Sheila

Predictable beginning, picked up speed

Revisado: 01-11-25

If the book had ended before the underground arcs, I would not have read another Maas. Her best work came at the end. Overall, a tad predictable, but with embedded complexities in the form of surprising relationships. Not quite genius, but maybe she’ll loosen up as she writes. She could get there.

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Good story; distracting accents

Revisado: 07-17-23

Too much verbal gymnastics around the accents. Not plausible.

Next story of her i will read rather than listen.

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Meh

Revisado: 06-26-23

Same as the usual stuff written in this genre. So much attention to world building, so little to plot and character. The plot isn’t tight.

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With age comes wisdom? Not in this book

Revisado: 06-13-22

I have been persuaded to read several of this author’s books because she sets a joyful, lovely tone at the beginning. This is the last time I will allow myself to be seduced by this author. This wasn’t a fun and cozy read, it was frustrating.

First the reader: her male voices all sound like they hurt her throat. The female voices (like the male voices) have extremely limited emotional range. But that’s not entirely the narrator’s fault. It is the fault of the author. She managed to create a several-hundred-year-old woman with the wisdom and maturity of a badly educated American 12-year-old. Such a pity. The original conceit is fun and could have led to a very good book.

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It didn't win the Nebula!?

Revisado: 01-12-20

Spare, warm, intriguing, exciting, a rare treasure of a story. This is a masterful writer who controls his prose and brings us something entirely new. I liked it so much I listened to it twice in a row.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Excellent Example of Narration Sinking the Book

Revisado: 01-12-20

Sometimes Soneela Nankani sounds perfect, with surprise and excitement bubbling through every sentence. But those are the times that those emotions are actually in the text. The rest of the time she maintains exactly the same pitch of emotion, even when talking about mundane things. Pure coincidence makes it sometimes work. Her tone is unimaginative, always pushing emotion on the listener that isn't needed. I wanted to shut her out and only laboured through the book to be able to discuss it with my son. But cringing from a narrator didn't help me gather in much of the good stuff in the story. I felt like I was listening to a shopping channel program in which someone who was paid to sound excited kept trying to sell me sentences.

I would say to this narrator--relax. Just take a deep breath and dial it down to where you can hear the rich variety in the voices. They don't just differ in pitch, but also in tone and emotion and energy and weight. Stop before every sentence and ask yourself, "What's the most interesting way to say this? How can I use quiet and pacing as well as excitement to add richness to the characters?" I would say don't try to sound like a man. You can't. Leave your voice in its own register so it doesn't sound strained. Men don't sound strained. Better to be higher in pitch and sound like a normal person talking than to push your voice down so we have to ignore the strain in it. Which is better for the audience to have to ignore--the fact that you are hurting your voice to lower the pitch, or the fact that the pitch is too high even if the variability and tone and emotion are correct? I would also say try a larger range of emotions, not just excitement about what's happening in the text (even when the text is boring). Sarcasm can be fun. Irony. Calm. Happiness. Wry disappointment. Look for variety in how people talk. I can hear this variety in my head, but only but shutting out the narrator, who is "pushing" a long list of sentences spoken in exactly the same way--with excitement.

As for the story--this writer has a lot to learn, and I look forward to her learning it because she has a gift for storytelling. She pulls everything together marvelously at the end and leaves us wanting more. Her deficits as a writer are due to sloppiness, little things sprinkled here and there that show she didn't do her homework or didn't bother to make sure that the words on the page match what was in her head. A better editor might have picked up on these little lapses. But they are the mark of a writer who is not masterful, who needs to study her craft, slow down, and say precisely what she means rather than something that is sort of in the ballpark. You can't tell a good story in English if you haven't troubled to master English. Be precise. Say exactly what you mean--and before you say it, know what you mean. I saw frequent instances where you either didn't trouble or were not able to get the words to paint an accurate picture. Tighten up your control and care, and you will be an amazing writer. Oh, and also please choose a narrator who has an emotional range as large as your imagination. It matters.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

needs updating

Revisado: 05-03-19

I have heard that sometimes television shows or movies are judged by women using a standard question: How many sentences in a row does a woman speak, or how many thoughts does she consider, without referring to herself in reference to a man? in this book, The women are constantly viewed as victims or wistful admirers of men.

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good book well read but

Revisado: 03-17-19

I enjoy the Flavia books so much that I will continue reading them; this one in particular has beautiful passages well read by the narrator. As the series progresses, the reading becomes better. I wish to hear fewer exclamation points in places where there would be more meaning without them; nevertheless, the reader has captured a spirit of childhood and mischief and loneliness and love and inner strength and spriteliness and warmth that I think many narrators might have been unable to encompass. Flavia's emotional range is not lost on this narrator. And the writing is top drawer. Often words drop away out of your mind, leaving only story: yet they are the perfect words. The only reason I don't give this auther five stars is that Dorothy Dunnett exists. She is a five star writer and has spoiled me for most others.

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A fun read

Revisado: 12-08-18

great story, highly entertaining. doesn't reach the heights of literature, but it helped pass the time pleasantly on the long commutes. great for a scifi video game nerd of any age or gender.

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Ruined by the reader's ridiculous accents

Revisado: 12-24-17

Thomas is English but the reader gives him a French accent. Nicholas and Primaflora have the same background and mother tongue, but the reader has Nicholas unaccented while she speaks with a French accent. Nicholas, Katelina and Gelis all spent a large portion of their childhoods in Bruges, but Nicholas is again unaccented while they have accents when they all speak Flemish. The accents are inconsistent. They separate us from nuanced inflections and GET IN THE WAY. Who chose this reader? Who produced this sad excuse for an interpretation of a book filled with skilled polyglots? LOSE THE ACCENTS. REPLACE THIS PRODUCTION. What a disappointment.

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