analyzethis

Disappointing and mostly very boring

Revisado: 04-09-25

These are not mysteries imo. They are leftover stories that never went anywhere and are now being palmed off on us. The female narrator, with apologies, did not work for me at all. I regret this purchase.

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Very mixed picture

Revisado: 03-07-25

It's very difficult to review this book, because it definitely has its strengths, but it also has what for me were killing weaknesses. 1. The narrator really throws herself into her performance - but for me, it was much too much. You know those ads on TV where a woman in a melodramatic tone talks about how you must donate to some animal welfare group this very second because these poor dogs are shivering on chains in the cold, starving etc. and only have minutes left to live unless you send a check instantly? That's the tone throughout. Some listeners may like it. For me, less would have been more.
2. It starts off compellingly as a story of the hypocrisy of sexual mores in the 1950's and 60's and draws you in to the lives of a group of girls in a home for expectant single mothers. Then it adds the witchcraft component, which one expected because of the title. But then it veers into the horror genre, which I did not sign up for. At that point the quality of the writing also declines and we are forced to listen to endless repetitive passages of knock knock BAM on and on and on while evil forces attempt to enter the home. Too long, too much.
3, I have four hours to go and am debating whether or not to call it quits. The writing is still mostly good enough that I want to find out how it ends. But it's getting very very tedious....

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Corny and amnoying

Revisado: 09-23-24

Some young adult fiction is enjoyable for grownups, this is not in that category but worse, it will make young girls stupid if they listen to it.

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Terrible

Revisado: 05-31-24

The narrator sounds like she just recently learned how to read. No inflection no appropriate expressiveness. Unbearable to listen to

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Everything that is wrong with America

Revisado: 04-21-24

A smug, self-important person with a tape recorder and an inflated sense of her own intelligence is made a fool of by two sociopaths. She helps turn them into folk heroes and unleashes various other mentally unstable people thereby. Many hours are devoted to minutiae about two worthless murderers. If this was supposed to be satire I withdraw my comments but i fear it was not

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Overwritten and hard to follow

Revisado: 10-01-23

Definitely not a bad book and I did listen almost to the end. I found the writing style to be a bit precious, too many forced philosophical passages. The plot was hard to follow.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Not enough murder, too much pastel

Revisado: 09-30-23

In my opinion, a murder mystery should be at least 50% about the murder and the suspects, but here it's 10% the murder and 90% anguishing over feelings and relationships, with a lot of redundancy. After the tenth repetition, I think we understand that the hero's attraction to the older guy from his past is related to the neglect he experienced in his childhood after the sudden disappearance of his father. No need to explain that an eleventh time.
I have a lot of respect for the job of the narrators and this one has a pleasant voice but there are two issues that drove me crazy. First, he does not seem to know how to pronounce even some very simple basic words. I don't know how these recordings work, but isn't there some kind of quality control to catch such blatant errors? Much worse because frankly a bit insulting, is his habit of switching to an almost cartoonish voice when reading the females. I would expect that especially someone reading gay fiction would be less prone to stereotypes and would not have all women talking in squeaky soprano voices. And frankly he is not good at doing different voices, even for some of the men, and not all narrators are, and it's not essential. Better to just stick with your normal voice than irritate the listener.

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Held my interest but barely

Revisado: 09-30-23

Don't think I would have finished it in the form of a printed book, but the narrator made it more interesting, as it had the sound of a confessional. The message is not great - and if you are triggered by Epstein stories don't read this. Spoiler alert: teacher has affair with underage student, she reports him, he gets fired, afterwards they reconnect because actually she didn't mind.

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thought provoking

Revisado: 09-15-23

really enjoyed this, even if it‘s left me with a lingering headache on the subject of privacy and control. as an older person i remember the days when one could have a bank account with just a password, no name; could travel without having random foreign countries take your fingerprints and scan your retina; when cameras were not everywhere. I‘ve kind of just given up, as i haven’t seen an alternative option, so this book is a nice vicarious experience in standing up for the rights of a private citizen. also a good plot and well written and delivered. have recommended it to friends and family.

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Left me feeling annoyed

Revisado: 09-15-23

first of all, this was about an hour too long. The hero of the story ultimately came across to me as narcissistic and the resolution felt disappointing and contrived. this was like wasting too much time with people one didn’t like listening to them natter on about themselves.

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