KarPBond

I’ve never felt so seen. Cried & laughed the whole time.

Revisado: 09-28-24

This is THE book to read if you have a kid who is neurodivergent, or if you yourself as an adult need to feel seen and heard by someone in this world. As someone who lived my entire life knowing that I was different, but never having the resources or recognition to understand it as a neuro developmental disorder, I just thought I was stupid, lazy, unorganized, and pretty much all of the things that Gwendolyn puts on her list. While I personally did not suffer with as many anger issues, my self-esteem was always in the gutter, I always felt like someone was mad at me, I was very often lonely, sad, out of place, spacey, dissociative (at one point, my mom had my hearing tested because I could be so focused on something that I would absolutely not hear someone yelling my name right next to me, just as Gwendolyn experiences in the book), and as I got older and became an adult and still could not figure out how to “do life“ no matter how hard I tried, I finally reached out for help, actually thinking that I was suffering with early onset Alzheimer’s at the ripe age of 35, and around 37 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD. My entire life made sense. I also found it quite ironic that I grew up with a lifelong fascination, love for, and ability to understand/train/ride horses from a very young age, something I still do to this day, so the fact that the main character in this book has that in common, just made it all that more enjoyable for me. 

Even if you’re not necessarily looking for a book to better understand, different types of brain, power, and just want a comical and heart, wrenching story about a sweet kid, highly recommend. . I couldn’t stop listening and can only hope that we may be yet later books as Gwendolyn gets older, and we can continue following her journey. 

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Surprisingly probably my favorite in the series!

Revisado: 10-03-23

This is the sixth or seventh book in the Plantagenet series that I have listened to by this author, and while I downloaded it as a matter of course to stay “in order“ following the history of this time, I originally expected it to be a decent listen, as most of them are, some interesting tidbits of history, and a unique perspective on a character I don’t know much about. To my delight and surprise, this ended up being so far the best book in the series that I have listened to! I don’t know if that’s just a byproduct of hearing a story about someone that you don’t know much about, and being continually intrigued because you haven’t heard most of it already, if it’s because she is one of the few characters we get to see progress from her used to a very late and long life, or if it’s because she is a character who was slightly more “normal“ in the sense that, while noble and royal by birth, there are lots of points in her life where she leads a very normal everyday existence… Managing her household, worrying about her money and budgeting in both good times and bad, dealing with day to day concerns with the people who rely on her and her enterprise/business/decision making, worrying about her children and grandchildren… Stuff that we all go through even to this day.

Whatever it was, I felt like the progression of her life was just so varied and fascinating, an interesting and a continual roller coaster from the highest highest to the lowest lows, many triumphs, but also many frustrating challenges, and I think I liked her the most out of most of the characters depicted in the series because she just has a very practical and pragmatic approach. Where I got frustrated at Catherine of Aragon for her constant acquiescence to the whims of the king, where I was continually annoyed by Princess Margaret, who went to Scotland and basically all she did was complain all the time about her position and status, where Margaret Beaufort is an exhaustively obnoxious person in her clamber for the throne for her son, Margaret Pole instead was appropriately astute in her political dealings, tender with her grandchildren, assertive with her tenants, loyal to princess Mary, and able to recognize both the good and the bad in king Henry throughout the story.

I absolutely loved the ending and the depiction that she thought tooth and nail, even as the axe was coming down. While the author notes that this is her interpretation of that scene, I thought it was a really great decision to make. Because, the whole last section of the book I found myself thinking “no this is so stupid, why doesn’t she argue or fight or question!?“, And then got that payoff right at the end, which was leaving it on a very satisfying note, despite the otherwise horror of the scene.

Anyway, long story short, highly recommend, and if you were considering skipping this one because it’s not about a very “well-known/popular“ character, then you are sorely mistaken. Download it and listen to it. You won’t be disappointed.

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Can’t stop listening!

Revisado: 06-17-23

Even though this is the first book in the timeline, it’s the second book I’ve listened to (the first being Three Sisters, Three Queens). I am full on obsessed with this storyline now and can’t wait to get the next one. I even stopped at a few points to Google more in depth info about specific cities or characters or points of the story for more context and help connect the historical details or family trees with what I was envisioning in my mind as I listened to the book.

My only criticism was there’s a point at which it seems for chapters on end all the characters do is ride out to fight, the main character worries about if they lived, they come back, and then it circles back and starts again. I realize it’s historical fiction, and the author can’t help the fact that there was so much war going on in the real timeline, but for me at one point I had to skip some sections by listening to them at a faster speed because I was like “oh here we go again” (eyeroll). But besides that section, I found the story very engaging and lots of threads from the beginning brought through to the end which was very satisfying.

The narrator does a fantastic job and I can always tell which character is speaking because she makes it clear enough of a distinction, which is helpful when listening while doing other things and sometimes not necessarily catching every turn of dialog. I almost forget that it’s one narrator doing all the voices!

Definitely very happy with this choice and can’t wait to listen to the rest of them!

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10 Year Social Media Expert and Personal Branding Photographer finds it VERY impactful

Revisado: 08-17-20

I’ve been a social media professional for 10 years, a content creator for almost 20, and in the last 3 years started adding more personal branding work to my portfolio. I wanted to understand more of the ins and outs of personal branding from a strategic standpoint and not just as a visual exercise (I’m a photographer, videographer and writer) so that I could speak to it confidently with my clients, as well as curate resources of books and materials they could go to that I myself found credible. This will definitely be one of those books. I actually think I now need a physical copy, as there are lots of actionable items that serve almost as a step by step workbook on what to do, that are harder to implement when following the audio format. She does have downloads available on her website which I haven’t accessed yet, but I still think I will want a hard copy of the book so I can use it to make notes and markups.

My only critique of the book is that the author’s reading has less variance in tonality than I would prefer...instead of sounding like she’s teaching (with the natural inflections and rises and falls in energy that come with that), she sounds like she’s trying to channel “very serious reader”. It’s clear and well spoken, so you get the information, but for such a dynamic topic, I personally would have loved a little more personality in the read. It won’t stop me from listening to it again, but it’s just something I noticed.

All in all, it’s the most unique and creative take on building a strong personal brand and social media strategy that I’ve seen.

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Riveting and Enlightening!

Revisado: 10-02-19

I remember when Snowden came forward, I had thought to myself “well of course the government is listening and watching”, and didn’t see what all the fuss was about. As the years have gone on and I’ve matured and become a parent, the ideas of what the government should and shouldn’t be able to do without my consent have become more in focus, and this book served to solidify my resolve that, like he says in the book, “just because I personally don’t have any reason to hide my online activity, doesn’t mean I should not stand for the right of others”...just as I am not gay but support gay marriage, just as I am not a criminal but support the right of people to a fair trial, just as I am not very religious but I support others having freedom to worship as they choose....that probably more than anything was the lightbulb idea. In terms of story, I’ve followed Snowden’s story loosely through the news and documentaries, and eventually I grew a sense of respect as he never came across to me as a headline hungry person, but one who just wanted to do the right thing. Now getting to hear the back story and all the intricacies of how the revelation grew over time, I respect him even more. There were many times I caught myself holding my breath as I listened, immersed in the tension of the moment as he waited for the files to copy, and felt the sense of despair as he sat in the Moscow meeting room when detained at the airport. I feel like I was there the whole time. And I cried during the sections about Lindsey. My heart goes out to her and I wish I could tell her what a brave and amazing person she is. I don’t know if I could have endured what she did, and I’m glad Ed was able to share her perspective too as it just added one more layer about the breadth and depth the authorities went to in order to get to him and keep him silent. Excellent book, superb explanations of the technology, clear flow of plot line, and exceptional attention to detail that helps the listener really relive it. I kept having to remind myself that Holter Graham’s voice was not that actually of Ed Snowden, though I can’t help but wonder if he was chosen for his similar-sounding way of speaking. Either way, it was a perfect performance. Oh and PS - Ed if you’re reading this, I did welcome myself “into the system” by promptly searching “XKeyScore” on Google, in a vague hope of solidarity of the surveilled. ;)

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Enjoyable but not Favorite. Asides were too soft. No Chapters.

Revisado: 08-26-19

It was a decent listen of an interesting tale, but did not captivate my attention as much as the other GRRM novels. I enjoyed Harry Lloyd’s performance as I do love his voice, with the exception of Dunc’s asides where he shares some internal thought as things happen, which were often spoken at such low volumes I found myself constantly rewinding a few seconds and walking closer to the speaker to train my attention on exactly what he was saying. Once or twice would not have been a problem but it was so often, it made keeping up with the story somewhat difficult at times. Sure if I were listening with ear buds, that would probably not be such an issue, but I like to turn on my books on a Bluetooth speaker and have it in the same room while I get various chores done...I can usually set the volume based on the noise level of the chosen activity and set to work without any fuss for the ups and downs of the story...not so this time and I would like the producers to keep this fact in mind for future editions they may oversee...you could have had Harry change pitch but keep the same volume and the effect - indicating audibly that this is a line of musing rather than of plot - would have been the same.

The fact that it was not separated into multiple chapters was also just a small but annoying oversight....normally if you let the story play without your attention (ie, delivery at the door, fall asleep, someone stops by and mute is faster than pausing, etc) and come back to pick up where you left off, you can normally easily get back by skipping back a chapter and have only, say, a 30 minute stretch to scrub through, making it a very granular process of sliding one’s finger over a 2” stretch of phone screen to find where your place was. With the chapters in this being just a few 3+ hour sections, if you lost your spot, good luck finding it quickly, as now that same 30 minute stretch takes up only a centimeter if finger-scroll and the tiniest muscle twitch means you jump an hour off course.

The lead-ups to the main plot sometimes felt like wayward detours that never tied back in at the end, as Martin is usually so good at doing, making me wonder “why did we bother so long with that part of the story?”. Dunc also repeats himself

Would I listen again to kill time during a drive or lengthy project? Yes.

Is it so riveting a tale that I would tell my GOT friends they can’t miss? Mmm...debatable.

Am I so perturbed that my life is negatively affected in any way? Definitely not. Take it as constructive feedback (producers) and fair warning (listeners), and we’ll look forward to the next GRRM story.

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Another fascinating tale of adventure with Isabella Camhurst

Revisado: 12-07-18

I loved Natural History of Dragons that I had to keep going with book 2. I love the narrator’s voice so much that I can close my eyes and believe I am sitting in a parlor somewhere abroad with the Lady Trent herself, as she tells me this story directly. Just finished it and going on to Download the next novel. Keep them coming!

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I feel like she wrote this book for ME!

Revisado: 11-30-18

Everything in this book spoke directly to me and my fears and goals and desires. So many lightbulb moments. If you have any challenges with your relationship to money and fears about success, or even if you are “fine” but trying to build to the next level, you NEED this book.

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Absolutely loved it

Revisado: 03-19-18

I could not stop listening. Isabella’s fascination with dragons and her story to find them is told so vividly and with so much enthusiasm that several times I had to remind myself that it was not an actual autobiography. I actually caught myself a few times forgetting that Skirland and Vystrana were not real. Wonderfully written and the reading was just perfect...wonderfully perfect. The best book I’ve listened to in a long time.

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