LAW

Meh.

Revisado: 11-24-24

This book popped up after my last listen, and it was included with my membership, and I was bored. It started out good, but then dragged an interesting, maybe eight-hour story into eleven and a half. I don’t mind long books per se, but this was in need of much more editing than it got. WAY too much introspection, including many instances of “what if [possibly paranoid thought]”, while somehow missing glaringly obvious things. The protagonist started to really annoy me with her indecisiveness. Was she really that wishy-washy, or did the author just want me to think she was? After awhile I found it hard to care.

Now the narration. I started out thinking it was fine… and then I started noticing how she pronounces the word “says”, to rhyme with “pays”. Which dialect does that? I’ve never heard it before. Then the chant, repeated too many times (and which doesn’t even make sense if you think about it, which you will have many many opportunities to do) and always read extremely slowly. There’s little attempt to distinguish voices, but then the story doesn’t seem to require it - most dialogue is between two characters at a time, and then there’s alllll that introspection.

The biggest reveal, which comes with a good two hours left to go, was both annoyingly out of left field and fell weirdly flat. I think the latter is partly due to how it was read. Things did pick up a bit after that, but the very end felt oddly rushed and unsatisfying.

So this was a miss for me. I did finish it, but I found myself saying “well that’s dumb” quite a lot. I won’t be tempted by this author or reader again, though I can’t say either was awful. I’m just glad I didn’t spend a credit on it.

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What a mess. Just… no.

Revisado: 09-06-22

I don’t even know where to start. And, while I can multitask while listening, I can’t do so while typing. So instead of a detailed review, I’ll just list the things that bugged me most. (spoilers ahead)

- Title has no relation to either the cover art (that happens, big deal) OR to the story (rather a bigger deal).
- Overly descriptive sex scenes. I mean I’m not expecting a Regency here, but geez. At least they were few and short (to make more room for the story…?)
- Story is all over the place. Too many side characters, whom I assume I’m supposed to know from previous books. Too many things glossed over or just plain don’t make sense.
- Characters say and do dumb and borderline offensive things. These range from minor (locker room talk with practical strangers who are much larger than you, stories of domestic abuse told for lols) to holy-crap major (literal intent to murder someone by the FL).
- Oh, and there’s the incestuous rape of a minor. No apparent reason.
- Narrators have nice voices but there’s no real attempt to differentiate between the many side characters. The FN often ends sentences in a sort of sing-songy way that suggest it didn’t much matter what she was reading. It wasn’t all terrible, just… odd.
- The “cute” little quotes at the beginning of each chapter aren’t funny.

If you’ve read this far, here’s one bright spot: nothing bad happens to the dog. But, again, there’s no real reason for him to be there.

The premise had potential, but WOW what a miss.

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Narrator: Try dialing down instead of to 11

Revisado: 10-16-18

I wish someone would tell Luke Daniels he doesn’t have to try so hard. I couldn’t get past the voice he chose for Phillip. It made it so that I really had to work to avoid imagining him wearing an ascot, or twirling a mustache. The rare moments where he chose to underplay a line were the only true laughs I had.

So it’s hard for me to evaluate the rest. Fun premise, plenty of flaws as detailed in other reviews and which may or may not bother you. I couldn’t focus on those because I was too busy trying to replay every line of Phillip’s in my head.

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Not too bad for a freebie

Revisado: 10-16-18

Not a bad refresher, but I’m glad I didn’t spend a credit on it (I wouldn’t have for less than an unabridged version anyway). I didn’t mind the sound effects, but the music was sooo sappy I almost got diabetes. Austen deserves a little more spunk. Several voices sounded too young, though a few were excellent (Mr. Weston, for example, sounded refreshingly natural and not at all stilted). On the whole, the adaptation seemed somehow dumbed down, with the great subtlety and humor blunted. But hey, free Austen.

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Steven Weber makes it all worthwhile

Revisado: 05-01-17

I had my doubts about listening to the 11th book in a series I knew nothing about, but the sample grabbed me, and it was on sale, so, hey. Wow, I think I will listen to just about anything read by Steven Weber now. Phone book? Takeout menu? Sure, I got time.

The story itself was fine - good enough to stay interested, but not "drop everything, I must know what happens next!" Same for the characters - all likable or interesting enough, but not so much that I'm compelled to go back to book 1. (Well, maybe if Steven Weber is reading it.) Every character has their own distinct voice, with absolutely no confusion about who was speaking, ever (not a bad trick when reading a conversation between two white guys who grew up together.) The accents, when they do pop up, are like cherries on top. This was well and truly acted, not just read - but not overacted. Just excellent.

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If you can get past the narrator...

Revisado: 05-01-17

Any additional comments?

I have to disagree with those who enjoyed this narration. Maybe it’s just a personal thing, but to me he Over. Emphasized. EV-ER-Y-THING! Every utterance of the word “delicious” was stretched out to 4 or 5 syllables. Every sentence seemed to end with an exclamation point. This was exhausting to listen to; it was harder to root out any emphasis intended by the author, because EVERYTHING was emphasized, and so nothing was. (This was one of the few times I found myself wondering if this would have been better read by the author.) If the excellent “Parmesan” chapter hadn’t come so early in the book, I might not have persevered.

The book itself gets a little repetitious, and spends a lot of time on foods I cannot currently eat, let alone afford; but that doesn’t mean I don’t like learning about them. And some of its points could perhaps have been explained more clearly. But it’s hard to say for sure, because I found the narration so obnoxious. Imagine being read to by someone who assumes you don’t speak English very well, or are hard of hearing, or are very stupid. And the attempts at accents (especially Australian) were just unfortunate… especially since they foist that overenthusiastic style of speaking onto every person quoted. It was jarring.

There is important information here, if you’re the type to care about what you’re eating. One begins to wonder just what they DO get done on the food side at the FDA, and what the USDA is even there for. It’s disheartening to realize I’ll have to read labels even more carefully now. But I’m also looking forward to visiting the cheese counter soon.

A note on those who found the book elitist, because so many of the “real” foods are too pricey for most of us to afford: I think they’re missing the point, or maybe just don’t care that much about whether something is what it says it is. In one enlightening but too-short bit, the author mentions the sad case of bologna (rare and special in Italy, “punishment” food in the US, all because its name was so successfully coopted and devalued). Those people can enjoy their crappy Korbel “champagne” at New Years. I’ll take water if those are my only choices.

Also, the author states (in the conclusion, so perhaps too late for some) that he is not wealthy himself and only aspires to someday reach “upper middle class”. Food is obviously a priority for him, and he’ll save up for the good stuff, or the best he can afford. I certainly can’t begrudge him that, though I may envy him his trips to Italy and Japan.

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