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Review – Crank – Ellen Hopkins

17 Jun

crankCrank
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Series: #1 in the Crank Trilogy

Description:
This is a story about a monster. Not a dragon or a mythological beast, but a very real, very destructive monster–crystal meth–that takes hold of seventeen-year-old Kristina Snow and transforms her into her reckless alter-ego Bree. Based on her own daughter’s addiction to crystal meth, Ellen Hopkins’ novel-in-verse is a vivid, transfixing look into teenage drug use. Told in Kristina’s voice, it provides a realistic portrayal of the tortured logic of an addict.

Review:
Have you ever picked up a book by an author who has a fairly decent backlist for the first time, and after finishing it, you are like, how the heck have I never read (insert name here) before? That was me and crank/me and Ellen Hopkins. I had routinely seen her books at the library in the YA section, but for some reason, I had never picked them up – maybe it was the idea of poetry, since I am normally not a huge fan…it wasn’t until I managed to need 2 poetry books for a reading challenge, and having Ellen Hopkins recommended to me by a good friend (I now blame her for my addiction), that I picked up Crank…or more specifically, I downloaded the audiobook of Crank to listen to. I was sucked it…

This isn’t the typical poetry that so many of us were “tortured” with in school (and trust me, I think a lot of my distaste comes from those experiences). I was sucked in by the free verse, it was almost at times, like reading a story – the story of Kristina and her addiction to crank (crystal meth)…the transition from her being the good girl to the drug addicted bad girl and the emergence of her alter-ego Bre…there was just something about it – I couldn’t stop listening…

the audiobook itself wasn’t all that long – i think just shy of 4 hours, but considering that it was 4 hours of poetry and I actually listened attentively to the whole thing…lol! I’m pretty sure that I have never listened to anything done by this narrator before – Laura Flanagan – she had the teenage lilt just right…I felt like I was in Kristina/Bre’s shoes…felt her falling into the void created by the crystal meth…it was kind of freaky in a few places…

Personally, I want to say everyone should read this book, but at the same time, i also realize that caution should be given to reading this book. I would advise parents to be prepared to discuss topics with your teen during reading and after, because I’m sure that they will have a lot of questions. But at the same time, I think its something that needs to be read/discussed – because in essence, it isn’t just about drug abuse, its about peer pressure that our teenagers face as they grow up – they wanting to be cool, even for just one minute, even the “cool” kids…I’m interested to see what the other 2 books in the trilogy bring. This is a hard book to rate, but I would probably give it a solid 4 stars, if not 4.5.

 
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Posted by on June 17, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – The Privilege of the Sword – Ellen Kushner

13 Jun

privilege of the swordThe Privilege of the Sword
Author: Ellen Kushner
Series: #2 in the Riverside series

Run Time: 15 hours and 40 minutes
Narrators: Ellen Kushner, Barbara Rosenblat, Felicia Day, Joe Hurley, Katherine Kellgren, Nick Sullivan, Neil Gaiman
Producer: Neil Gaiman Presents

Description:
Welcome to Riverside, where the aristocratic and the ambitious battle for power in the city’s ballroom, brothels and boudoirs. Into this alluring world walks Katherine, a well-bred country girl versed in the rules of conventional society. Her mistake is thinking that they apply. For Katherine’s host and uncle, Alec Campion, aka the Mad Duke Tremontaine, is in charge here—and to him, rules are made to be broken. When Alec decides it would be more amusing for his niece to learn swordplay than to follow the usual path to marriage, her world changes forever. Blade in hand, it’s up to Katherine to navigate a maze of secrets and scoundrels and to gain the self-discovery that comes to those who master: the privilege of the sword.

Review:
And once again, listening to a category for the Audies made me find a book that I would never have picked up and read if it hadn’t been nominated. It wasn’t like this was a new release – in fact, the book was released in 2006. But with the advent of Audibles ACX program, older books that were never released in audiobook format are slowly appearing on the market. And I have to say that I love Neil Gaiman for producing this audiobook (as well as having a cameo in it!).

Anyways, at first I thought this was a neat twist on historical fiction with a female in a typically male role. But rather, when I looked at the random shelving on Goodreads, it fell more into the fantasy genre. Although it was written in such a way that the fantasy aspect was rather down-played. However, I did manage to find a new sub-genre that I’d never before heard of, Mannerpunk – or a satirical take on the uptight societal manners that you would expect to see in historical fiction. Kind of like the steampunk genre – stuff set in Victorian time period with the use of mechanical equipment…but back to Katherine.

I love kick-ass heroines and Katherine was definitely that. I mean, a female trained in sword-fighting. But its a bit hard to go into various facets of the story without providing spoilers for other parts – but needless to say, it was full of swordplay (both real and training), theatre, drama and romance and various combos of all four. Kushner was able to develop such a detailed world – I felt like I was there with them.

I will admit that having not read either of the books in the series published previously, so I did feel like I was missing some of the backstory. But never fear – I have book 1 (Swordspoint) on Mt. TBR and plan on getting to it probably in the next week or so. This review is very scatter-brained apparently and i kind of struggled with it – which is weird, because I don’t normally have those issues…but anyways, I highly recommend this book and possibly the other ones in the series (although I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t read them…).

The narration was almost as entertaining as the story itself. I have to admit that I was rather taken-aback when I started it and Neil Gaiman was the first person I heard at 6am on the way to work, as he did provided the introduction to the book. The main narration was done by the author and Barbara Rosenblat. I will admit that I am normally not a fan of author narrating their own books, but for some reason, this seemed to work. Ellen was the voice of Katherine and then Barbara the voice of Artemeisia. The rest of the cast, including (once again) the fantabulous Neil Gaiman appeared as various other characters in the book. Overall, I would give both the book and the narration a solid 4 stars and I’m looking forward to listening to more books produced by Neil Gaiman’s production company.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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2013 Armchair Audies – Summary – Multi-Voiced Performance

30 May

the audies

Armchair Audies

I’m squeezing in this post under the wire – since the announcement of the winners for the 2013 Audies awards starts at 8pm EST (so in about 30 minutes from now). But considering I didn’t finish the book I was listening to until 2 hours ago, I’m rather impressed ;)

Originally when I signed up to do the Armchair Audies, I participated in the Romance category, but since I finished that one in mid-April, and still had about 6 weeks to go until the announcement of the winners, I decided to dive head-first into another category – Multi-Voiced Performance. Unfortunately, time ran out and I only managed to get 5 of the 6 books nominated in this category listened to (if I hadn’t caved and listed to that non-nominated romance, I would have made it…oh well).

The nominations for this category are:
Dracula by Bram Stoker

My Awesome-Awful Popularity Plan by Seth Rudetsky

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Stories by Etgar Keret

That Is All written by John Hodgman (Un-listened)

Thoughts:
I’m very conflicted over which one of these books I think will win. It wasn’t like the romance category where I had a solid favorite. For me, there are three potentials – Dracula, My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan and The Privilege of the Sword. However, of these, My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan is the only one that I actually have a review posted for right now…and I just finished up Privilege today. And since I didn’t complete the category, I can’t say where, That Is All would have fallen in the scheme of things…so there you have it…I have a couple of potentials but no sure winner…

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Audiobook Review – Suddenly, A Knock On The Door – Etgar Keret

23 May

the audies

suddenly a knockSuddenly, A Knock On The Door
Author: Etgar Keret

Narrated by: Ira Glass, Adam Thirlwell, Dave Eggers, Nicole Krauss, George Saunders, Ben Foster,Mathieu Amalric, Aimee Bender, Miranda July, Ben Marcus, Willem Dafoe, Stanley Tucci, John Sayles, Gary Shteyngart, Robert Wisdom, Stella Schnabel, Michael Chabon, Lorin Stein, Rick Moody, Nathan Englander, Scott Shepherd, David Rakoff, Michael Chernus, Shea Wigham, Josh Charles, Michael Buscemi, Neal Stephenson, Mark Duplass, Shalom Auslander, Todd Hasak-Lowy, Josh Radnor, Ira Glass, Jonathan Safran Foer, Etgar Keret
Run Time: 5 hours and 7 minutes
Producer: Macmillan Audio

Description:
A man barges into a writer’s house and, holding a gun to his head, demands that he tell him a story, something to take him away from the real world. A pathological liar discovers one day that all the lies he tells come true. A young woman finds a zip in her boyfriend’s mouth, and when she opens it he unfolds to reveal a completely different man inside.

Suddenly a Knock on the Door is at once Keret’s most mature and most playful work yet, and establishes him as one of the great international writers of our time.

Review:
I have to say upfront that this book really wasn’t my thing – I would compare it to some of the work by David Sedaris – it takes a (IMHO) a different type of individual to like the short stories put forth – the slices of life (for lack of a better word). Added to that, I think that some of the potency of the stories was lost in translation. In fact, it took me probably a good half of the book to realize that the stories were set in Israel – which kind of changed my opinion of the writing – and it was harder for me to find similarities with some of the stories, because I couldn’t draw on similar experiences. They also seemed really short – since I was listening to the audiobook the vast majority of them didn’t exceed more than about 10 minutes of listening – which is somewhere between 5-15 pages (depending on the speed of the narrator).

My other complaint was actually about the narration. Individually, the narrators were all fine, I don’t really have any complaints – although, I will say that the shortness of the stories, didn’t necessarily allow for them to show their wares when it comes to narration skills – but with each story being as short as it was, and then there being a different narrator for each story – my mind had a hard time processing what was going on. The various narrators weren’t actually described anywhere in the production either – maybe that would have helped me come to terms with the different stories – but I don’t know. Overall, this was a disappointing listening experience – maybe the authors work is better being read than listened…or maybe it would be better with a more limited cast of narrators (rather than the 15-20 that I think it had). I don’t know. All I know, is that I gave it 2.5 stars, and can’t say that I will be in too much of a rush to read/listen to any more of the authors stuff – no matter the accolades he has received.

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan – Seth Rudetsky

14 May

the audies

awful awesome popularity planMy Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan
Author: Seth Rudetsky

Narrated by: Seth Rudetsky, Andrea Burns, Paul Castree, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Gad, Ana Gasteyer, Megan Hilty, Marc Kudisch, Will Swenson, James Wesley
Run Time: 5hr and 15 minutes
Produced By: Audible, Inc

Description:
Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the “in” crowd sits.

Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann, who doesn’t shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he’s not gay; he’s dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly.

But Justin is determined.

In detention one day (because he saw Chuck get it first), Justin comes up with a perfect plan: to allow Becky to continue dating Chuck, whom Becky’s dad hates. They will pretend that Becky is dating Justin, whom Becky’s dad loves. And when Becky and Justin go out on a fake date, Chuck will meet up with them for a real date with Becky. Chuck’s bound to find Justin irresistible, right? What could go wrong?

Review:
One thing I have loved about listening to books nominated for the Audie Awards is that it made me find authors that I had never before read and narrators I had never before listened to. And in the case of My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan, I got a double dose – with a new author, plus getting to listen to his narration/interpretation of his characters. I got to also listen to the fabulous narration by Megan Hilty (who stars in my favorite, although now cancelled show, SMASH – boo hoo). I think I spent almost the entire time chuckling at Justin’s antics. He was the epitome of the high school geek. I have to wonder how much of the book was based on the author’s experiences. There seemed to be a sense of realism that doesn’t always appear in books (that, or he never truly left his teenage years…).

To say where the plot put forth by Justin was insane, would be an understatement…I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. It was like listening to a comedy of errors as the school-year progressed. Rudetsky managed to pack nearly a full-year of high school trials and tribulations into a relatively short book (I mean, the audiobook was just over 5 hours long). I enjoyed the various narrators who participated in the book. I thought that the director found the right blend of youthful innocence and snarky humor in their voices. I also appreciated the fact that at the beginning of the book, the various narrators were introduced and the characters that they were portraying was mentioned. This really helped me be able to put a voice to a character rather than all of the various narrators blending together. This, to me, is something that I have discovered to be important in multi-narrator books.

I gave My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan a solid 4 stars and I know that I will be seeking out more books by the author in the future.

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Never Seduce A Scot – Maya Banks

22 Apr

the audies
never seduce a scotNever Seduce A Scot
Author: Maya Banks
Series: #1 in the The Montgomerys and Armstrongs series

Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Run Time: 10 hrs and 10 minutes
Producer: Tantor Audio

Description:
Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.

Review:
Its been a while since I have read/listened to any of Maya Banks stuff and the first time that I have tried her non-erotic romance (although I did enjoy her Sweet series). I had been hearing good things about this series from many of my friends, so I was glad to see the audiobook as one of the nominees for the romance category in the Audies. This was also my first time listening to not only Maya Banks, but also the narrator, Kirsten Potter, so it was an interesting experience all around.

I can’t say that the plot in general blew me away – it did feel the same as a lot of the highland romances that have been published in the past (authors like Julie Garwood) – where the King forces a marriage between two clans in order to strength blood ties, reduce the number of feuds. Which is exactly what happened in Never Seduce A Scot – the Montgomery’s and the Armstrong’s had been feuding for several generations – although, you never knew what actually started the feud (I think it might have been the death of a family member at the hands of the other clan – but I was kind of confused on that part) – which I guess goes to show, how the feuds are continued year after year, generation after generation and eventually people lose sight as to how or why they started.

I have to admit that I did have a soft spot for Eveline, the main character – there was something about her characterization that just sucked me in. Maybe it was how her issues/disability was written. My only gripe was that her change in character occurred really quickly after her marriage – and it seemed fake – like all of a sudden, there was a light-switch that was turned on. I would have liked to have seen it dragged out a little bit more – but at the same time, since the entire book took place in like a three week period (give or take), I guess there wasn’t a lot of time for self-discovery and other people discovery…

I would say that Potter’s narration was a solid middle range for me – it wasn’t some of the best narration, I have ever heard, nor was it the worst. She did a good job with the various female voices, including the pitch/tone/volume of Eveline’s at various stages in the story. But I felt like she struggled a bit with the male narration. Their voices did get better as the book went along, but initially I had a hard time distinguishing the various male voices from each other, they seemed to blur together. That being said, I will more than likely check out other books narrated by her in the future and I look forward to reading more books in this series. I gave both the book and the narration 3.5 stars.

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie – Jennifer Ashley

15 Apr

the audiesthe madness of lord ianThe Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Series: #1 in the Highland Pleasures series

Narrator: Angela Dawe
Run Time: 9hrs and 53 minutes
Publisher: Tantor Media

Description:
The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family–rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn’t be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them–of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.

The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He’s also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.

Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama–an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.

And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.

Review:
I rarely re-read books because for me there is just such a wide variety of new stuff out there, that going back and re-reading just seems like a waste of time. However, when tMoLIM was nominated for an Audie award for its audiobook narration in the category that I was listening to, I knew that I was going to be re-reading (or rather re-listening) to it in the near future. I have to say that my memories of my original read through were vague – I remember it being the current IT book and everyone raving about it, but when I read it, I was ultimately disappointed. It didn’t live up to the hype, was my opinion. However, when I started listening to the audio, I was pleasantly surprised. I realized that I had forgotten a good amount of plot points that made it a more enjoyable listen. I have to wonder, if I had listened to it the first time (if it had been available), would I have enjoyed it more – I think the answer is likely yes. However, since I did remember the outcome of the mystery that did kind of take away the enjoyment of the listen. But re-living Ian and Beth’s relationship again made up for it. As I am still reading the series, I love seeing how it all started because they play such a role in the other books.

I will admit that at first, I wasn’t sure about Angela Dawe’s narration – I had heard/read some reviews that didn’t bode to well for it. So I was surprised how enjoyable it was. I wouldn’t go out there and say that it was the best narration ever, but it was solid. I thought that she did a good job mixing up between Beth’s english tone and Ian’s scottish burr – as well as making sure that the other MacKenzie brothers sounded similar, but not the same (if that makes sense). Her pacing was good and I felt like overall the narration flowed well.

In my first read, I think I gave this book 3 stars, but after my re-listen, I am upping it to 4 stars and looking forward to listening to more in the series, as well as other narrations by Ms Dawe in the future.

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Scandalous Desires – Elizabeth Hoyt

12 Apr

the audies
scandalous desiresScandalous Desires
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: #3 in the Maiden Lane series

Narrator: Ashford McNab
Run Time: 11hrs and 29 minutes
Producer: Hachette Audio

Description:
Can a pirate learn that the only true treasure lies in a woman’s heart?

Widowed Silence Hollingbrook is impoverished, lovely, and kind—and nine months ago she made a horrible mistake. She went to a river pirate for help in saving her husband and in the process made a bargain that cost her her marriage. That night wounded her so terribly that she hides in the foundling home she helps run with her brother. Except now that same river pirate is back . . . and he’s asking for her help.

“Charming” Mickey O’Connor is the most ruthless river pirate in London. Devastatingly handsome and fearsomely intelligent, he clawed his way up through London’s criminal underworld. Mickey has no use for tender emotions like compassion and love, and he sees people as pawns to be manipulated. And yet he’s never been able to forget the naive captain’s wife who came to him for help—and spent one memorable night in his bed . . . talking.

When his bastard baby girl was dumped in his lap—her mother having died—Mickey couldn’t resist the Machiavellian urge to leave the baby on Silence’s doorstep. The baby would be hidden from his enemies and he’d also bind Silence to him by her love for his daughter

Review:
I’ve read many romances in the last decade and a bit, but for the life of me, I can’t remember if I have ever read anything by Elizabeth Hoyt. I think that I probably have, but I am blanking on what book and when…lol. So I was intrigued to read/listen to this book when I saw that it had been nominated for an audio award. And I love bad boys in my romance novels, especially pirates and the good/pious women. It also felt nice to go back to a more traditional historical romance, since it has been a while since I have read one that I truly enjoyed – most of the ones I have read recently were just ehhh. Overall, I liked the general plot and story-telling of the book. Even though it was book 3 in a series and I haven’t read the previous 2, I didn’t feel like I was too lost – although I am intrigued enough to want to go back and read/listen to the earlier books.

One of my favorite parts was the baby (Mary Darling) in the story. So often in romances in general, there are kids in the story, but they aren’t key to the storyline – they kind of get relegated to the background. Kind of like, oh, let’s add a kid because it will make the characters seem more likeable. But in this instance, Mary Darling was pivotal to the story. Without her, there wouldn’t have been a story and I wouldn’t have come to love Mickey and Silence like I did. She was the true heart of the story.

However, I did feel that the mystery about the Vicar of White-Chapel (the bad guy) felt forced – until the final reveal about who he was happened. I think I would have preferred to have his identity revealed earlier on and allowed for some more character development. As it was, it seemed a bit lacking.

I was pleasantly surprised by Ashford McNab’s narration – although I will have to admit that at first, I was expecting a male narrator (and I was kind of excited because there are few male narrators in the romance genre). So when this young sounding female voice came across my speakers, I was a bit taken aback. But I was soon sucked into her narration. I found her cadence as she was speaking nicely flowing – not too fast, nor too slow. I liked her Irish lilt that she was able to give Mickey O’Rourke and how I was able to distinguish between all the various characters in the book. I know that I’ll be looking for more books narrated by her in the future. I’d give the book a 3 and the narration a 4, so 3.5 overall.

In the ranking scheme of the other romance books nominated for the Audies – I would put this 2nd out of the 3 I have listened to – with The Witness (Nora Roberts) leading right now.

 
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Posted by on April 12, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – The Witness – Nora Roberts

08 Mar

Audies2013_Banner
the witness
The Witness
Author: Nora Roberts

Narrator: Julia Whelan
Run Time: 16 hours and 18 minutes
Producer: Brilliance Audio

Description:
Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive.

Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems programmer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town.

The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature, and unromantic viewpoints intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights.

And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

Review:
From the first paragraph in the audiobook which started with the line:
Elizabeth Fitch’s short-lived teenaged rebellion began with L’Oreal Pure Black, a pair of scissors and a fake ID. It ended in blood – I was intrigued – it was probably one of the more intriguing opening sentences in a book that I have read/listened to in a while. That being said, the book jacket copy (taken from the audiobook) pretty much dispels any mystery behind what was going to happen – which was kind of disappointing. I liked the story and all, don’t get me wrong, it is probably one of the better Nora Roberts books that I have read in the last few years – but there were no surprises…even the ending was kind of ehhh…I wanted more bang and all I got was fizzle – while this was marketed as a romantic suspense, the suspense angle was kind of lacking – I found myself listening as it got closer and closer to the end and wondering if there was going to be any kind of confrontation and how it was all going to play out (but don’t worry, I won’t tell…). That being said, it was still better than a good majority of romance books that have been released recently (or maybe that is because it has been a while since I have read any of her stuff – who knows…).

But that being said, the purpose of this review is more on the audiobook side than the book side because it was nominated (and well-deserved) IMHO for an Audie in the Romance category. At first I was skeptical, but when the nominees were announced – I think it will be interesting to ultimately see who comes out on top. I do know, that after listening to Julia Whelan’s narration, that is isn’t going to be the last time that I do. I loved her narration of Amy in Gone Girl (one of my top listens from 2012) and her narration of The Witness was easily on par with Gone Girl, with the added fact, that I could see more of her range of voices and narration, rather than listening from only one character’s perspective. There were so many nuances that she picked up on – the multiple languages that there were phrases in (including, but not limited to, French, Italian, Farsi, Spanish and Russian – although I think there might have been a couple more mentioned as well). The wide range of people, from the 2 main characters of Liz/Abigail and Brooks – through the various parents, townsfolk, Russian mafia etc…And yet each voice sounded unique and unduplicated -which I appreciated.

If the other books that were nominees are such a high standard, I am going to have a hard time picking which one i think should win. Overall, I would give the narration 5 stars, but the story itself only 3 – but I am going to round it up to 4 stars.

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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Audiobook Review – Hard Evidence – Pamela Clare

27 Feb

hard evidenceHard Evidence
Author: Pamela Clare
Series: #2 in the I-team

Narrator: Kaleo Griffith
Run Time: 11 hours and 38 minutes
Producer: Tantor Media

Description:
After the murder of a teenage girl, a mysterious man in a black leather jacket was seen lurking near the crime scene. Investigative reporter Tessa Novak has him in her sights as the culprit…

That man was Julian Darcangelo, an undercover FBI agent working with the Denver police. He’s closing in on the trail of a human trafficker and killer. Tessa’s accusations could blow his cover, and he wants her off the investigation.

But just as Tessa has made Julian a target of interest, she is now a target of the killer. And as they are forced to trust each other, their physical attraction escalates as intensely as the threat from a ruthless murderer who wants to see both of them dead…

Review:
This review is likely going to be more of a rant, than a review, so if you enjoyed the series, I would say stay-clear, because I wasn’t happy at all. In fact, if I had been reading and not listening to the audiobook, the book would have gone flying across the room on multiple occasions and if I wasn’t buddy reading this with a friend (who disliked it as much as I did), I probably would have DNF’d it (but since she had already finished it, I couldn’t leave her hanging). This is one of those books where I look at my friends reviews and wonder, what the heck am I missing? In fact, on Goodreads, out of all of my friends that have read/reviewed the book (about 30 of them), it has over a 4 out of 5 average…so I guess it hit the spot for some people.

But oh my god…Tessa to me, was the epitome of TSTL (too stupid to live) – I lost track of the number of times that she put herself in an idioticly dumb situation and had to be “rescued” by Julian. Honestly, by about 3/4 of the way through, I was kind of hoping that he would just leave her to get out of her own mess (even though, we know that will never happen) – because it was obvious that she wasn’t going to learn. For a supposed top-notch investigative reporter, she made some really dumb moves. I mean, I get the part about needing to get the story and sometimes lives having to be sacrificing, but there is a point, especially when you are told about the danger that you are in, when (I would hope), any sane person would step back and evaluate the situation and figure out the greater good – get yourself killed now and not have the story, because well, you’ll be dead, or actually listen to the guys that know what they are doing, get the story and maybe survive…I mean argh!!!

And then there is Julian Darcangelo – which can I say, his name totally threw me for a loop because it just didn’t sound smooth (I think that is the word I am looking for), the Darc part just sounded forced…I actually liked it when he was referred to by his street name of Dark Angel – it sounded smoother (yes, weird I know). But he is supposed to be the quintessential bad boy, the federal agent working undercover…but if he was that good of an undercover agent, then why the heck did the bad guys know who he was…through like the entire book. I’m sorry, but the whole purpose of being undercover is so that you aren’t known…not having the head honcho of the organization you are pursuing know who you are, so that he can play you like a violin and man, did he ever…

Then there was the two of them together – oh gag me now – the guy gets shot in the back six times, trying to save her from a drive-by, but oh don’t worry because he is wearing kevlar, and then they go and get down and dirty not 30 minutes later…now, I have never been shot with real bullets (thankfully), but having been hit many times with paintballs/air-soft at close range, which have not even close to the same impact, that shit hurts – I couldn’t imagine doing anything after that, much less having sex…oh yeah, and then when he tries to “rescue” her, he gets himself captured – brilliant move there, Mr Federal Agent…it just kept getting worse and worse…

Close to the only saving grace, and I won’t even call it that, was Kaleo Griffith’s narration of the audiobook. He had a decently smooth narration style – although I wasn’t a fan of his southern belle accent which is what Tessa supposedly had…it just felt fake – I would have preferred if he had just read her part without over-emphasizing the accent. While I don’t speak spanish, the parts in that, sounded authentic (or as much as they can be to an untrained ear). But even his narration couldn’t make up for the mess that was the book in general…I would probably give the narration of the book 3/5 stars – it was decent – wasn’t the best I have ever listened to, but wasn’t the worst by far…

I have to wonder if it was because this series was so hyped up that I was so disappointed and maybe if I had read them when they first came out they would have been better – and i might not have been so much of a jaded reader…Overall 1.5 stars (and that is being generous)…I’m conflicted if I will continue the series or not – the first one was ok, definitely not as bad as this one, but it didn’t blow my socks off either…

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2013 in Audiobook Review

 

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