J. Holmes

Loved this so much

Revisado: 09-26-23

I haven’t read the other Holly books, but picked this up just because. I loved every minute and was glued to my headphones. I read King a lot in college but haven’t in a decade. Why? Now I need to go read all the Holly books. I thought the narrator was wonderful as Holly, and really enjoyed the author
Note at the end too.

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So disappointing! "Mean Girls" meets Bigfoot

Revisado: 07-08-20

I was really looking forward to this. I live in the Pacific NW, so I was excited to have a book set in my area, one with Mt Rainier erupting and Bigfoot! But I was disappointed in this book.

1. "Mean Girls meets Bigfoot." The main reason I disliked this book is the main character - Kate read by Judy Greer. Why, why did Brooks choose to make his main character a young, naive woman who spends all her time talking to her therapist? This is so wrong for a horror novel. And the character's excessively waifish naivete is made so much worse by the narrator, Greer, who sounds like she sound be reading a middle school novel about cheerleaders. ("Is it just me? Am I being too picky? I don't know..." ad nauseum.) No. No, no, no. 80% of this story is Kate writing a diary to her *therapist* about what's going on in this isolated community.
2. Endless set-up. I might have disliked Kate less if the first 30% of the book weren't her going on so naively about the pretty trees and mountains in her new community and talking about her issues with passiveness with her therapist. This was insanely repetitive. By the time any kind of action started, I already was so done with Kate, I wanted to throw my phone at the wall.
3. Mt Rainier Erupted, and all I got was this stupid T-shirt. So there's this huge, dramatic event in the book, which is the eruption of Mt. Rainier. But we only see this from a distance. The community where the book is set feels some rumblings and is cut-off from civilization, but they don't SEE the eruption, lahars, etc. There are a few "radio reports" thrown in, and Kate "imagines" what it would be like to be in a car on the road when a lahar comes. But it's all so emotionally distanced. Given the style of this book, where we have other characters pop in to discuss the military op etc, there's is NO REASON why Brooks couldn't have flushed out the eruption with many more first-hand accounts (except for sheer laziness). Instead, we get very little about it, and what we do get is "telling" not "showing" ("The radio says there are food-riots in Seattle! But I'm more concerned about my do-nothing husband..."). It's like watching a disaster movie where the disaster happens offscreen.
3. Other characters are shallow and stereotyped. The other characters in this community, with the exception of Mostar, are all very annoying/whiny/pretentious/weak etc. I know Brooks was trying to make a point about how pampered we are in our society, but the only character to have a single clue is the old lady who survived war in her youth. Sorry, but I do believe at least a few more in the community would have risen to the occasion. And the fact that that only queer couple in the book (a lesbian couple) are so dysfunctional and sort of nasty is *not cool*.

Obviously, this is just my opinion. Hope this is helpful to someone.

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Good material. HORRIBLE narration

Revisado: 12-16-19

I really appreciate Dr. Greger's work and have regularly referenced nutritionfacts.org. I have also read previously his book HOW NOT TO DIE. I decided to get this book. I bought it in audio because I spend a lot of time in the car. However, I'm going to try to return the audiobook and get the Kindle. Just 2 minutes of listening to Dr. Greger's narration convinced me there's no way I could take hours of his narration. Super over-the-top and hokey. Please, Dr. Greger. You are not an audiobook narrator. Pay someone else to read your books. Ugh. It's going to take me forever to read this book without audio.

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Fantastic vintage horror, incredible narration

Revisado: 04-09-17

The story was brilliant southern gothic horror, creeping dread and full of atmosphere. The characters were amazing on paper and RC Bray deserves an Oscar for the way each one sounded unique and the acting on each line added so much flavor to the book. Can't recommend this enough.

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Whiny narrator and cliffhanger ending

Revisado: 01-23-17

I liked the story well enough, though I think it would have been more entertaining reading it rather than listening to it. The narrator's voice was whiny and too old. It made the snarky humor more annoying than it would have been on paper, and the sex scenes sort of squicky because I'm picturing a too-old and unattractive heroine due to the voice. My biggest issue, though, is that this is not a complete story. There is a sequel and this book ends on a cliffhanger. After over 10 hours of listening, I was not amused to get an incomplete story. There should be a big warning that this is not a stand-alone volume. I don't appreciate having to pay for another full audiobook.

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Loved this story

Revisado: 10-22-16

I loved listening to this. Bought it because of the reviews and started it a bit warily. Loved it so much I spent an evening listening to it while working a puzzle so I could finish the book. Really excellent.

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My favorite romance with outstanding narration too

Revisado: 04-21-16

What did you love best about Simple Jess?

This has long been one of my favorite books. I love hurt/comfort stories, and I love the big, handsome, simple-minded Jess. I really enjoy the setting in the Ozarks, and the folksy feeling to the story, dialogue, and characters. There's a lot of detail about the simple life-style and hard-scrabble existence. The book is simply perfect. I finally bought it on audio and was glued to it all over again due to the superb narration. The narrator does all the character voices and they're very authentic-sounding and fun.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jess and Granny.

Which character – as performed by Kevin Clay – was your favorite?

They really all are. He does a brilliant job of making each character sound unique with their rural accents, and his acting is superb.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I really love all of it. Each scene is necessary and adds so much to the story.

Any additional comments?

If you like romance, you must listen to Simple Jess!

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