OYENTE

Shea

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  • 3
  • votos útiles
  • 88
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The performance is the best part

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 02-20-25

I really wish I enjoyed this one as much as the first installment.
I love a Golden Retriever MMC as much as the next girl, but the FMC is insufferable and hardly makes the end worth the means.
I appreciate the attempt at inclusivity; a plus size FMC struggling with depression and post-partum, but this character feels more like pandering to the audience. I understand not all FMCs are meant to be perfect but this one plays the victim, manipulates and takes advantage of the MMC, is whiny to the extreme and still somehow manages to be bland.
The only things saving this book are the duet performance by two excellent narrators and the established attachment we have to the “nameless” MMC.

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I wanted to like it more

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-09-25

I’m about a third through and had to take a break. The premise is interesting enough, but it’s just missing something.
The narrator’s voice itself is easy to listen to, the production quality and editing are good. (No breathing noises, gulping, ambient noise, etc). But there are some odd words and enunciations; it’s difficult to say if this is a narrator error, or an author error.
The storytelling is a bit juvenile for something containing adult themes and marketed to an adult audience, while also considering the main characters are teens in a school setting.
The little bit of world building I did get through seemed solid and I enjoyed the variety of characters and their presentation within their social hierarchy.
I hope to revisit the story and maybe continue to the end later. Perhaps I’ll have more stars then.

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Flawless duet narration

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-03-25

J.T. is always a pleasure to read. Epic twists and turns, keeping us on our toes, and Cani just say how much I appreciate the correct use of “and me” instead of “and I,” because that is a huge pet peeve of mine.
This is also a blatant appreciation post for Tara Langella; she is divine perfection (as always) and I will never miss an opportunity to sing her praises.

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There are some truly unhealthy themes here

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-27-24

Yes, the duet narration and the production quality is good… but- the overall theme of the story, and some of the pivotal moments within, are sending the Wrong message for a book with an obvious attempt at a strong-willed, intelligent, feminist FMC.
The idea that family comes first, even when that family is toxic and abusive, just because they are family? That you should choose their birthday party over a once-in-a-lifetime chance at your dream after they’ve ridiculed and demeaned you your whole life- just because they’re family and they manipulated you with tears? No.
Defending the MMC’s thought process when he explains he never took the FMC seriously simply because she is a female? And yes, he used the term “Female” like it was a biology class. I don’t know if this was an attempt to make the reader hate the MMC, thereby making his redemption arc that much more impressive, but I was not sold.
These are just two examples but there are plenty more. There are also quite a few grammar issues, but we’ll never know if that’s a problem with the words on the page, or how it was read/ interpreted by the voice actors.

Take it for what you will, I suppose.

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I’m 2/3 way through, May not finish

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-26-24

I tried to research the author first to verify if English is her second language; if that is the case, I’d be a bit more lenient. That being said, I didn’t find anything in her bio indicating such, so I’ll proceed under the impression the writing really is just this abysmal.
The narrative is repetitive at best. There are words sprinkled in that have no business being where they’ve landed. It’s almost as if the author chose an adjective that was *close to* the idea she wanted to convey, but not *close enough* so it threw the whole context of the sentence out the window. Nothing made sense- which is why I suspected English as a second language and would suggest a better equipped group of Beta Readers. In the same vein, I’d also suggest a copy editor and a production company who takes more internet interest in her success than Tarean obviously does, because they’re doing her a huge disservice letting her put this out there.
Additionally, this is not a fully fleshed out story. Virtually no side character development, no subplot, poor executed cliches, and (so far) couldn’t pass the Bechdel test.
As for the voice actors and the audio production quality: not terrible and not great. I’m under the impression their garbled words are because they’re reading as the words are written, which is the fault of the author, and they are not at liberty to correct the mistakes. It’s unfortunate for them because they’re doing sound foolish stumbling over the mishmash of nonsensical words.

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I don’t know what I expected, but this exceeded it

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-23-24

Narrators: superb!
Audio quality/ production/editing: excellent!
Storyline/subplot/foreshadowing: perfection!
Dialogue/inner monologue balance: sweet spot!
Spice/smut/steam: 5 stars!

I have absolutely no complaints. This was perfectly paced, no gratuitous smut and swearing, a well developed plot and fleshed out side characters. Nothing felt forced; the characters are flawed while still likable, progressive without the feeling of pushing an agenda.

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Don’t listen to the other reviews!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-19-24

People are complaining it’s too slow but they are WRONG and I’ll tell you why.
Everyone complains about instalust and instalove and how contrite romance novels are. This one is not that.
The MMC is flawed and doesn’t make excuses. He’s not a billionaire and has legitimate struggles. People are complaining about the FMC being too immature but guess what? She’s 20 or 21 for the duration of the book and has a rough home life- of course she makes bad decisions and has moments of immaturity BUT she also has redeeming moments. She’s human- and she’s 21. Give her a break.
The story progresses organically, and the secondary plot doesn’t feel like a last minute add in for drama- it’s actually central to the story. It’s not just the romance. There’s some EXTREMELY character development going on, multiple facets of their lives are being explored and fleshed out the give us a truly well-told story.
And *spoiler* they haven’t really done the deed yet, though there has been some fooling around. If the spice and steam progresses the way everything else has, book 2 is not going to disappoint.

As for the narration: I usually stick to duets but I really enjoyed this one. She doesn’t overdo it with the male voice. Her comedic timing and sass bring charm to the FMC and she didn’t go overboard baby-voicing the kids.

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If the narration was as good as the story’s potential

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
3 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-15-24

The male character narrators are amazing and I am thrilled this is duet style, not dual. However, the female character narrator really pulls me out of the story. She has the whisper effect and a harsh exhale at the end of every sentence/sentence fragment. I can’t tell if it’s a put upon character trait or just the narrator’s natural reading voice, but I am really struggling to get through this. I have an hour left.

The story itself has potential. Some of the writing is redundant, but I think that’s because the author underestimates the target audience and probably feels the need to remind us of certain details throughout the story. The foreshadowing is likely to be more of an “I told you outright this would happen” when we get to book two.

I don’t dislike the FMC but I think I’d like her a lot more with a different narrator. And the lack of other female characters in the story is a big red flag. This is supposed to be a bride trial with 665 other girls. The FMC has spoken to (2-3?) with only a few lines of dialogue exchanged- which were hateful banter at best?

I dunno. The more I think about it, the more depressing it gets. There’s a lot of good MM scenes. And I guess the world building is done well without an info-dump.

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Always 5 Stars

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-04-24

***Spoilers Below***


Donut’s Wonderwall was SO cute!

Jeff Hays is a mastermind, of course. I definitely couldn’t read this genre in physical book format. But we have to give Matt Dinniman is due, because we wouldn’t have this without him.

Spoilers: I am kinda disappointed we don’t get to see how the 7th floor would have played out because it sounded so interesting! I knew there had to be something going on with the hammer/stick combo and as soon as they showed up in glass boxes, the jig was up. I just wish the floor they skipped had a boring premise because that had a lot of promise and I would have loved to hear it.

Also- perfect set up of Katja - we’re getting into the emotional heartbreak of the storylines this book and presumably the next. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

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Ok, Wow

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-21-24

I normally ONLY listen to duet narration, but I made an exception and I am SO glad I did. This was exceptionally good. I could be extra nit picky about the narration if I wanted to, but overall I think they both did a good job and neither were annoying when reading the opposite gender- so it’s a win in my book.
As for the story - whew boy! It was tender and fierce and passionate and exciting and spicy and all the things you would normally expect… but it was also very healing. The sub plot relating to the FMC’s struggle with her relationship with her ultra religious parents brings a grounding element into the story making more than just smut. The end of chapter 41 is something I will bookmark and listen to over and over when I start to spiral- that was some next level religious childhood trauma healing for me. It may not be anything grand, on the contrary, it was so simple. But the fact a spicy smut book was such a balm to that part of my soul is a bit of irony I’ll never forget.

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