Elaine

Okay

Revisado: 05-01-17

This book is worth the time just to hear the performance. Laurel Merlington is magnificent. I had some problems with the story because aspects are unlikely at best. For one example having a farmer pick a bushel of ripe tomatoes and leave them by the back porch all afternoon and all night is an open invitation to rabbits raccoons and other creatures. For another accepting that a woman once married to a judge and living in some level of luxury would then choose to start her life over again living in a house in the middle of nowhere with Tucker as her only neighbor is far-fetched. The friendship that develops is real enough and there are some lovely sentences within but overall the book is just not credible.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Know your bacon

Revisado: 01-11-17

There's a lot to learn in this book. Not all of it make me happy to know. I think it is important, at least for me, to eat less of somethings but to try to enjoy them more and be more aware of them. Quality over quantity is my name and this book help me think that way.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Too much of a culture shock to me

Revisado: 06-25-16

I understand that culturally, Peggy had to trust her elders again and again but I could not take the idea that she would allow herself to be bilked time and time again. I didn't/couldn't/won't finish the book though I am certain that King Peggy is a charming woman whose company I would enjoy over a shared libations.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Curtsy for the Queen

Revisado: 04-02-16

This book does treat the queen with a little less dignity and more fantasy than one normally hears. It was an entertaining story, well performed, but nothing that made me shout that people MUST read it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Glad that I listened

Revisado: 04-02-16

I learned a lot about elephants and about British colonial times in Burma. The narrator is great and the story is fine but as it went along I started asking myself why this book existed. In the epilogue it was revealed that the main character, James Howard Williams (Elephant Bill) had actually written his memoir and several other books so it seemed I should have gone to his original books.
This book is a blend of history, the story of an individual and biology and elephant study so maybe it is a blend of all of his books and maybe was an area of study that interested the author.
It may be necessary to go to the original memoir to learn what the differences are.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Way too harsh for me

Revisado: 02-04-16

So it starts with some tourists on a land tour during a cruise and maybe the set up bothered me. Someone in the cruise tours department suggests that passengers sign up for a tour with a group not related to the cruise line. That would NOT happen. Honestly, the cruise lines go out of their way to imply that one is only safe with an approved/sponsored/related tour.

Maybe the author needed to create that situation and felt that it could only work if the ship's passengers went off on an unauthorized tour. Maybe he hasn't gone on any cruises.
Instead, he certainly put time into research about paranoia, right wing extremists and dark areas of the human mind. I listened to the first 5 hours and then skipped to the last 8 minutes looking for a ray of hope. There is no sunshine and not a single lollipop in the ending.

The narrator is great. The story isn't for me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A little too outlandish and predictable

Revisado: 12-21-15

I couldn't write anything half so good but have read many that are better. The ending was a little too pat. Zach Villa did a great job reading.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Maybe it needs the first 2 books to make it work

Revisado: 06-28-15

I don't remember why or even when I bought this. Maybe it was a daily deal. The point is it's my only experience with the series so maybe it all makes more sense if one starts with number 1.

Number 3 is not motivating me to go back and get the first 2.

This may be a spoiler but it seems not. The town is surrounded by wild creatures called abbies. Abbies use 4' long arms and wicked talons to rip people apart and they shove their faces into spurting blood to gobble human flesh and other organs.

The fantasy of that and with the idea that everyone was in suspended animation for near 2,000 years is fine. It suits the story that everyone has a tracking device and that the sheeple of the future do as they are told.

What's annoying is that abbies stay in their woods and on their mountains fending for themselves unless and until someone opens the security gate and then some of the half billion abbies swarm into town to eat grandmas mid solitaire game and families out for a drive.

Why does that annoy me? What are those half billion creatures eating when they are in their own territory? There must be other food out there for them since the security measures generally keep the 2 species apart. If there isn't other food out there then there couldn't be half a billion abbies. Food and population have a direct relationship. Opening the gate would reasonably bring a swarm for easy food now and then but having 600 show up one night is a bit of a stretch if the natural habitat has a steady supply. Also, the level of social behavior and intelligence suggests the abbies would have some fear of people but this seems not so and that doesn't make sense.

The writing is good. Better than anything I could do. The love story doesn't do much for me. Yes, things would get complicated when people are swooped up, frozen and thawed years later and these are interesting ideas.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

appropriate for teens

Revisado: 04-07-15

I found the story on the simple side. This is not to say that I could write better but that I've read many more sophisticated novels. It does give a good description of slavery for younger people.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

tiresome people

Revisado: 02-12-15

The author did a fine job. It's just that the characters are so tiresome. Frank Wright was't good to his workers. He didn't pay workers or suppliers. They should have been happy, delighted, clamoring to work for him.

His wife wouldn't divorce him because she knew that he wouldn't send any money to her or their 6 children if she did. How did she get money from him by staying married? He didn't pay anyone else.

Mamah loved Frank but was surprised that she was criticized for leaving her children to be with him. She was surprised that after leaving her 6 year old for almost 2 years, the child wasn't excited to see her. Mamah never understood the sacrifice her sister made in giving up her own life to care for Mamah's children so that Mamah could traipse the globe with her beloved Frank.

They were both brilliant in their own way, he as a designer and she with languages. She spoke several fluently and they just seemed to be part of her. Brilliant in some ways but socially odd. I suppose they were meant for each other. Perhaps I will finish the book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña