Andrea Norman

The F word in the first few minutes.

Revisado: 03-29-25

I thought this would be a cute story because of the premise, the cover, the positive reviews. But it was slow, boring, distasteful.

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The Narrator was slow and didn’t have expression.

Revisado: 02-07-25

I wish this were not an audiobook or that someone else had narrated it. Had to put it at 2 times the speed most of the time. There were a few places she talked normally and I had to rewind it and listen at normal speed. Then she’d go right back to stretching out each syllable. At least the voices for men could be distinguished from their lack of squeakiness. The marriageable women sounded like squeaky teenagers. Just ONCE the book actually described the protagonist sounding like that when she was surprised. So why was her voice like that the whole time? I was expecting more complexity from the narrator for the men’s voices in particular. It could just be that my tastes are to hear a more mature voice for women as well as men. But the voice of the child was also odd. The main protagonist is a young woman who is down to earth, so I thought her voice would be expressed differently. The beginning of the book is meant to be abstract. I had to reread the beginning a few times to know what was happening, because it is a dream inside, inside of a dream, inside of another dream. There is an old woman, a young woman (whose appearance shifts from child to young woman), and (it took some extra work to find out), two men. One was addressed as a wizard and the other as some sort of construct tied within the dream. This was where the narrator helped clarify what was written. A more silky, sly voice was used for the construct.

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A dead person talking about the safety of a car.

Revisado: 01-24-25

I could only last eight and a half minutes. The title seemed like an interesting idea. This was listed as a comedy. But so far the execution is not funny. A ramble with no destination. Seems like a neglected woman who bought a sturdy car with the help of her neighbor and then died. She cannot decide if she thinks the neighbor is a jerk or not. Her husband is hardly home. Doesn’t feel like this is progressing toward a punchline. We will see if Audible will show my opinion. I think that they hide all the reviews that are less than four stars.

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Lord Peter improves his investigative tactfulness. The narrator is really good.

Revisado: 12-13-24

The narrator is good at differentiating voices.
The books are interesting and change gears from one to the next so you don’t get déjà vu. Some of the books in are a collection of adventures, quick vignettes, where the successes tally up. I like seeing how Lord Peter reacts. He makes himself out to be shallow but is really rather deep. There is some hint about his backstory that I wonder might come back to bite him in one of the later books. I wish this narrator could have done more of these.

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Interesting But Confused

Revisado: 08-16-24

Diana W. Jones may have written this earlier in her career. So this book must have helped her develop as an author. It just felt like 90% of the book was backstory. The climax was a few minutes before the end. Eleven hours long but the most important part of the book was rushed and confusing. Then it ended without any epilogue. The only reference to life after the book was Polly thinking that they are cold and all better get to her grandma’s house. What happened to the villain? Did this victim escape just to speed the death of the next in line? I assume the main characters are safe right at the end, but see no proof of it actually lasting. No closure. I was disappointed there was no mention of Tom continuing his career with the quartet, or how Polly gets on at college. Maybe a scene of the two of them fulfilling Polly’s promise, and seeing David over Christmas. Tom would have gone to ensure that no drunk hit on her. A marriage scene. Unless Polly’s logic was that she has to stay away from Tom forever to keep him from falling back into the trap? The ending was not clear about that. In which case it should have been showed in an epilogue how they live their own lives apart. It was 10 and a half hours buildup for a bit of an anticlimax. Maybe it takes many readings to understand.

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Nothing much happened

Revisado: 07-16-24

I feel like the length would’ve been fine if only more had happened in the story. The author barely introduced characters and then the story ended. Some fluff could have been sacrificed for plot. The story was not affected by the main character. It could’ve been a pamphlet: What fairies are like. Though there is an old man who guides, nothing comes of it. The main character never went to the underworld / belly of the whale / maze / enchanted forest / or the like. The main character also failed to obtain wisdom, and to share wisdom. It is doubtful that the revelation was remembered for a few hours. So my conclusion is this story should have been shorter.

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Pleasant narrator, and interesting story.

Revisado: 06-24-24

I like this narrator’s voice. She differentiated between the characters. The story gives food for thought. It is between books so there is obviously more to the characters, but it is a stand alone if needed. The author does a pretty good job suspending disbelief that it is possible for ghosts to continue interacting with their living family and friends. It makes me curious to take a look at the other books of the series.

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Skilled writing and narrator

Revisado: 04-30-24

Grover Gardner is one of my favorite narrators. I also love how Lois M.B. is able to convey with each book how mature Pen becomes. Her characters grow.

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The validation.

Revisado: 03-25-24

I like that people talked about their difficulties in having clothes that fit. Intellectually, I know I’m not the only one. But it’s good to hear that there are people work past the difficulties. That it’s possible for anyone to learn how to make clothes for their body shape.

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Funny and quirky

Revisado: 03-07-24

It’s a little confusing sometimes because that is how the main character feels. But as things get more complex he takes it in stride. I look forward to reading the next book if there is one. Something that others may not think of as a downside is there is a bit of language here and there. 

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