Ocean Journey

Gets better as it goes on

Revisado: 12-16-24

In the beginning, I questioned both the female narrator choice and the story with the valley girl stuff. “Like blah blah blah. Like blah.” And the cursing was off putting. Also, Lucy seems insufferable in the beginning. I considered returning it and choosing a different book, but I forced myself to listen further. AND I’M GLAD I DID. The story began to get so gripping and the female narrator got better. I like Ben, although I thought it was cliche [SPOILER ALERT] to have him sleep with Lucy or get interested in pursuing a relationship with her. I thoroughly enjoyed the male narrator’s contribution and I liked the podcast intro/outro music. I liked hearing the different interviews and different characters and different perspectives, as well as the small town gossip. It makes you feel like you’re really there and really listening to the podcast. I had my suspicions about mid-story of who did it. Towards the end, I started to suspect the right person based off of increasingly erratic behavior. I felt smug when I was right, though I could not have possibly guessed all the details of how it ended up unfolding. Overall, great book and great performance. 👍🏽

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I felt Winona’s pain! Love the sisters bond storyline!

Revisado: 07-13-24

First point: narrator’s voice was annoying and not good. Also, Kristin’s books are always long (sometimes can get a bit draggy). But I loved everything else! I felt every character in the story (except Vivianne lol).

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Reminiscent of Omer’s Work

Revisado: 03-31-21

The story was well written and captivating. The author writes like Mike Omer and the title is even similar (Omer has A Killer’s Mind, which is even more of an excellent read). Brittany Presley was brilliant as the reader as always, although she didn’t do as good of a job of distinguishing voices/characters as she did in the Zoe Bentley series. Complaints: Yardley was annoying much of the time and her daughter was too. And the disguise bit at the end with Tara the teen claiming to have set up these grown men who are supposedly criminal masterminds and planted evidence without being caught was extremely unbelievable. Those are the reasons for four stars instead of five. Overall, it was a solid read.

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Mike Omer Has A Gift

Revisado: 02-21-21

If you ever want to listen to something that will have you on the edge of your seat, wide awake, getting lost in the words, this is the author you want to listen to. This is the fourth book of his I have read, though this is the first book he has written. I have not been disappointed with any book has written so far. The story is about a serial killer who loves the feeling of anticipation. He sends a message to his victims of the way he will kill them.

My one complaint is I wish he had found Brittany Presley much sooner. She knows how to read well. I did not care for this narrator. His female voices are terrible, he does no accents, and it’s confusing sometimes to understand which character is speaking. Brittany Presley has read all 3 books in his Zoe Bentley series, which branched off of this series. She is FANTASTIC! She does accents, different inflections, different pitches and tones of voice. You know which characters is speaking without being told because she does a different voice for each character. Her male voices are believable, and she is a gifted reader. I wish very much that she had read this series and I am deeply saddened to see that Mr. Martin is the narrator of the second book in this series as well.

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Hope He Adds to the Series

Revisado: 12-31-20

I LOVED this entire little series, all 3 books. Spectacular writing like nothing I've read before. You felt like you were living the story. The walls of your world fell away as you were transported into a whole new world. The narrator was perfection. Her vocal talent gave the words on the paper three dimensional properties, a painter's portrait given life, black and white photographs given color.

Marvin was my favorite character. He gave the nightmarish narrative a humorous hum. Zoe was an intriguing character with things about her that made her relatable and things about her that made you think. Tatum evolved over the three stories into a caring partner, the Castle to a forensic Beckett.

I really, really hope that the author doesn't leave this a trilogy. There are many Nancy Drew books, many Encyclopedia Brown books, and so many other series that have more than 3 books. I want more Zoe Bentley books. I would buy each and every one of them.

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Hard to get through, May Return It

Revisado: 12-31-20

The story itself was...not all that gripping to me but there was still something touching about it. A SMALL something. I like that the romance was pure (no sex scenes) and I like that the author didn't shy away from Christian themes, despite the fact that this world is getting more and more anti-Christian every day.

But much of the story was too cliche. There was no originality and nothing to set it apart. There was nothing exceptional about the story, the characters, the plot, or the writer's talent. Sometimes, I had to roll my eyes so hard. It was not a book that I couldn't put down, but rather the opposite. I struggled to get through it. I kept having to quit and come back to make it through.

And the narrator--my God! The way she says Whitney (almost like HWhit--ney) and her valley girl, cheerleader voice was SO TERRIBLY annoying. Her male voices were laughable. I couldn't stand this lady and I will never listen to her narrate anything ever again.

I bought book 2 to see if the story got better but it was worse, and so was the narrator so I returned it. I'm thinking of returning this book, I'm sad to say. All the good reviews and the summary seemed so promising, but I just don't know what happened. The author, writing style, perfomance, everything about this book really missed the mark. Save your money/credits.

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Just As Good As The First

Revisado: 12-31-20

I reviewed the first book as well. I don't usually review audible books, but I owed this author and reader their props. Speaking of the reader, I am thrilled they brought back the same one, Brittany. I love her talent, her male voices are believable, and you know which character is speaking just by the different voices, just like in real life.

I won't discuss the plot too much (no spoiler alerts here), but I have to say one thing. In the last book, Zoe made a stupid mistake and got caught up with her childhood serial killer. She needed to be rescued. In this book, she made a somewhat stupid mistake once again, she's the damsel in distress again. I like Disney Princess movies just as much as the next gal, but in this murder series, I like the strong, smart, independent woman vibe she gives off. It irks me when she gets mad that cops don't see her as someone who is on their level, yet she apparently keeps doing things they'd never do that put her in situations they'd never be in. Then everyone has to scramble to save her like she's a clueless civilian instead of a brilliant forensic psychologist who interviews and profiles serial killers. She's experienced in her field, and renowned. She should know not to go bumbling around. I don't know. I'm just tired of Zoe being the damsel in distress.

Other than that, I loved everything about this book. I was riveted, on the edge of my seat, listening. And I never suspected the killer to be who it was! I was shocked! Excellent writing, excellent performance. You will regret nothing. Five stars!

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Riveting, Well-written, Brilliant

Revisado: 12-28-20

I drive for 11 hours each day, 6 days a week. I need something that will keep me awake. This more than did the trick. I was hanging on to the edge of my seat, talking back to the book, crying for the characters.

I won't overwhelm you with a book summary (you have plenty of reviews with that already). But I will dispute one of the reviews below. A reviewer says it was not believable that no one believed Zoey about Glover when she was little when he was banging on her door yelling obscenities. I disagree. We all have heard news stories of innocent people who were accused of crimes and let out of prison decades later. We all know about police and governmental corruption. We also know people often don't listen to children. No one witnessed Glover in the family home, yelling disgusting things about children. It was 2 scared little girls, one of whom knew the victim which makes her seem like she's paranoid. The police already had who they thought was the suspect. Glover was also well known and well liked and never acted suspect around adult figures. I don't think it was far fetched at all that no one believed Zoey.

This book was written so well, you would swear you were there, too. The voice and talent of the reader was perfect to me. She did multiple voices, male voices were the most believable I've heard yet, and you knew which character was speaking when you heard the voices. She does accents, intonations, and you can hear the emotions so well you could almost see them. I was thrilled to learn it was a series and bought book number 2. I'm almost done with that and it is written just as fantastically. I was also pleased to hear the same reader. Five star book, five star reader, five star author--and worth every penny!!!!

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AGREE THAT THE MOVIE WAS BETTER...

Revisado: 05-08-20

I have never really been the type of person who reads a book and then watches the movie, or watches the movie and then reads the book. In my secondhand experience that I have gathered from others, you usually end up disappointed with one or the other. Sigh. I should have stuck to my normal rhetoric.

I fell in love with the movie on Netflix. I had never heard of the book, and once I did, I decided to give it a go. As much as I loved the movie, you could tell that there were certain themes/threads of topic that they didn't pursue. For instance, once Josh got his letter, there were romantic 'what-if' undertones (like what if Laura Jean had told him her feelings BEFORE he dated Margot, while he and Laura Jean were 'just friends'?). How Laura Jean's mother died was never explained in the movie, yet it was integral to the home life of the Coveys (which had been depicted quite often throughout the movie). So that was my reasoning to go to the dark side and become one of those people who watch the movie and then read the book...

And I disliked it EXTREMELY. First of all, it seems like Netflix Disney-ed up the movie, which I appeciated because it was family-friendly for all ages. My 9 year-old niece LOVES the movie as much as I do! But the book is so much more dirty and raunchy. Chris was sleeping around as a teenager and stripping at parties drunkenly in the 9th grade (keep in mind, in the 9th grade you're 14 or 15, much too young for that). Every other word out of her mouth was the B word or the S word or the F word. We watch the movie together, but I could never let her read or listen to this book. Which takes away some of the appeal for me.

Second, Laura Jean was a bit much in the movie at times, but in a cute way. Like how she second-guessed everything. But in the book she just GOT ON MY NERVES!!! Like in the hallway on the ski trip when Peter was telling her how he felt about her. She had to go and start this huge fight even though she knew she felt the same about him! Her attitude, unnecessary dialogue at times, lack of personal accountability, and knack for causing unnecessary arguments and disagreements like the Christmas Talent Party at the end just drove me nuts! It was so bad that several times I had to leave this audiobook and try again later because she annoyed me, and the only reason I kept coming back was because of my love for the movie. I had to see the book to the end.

Peter in the movie came across as the cool guy who at least treated the uncool kids like Laura Jean as humans and then ended up liking her. He seemed like a genuine, kind-hearted, extremely LIKEABLE guy who ended up liking the girl he probably least expected to. In the book, there's hardly a thing that's likeable about him. He seems like a genuine jerk and he had his annoying times, too.

One of my biggest gripes (and this may not bother you as much as it bothered me) was the ending. In the end of the movie, obviously PK and LJ got together, which made it heart-warming and sweet and set things up for the sequel. For these types of books, you usually do have a fairytale ending that warms your heart and makes you want more. But in the book, she gets out her infamous paper to write the dumb words of her infamous letters--a second letter to Peter. This indicates she decided to say good-bye to Peter because she didn't know how to own up to the drama SHE CAUSED that ended up spilling over into her family life. Remember, she only writes letters to say good-bye so she can get her feelings out.

As for the narration, I think her attempts at a guy voice were abysmal. They should have gotten actual male leads to sub for those parts. And all of her voices sounded the same to me. So when she would read the parts of different characters who were communicating with one another, I lost track of who was supposed to be talking. But she was tolerable.

Sigh. Long story short, if you've seen the movie and you liked it, then just like the movie. You don't have to do anything else. You definitely DO NOT need to read this book. Because now I'm disappointed with both of them. The movie told the story better and was more likeable and engaging. But the book had more background so a lot of things made more sense. But it was such a terrible tragedy....

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I Liked It....

Revisado: 05-08-20

All of the most recent reviews I saw had one star and said they found the male lead creepy, the male character misogynistic, and the story raunchy and unromantic. Many of those same reviews also say they didn't read the whole book.

I would like to say I liked the story and the overall perfomance. I thought the male lead's voice was SEXY (except when he tried to voice Riley's parts in his chapter...that's a no go for me). It is true things got a little vulgar when his part came on (there was some swearing and way more sexual stuff) but I mean, that's how many guys think.

I DID think it was romantic. The cocky jerk meets the sweet reserved coworker who doesn't know how to stand up to her family and tell them her real feelings. It turns out, he just ACTS cocky but deep down he's been hurt and he has a sweet heart. His brother is marrying his ex fiancee, who cheated on him with his brother WHILE THEY WERE ENGAGED. He had given up his position in NASA for her, and she did that. Anyway, they expect him to attend their wedding and his family is all 'family first, that's still your brother' so he needed a date to save face. So they help each other out. In the end, she tells her mother what she really thinks of those obnoxious Christmas cards and he finds a new love, a better love. He even rents a white horse for her and shows up to tell her he loves her.

Also, someone said she saw his picture and gave him a pass for being a jerk because he was hot and forced her to dance at a Christmas party. NOT TRUE. She saw his picture and agreed with her friend that he was hot, but ultimately still gave him a tough time until he danced in front of her at their company's Christmas party (he was being super goofy to try to make her laugh). She decided if he was willing to embarrass himself in front of their coworkers at a company party that she could forgive him but she told him he could no longer read or comment on her personal emails, to which he agreed and they shook on it.

It's not the greatest story in the world nor the most original. But I found it to be sweet, heartwarming, and for the most part engaging. It's not some exceptional piece of literary work you'll be reading for centuries to come like To Kill A Mockingbird or something or Tom Sawyer or something. It's a guilty pleasure meant to warm your heart and distract your mind for a little bit, and in my humble opinion, that's exactly what it does.

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