible (maybe if it were 'free' in Romance Package, but this was a full credit).

The story however is GREAT! I am a huge fan of the slow burn model and while this doesn't quite qualify since the characters are attracted very early in the story, that they have a friendship and relationship for 23 chapters before having any physical contact/confessing of romantic feelings until chapter 24 made the book better for me as it gave space to learn other things about them, really know them as people and be rooting for them.

This is my favorite of all the books I have read by this Author (most of which I enjoyed a lot).

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Great read, even better listen

Revisado: 08-24-18

I really enjoy Mariana Zapata's books and read this one awhile ago and liked, but didn't *love* it as much as the others so it wasn't on my list for audio. Then I listened to the "The Wall of Winnipegg and Me" and was surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to a book that I had already read and how it felt 'new'. Due to that experience I decided to give From Lukov with Love a listen and I am SO GLAD I did! The duet narration is excellent and elevated the book to a new level. I even went back and read it again after listening and it was better because I have the voices of the narrators in my head.

I am so glad I got this, will definitely listen again many times.

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Absorbing story

Revisado: 06-15-18

Loved this! The most riveting and absorbing of the various alcohol/recovery memoirs out there - funny at times, entertaining even in the sadness/destruction. Unflinching look at a life deeply soaked in alcohol and denial. I started listening as I need inspiration to clean up my own drinking and I can't say it helped with that as the depth/breadth of the authors relationship with alcohol is far beyond anything I have experienced and in some ways that made me think "I'm not that bad, no need to worry" but really the message is 'if alcohol is causing you to lie, hide, lose connections with family and friends, miss experiences, you are cheating yourself out of life' and I don't need to have shaking hands and be drinking my breakfast to feel a twinge of recognition at that message.

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