ReaderGirl

Awful Narrator

Revisado: 01-22-25

I am about halfway through the audiobook, and I may set it aside completely at this point. The narrator is nearly unlistenable. She is almost completely monotone, and her inflection is highly repetitive. By that, I mean that she hardly varies her pitch at all, and every sentence has the same rhythm - or lack thereof. There is no life in her voice. My spouse walked into the room and immediately asked if it was an AI narrator.

The story is ok. It’s clearly intended to be YA, which seems to mean that standards of complexity and vocabulary are lower. (Which doesn’t have to be the case - young people are just as complex and smart as other anyone else, but I digress…)

That said, the storyline is decent, but was slow to start. It has a Hunger-Games “lite” feel to it, but I like HG, so I don’t actually mind that. The first chapter or two had more make-out-borderline-sex than I felt necessary. It definitely undercut the relationship more than adding anything to the plot or characters. I found myself respecting them less for being so focused on the physical. If you are a parent, that’s something to keep in mind. But, as the story got going those aspects seemed to fade to the background, and I found myself drawn in,

At this point, the story has more meat to it, and the characters are revealing more and more depth…aaaand the narrator has not caught on. She still sounds like a robot. I’ve listened to enough audiobooks to know that it doesn’t matter how good the story is - if the narration is poorly done, there’s no saving it. I’ll likely return this one to get my credit back.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Bizarre and creepy

Revisado: 07-22-24

The announcer kills this show. His voice is so over-the-top fake and so bizarre that he sounds creepy. Like…is this person a clown from a horror movie? I would not let this person hang around my kids. Ever.
The jokes in the actual comedy section are cute for the age 5-7 set, but since that is also the age that would probably be most vulnerable to the creepiness of the announcer guy, I wouldn’t let young kids listen to him anyway. Zero stars if it were an option.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Timeless

Revisado: 04-23-23

Herriot’s stories are as delightful and moving now as I imagine they ever were. His prose is beautiful - engaging and full of charm, with a storytelling styles that is as poetic as it is practical. The selected stories are each unique from each other, but not one of them is dry or boring.
Additionally, Ralph’s narration is fantastic. I found myself replaying excerpts for family, exclaiming over his excellent delivery. I don’t think he misinterpreted a single sentence, and he seems to switch characters with no effort at all!
This is one I will download to every device and come back to regularly. Five stars across the board!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Delightful!

Revisado: 02-16-23

Having seen Armitage in several dramatic roles, where he was decidedly melancholy, I wasn’t certain what to expect of his narration. I should have known that such a versatile actor would do just as excellent a job with a beautifully written children’s classic as with a modern script.
Lovely. Highly recommended.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Can’t Get Past the Narration

Revisado: 02-16-23

I’m over halfway through this book, but I’m just not certain I can finish it. Ms. Lia’s narration is just plain difficult to listen to. Her cadence rarely varies. It is very sing-song, except sometimes it sounds like she is yelling. She over continually over enunciates. I’m sure this is an effort to speak clearly, but it just gives the whole thing a stilted effect. A different narrator would likely improve the experience quite a bit.

This is the second Lia book I have tried to read. The first was the original Triggers book, written for parents. As far as the content itself, I found that both books started out well, with thoughtful insights and encouraging application. However, about two-thirds to halfway through, both books fell flat. What had been helpful just ended up sounding like filler, or a rehashing of previous chapters. It definitely feels as though the later chapters are padding in order to get to a certain word count, rather than honest insights that need to be shared.

As far as weight loss encouragement, I did not find this book to be particularly revelatory or uplifting. There are better ones out there.

Between the decline in meaningful writing and the stilted narration, I unfortunately won’t be searching out more of Lia’s books - audio or otherwise.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

This one spoke to me

Revisado: 08-19-22

This audio book definitely spoke to me. (Pun intended.) So much so that I nabbed a physical copy of the book so that I might go back and highlight and make notes for myself. The narrator (author?) was excellent.
The writing *style* itself was a little hit-or-miss for me - but only a little. I found that sometimes the author dissolved into choppy, thinking-out-loud kind of sentence fragments that ran on for a paragraph or two. This was a bit distracting. It felt like she was talking to *herself*, getting lost in her own thoughts rather than speaking to me as a reader. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Another reader may love it, but it felt like it created random distance at points where I was otherwise completely absorbed and tracking with her. On the other hand, I’m confident that these sections will probably make more sense in the physical version.
Over all, the book was really meaningful and lovely to listen to. It got me really thinking deeply at various points in pretty much every chapter. After reading “Slow”, I plan to take some of her thoughts and create some journaling points for myself, as well as do more research into what slow living might look like for me and my family.
A great read!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Colman Audio Version is Abridged

Revisado: 07-11-22

The audio version read by Olivia Coleman is definitely abridged. There was nothing in the listing that mentioned this. I generally avoid abridged books, so this was disappointing. The strangest part, though, is what was cut out. The dramatic rescue where Bobbi stops the train and saves a bunch of people? Glossed over in a single paragraph with no detail. Mother’s beautiful poetic response when asked if she would prefer to be writing their story? Completely gone.
The narrator was the best part, as her voice fits the story perfectly. I hate to steer anyone away from a great narrator, but if you love the original Railway Children book, or hope to love it, skip this audio version.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Sorry very good; Writing ok; Narrator not awful

Revisado: 03-16-21

I bought this book after hearing a sample of the narrator. The sample itself sounded phenomenal, so I did not hesitate. However, be aware that the sample that is currently available does not include dialog. If it had, I probably would not have bought the audiobook. Immediately upon hearing the first lines of dialogue, my thought was “Why do all the male characters sound like they’re stoned??? And a little too surfer-dude?” While I felt the narrator had Katniss’ inner monologue down really well, the male voices (read: nearly everyone but Katniss) were highly distracting.

The book itself is ok. It is a YA level book, so the writing is not on par with books written for adults, but it isn’t awful either.

I wanted to like Katniss, but she is very emotionally flat, which means there simply isn’t much there to connect with. Peeta pretty much steals whatever scene he is in, simply because he is far more open and compelling. And Cinna and Haymitch are mysterious or humorous enough to keep you wondering where the author is taking them.

So, all in all, a decent read. I probably will not order the second book until the next recording by a different narrator, however.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Beautifully Written and Beautifully Read

Revisado: 02-07-21

Anne, in not initially possessing the spirit of Elizabeth or Emma, almost makes herself a more real, more relatable human. Being in her late twenties, she is a young woman by today’s standards, but has gained a level of maturity that Austen’s other popular heroines (with the exception of Elinor) cannot claim. The story of Anne and Wentworth is just as vital to your Austen library as any other of her stories.
Scacchi does an excellent job with this novel. Her expressions and characterizations are just right to pull one into the story, without overdoing anything in particular. I enjoyed it very much.
*This version does include concluding chapters.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A different kind of Austen

Revisado: 02-01-21

Austen’s storytelling is, as always, incomparable. Five stars for the book itself.

Previously, I LOVED Ms. Stevenson’s narration of Emma. It was superb. I immediately looked for more audiobooks read by her. However, this one was not *quite* as fabulous, in my opinion. I realize that Austen is using great heaping portions of sarcasm in this novel, and that Catherine is as young and naïve a character as the author ever penned...but I felt that the narration painted her as rather more feather-brained than she might actually have been intended. I wished for a bit more dignity for her, I think.
That said, Ms. Stevenson is still easily one of the top audio performers I’ve ever heard, and I will continue to seek out her recordings. (I will add that I greatly appreciated her use of “D”, rather than the full curse word. If the full word had been used every time Thorpe said it, it would absolutely have overpowered every scene, and I likely would not have stuck with the book.)
Excellent, and worth the read or listen!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas