Lyra Dosch

Funny, Sad, and Relatable.

Revisado: 06-07-20

At its highest points, Herbie is filled with inspiring wisdom and relatable life situations. At its low points, Herbie is a dismal reminder of the mortality and waning integrity of man. It's an honest story, full of vulnerability from the lips of Rich Cohen. But it's not all good times. Some of the most insightful parts were also the most sad.

I would have listened to it in an entire sitting, but my headset ran out of juice about half way through.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Far Short of Low Suspense

Revisado: 06-07-20

The Getaway is a horror/suspense story that bears a lot of similar motifs to the movie "Get Out." While the plots are absolutely different, the story and the movie feature similar plot hooks and twists. They also suffer from the same maladies--villains who are too stupid to be doing evil things, a ridiculous illusion of romance plot, and potential suspense moments that are reaped before they bloom. I feel embarrassed for the authors, and am loathe to call this story "horror/suspense."

Emily Bauer did a fine job reading, but I felt like she was phoning it in at some of the dramatic points. I can't say that I blame her.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Use caution with PTSD

Revisado: 06-07-20

This audiobook was my first experience using tuning forks or other audio-resonance stimuli to induce a state of relaxation. As such I was a little conflicted when the first time I used this, I had adverse effects. I turned on the audiobook, turned off the lights, lied down on the bed, listened until it stopped, then took off my headset and went to sleep. I fell asleep almost instantly. I awoke in the morning to a very uncomfortable flashback to my past trauma. "What a sick price!" I thought--feeling utterly betrayed and preyed upon. But such is the nature of traumatic expression. I marked this book as a 1/5 star, wrote no review, and uninstalled it. Then something inexplicable happened...

I was struggling to fall asleep a few nights later. I lay awake in bed, hot and sticky and restless. I tossed and turned, unable to sleep for a full hour. I lamented and reinstalled the audiobook, then repeated the steps as mentioned before. I fell asleep within five minutes of the end of the audiobook and slept soundly--no adverse effects this time. Since then I have used this audiobook a handful of times when sleep has been elusive. I have felt no dependency upon this book, and I have slept fitfully for the past two weeks without listening to it. It's an interesting, specialized tool in my toolkit now. It has certainly sparked my interest into further audio-resonance therapy.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in alternative therapies to try it. Just be wary if you have a history of trauma.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not Voltaire's Finest

Revisado: 06-07-20

Thankfully I did not listen to this before bed. If I had I can only surmise that I would have experienced nightmares beyond human comprehension. Instead, I listened to this while working on a woodworking project--mundane work that required a distraction for my creative mind. What I got was long moments of confusion followed by longing memories of Voltaire's better works. How is this even written by the same author? Micromegas certainly has Voltaire's whimsy about it, but it is both silly and serious and I feel like that dichotomy has left the reading a constipated mess. I feel like a horse that's been spurred and beaten, but I'm choking on my bit--pick a direction and let me go there.

Prentice Onayemi did a fine job. He purposely uses a calmer, more dulcet voice for this reading to encourage restfulness. I would like to hear more from this narrator in the same vein, as the initial breathing exercise that he asks you to partake in was very relaxing. Too bad it was a brief foray into an ancillary purpose of this "audiobook."

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Solid history lesson, little to no dramatization.

Revisado: 05-26-20

The Life and Times of Prince Albert could be best described as a historical biography of none other than Prince Albert. It is composed and narrated by the illustrous Patrick Allitt, who is an authority on British history and the royal families. No surprises here, it's exactly what it says on the tin. Unfortunately that's my biggest criticism of the book--it's kind of bland during low points of contention because...well, it's history. When the stakes are high, the book is interesting and captivating. When the focus is on societal milestones that we take for granted, less so.

Patrick did an excellent job assembling these notes and narrating them, but at times I felt like I was experiencing deja vu because Patrick assembled his notes based on subject matter or topics. This feels disjointed when we're fast forwarding and rewinding in time. One minute Albert is young and dapper, the next he's on his deathbed, then back again. All because we went from talking about arts and humanities to talking about public relations with the United States.

If you're passionate about history, or interested at all in Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, you have already made up your mind. And for those of you who are interested, this book is worth a read. If you could care less about history, and are looking for some adventure, look elsewhere.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

So close to being high drama

Revisado: 05-06-20

Second Skin is not a pleasant story to read, and I mean that in the best way that I can. Author Christian White did a pretty darn good job of assembling macabre and uncomfortable building blocks to create the tension of "high drama." The story has a Quantic Dreams level of quality when it came to conflict and drama. When it rains, it pours, and no good deed goes unpunished. I would be lying if I said that this story didn't bring me down a peg or two in mood while reading it, and unfortunately the ending is so bitter that you get no comfort from the plot's resolution. For this reason, the story isn't for everybody. If you like bleak, depressing stories then this is for you. But even with that caveat I wouldn't be quick to recommend this.

Christian White is a pretty good writer. I enjoyed his writing style, and Ellen Archer did an excellent job at portraying it. What I didn't like, however, is our author's inability to stick to central motif. Throughout the story it's painfully obvious that he is torn between writing a supernatural thriller and psychological murder mystery. Ultimately he makes a choice, but was it the right one? It feels like we are told the story from the wrong perspective. Erin is a much more endearing protagonist than Stan, and if our author was to take a more supernatural route with his plot this would make perfect sense.

Honorable mention: Ellen Archer does a great job portraying a grandmother, a mother, and a child all in the same setting. If I had one criticism for her, it would be to work on her male voices. She clearly has a default male voice (Stan) and a douchey version (Max).

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not as good as the previous installment

Revisado: 05-06-20

This book exists for a very important reason. This audiobook needs to be required reading for anyone interested in writing satire, because it outlines exactly what you should not do to your satirical sequel. I know that Larry Correia knows how to write. I have read his words. I have experienced his story telling. But listening to this story was like watching a loved one drunkenly take the mic at karaoke night--you know it needn't happen, but you're not at liberty to stop it.

A Murder of Manatees woefully lacks in filling the shoes of Larry Correia's previous audibook in the series, The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent. This is due primarily to the fact that Larry Correia takes the criticism of his previous work to heart and puts the controversy of his satire front and center, as a plot point. This is strictly verboten. It's like talking about Fight Club or saying "good luck" on stage. To date the only franchise that got uproarious laughs from calling attention to its ability to piss people off is Drawn Together, and the only reason they hit it out of the park was because they were being cancelled. It was like deploying an inflatable raft off of a sinking ship, just to see the raft sink with the boat. Instead, Larry Correia's story tries to keep that raft afloat long after the punchline hit. It's embarrassing to behold.

Rant over, the plot of this installment is bland like a stale cracker. There are a couple of mentions of "it do be like dat, doe" situational humor that we can all relate to. But overall the multiple universe irony is done much better in the first Tom Stranger book. Jimmy the Intern makes a return--which is not something we needed or asked for. We needed something fresh, something new. In a universe where Tom Stranger goes through interns like bubblegum, why can't we just have a new "Jimmy?" Tom seemed more rigid and puckered than in his previous book, which made the jokes flow less freely while he was in frame. It honestly felt like Tom was the fun police, and everyone else was trying to tow the line.

If you liked the first installment, give this one a try. If you can't stand juvenile humor, don't read either book.

Honorable mention: Adam Baldwin kills it yet again. This man slays in his sleep. I'm confident that Adam's narration counts as charitable work on a global scale. My only chagrin (which I'm sure Mr. Baldwin shares) is that there was no R. L. Ermey to voice in this installment. For that reason, Adam, I had to dock you one star. I hope you will understand.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Shallow romance, untapped potential, no drama

Revisado: 05-06-20

The story is so close to being a convincing romance plot. At times I could see where Kwame Dawes was going, but then she zigged when she should have zagged. She even thought about the little things, like power outages, cell phone signal strength, and wifi capabilities being hampered by a tropical storm. But she allows the characters to sit around and pontificate in isolation rather than creating emotional tension between the characters.

There's not enough conflict in the story, nor are there enough reasons to be interested in the conflict that is being presented. We know our sassy protagonist has a history of trauma, but we never get the opportunity to know about the trauma and see the dramatic irony play out. Same goes for our antagonist and his amnesia.

Kwame Dawes does a fair job at writing. She commits a few mistakes here and there in terms of writing practices, but she is varied and eloquent. Where she falls down at is the flirting. I honestly can't tell if she is trying to portray our romantic characters as giddy airheads who have been out of the game for too long, or if she actually believes that adults flirt like this when they aren't hammered. Either way, it ruins the atmosphere and combined with the lack of conflict the reader finds themselves saying "who cares?!"

The words that ended my listen, however, were "oh well." Turns out I didn't actually get to finish this book. About 3/4 of the way through my Audible app conveniently "forgot" where I was in the book and sent me back to the beginning--do not pass go, do not collect $200. Like a shrewd businessman backing away from a crooked deal I declined the opportunity to punish myself further. The universe works in mysterious ways, and in this instance someone or something was telling me to put the book down. I would recommend you never pick it up in the first place.

Honorable mention: Paula-Anne Jones does an acceptable job reading. I understood 99% of what she said the first time, but she needs to work on her male voices. Right pitch, wrong attitude--our antagonist just sounded like a deeper voiced female.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fanfic-level writing with Swiss cheese plots

Revisado: 05-06-20

There's more holes in these plots than Swiss cheese. Ben Winters writes with all of the grace of a fanfiction writer, committing writing faux pas left and right. The motifs in these three short stories are all stolen from writers who did it better in a full-length feature book/script. For example: Stop Motion's plot is literally just Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth's screenplay, Disturbia--but now with a gay murderer, so you know it's relevant. At best this design choice is tasteless and at worst it's offensive. Affirmative action doesn't count when you portray minorities as villains or criminals--only when they have redeeming qualities that ingratiate themselves to the reader.

The common flaw with all three of these short stories is that none of them actually address why everyone is on lockdown. These stories will be absolutely, incontrovertibly, irrelevant and dubious after the Covid-19 virus fades from memory. No one is going to pick up this audiobook and say "I have to know why these stories exist" because they are not titillating to the senses. And at no point does Ben Winters do anything beyond mouthing the words "quarantine." It's lazy story-telling.

Despite all of my disapproval of these stories, I have to say that The Cape House had the most potential out of all three. There was some good buildup here, and I actually wanted to know which brother was going to make a move first. But deus ex machina is not a good trope for horror. It's not a good trope period, but using it in a horror story just deflates the tension that you were pumping into your bouncy castle of suspense all story long. Ultimately I was left wanting in a way that our author could never redeem.

Honorable mentions: the reading was acceptable across the board. Scott Aiello stole the show with his spot-on Upstate East coast accents. Good on ya, Scott.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 29 personas

A Harrowing Tale of Madness and Corruption

Revisado: 02-07-20

I don't really know how to describe this "story." It's less of a story and more of a documentary on the incredibly sad and unfortunate account of stardom corrupting a naive soul into an absolute villain of a man. It's said that power corrupts man, and if that's true then who better would it corrupt than a simple Alaskan native from the bush?

Midnight Son combines chilling cultural folklore along with real accounts and testimony of real people affected by the events of the documentary. I can't tell which is more compelling, but I can say that I'm even less certain of Teddy Kyle Smith's guilt than I was when I first started listening.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña