D. Waheedah

Very Disappointing

Revisado: 03-06-23

I had enjoyed Jane Harper's previous novels, which is why I selected this one. Unfortunately, it is one of those stories that never seems to get started or go anywhere. The entire book consists of random scenes of people having conversations, speculating on what happened to Kim.

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Misses the Mark

Revisado: 02-14-23

Jodi Picoult is a fine author, but she is out of her depth with this one. Much has been made about the amount of research she did amongst Black American women to develop the novel's Black characters, however, as a Black woman reading, I found those to be the most unrealistic characters.
I am not someone who believes only Black people can write Black characters, but it is a challenging exercise with which many fail. Her Black characters still have the element of what a White person imagines a Black one to be, to think, and how they interact in the world.
Black people here have the advantage of having observed White behavior up close and personal for hundreds of years. They have never really paid much attention to us, thus, making the writing exercise even more difficult. Ms. Picoult needs to stick with the worlds she knows best.

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It was the narration

Revisado: 09-22-22

I was enjoying this story until one of the narrators began mispronouncing words! Sorry, that’s just unacceptable. For goodness sake if you come across an unfam

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Excellent

Revisado: 04-17-21

Wonderful new detective series set in Ghana, which makes it unlike any of the American or European stories in unique, cultural ways. I hope there are more and that Robin Miles continues to read them! She’s just perfect.

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Important

Revisado: 01-26-21

This thoroughly researched, well-written biography is an important addition to the collection thar comprises the life Malcolm Shabazz. Further, it is an extremely valuable historical account of the times that created him.

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Learn to pronounce the language correctly!

Revisado: 05-02-20

This is a good story — well-developed characters, interesting plot. But within the first pages the narrator says “archivist” with a long “I,” obviously assuming that the profession noun is pronounced the same way the place noun is. IT ISN’T!! It’s a short “I” and as an archivist, this drove me nuts!
These sort of mispronunciations can ruin a book for a listener! Please try to do better — this isn’t the first book I’ve returned for this same reason, and I doubt I’m the only person who feels this way.

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Narrator saved it

Revisado: 07-15-18

Had it not been for the quality of the narration, I’d have quit after the first few chapters. That story was too thinly plotted and too predictable!
If you love the British mysteries, pas on this one.

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There's This One Large Thing

Revisado: 05-29-18

I was a Kristin Hannah fan; she is generally an excellent writer who carefully crafts her characters, weaving them into finely developed plots. In general, The Great Alone is another fine novel. There's just this one thing, which bothered me at first, but was screaming so intently by the end I could hardly focus on main details. The thing is a person, a black woman who is named "Large Marge." She is the lone black character, who really doesn't get a character save her enormous bulk (always referenced when she is mentioned), her clanging bracelets, and her undying loyalty to the protagonists. She is the first person the main characters encounters when they arrive in Alaska, and she tells them to call her "Large Marge." So they do, and throughout the entire novel, whenever Marge is mentioned, thought of, or spoken to, she is "Large Marge." Even passing characters get some kind of back story to why they are in Alaska, but not "Large Marge." Honestly, I could not help but think of Nigger Jim, and I couldn't understand how Ms. Hannah and all of the numerous individuals who had to have reviewed the manuscript could all be so incredibly tone deaf. I was hurt, disappointed, and insulted, and I would have preferred that the black character be left out rather than her inclusion be this absurdly ridiculous caricature. It honestly ruined the book for me and sadly my love affair with Kristin Hannah's material. The Nazis in The Nightingale got better treatment.
If you're black, pass on this one.

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Awesome!!

Revisado: 04-04-17

"Lincoln in the Bardo" is different, so if you aren't prepared for something really different than one reader beautifully transporting you to another place, this is not the book for you. It is history, all duly quoted and cited, and then it's historical, otherworldly historical fiction. It is the most unique book I have ever listened to. Saunders takes the reader/listener back and forth between the actual history of 1862 and the Bardo, where basically anything goes. The numerous narrators are the denizens of the Bardo, which is something like purgatory or in the Islamic tradition, the Barzaq -- a netherworld between life and death, where poor Willie Lincoln languishes because his father will not release him. It's wild and fascinating, sad and compelling. If you studied history, you can get into it. If you love history, you can get into it. If you can transcend the corporeal life and suspend belief, you will love this book!

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It Really Is Important

Revisado: 03-11-17

Ms. Thomas's characters are real, and sadly, the events in this story happen all too often to real Black Americans. If you're Black, you'll love this family and feel right at home with them. If you're white, you may be surprised at the emotions they arouse in you, because despite some cultural differences, we're not so different after all. The Black Lives Matter movement offends some because they don't realize that in the larger scheme of American life, Black Lives do not seem to matter, or to quote Starr Carter, "they seem to matter less."
Read this book!

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