Reni Valentine

Wonderful short story ruined by robotic narration

Revisado: 09-07-24

This has been one of my favorite Japanese folk tales for thirty-plus years, and finding English-language versions has become incredibly difficult. I was excited to find this version and played it immediately upon purchase.

And that was my mistake.

The fifteen-minute length is for the entire title; the story has two versions - with and without intro and exit music. Not a huge deal, but it is a bit misleading. The actual story clocks in at around the seven-minute mark. To be completely honest, seven minutes felt too long. I struggled to finish this, telling myself that I love this story and it couldn't be that bad, right? No, wrong. It really is that bad.

Most of the narration is flat and robotic; I wouldn't be surprised to find out that this is an AI recording. The only thing that leads me to believe that this is a human voice actor is the small changes in voice to reflect different characters; unfortunately, the voices aren't fun or engaging to listen to. When there are significant changes in inflection, they seem to come at random.

Because the book didn't cost much, I'm more than happy to eat the tiny loss for the possibility of transcribing it into text for myself. I wouldn't recognize anyone else make the mistake that I've made.

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If you don't know marketing, it's still a no.

Revisado: 09-18-22

I'm a marketing student working on a degree and adding digital marketing to my skillset. This audiobook reads like my principles of marketing textbook. I hate to say it, but there was nothing in here that I hadn't found in Google searches before I started school.

The narration is lovely, but I genuinely could not listen to this. It missed the mark for me. This is a situation where the title and description overpromised but underdelivered.

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A Series of Stories

Revisado: 08-31-20

This is a difficult title to review because it isn't 100% cohesive. Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were some essays that I enjoyed over others and some that I skipped altogether. I would have liked to have heard the essays read by their authors - I feel like that would have given this more of a connected feel.

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The best party conversation tidbits

Revisado: 08-15-20

I'm only going to continue this review if we can all come to the agreement that history is not my jam. Okay? Okay. That said, I found myself Googling names while listening to this book. No big deal to history buffs, but to a person whose historical knowledge post-high school has come from Indiana Jones, this is huge. We're not talking about a cursory Google to fact-check; no, my friends, this is a deep dive to determine the best methods to incorporate historical weirdness into current habits without going to jail (or, you know, dying). Throughout the book, The Captain reminds us all that we're writing our own story every day; the message is especially relevant in the uncertain time that is 2020, but it feels more like a pep talk with a friend than pandering (or therapy).

If there was ever a testament to the general weirdness of humankind, the eternal fortitude of womankind, or the lengths to which people will go for sex and love, it's this book.

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Like reading someone else's diary

Revisado: 08-10-20

This came up in my free selections for the month of August. I was familiar with two of the actors and the title intrigued me. This rapidly became something that I couldn't put down, so to speak.

When You Finish Saving the World was an emotional joyride. I found myself relating to each of the characters for different reasons. It takes you to the present, the future, and the past through the lenses of the characters. Admittedly, Ziggy's slang grated on my last good nerve (more because I spent so much time looking for context clues to figure out what the hell he was saying as well as the fact that it felt like listening to my son talk and trying not to stare blankly).

I found myself annoyed with Rachel's vulnerability because it mirrored my own. I found myself mentally screaming at Nathan for not doing more, for not *saying* more. I found myself wanting to hug Ziggy, ask him if he'd eaten a vegetable today, and listen to him prattle on about his highs and sighs.

More than anything, I found myself wanting to hear more. I could easily have listened to this selection if it were fifteen hours rather than five. Even at five hours, I found myself mentally staging it in my head. Free selection or not, I can't recommend this enough.

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Quarantine Common

Revisado: 08-08-20

I've been a fan of (and had a huge crush on) Common for a minute. This felt just like sitting in the venue enjoying songs and music. With concerts in North America cancelled and rescheduled, this was much-needed. I'd love to see more of these available in the future.

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