Kathryn

Harry Potter meets Eliza Dolittle

Revisado: 08-23-18

This book is delightful. Molly Harper's wit is back with an extra dose of whimsy. I hope we'll have many more adventures with this group of characters.

I did have trouble settling into the story because of getting used to the accent. I actually repeated the first five minutes a couple of times to settle in. It's not a book I was able to listen to while doing other things, but it was worth giving it the time and attention.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 37 personas

Excellent Approach to a Hard Topic

Revisado: 03-13-18

I think this is an important book. The topic of school shootings is hard for adults to process. In Only Child, Rhiannon Navin has processed the experience and the aftermath from the eyes of a child.

I think this book will be valuable to anyone who loves a child in today's world.

Choosing Kivlighan de Montebello, who is a talented young person, to narrate, was brilliant and powerful. Also it sometimes makes the weight of the situation harder to carry. I normally binge straight through my audio books. On this one I had to take breaks. Totally worth it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Too much exposition.

Revisado: 01-06-18

I've been a fan of this series from the beginning, and have given positive reviews, but this book is just short on plot. There are huge hunks of summary of the other novels. (Trust your readers to remember. Give hints to new readers and make them want to read from the beginning. These hunks of exposition bore fans and spoil new readers.)

There were some nice larger-arc moments, but if all the background and the step-by-step descriptions of how to dye an egg were removed, this would be a novella. Plus, I knew who the villain was immediately.

It's disappointing.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Ugh!

Revisado: 10-14-17

If you're looking for a rainy afternoon guilty pleasure romance novel, this is not that book.

I have mixed feelings, because it's good to spend time with the characters from the Shadowlands, but this book is about marriage communication problems, frustration over infertility, and child abuse. Not a book to escape into.

The squeaky little baby-talk voice of the two-year old that's cute in the first two minutes of the book gave me a headache by the end of it. (And I waited a whole day before writing this to make sure I wasn't just knee-jerking.)

Definitely don't read this if you haven't read any of the other books, because you'll likely be lost and won't get anything out of it. It's really only worthwhile if you want to see what's happening with the characters you already care about.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Delightfully full of secrets!

Revisado: 09-05-17

Another great Eve Dallas story. This one is lighter (less gruesomely explicit) than some have been, with great moments of humor. I'd say though that this is one that that doesn't stand alone as well, but leans on several of the others, so it's not a good one to start with if you're unfamiliar with the series. There are direct references in particular to Glory in Death, Portrait in Death, and even Devoted in Death that figure significantly in understanding the story. Nice character relationship moments; they really have settled together into a family. As always, Susan Ericksen delivers them to us with skill. If you're already a fan of the series, I predict you'll enjoy this book. If you're new to it, don't start with this one. You won't appreciate the character moments if you haven't traveled with them a while to get here.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 64 personas

Dueling Devotions

Revisado: 09-16-15

I loved the contrasting expressions of "Devotion in Death," comparing the relationships of Eve and Roarke with Darryl and Ella-Loo. It's nice to see, over the span of several books, Eve becoming more comfortable with expressing the love she shares with Roarke. There were a lot of nice little moments - with Baxter, with Feeney, with Truehart. Loved the visiting deputy from Arkansas. Kudos to J D Robb and Susan Ericksen for another great book in the series. If you're new to the series, you'll be able to enjoy this book. There's a lot of back story that would make some parts clearer, but I think it stands alone much more than some of the others.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 12 personas

Bad narrator!

Revisado: 01-31-15

This is a great book for Veronica Mars fans. I doubt someone who doesn't have a history with the show will enjoy it as much, as there are a lot of references to the series (even more than the first book). While they try to give the one sentence back-story, I doubt it's enough.

The real disappointment is the choice of narrator. It was hard to get through the prologue, which sounded like a beat poet on Prozac. It's marginally better once there's interaction between character voices, but I made the mistake of re-listening to the first book right before this one, and the difference is jarring. It's just a shame.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

Slow moving, Out-dated, Not a great payout.

Revisado: 11-17-14

First thing to know is though the release date is 11/14, the actual book was written in 1991. Everyone smokes, people are going to be on the Carson show, they record things on cassettes and VCRs. I'm of an age it doesn't matter that much.

The second thing is the book is nineteen hours long, and it's not for plot twists - it's a need for editing. The entire first installment (9 hours) is back story, consisting mostly of Hollywood gossip and scandal. While the gossip is about fictional celebrities, there is a lot of discussion of actual films and celebrities of the Brando/Turner/Davis "golden age."

Regarding the narrator - I don't know how much of the plodding of the first half is about her pacing, or whether she suffered from the content she had to read, but it is bothersome that all the male characters sound exactly the same, even when it's mentioned one has a British accent.

It was pretty late in the book that I guessed the killer, but considering the murder didn't happen until the tenth hour of listening, I'm not sure that's saying much..

That said, it wasn't horrible or annoying, but it's not one I'm planning to listen to again and again. I have to give it a resounding, "Meh."

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 65 personas

Angels Fail

Revisado: 11-05-14

Awful.

Whiny wounded heroine witnesses event. Then several (audiobook) hours of stalkerish/gaslighting pranks alternating with "OMG! Am I crazy! I'm not crazy! I swear!" Then big confrontation with baddie who was obvious about halfway through the book, and *wham* book is over. No reactions/responses from anyone other than the hero and heroine.

Seriously. Bad.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Disappointing!

Revisado: 06-22-14

I greatly enjoyed The Cuckoo's Calling, so was excited to purchase this sequel; unfortunately, The Silkworm was a huge disappointment.

The beginning of the book is painfully slow with a lot of exposition and very little action. The exposition includes the setup of the novel within the novel - which we are told is perverse and poorly written, right before the narrator proceeds to read it to us. Ugh.

I nearly quit this book in Chapter 19. If you're easily upset by gore, you might want to pass on it altogether. After a break, I did go back to reading and found it got better, both in pace and "disgust factor," but I can't say I enjoyed it, beyond the glimpses we have into Robin's family life.

I wonder what statement "Robert Galbraith" (JK Rowling) is making about writers and the publishing industry, because there wasn't a pleasant or well adjusted character in the lot of them. They ranged from "broken" to "sociopath" and I think if anyone had been likable, it would have done a lot to improve the book.

Insert jabs at self-publishing and the internet's role in giving a voice to bad writers, and it's easy to imagine Ms. Rowling's writing desk decorated with a "Be careful or you'll end up in my novel" button of its own.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 13 personas