CaraN

Awful; don't waste your money

Revisado: 07-17-24

I purchased this one based on the reviews here and am now baffled by them. This NCE prep audiobook would not be worth the time it took to listen to it even if it was free. (Sadly, I paid money for this tosh.)
There are much better review resources. This was dreadful to listen to and was not at all helpful to my studying. Please do not buy this.

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Great narration, OK story

Revisado: 06-07-23

I loved the idea of this story - set in a bookshop in a small community, several lives converging together in a shared crisis. It fell quite short of its promise for me. The characters often lacked depth and insight and never really gelled. There are a lot of tropes here - a cheating wife that pays far too deeply for a one time mistake, a (seemingly) psychic dead character fixing things from beyond the grave, second chances, throwing stones from glass houses, etc. It also gets preachy - throwing in preacher-delivered guidance from God to a woman (very mainsplainy, but treated as great wisdom when it really isn't) - which feels like a shortcut (albeit ineffective) to attempt to infuse meaning and add depth to a story rather than cultivating it organically through skilled storytelling.
The narration is very strong. I never connected to this story and do not recommend it.

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Lacks depth and fun

Revisado: 05-29-23

The narrator does an excellent job of narrating, but you can often hear excess saliva/spitting, which is off putting.

This story and the main character lack depth. Adi's immaturity doesn't add to the plot, it bogs it down. She's on the verge of the role of her ("journalism") dreams but is lazy about her supposed big break. She pitches a story based on wildly naive assumptions (of Hallmark movie tropes somehow being real life) and zero research. When, unsurprisingly, the story doesn't pan out, she stalls/gives up/tries to force it. Eventually, she gets an idea from the air that may work, but it's not something she fought for nor does it feel earned.

She's selfish in her fledgling relationship and it reads like melodrama from a character not worth chatting with let alone reading a novel about.

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Great story, wonderful narration

Revisado: 04-30-22

I enjoyed this historical mystery and protagonist Mrs. Rodd. I didn't guess the ending before the details were revealed. The story is well-written, the pacing is excellent, and it's interesting/engaging. Anna Bentinck's narration is perfect: suits the main character, different voices for different characters are consistent and well-done, no distracting mouth noises, flawless cadence.

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Fun, Interesting Story; Perfect narration

Revisado: 05-01-21

These books have been on my radar for some time, but I had no idea how great they would be.

"Her Royal Spyness" is interesting, fun, and, at times, funny. It's well-written and Kellgren does as a fantastic job of narrating the story and bringing it to life.

The mystery is nuanced enough to make it difficult to solve until nearly the end. There are some moments that strain credulity, but they're easy to swallow since it's such an engaging story.

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Moving and Insightful

Revisado: 10-03-20

This piece is a haunting, honest, empathetic peek into the lives of a woman inflicted with addiction and those who loved her. It honestly, unflinchingly, and wisely tackles many misconceptions about opioid addictions. I feel wiser and more open-minded for having listened to it. Well written, produced, and performed. I was engrossed. Highly recommend.

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Fascinating, but some problematic elements

Revisado: 10-01-20

Greenberg is clearly an accomplished and enthusiastic teacher. His brief overview of Mozart's life was thorough, interesting, and enlightening. I love the music samples that truly bring this biography to life. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio production.

Greenberg gets a little nerdy from time to time, which is fine, except that it often sounds very "put upon" the way he does it. As if he's really laying it on thick, I guess?

I think if I was living with autism, the way Greenberg handled the term would be painful to hear. He treated it like an insult when it came up. (Here, Greenberg was making a case against labeling Mozart with that in hindsight. His case is strong. However, he also made it sound like a "bad" thing to be, which wasn't comfortable to hear. It's not an insult, it's a condition some people live with.)

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Interesting listen, excellent narration

Revisado: 10-01-20

This was my first Kate Clayborn book. I first purchased it as an ebook, but then when I couldn't read I wanted to keep the story going (when I was doing laundry or some other mundanity that interferes with reading time, ha!).

I'm a HUGE fan of hand lettering and this book didn't focus on that nearly as much as I'd imagined. Perhaps the story would have suffered if it had, but it definitely felt like it was missing to me.

Clayborn is a strong writer and this story has depth and tension baked right in.

Zanzarella did an excellent job narrating.

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Great book, incredibly narration

Revisado: 10-01-20

More important than this review: Transwomen are women. Full stop. (It's hard to support an author who has been doing so much damage with her words lately. If this wasn't one of my favorite series, I'd have ditched it. I don't like feeling guilty about my book/audiobook purchases.)

Robert Glenister does an amazing, flawless job of narrating. He brings the characters and the story vividly to life.

I own the entire series in both ebook and audiobook format because no matter how many times I read or listen to them I get engrossed. Having both formats means I can speed through when I have the time to read or keep the story going when I need to do something mundane (laundry, dog walking, etc.). Incredible to enjoy a series so much this happens on each re-read/re-listen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this as I have every other book in the series. It was engrossing and there were so many possibilities and well-drawn characters. I love how this book has a serial killer suspect, but he gets barely any of the word count. (Too often serial killers become the focus of the fictional tale and books suffer because of the lingering in the gruesome for shock value/author fascination/whatever.)

I can't help but think Rowling relies a little too heavily on burying the truth under piles and piles of red herrings. I'm sure that makes a lot of work for her, but it still comes across as a bit lazy to me. It's obfuscation rather than finesse in burying the truth in fewer details with more nuance. (Reminds me of the one professor in my undergrad psych department who measured oodles of variables in all our studies so he'd, hopefully, at least have one correlation to report as a success. Casting a wide net to make "success" easier. Feels cheap.) The upside, though, is it makes for a LONG book which is lovely when you're enjoying the ride, and I sure did.

Also, I really wish Strike and Robin could JUST BE FRIENDS. The will-they or won't-they drama is a bore. Why can't they find their own perfect matches outside work and then have their lovely working relationship and camaraderie be platonic? Way more fun. (I'm OK with being proven wrong about this, but I'd be surprised.)

Ugh and if they get together that will likely mean replacing the will-they-get-together tension with tension inside the relationship. Yuck. Their friendship is way more fun than a romance will be, I'm almost certain.

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Wonderful story, Slow down the speed & A+

Revisado: 03-07-20

I *love* this book. I own it as an ebook and was so hooked, I had to get the audio version, too.

The narration can be tricky for American-English listeners (like me!) because the narrator has a thick accent and reads fast. I was overwhelmed at first. Until I remembered you can slow the speed down. My sweet spot was 85%. It made the words much clearer--cheers! And the narrator is a GREAT reader. No weird issues (E.g., breaths, overly moist) and she reads with excellent inflection and character voices. (If slowing it down wasn't an option, I would have returned this one because at normal rate I just couldn't understand it.)

I can't recall the last time I read a book with such depth, warmth, and humanity that also had me laughing aloud (gasping for breath no less!). This is *such* a gem. I love the four friends (protagonist Rachel, Ivor, Mindy, and Caroline) at the center of the novel. I miss them already.

I highly recommend!

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