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Great Story, narrator could be better

Revisado: 04-30-18

Nalini Singh is such a masterful storyteller that I don't feel the need to say much other than that I highly recommend all of her books. Each and every one that I have read or listened to has had such a depth of emotion in them that its hard not to connect with the character and the story. However her books do tend to get a little intense, and readers with triggers or sensitivity to violence and darker subject matters should probably avoid this series in particular as it can get very dark and very graphic at times.
The narrator, though, I feel I should give a deeper review. Comments on Justine Eyre's narration is very polarized, with some saying the highly enjoy her performance while others claim that they can't stand the sound of her voice. To be honest I was in the latter camp at first and didn't know if I could get through a whole book listening to her, but I eventually grew accustomed to her voice enough that I don't mind it anymore. Now I feel I can objectively say that while I have heard worse performances, Justine Eyre's is not the best. She does emote and try to prescribe the proper emotion in each scene, but at times her tone is either off or the performance is overdone. She also can't curse, whenever she tries it sounds more like a teenager throwing around curse words to try and sound more adult to their friends instead of an actual adult who curses to express deep emotions, pain, or surprise.
In conclusion I will probably re-listen to this audiobook in the future, but only because of the story and not because of the performance.

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One of My Go To's in Audiobooks

Revisado: 06-11-17

Gillaine 'Gilly' Davre has just woken up in a strange spaceport's sickbay and doesn't know how she got there. That doesn't disturb her though, she's been on enough pub crawls that waking up after a black out isn't a strange and frightening experience anymore, but the fact that it is roughly three hundred years later then the day she last remembered does throw her for a loop. Kiasadiras like Gilly are powerful, but she knows better then anyone that they aren't immortal. But that's okay, Gilly's situation is strange but she knows what she has to do. Fix her ship without anyone noticing her and get back home; simple enough. Do it under the eye of the newly instated and very handsome Admiral of the fifth fleet; not a problem. Fix her ship and leave while undercover while being scrutinized by the Admiral and at the same time save the Kalar from an ancient alien threat she had thought she had beaten three hundred years ago? Not so easy. The fact that the Kalar now view her as a Goddess is only the icing on the proverbial cake.
I've been a customer of Audible for a few years now, and as a result have a massive library of audiobooks. For me, though, an Accidental Goddess always stands out and has become my 'Go To' audiobook whenever I need it. Not because the story does anything new and daring, or the narrator's voice is outstanding. My feelings for the book is a lot like the feeling a person might have for a favorite movie or restaurant, something familiar and comfortable that never gets old no matter how many times you go back to it.

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So glad this series is going audio!

Revisado: 02-20-16

I've been following C.L. Stones Ghost Bird series for a while now, and am so happy that they are recreating the story in an audiobook format. The story follows fifteen year old Sang Sorenson, a girl who lives in a reclusive and sometimes abusive household that recently moved to the Charleston area of South Carolina. One night she decides to go out to just get away for a while and meets Kota, a boy who lives up the street. Through Kota (and a few extraneous circumstances) Sang ends up meeting eight other guys who all seem to be tight knit and willing to help Sang. But something is off about them, and Sang knows they are keeping some pretty heavy secrets, but then so is Sang and her family.
This is the first book in the series and it is titled 'Introductions' for good reason. With our main lead plus nine others as well as Sang's family and a few others, it takes at least a book to get every major player introduced properly. If your new to the Ghost Bird series, don't go into this book expecting a lot of plot development.
But what I really want to talk about is the narration. This book is a little different, in that instead of having only one narrator who does everyone's voices or an entire production class with a lead narrator and other voices for the side characters, this book has two narrators who split the characters by gender. Because the story is first person from Sang's point of view Holly Brewer is the main narrator and voices all the female characters, but because there are so many main male characters as well as many male secondary character Chris Ensweiler narrates the male voices. I have to say I love that the production did it this way, even if it takes a little getting used to. If it was only a female narrator I don't think she would have been able to create nine distinctive male voices for the male leads and then have a few voices left over for side characters, so having a male narrator do the male voices was a very good choice in my opinion.
If I have any complaints, it would be that the production and editing in the beginning of the audio book is a bit choppy and rough sounding. Brewer's voice acting there is a little monotone and mechanical, and whenever it switches between the two narrators there is a noticeable pause. This was improved farther into the story, but it threw me off in the beginning and I just wished some one had gone through that first part and fixed the editing before the final product was released. This is just a nitpick though, and I'm very happy with this audiobook as a whole.
Please keep making more Ghost Bird audiobooks, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

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A Favorite

Revisado: 05-25-15

What made the experience of listening to Blood Domination the most enjoyable?

Blood Domination is one of my favorite books in the entire series because this was the book that really started the expansion of Suttle's universe. Before now there had been hints about the larger universe (like every time they mentioned Adam Chessman but always failed to mention where he was, Griffin constantly popping in and out, and Sherly Walkers odd out-of-the blue comment about Unicorns way back in the first book) but now we get a crash course on it through Lissa's eyes. Another reason I like the book is because Lissa finally gets taken off her leash for most of the book, and the rest of the book is her giving a giant middle finger to the vamps on Earth. I mean, seriously, when will they realize she's at her best when they aren't constantly trying to micromanage her? In any case, they'll all soon realize Lissa was never theirs to command to begin with.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lissa will always be my favorite character in this book, but of course close competitors for that title would be Merril, Dragon, and Karzac.

Which character – as performed by Traci Odom – was your favorite?

Lissa, but I also like her performance with Gavin and Tony.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes! My heart always seized up whenever I read about Lissa's return to Earth, and everything she learned about the events that took place while she was gone. Listening to it in audiobook format made me want to cry right along with Lissa after she heard about the Paris hotel bombing.

Any additional comments?

I always read the book before listening to it in audiobook format, and have read all of Connie Suttle's books to date, so most of my comments above are directed to at my experience with the story as a whole instead of just as an audiobook. That being said I did like this as an audiobook, and I've really come to enjoy Traci Odom's rendition of Lissa and her performance as a whole.

Also, as a warning, many people were off put by the fact that what seemed to be your typical vampire/werewolf fantasy series has taken a turn for the SciFi and introduced aliens and other worlds to the mix. As a person who has read ahead, I'm just going to say that this trend will only continue. If you don't like space operas, intergalactic politics, time travel, or aliens messing with a good old fashioned fantasy series, then don't read anything else by Connie Suttle. That being said, Connie Suttle is the only author I've ever seen who managed to mix SciFi and Fantasy in equal measure, and I have enjoyed the plots and stories she has created from this union of genres immensely. Yes there are aliens, time travel, and intergalactic politics, but the aliens don't really feel like aliens most of the time, just people from a different place, and the intergalactic politics feel very similar to the politic already on earth, just between different planets instead of different countries. There will still be vampires and werewolves in the future, there will just also be Saa Thalar, Larentii, Falchani, High Demons, Wizards, Warlocks, and a bevy of other creatures from other planets right along with them.

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Who needs shoes? Walk a mile in another's heart.

Revisado: 04-11-15

What made the experience of listening to The Paper Magician the most enjoyable?

The imagery of the story combined with the voice actor's emotions made the experience exceptional. I felt what I was supposed to feel as the story unfolded; wonder, horror, fear, joy, and anger.

What did you like best about this story?

Originally I wanted to say that what I liked best about this story was its originality until I realized the story itself isn't that original. Everything in the story has been done before, but what makes it unique is the way the story is told.
Normally, when we go on a journey with a character, we only follow the growth and development of the main character. In doing this the reader comes to care for and becomes invested in the main character.
In Paper Magician, however, the journey is following the growth and development of Emery Thane, a secondary character, through the eyes of the main character Ceony Twill. We end up following the personal journeys of two characters simultaneously, Emery through the twists and turns of his life up to that point and Ceony as she struggles to save her teacher. As the story progresses we watch Ceony become invested in Emery the way we become invested with her. I don't think I've every seen a book tell its story this way before.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I think she did a little too good a job at making Ceony sound snobbish in the beginning. When I first started listening I thought 'Oh no, please don't tell me she's going to sound like that the entire time'. The only reason I continued listening after the first chapter was because I had already read the book and knew Ceony was a bit arrogant as a character.

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

Every time Ceony addressed Emery while in his heart, trying to reassure him even though she knew the projections of him that she saw didn't see or hear her, and even when she wasn't sure Emery was listening to her or not.

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Better then expected

Revisado: 04-11-15

If you could sum up Blood Wager in three words, what would they be?

Not another Twilight

Who was your favorite character and why?

Of course my favorite character is the main character, Lissa! She's so strong, always doing her best with the situations handed to her and always sticking to her morals no matter what. Does she always bounce back from everything with a smile? No, but she doesn't dwell in misery or breakdown in the middle of the action when there was something that needed doing. I love this character so much, and love following her story.

What about Traci Odom’s performance did you like?

I know not everyone liked this voice actor's accents, but I appreciated her efforts in making every person sound distinct and different. Personally, the only time I didn't like her voice was when she was voicing Merrill and Charles, but that was mostly because I have a different idea of what those two sound like. Besides that I enjoyed Odom' performance in this.

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All the love in the world for Robin McKinley

Revisado: 03-24-15

Where does Beauty rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've been reading this book for years. The story is wonderful. I love how Robin McKinley keeps the story and atmosphere of magic faithful to the original Beauty and the Beast, while leaving out the info dump at the end of the story the original B+B had.

Any additional comments?

I admit, I didn't like the narrator much in the beginning. I warmed up to her as the story progressed, but I still felt that she put more effort into the side characters then she did in the main characters. Beauty's voice was a little grating at times, and Beasts voice almost never varied.

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