boricuachica

I don’t expect to like this story…

Revisado: 02-08-24

But I was oddly charmed by the main character and her willingness to eventually face the truth of her past. I greatly appreciated that it was a different kind of love story too. The narrator was absolutely wonderful; love her voice.

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Excellent!

Revisado: 01-14-24

The second book of the this series was just as good, if not better, than the first. The narrator is superb! She really should win an award for this. Can’t wait for the next installment! My one and only critique is that sometimes you can hear a chair creak and the click of the microphone and this can sometimes pull you away from the story, but that’s me. Maybe it won’t be so noticeable to others.

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Mediocre at best

Revisado: 09-23-23

I struggled to like this book for two, maybe three reasons. First, and most glaring for me, was the performance of the narrator. I have it in my mind that this narrator might herself be Native American, which is fantastic if she is. That’s very cool. And it would make so much sense to have someone who also has an intricate understanding of the cultural aspects of this story to narrate. And I want to join my voice in encouraging the utilization of Native American actors and actresses across the board. That being said, her performance made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story. The cadence, the timing, the way she emoted, was all off for me. Most of the time it felt flat, lacking of emotions, almost monotone. It made me think the actress should invest in acting and voice lessons to really develop her instrument, because every once in awhile there was something more captivating coming through in her performance and I was able to become immersed in what was going on rather than cringing at the performance. Now, I’m totally open to the possibility that my ear isn’t trained to hear more delicate, subtle performances, if that’s what this was. And it now occurs to me her performance might reflect a deliberate choice, a cultural way of narrating a story. And that’s awesome if it was. But for me, it made it difficult to get caught into it. I needed more.

The second issue regards the editing. The pace of this story really felt disorganized. I know given the plot, it makes sense to bake in something that feels off, disjointed and unsettling, but this took it too far. It was hard to tell when the story jumps to a flashback or memory and where in the timeline that particular memory/flashback occurred; part of it was due to the performance but it was mainly due to the editing. I don’t think this book was abridged, but if it was they cut too much. If it wasn’t, and this was the original author’s/editor’s choice, it took several wrong turns.

Lastly, which is related to the second reason, is the character development. Other than the protagonist, her grandma and some of her other family members, and the medicine man, the other characters were one tone. They were there to serve the purpose of having someone for the protagonist to interact with, but you could tell they were just place fillers. It’s most evident, to me anyway, in the characters of the two best friends, the cop who benched the protagonist (sorry, Spoilers!) and the ghost that haunts the protagonist. There is even a line at the end of the last chapter that describes the ghost’s interactions with the protagonist as “witty banter” that left me incredulous, because if they thought that what was written was “witty” or “banter” someone needs to look these words up in the dictionary because it was neither. Bullying is the word I would use. Repetitive is the other.

Anyway. I don’t think I would recommend the audio version of this book. For me, there’s just too much wrong with it and there were too many missed opportunities to really develop the plot, the characters and this world. Maybe the author is given the opportunity to do so in a second book, if there is one. I probably won’t get it.

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Better than I expected

Revisado: 12-16-18

When I initially bought this book, I was concerned that the ghosts of the Hunger Games, the Mazer Runner and Divergent series would influence how I would react to this book - after all, it is another YA story set in the aftermath of dystopian event. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The first book of this trilogy is strong enough to stand out on its own, with characters and events diverse enough to set it apart, no matter what similarities are found between the four series. It’s definitely worth getting into. The writing is solid and the work-building was handled extremely well. There are some gaps I would have liked answered but hopefully they will be addressed in the coming books. I am excited for the second in the series.

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Good story

Revisado: 09-28-18

Good story overall, little to complain about. My only hesitation was that I had difficulty with the narrator. Why on Earth would you have a non-British native read the part? This narrator’s attempts at British slang and her accent for other characters was difficult to listen to. But mainly why would she give the main character an American accent when clearly she isn’t? This was just miscast. It could have been better with another voice actress.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Comes off as New Age Mysticism when it isn’t

Revisado: 04-27-18

I had a hard time getting through this audio book. The subject matter is interesting, and many components are very similar to what is now being taught in counseling and psychotherapeutic services, but all the New Age mysticism injected into this recording completely detracted from the subject matter. As a result, I had a horrible time taking the author seriously. I disagreed on a few points the author listed, such as a person attracting negativity and bad situations into their life by the power of their thoughts. To me, that seems an extreme and dangerously irresponsible over-simplification, and would never suggest it to a survivor of abuse, be it mild or horrific.

It also seemed to completely ignore the impact that the frequencies and thoughts of others have on you and the consequences your own thoughts and actions have on the universe, be it good or negative. It does no good pretending it doesn’t happen and the secret doesn’t seem to offer an answer or even acknowledge that possibility.

However, this being said, it doesn’t mean I do not appreciate or even agree to a certain extent the lessons the author was enumerating and expounding on. In the end, the overall lessons taught are overly simplistic and ignores potential consequences to others. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

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Great story, terrible narration.

Revisado: 04-17-18

Enjoyed the book but disliked the narrator. Something about her voice I just found irritating to the point where it was hard to keep interest in the story and I’ve always enjoyed A Wrinkle In Time. I don’t think it’s necessarily the narrator’s fault; we just don’t mesh, though I had some difficulty with the majority of her portrayal of Meg.

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Warning - not a story with a satisfying ending

Revisado: 12-16-16

This story was hard for me to get through, not because of the narrator but because of the graphic details. It was well written, had good character exploration and depth, and it certainly was engrossing, but ultimately proved too graphic in its descriptions of the violence and depravity of the subject matter of pedophilia for my peace own of mind. Its realism is a credit to the author as evidence of the depth of research done and Mr. Goodwin's performance is excellent, but it was a little too real for me to stomach.

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