Azucena Overman

Loved the story, but the narrator hesitates

Revisado: 12-05-23

Story was pretty good. I got these out of order so playing catch up. Kinda glad there is a different narrator for each quadrant. This narrator though is hard to digest. Not sure who teaches narrators to wait one to two seconds between the speaking part and who does the speaking but it throws off the narrative quite a bit. At each pause, I'm expecting to hear the voice of the other character but no.. I hear: She said. I'll give one of the other quadrants a try before my time runs out and see if the narrator is any better.

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Great adaptation

Revisado: 05-15-23

I've read the book and listening how Renee Dorian brings to life. She has Penny sounding exactly how I would imagine she would sound like. The cast also did a great job. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to listen to the next book(s).

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Starts slow but gets interesting.

Revisado: 06-03-21

I'm definitely going to try some of these strategies. I don't suffer from anxiety but found that section illuminating. I have students and relatives that suffer from it and it gave me better insight into it.

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Oh how I miss Rene Raudman

Revisado: 09-30-20

I had hoped Rene would narrate this because she does a great job of telling stories. She gets you feeling like you are part of the story. Samantha Cook has me feeling like I'm sitting in the audience while she is reading the book. Flat, not much excitement/feeling. It's hard to get through these books, but alas, I love the stories and would prefer to listen than read.

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Fascinating true story.

Revisado: 09-29-19

Gives us a view of one person's descent into madness because of a physical rather than mental illness.

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Still trying to figure it out

Revisado: 02-10-19

I can't tell if the story is any good. The narrator keeps getting in the way. I'll repeat what others have said and then some. Narrator was a bit boring (monotone). I kept waiting for the narrator to get excited about - anything, or show emotion.
I couldn't tell who was talking until the talker was announced. Men sounded like women (and with a higher pitch). The only one who I could tell was talking was the child.. Oh and Lola).
Narrator mispronounced simple words. Either she didn't read it correctly or just flat out mispronounced. This happens to all narrators, but mispronouncing the name of the most well known river in Louisiana?
Editing was problematic. Since you can't tell who is talking, when the scene changed, you didn't know it. No break in the action, no nothing. As if it was just another paragraph. So I'm on the wagon trail, then someone is getting tackled, then back on the wagon train.
I thought about relistening to chapters to find out what I missed, but I can't bring myself to be tortured even more. So I'll finish the book and probably never listed again. I generally will listen back to back to understand the story better, but there's just no way on this one. I thought about getting the digital version but maybe not.
And what was with the music at the start of the 14th chapter? Was that intended for the 2nd cd and got included into this version?
One review stated that the narrator went back and fixed some glaring mispronounciations. I guess that would account for the numerous dubbings that took place.

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New story, new narrator

Revisado: 07-25-18

I like how an April Fools summary turned into, possibly, a 3 book series. The story is great. I do miss Renee Raudman doing the narration because I'm already used to her voice and pronouncement of words/names. So yes, I (and other listeners) are spoiled. Steve does a pretty good job (for a guy). Most of his female voices sound the same, yet they are not the high pitched voice some guys do. His male voices vary some. HOWEVER, not all US people have deep south accents. It seems like every male on Elara's side has the same southern accent. No northern, no central, no Texan (Andrea, who sounds just plain, ugh), just southern. It seems like most of the women voices have a generic US accent, which is fine. And if he's going to go with the southern accent, he needs to do away with the european way of pronouncement of certain words. I saw him is not I sar him... need I say more. This would be understandable if it were only Hugh who is from across the pond. All in all, he does a pretty good job and I'll still get the next story if he's reading it. He's a better reader than Jeffrey Kafer who reads Magic Stars who trails off after every sentence.

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love the story but...

Revisado: 05-16-18

I love the story in all the books so far, but why do we have to hear Silverstone knives every minute. knives are ok, but to be that descriptive every few sentences is a bit much. and coffee. ya only need to describe it once in a while. not every time he takes a sip.

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great narrator, story had too much backstory

Revisado: 05-03-18

while I like a novel with backstory, too much where your mind starts wandering halfway through is a bit much. the Mercy stories are generally pretty good, but lately everything has too much filler. I'll try another Mercy story but that may be it.

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Typical Daft hero

Revisado: 05-14-17

What did you like best about Bloodmagic? What did you like least?

Best? Narration. Saskia does a pretty good job of telling the story. I'd like to listen to her that has a story with a real female lead. Least? Portraying the female lead as an idiot who miraculously finds the solution to save all. Many times I wanted to reach in and bitch slap her for her stupidity. Sadly, this is apparently how Helen Harper likes her lead characters. Highland Magics is the same way. I was hoping this would be different, but alas, it's not.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Have Mac a bit let stupid/idiotic/daft/etc. She's in the middle of saving her life and yet she day dreams enough to trip on holes in the rug (really), rocks and other stuff. Less arguing since that seems like it's all she does.

What does Saskia Maarleveld bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Saskia is good with voicing the characters. I need to find another author so I can feel good about listening to her with a great character.

Was Bloodmagic worth the listening time?

Yes and no. Yes because Saskia is a great narrator. No because you want to scream at the lead character for being an idiot. You know what's coming waaaayyyy before she does.

Any additional comments?

I like the story line (some) and wouldn't mind listenening further, but unless I see the review that Mac has grown up, I may pass.

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