Raele Ohana

Wonderful narrator

Revisado: 11-04-24

An enjoyable romp. A bit light and simple; you see the "surprise" coming from the first chapters. The heroine could've been replaced with a teenager, and the book would simply be good YA.
But I quite like YA :)
The protagonists were very well developed and likable. I will be continuing on in this fun series.

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Empathetic @ action-promoting

Revisado: 09-12-24

His narration was perfect. I listened while editing 50 years of possessions in preparation for an overseas move. I can't begin to describe the level of obstacles and emotional baggage in that one sentence. This book has been key to my progress, and even to helping my friends know just how they can help me the most. Instead of packing boxes, they have been listening to the stories while I pack them. :-) Thanks to the author for this compassionate map of how to get past my past self, to my future.

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The functional simplicity is fantastic!

Revisado: 12-12-23

Besides learning in school off and on, I have mostly used the Pimsleur method to learn Spanish. Which is great, but I wish I had discovered Paul Noble sooner. He has an even more simple and conversational approach. I love the little explanations and tricks he inserts that Pimsleur skips over. The way my brain works is more suited to having an explanation of some of the small things, rather than just acquiring them through exposure. By learning these facts in this casual way, I can retain and not forget as quickly, the way I do with simple exposure, after not practicing Spanish for a while. I have also tried Duolingo, Babbel, Rosetta Stone, and more. Of everything I have tried, Paul Noble is my absolute favorite. I already know the contents of both his books from previous learning, but this review feels new in the way it is reviewing, reinforcing and demystifying. I am so disappointed that he does not have a Portuguese course, the language that I am next learning, in advance of a move.

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Fresh & fantastic new idea!

Revisado: 11-18-23

Could not stop listening, heard it all at one go, while finishing a quilt. Just what I needed to get through the tedious parts of my project; I was surprised how fast and how pleasantly time flew. If you are a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, as I have been since childhood, it might be almost offensive at first to hear this alternate presentation of The Man. It was decidedly offputting to me at first, but then I realized I had to laugh at myself, and remember he’s not a real person, this is all fiction! I decided to go with the fun lark of the idea: What if there were more to the story than we were told? This book takes that approach, reminding me of Wicked’s retort to The Wizard of Oz. Once I gave myself over to it, I had a rip roaring good time. I felt like I was watching a film, like the good old days of audio dramas before people watched so much television. Very very well done. The sound effects and musical transitions were never overbearing, annoying or distracting, but spot on. And if your acquaintance with Holmes has been recently refreshed, you will love all the connecting references sprinkled throughout. Overall, it’s a perfect performance, really.

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The best, and most straightforwardly accessible

Revisado: 04-09-22

The simple brass tacks of financial independence. Rendered clearly, with no posturing or excessive claims. This is the one that all high schoolers and college students should read, that newly married couples and new parents should be given, and anyone else, of any age, who has waited decades to begin building financial security. I’m 50, and I was still encouraged & inspired to stay on track! He doesn’t have the faintly smug? dogmatic personality of say, Dave Ramsey. Instead, he’s mild and humble and very likable (At least, the content plus the narrator’s take on it conveys this impression). I liked it so much, I listened twice, and even heard new things the second time around!

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Loved every minute of this.

Revisado: 09-23-20

I could’ve listened to another few hours and still enjoyed it very much!
Superb character development on all counts, for so short a story.

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Wrong age depictions

Revisado: 05-16-19

The book wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really good, either. One glaring problem is that the ages of the kids depicted should have been a minimum of 15. 16 would’ve been even more realistic. Few of these events could have happened to, or been performed by, 13-year-olds, in reality. But the ultra simple writing seems targeted for 9-12 year olds, who would appreciate the stated age of the characters. If it wasn’t such a short book, I probably wouldn’t have continued listening. It wasn’t as good as say, the Spy School series, for a similar age group. But it was Just reasonably interesting enough to complete. Probably because of the narrator, who did a good job. However, she has way too many & too long dramatic significant pauses, and I had to speed her up to 1.5x.
Eventually I was sufficiently interested in the story and accustomed to her narrating style, I could slow her back down to 1.25. For me, that was the perfect speed.
Overall, if you are picking up this title for your kid, it’s probably just the thing. But if you are an adult who sometimes enjoys reading books targeted to kids, you might do better to pick a different title. It was free for me this month, so no regrets.

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A Bible, for those without scripture.

Revisado: 10-18-18

This is surely the best book ever written. The widest scope, the truest theme, the answers to the questions. While listening, you walk around in truth and light and epiphany, even through the dark passages. And absolutely no better narrator could be chosen. If you read ONE novel, your life long, it ought to be this one.

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Convoluted waste of time

Revisado: 09-20-18

The story was absolutely convoluted, meandering, and unbelievable. You never come to care about or comprehend the actions about a single murkily drawn character. You barely understand what’s going on, and when you finally do, it’s an absolute anti-climactic let down. It’s all just nonsense. Wish I could get the time back. So much better writers, mysteries, thrillers.

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Agenda against the Bible?

Revisado: 08-06-18

Perhaps if I had reading this, it would’ve made more sense, but the changing point of view & changing timeline made it very difficult for me to orient myself to the story and keep up, while multitasking commuting, laundry and dishes, which is how I generally listen.
Another thing that bothered me (I can’t be sure if my take on this is at all accurate, because I stopped listening) is that pretty quickly there was a monologues from a particular character mocking faith in “stories”, which I perceived to parallel the Bible, in the author’s mind. Again, forgive me if I have completely misunderstood and am now going to condemn a book I did not finish reading.
I have a strong faith in the Bible. I do read secular novels, and those written by atheists who insert their views in their fictional novels (i.e., Ready Player One, where a pretty harsh monologue in the first few minutes nearly stopped me from experiencing a great book). After all, Christians insert their views in their books! I consider myself to be a generally tolerant person, and recommend it as the best course for all.. But there was something very cutting about the presentation of views in this book, that caused me to stop reading. I felt disdained and disrespected. Those in the book who believed in and conveyed certain ancient stories, passed down over time, were portrayed as incredibly ignorant, to the point of wicked, in some cases. And the one who did not believe was portrayed as enlightened beyond all belief, savvy, sensible.
Believe me, I am fully aware of the hypocrisy, bloodletting, near psychopathic control and guilt of “the church” over the ages. So my issue is not with protecting the church & general Christendom, which has twisted Bible “stories” to the point of incomprehension, and yet demanded absolute faith and adherence, while blessing torture and war.
I just can’t get on with such a simplistic rendering of accounts. Faith versus science is not nearly as simplified as this author makes out. And just because a religion uses a given book to further its own maniacal ends does not, in itself, prove the book is bad. This fact is demonstrated by the way a government or leader can sometimes abuse it’s worthy constitution or body of laws. Just as an example.

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