Audiobook Review: After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Pub. Date: April 10th, 2018

Length: 10 hours, 51 minutes

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Mystery / Suspense / Family Drama

Synopsis

Nobody cuts deeper than family...


Noah Alderman, a doctor and a widower, has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie, and for the first time in a long time he and his son are happy. But their lives are turned upside down when Maggie’s daughter Anna moves in with them. Anna is a gorgeous seventeen-year-old who balks at living under their rules though Maggie, ecstatic to have her daughter back, ignores the red flags that hint at the trouble that is brewing. Events take a deadly turn when Anna is murdered and Noah is accused of the crime. Maggie must face not only the devastation of losing her only daughter, but the realization that her daughter's murder was at the hands of a husband she loves. New information sends Maggie searching for the truth, leading her to discover something darker than she could have ever imagined.

What Did I Think About the Story?

After Anna is an interesting mystery, one that starts after the main situation - Anna's murder - has already occurred. Going back and forth in time, the reader is at first led to see what happened through the eyes of Anna's mother, as well as the trial and aftermath through Noah's point of view. The reader is then exposed to a twist that turns everything on its head, leading to a shocking discovery that I never saw coming.

Each chapter of the first two-thirds of the book alternates between Maggie "before" - when her estranged daughter reaches out to Maggie after her father's death - and Noah "after" - when he is charged with Anna's murder. I thought this was a great way to develop the story as it almost gives it the feeling of two separate stories converging into one. In Maggie's storyline we get to see how her ex-husband used her post partum psychosis against her, lying and keeping her daughter from her even after she had recovered. This leads Maggie, once she has Anna back in her life, to ignore red flags and put her daughter above everyone else, even her husband and her step-son. In Noah's story we see his trial unfold and have to determine if his statements of innocence are true, even when the evidence against him seems to be mounting and mounting. Then that twist I mentioned starts the final one-third of the story, changing everything and leaving me, at least, wondering how I didn't see it coming (and I really didn't!). It's quite a twist, one that keeps twisting until an ending that was satisfying, if a bit unrealistic.

The narrators of the story - we get two, one for Maggie's portions and one for Noah's - did a pretty good job of keeping the two storylines flowing towards each other and keeping me engaged. I have to admit that the narrator for Maggie, at times, somewhat grated on me, but I still can't decide if that is mainly due to her actual voice or the actions and dialogue written for her. Maggie, as a character, did some things that really got on my nerves and seemed pretty unrealistic. For example, at one point she's at a police station getting some unexpected information (this is a big understatement but I don't want to give anything away) and she demands to go along on what will surely be a very dangerous police matter....and the police let her tag along! This felt so far-fetched (along with some other actions) that I lost some appreciation for the story. The big twist that we discover seems somewhat unlikely by itself, adding Maggie's wild behavior to it doesn't help it feel at all like something relatable or something that would actually happen. Part of what I first enjoyed about the story was how these ordinary people had their lives completely destroyed by what happened to Anna, something that could, inevitably, happen in real life. Adding situations and reactions that I can't conceive of ever happening just took away from some of that enjoyment.   

After Anna is definitely a twisty tale. While I didn't love it I did enjoy being surprised by the big revelations. This might be a case of a story that would have been better read and not listened to, I've still not decided. I've read another book by Lisa Scottoline and remember really enjoying it, so I'll definitely give her another try in the future! I'd recommend this to anyone who likes twists and turns that don't necessarily need to be too realistic.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I think it's a pretty great cover for the story. The girl turned away and against a darkening backdrop gives it a sense of eeriness, and the fact that she's walking away from the lit-up houses makes her seem separate from that world (all of which fits). I love the slash down the middle as well, giving it texture and even more of a sinister feeling.


My Rating: 3.5/5.0

I borrowed a copy of the audiobook version of After Anna from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. You can find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE. 

Audiobook Review: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

Pub. Date: June 19th, 2014
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Length: 17 hours, 22 minutes

Series: Cormoran Strike #2

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Thriller / Crime Drama

Synopsis

Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.


When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...

What Did I Think About the Story? 

Book Two in the Cormoran Strike series begins with Strike flush with clients and slightly famous after solving the Lula Landry case in the Cuckoo's Calling. Robin Ellacott is still working as his secretary, enjoying her job even while getting increasingly frustrated with the fact that he won't trust her with more detective work and with her fiancée's continued snobbery about the job and jealousy of Cormoran. Into this busy madness walks Mrs. Quine, a woman without much money or standing who simply wants Strike to find her wayward husband so he can come home and take care of her and their mentally disabled daughter. But, as the facts begin to fall into place and Owen Quine's mutilated body is found in the exact same manner as he describes in his not yet published book, Strike has to follow the bizarre clues and use his excellent deduction skills to find the murderer before the wrong person goes down for the crime.

I found this case to be particularly interesting as it's a real literary whodunit, with a limited number of possible suspects but each with their own, very deep-seated reasons for wanting Quine dead. Watching Strike gather together this list of suspects and interpreting how they figured into Mr. Quine's forthcoming book (and which salacious character they each represented) kept my attention, especially as there were certain aspects of the characters that ended up being clues to what actually happened, clues that I completely overlooked! I won't say who ended up being the killer but I will say I didn't figure it out before the fast-paced and thrilling ending.

I think what I love more than the actual mystery at the heart of the story are the characters themselves. I find Cormoran to be such a complicated character: ex-military police, annoyed by the limits his disability causes (he lost one of his legs), caring - if standoffish - with those in his limited inner circle, yet always willing to put in the time needed to help the underdog and make sure that the truth, whatever it is, always comes out in the end. Seeing Robin next to him is almost comical as she's vivacious, whip-smart, and far more capable than he - or her fiancée - give her credit for. It was great watching her finally voice to Strike her need to be considered as more than just his secretary, as a partner who can put in the time and energy as well to solve their various cases. This obviously causes issues with her fiancée, and that dynamic added another interesting layer to not only her character but the overall story.

I should also mention that the audiobook version of The Silkworm is narrated by the same person as The Cuckoo's Calling (Robert Glenister) who did just as exceptional a job of bringing these characters to life and keeping me glued to my car's stereo during my commutes as he did before. He really is a great audiobook narrator and I'm excited to see he'll be doing the narration for the third book in the series - Career of Evil - as well.    

The Silkworm reaffirmed by love of Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott and has me excited to see what they will get up to next, both at work and in their personal lives.  If you like good mystery with interesting and sometimes dryly comical characters, you will find much to enjoy with this series.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

It's okay. It doesn't really represent the story at all - or anything specific to this particular story - and I'm not even sure who the man on the cover is meant to be (is it Cormoran? Or Quine? Someone else?). However, it does give off a feeling of mystery and I enjoy that aspect of it.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of the audiobook version of The Silkworm from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. You can find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE.  

 

 



Audiobook Review: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Pub. Date: May 16th, 2013
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Length: 15 hours, 54 minutes

Book Series: Cormoran Strike #1
Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Mystery / Crime Fiction

Synopsis

The Cuckoo's Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.


A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

What Did I Think About the Story?

I feel very late to the game with this series of contemporary mysteries by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). I saw this first book in the series pop up on my library's Overdrive account and thought, why not give it a go? I'm been really enjoying mysteries this year and it sounded like a good premise. I'm glad I went with my gut because not only did I enjoy the story very much I also really enjoyed the narrator.

The main character - Cormoran Strike - is a gem. As the story began I pictured him as a classic sort of bumbling detective, kind of gritty and unkempt and seeming to be falling apart even when you know he's following all the clues. He's also got much about him that's very unique, having been in the military police and having been injured in the line of duty, as well as being the illegitimate son of a aging rockstar, something that put him in a very interesting predicament as he investigates the death of a supermodel that was surrounded by people who also know his father.

His (at first temporary) assistant, Robin Ellacott, is wonderful as well, serving as a great Girl Friday, keeping Cormoran in line and on target while also wrestling with whether she wanted to continue on assisting him in this unsteady detective business (something she very much enjoys much to the dismay of her fiancée) or move on to the next better paying and more secure position. I'm surprised that she isn't even named in the synopsis above as she plays a large part in the story and is just as enjoyable and fleshed out as Cormoran. I would definitely say I at least appreciated both of these characters equally.

The actual search into what happened to Lula Landry was fun to follow. The rich and vicious world Lula lived within was quite entertaining, if superficial, and I was constantly left feeling like these people who were supposed to care about Lula weren't telling the whole truth about what they knew about her or the events leading up to her death, whether that was because of secrets in their own lives or because of some sort of involvement. When the last shoe does drop and we find out exactly what happened to Lula - in great detail as Cormoran has figured out - I can honestly say I did not see it coming. I almost feel like I should have, given what we discover, but as it stands I was completely surprised.

The narrator of The Cuckoo's Calling was exceptional, varying the voices into distinct characterizations (and there are quite a few secondary characters) as well as keeping the narrative flowing evenly so as not to bog the listener down in all the details. He also perfectly expressed Cormoran's dry wit, making me connect with him as a character even more than I might have otherwise.

The Cuckoo's Calling was a fun audiobook to listen to on my commute. The story flowed, the characters and the mystery were interesting, and I'm left wanting more. I've now reserved the next book in the series and hope to be able to listen to it really soon! I'm also really excited to see the TV series that I read is being made based on the series.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

While I think this image represents the overall story well, I don't think the woman on the cover at all matches the image of Lula Landry that I had built up in my head while reading the story. I always prefer if the model on the cover matches the description of the character. Other than that, I love the blinding flashbulbs and the way the name is sort of scrawled within it. I also like that the author's name is quite small so as not to draw attention away from the rest of the cover.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of the audiobook version of The Cuckoo's Calling from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. You can find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Audiobook Review: Origin by Dan Brown

Publisher: Random House Audio

Release Date: October 3rd, 2017

Length: 18 hours , 9 minutes

Genre: Fiction / Contemporary Fiction / Thriller / Technothriller / Suspense

Book Series: Robert Langdon, Book #5

Synopsis

Where do we come from?

Where are we going?

The stunningly inventive new novel from the world's most popular thriller writer.


Bilbao, Spain

Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a major announcement - the unveiling of a discovery that "will change the face of science forever." The evening's host is Edmond Kirsch, a 40-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon's first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough...one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch's precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch's secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain's Royal Palace itself...and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face to face with Kirsch's shocking discovery...and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.


Origin is Dan Brown's most brilliant and entertaining novel to date.

What Did I Think About the Story?

Readers seem to either love or hate Dan Brown's books and I fall heavily into the former category. All of his novels have been fast-paced, action-packed explorations into countries, cultures, and hidden aspects of history that I would probably never get to experience otherwise. He brings the reader along as he explores the world and teaches us fascinating little factoids about the locations or object being discussed, making you feel like you are getting a deeper picture of what is happening within the story. In this way Origin is a typical Dan Brown, going even farther than normal to ask and answer questions that are at the heart of humanity: where do we come from? Where are we going?

Origin tackles some of the biggest and most controversial warring aspects of modern life: religion vs. science, classical vs. modern, new vs. old, fact vs. belief. While Brown veers heavily towards the belief in science and technology he also shows an appreciation and love for the classical and the artistic, showing links between the measured science of and the beauty and chaos of nature and life as we know it. I can't tell you too much more about the overall plot of the story without giving something away, but I will say that Brown offers up some compelling answers to the questions he presents, ones that make me both excited for and terrified for humanity's future.

My favorite aspect of the story, and one that sort of drives home the point of the ceaseless advancement of technology, is the fact that one of Robert Langdon's companions on this madcap journey is a virtual docent at the museum, one created by Edmond Kirsch himself. "Winston" is a key player in helping Langdon discover what Kirsch was going to reveal to the world and making sure that his revelations are released. While he doesn't physically travel with the human characters he's able to interact with them virtually and search through copious amounts of information to assist in a fraction of the time it would have taken Langdon. To be honest I'm not sure how they would have proceeded without him! That isn't to say that Winston is perfect, but you'll have to read/listen to the story to discover his downfalls.

I listened to this story as an audiobook and I think it was the perfect way to experience it. The narrator (Paul Michael) was excellent, keeping the tension tight and the action flowing while also never glossing over those delightful little facts Brown throws in to educate and entertain his readers. Michael also did a wonderful job of changing the accents between characters, given their various countries of origin, something I imagine can't be easy to do. The sound of his voice perfectly matched the Robert Langdon in my head so it was an all around enjoyable experience!

If you already enjoy Dan Brown books you are sure to enjoy Origin as well. If you've never read a book by Brown before this might be a great place to start as you don't have to have read the previous Langdon books to jump into this story. It's a thought-provoking yet quick read that keeps you entertained from cover to cover.      

What Did I Think About the Cover?

It's okay. I like the sort of circling around, closed environment effect of the shell that hints at the cyclical qualities of nature discussed in the story. Other than that it's pretty plain, which is a shame given how vivid and colorful the story is.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of Origin from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. To find out more about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, see Goodreads HERE.  

 

 



Audiobook Review: IT by Stephen King

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Pub. Date: March 9th, 2010
Length: 44 hours, 57 minutes

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Fantasy

Synopsis

"A landmark in American literature" (Chicago Sun-Times) Stephen King's number-one national best seller about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled on as teenagers...an evil without a name: It.


Welcome to Derry, Maine. It's a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real.

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made 28 years ago calls them to reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Now children are being murdered again, and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry's sewers.


Readers and listeners of Stephen King know that Derry, Maine, is a place with a deep, dark hold on the author. It reappears in many of his books, including Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis, and 11/22/63. But it all starts with It.

What Did I Think About the Story?

I grew up absolutely LOVING the Tim Curry TV miniseries version of Stephen King's IT. Then I went and saw the first installment of the new movie version coming to theatres, which was so different from the miniseries, and knew I needed to see how the two compared to the original story. Lucky me I spotted an audiobook version available to borrow from my library and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see how Stephen King intended the story to unfold. I'm not afraid to admit that the audiobook version of IT was as terrifying as I imagined it would be!

Anyone who reads, watches, or listens to horror stories most likely already knows the basic premise of IT. If you don't the synopsis above will fill you in. This is a story about visceral and all-consuming fear. It's an evilness that has lurked below this small town for centuries and a group of teenagers who set out to destroy it once and for all. It's mind-bending and nightmare-inducing and a consuming story, especially when experienced as an audiobook. It also, surprisingly enough, has mixed in to it this touching coming-of-age and first love story that would seem out of place in less capable hands than Stephen King's. It really does have something for everyone, as long as readers or listeners are able to handle some graphic language and situations.

Steven Weber as narrator for this story is perfection. He has this wonderful speaking voice that is great for narration as well as this ability to change his voice for the various characterizations and really inhabit the insanity that is Pennywise (the clown personifying the evil). He has this way of speaking, this low-burning growl and terrifying shrieking quality, that made Pennywise so scary that I could feel my heart begin to race when he entered a scene. I was amazed at how well he read this long and multi-layered story and really want to find some other audiobooks narrated by him.

As you can see above, this is a LONG story. It was so long, in fact, that I had to check it out from my library in two installments (only being allowed to check it out for two weeks at a time). Because it's so popular these two separate rentals were literally months apart. My eagerness to finish the story was so great, though, that I happily waited for the book to become available again and then put everything else aside to make sure I could finish it the second time around. And I don't regret a minute of it. The story never dragged and every minute of the almost 45 hours felt needed to fully tell this story. I don't think I've ever devoted this much time and energy into a story before and felt this satisfied at the end.    

IT might be my favorite audiobook experience to date (Locke and Key is hard to beat) and is definitely the best audiobook version of a novel I've come across. The combination of an excellent horror story and an exceptional narrator are hard to resist and anyone who's been thinking of giving this story a try, as I was, need to run out and get your hands on a copy. I've read a few stories by Stephen King and very much enjoyed them, and this is no exception. He's considered by many to be the master of horror and it's not hard to see why.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

This cover doesn't really do much for me, however I've seen some more recent covers that give you more of a chill befitting this terrifying story. To be honest I would have picked up this audiobook regardless of the cover so I didn't really care about what it looked like for once!


My Rating: 5.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of IT from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. To find out more about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, see Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Audiobook Review: Horns by Joe Hill

Publisher: HarperAudio
Pub. Date: February 16th, 2010
Length: 13 hours, 55 minutes

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Mystery / Thriller / Supernatural

Synopsis

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first, Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who had been raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once, the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. Nothing Ig can do or say matters. Everyone it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. It's time for a little revenge . . . it's time the devil had his due . . .

What Did I Think About the Story?

Man, I have become somewhat obsessed with Joe Hill since I read his novel, Heart-Shaped Box, a few months ago. I had previously listened to the audiobook version of his graphic novel series, Locke and Key, which was exceptional, but it wasn't until I read his full-length novel that I knew I wanted to read, listen, absorb...whatever you want to call it!...all of his stories. I can't seem to get enough! I've purchased all of his books, including his newest collection of short novels, Strange Weather, which I read as soon as it came out (review to come soon!). I decided to check out the audiobook version of Horns from my library, just to see how it might compare to the audiobook version of Locke and Key and to change up the way I'm experiencing Hill's novels, and I'm so glad I did because the narrator took this already intriguing and unique story and made it even better!

I am continually amazed at how interesting and unusual Joe Hill's novels are, and just how much heart is infused into the horrifying elements of his stories. There are so many layers to what unfolds as the stories progress. In the case of Horns, it starts off with this intriguing concept of our main character, Ig Perrish, waking up with small horns growing out of his head. Right away he learns that when he comes into contact with people they don't seem concerned by his appearance and, stranger than that, they can't seem to keep themselves from telling him their deepest, darkest secrets, the kind of depraved things that people don't like to admit to themselves, let alone say out loud to someone else. If he touches someone Ig can actually see the person's memories, usually something pretty bad that they've done or hidden from others. On top of all this, he can manipulate people, get them to do stuff they would never willingly do normally. It's all quite twisted and Ig, grief-stricken and angry as he is, gets more upset as he finds out what really happened to Merrin, who was involved, and how much has remained hidden while everyone assumed he was the killer. And as his knowledge and anger grows so do the horns and Ig's revenge....

Layered beneath this main situation is a tender first-love story, one that had a tragic ending but is quite beautiful when you discover all the pieces. Ig really is an exceptional character, kind and giving to a fault before Merrin's death and, funny enough, easy to manipulate by those that he cares about (which the worst characters, we discover, use to their advantage). There's also the fact that Ig's father and brother are both famous musicians (who play the HORN!) but Ig has never been able to play successfully because of his asthma. However, he does have a huge love of music and that musicality weaves throughout the story.

The narrator of Horns was phenomenal! He kept the tension thick - even screaming when a character was described as doing so! - and did an exceptional job of appropriately balancing the depravity and beauty interlaced within the overall story. He altered the voices between characters as I always appreciate and kept me wanting to listen to more even when I knew I had to stop. I can't think of anything else I would want in an audiobook narrator.

While I didn't love this audiobook as much as Hill's Locke and Key series (that would be really hard to do as it was the best audiobook I have ever listened to), Horns came in not far behind. It is an exceptional story with so many elements - the supernatural, horror, mystery, thriller, romance - and I can't really think of anything I would have wanted changed. It's just a really interesting and unusual story! 

What Did I Think About the Cover?

The cover doesn't really do anything for me. It's okay and obviously fits the story well, but it doesn't really draw the eye.


My Rating: 4.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of Horns from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. To find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, see Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Audiobook Review: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Publisher: Random House Audio
Pub. Date: June 6th, 2017
Length: 14 hours, 28 minutes

Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual Timeline

Synopsis

Two families, generations apart, are forever changed by a heartbreaking injustice in this poignant novel, inspired by a true story, for fans of Orphan Train and The Nightingale.


Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge - until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents - but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.


Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals - in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country - Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.

What Did I Think About the Story?

It's been a number of weeks since I finished listening to this audiobook and it's taken that time to fully wrap my head around everything that happened within this story and my feelings towards it. Having not read anything by Lisa Wingate before I'm not really sure what I was expecting, other than knowing it had really good reviews and, from the synopsis, sounded like it would be a dual timeline story much like I've enjoyed before. What I discovered was an unbelievably heartbreaking story told with sensitivity and care and expressed through two remarkable narrators.

As with many dual timeline stories my heart lies with the storyline taking place in the past. Rill is a remarkably compelling and sympathetic character and there were a number of times while listening to her story that I nearly broke down in tears. It was absolutely devastating listening to the loss, abuse, dashed hopes, and separation from those she loved that Rill experienced again and again. These children, forcefully removed from everything they had ever known and loved, had to live in constant fear of being attacked and abused, going without proper food, clothing, and hygiene, and were forced to lie to those they came into contact with on the off chance that the lies being told to them - that they would be reunited with their parents - might come to fruition. I kept saying to myself "no way, this cannot have actually happened", but, as I discovered when reading the wonderfully informative author notes at the back of the book, it in fact did. It is so hard for me to wrap my head around someone (multiple people actually) who are sadistic enough to put children through what these children went through in this story. Truly, truly heartbreaking and so tenderly told in Lisa Wingate's capable hands.

Avery's story was wonderful as well, but for completely different reasons. Trying to figure out exactly how, and through whom, the two stories were connected kept an air of mystery flowing as the story progressed. Seeing Avery balance her need to find out the dark secrets in her family's past with her need to protect her family's good name was commendable and, it seemed at times, something that might not be possible. I also enjoyed seeing her transformation from the perfect daughter who always did exactly what was expected of her into a strong woman able to make decisions based on what she wanted out of life, including who to love. It is also through her storyline that we see a loose connection drawn between what happened to these poor children in the past and the very real and horrible treatment of the poor elderly in nursing homes today. In both instances we see the rich getting what they want or need and the poor forced to suffer what is given to them by those that just don't care. Avery's story was the driving force pushing the reader to discover these atrocities and, somehow, also a way to bring closure and hope for a better future for all involved (or at least those still living in Avery's storyline).

The narrators were truly amazing! Both narrators (Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber) made you feel what the characters were thinking and feeling and wholly brought the separate worlds of Rill and Avery alive. I think they, as much as the writing, made this such a beautiful story.

Before We Were Yours is both heartbreaking and heartwarming fiction. I'm not sure that I will ever forget these fictional characters, nor will I forget the very real atrocities they represented. I would recommend this to everyone. This is a devastating part of history everyone should learn about and no one should forget.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

This cover is so soft and sweet and tender that it nearly breaks my heart! Before reading the story I thought it was very cute - with the beautiful pastel coloring, cute towheaded little girls, one clutching the teddy bear, the soft-focus background - but now, having finished the story, I can't help picturing Rill and one of her sisters staring longingly at the water that, somewhere, has to hold her family. It really is just a beautiful, heartbreaking cover.


My Rating: 5.0/5.0

I borrowed a copy of Before We Were Yours from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. To find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, please see Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Audiobook Review: The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve

Publisher: Random House Audio
Pub. Date: April 18th, 2017
Length: 8 hours, 34 minutes

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Weight of Water and The Pilot's Wife (an Oprah's Book Club selection): an exquisitely suspenseful new novel about an extraordinary young woman tested by a catastrophic event and its devastating aftermath - based on the true story of the largest fire in Maine's history


In October 1947, after a summer-long drought, fires break out all along the Maine coast, from Bar Harbor to Kittery, and are soon racing out of control from town to village. Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her husband, Gene, joins the volunteer firefighters. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, Grace watches helplessly as their houses burn to the ground, the flames finally forcing them all into the ocean as a last resort. The women spend the night frantically protecting their children and in the morning find their lives forever changed: homeless, penniless, awaiting news of their husbands' fate, and left to face an uncertain future in a town that no longer exists.

In the midst of this devastating loss, Grace discovers glorious new freedoms - joys and triumphs she could never have expected her narrow life with Gene could contain - and her spirit soars. And then the unthinkable happens - and Grace's bravery is tested as never before.

What Did I Think About the Story?

I've had a love/not love relationship with Anita Shreve's books in the past, but thought that, since this is historical fiction and I did enjoy a few of her previous novels, it might be time to give this newest novel a try. The audiobook version became available from my library and I thought, even better! With such a devastating and action-packed event like a fast-moving fire I thought that a good narrator might really bring this story to life. While I did enjoy aspects of this novel, I'm sorry to say it wasn't a novel to reaffirm my love of Shreve's stories.

It starts out somewhat blandly - with Grace, an unhappy housewife with stair-stepper kids, a distant and sometimes cruel husband, and only one friend she can talk to - languishing away from boredom and unhappiness. It does pick up once the fire starts spreading, and the best part of the novel comes with the detail given to Grace's escape to the ocean with her friend and their children and the terror and physical toll it placed on them. The descriptions of Grace digging out a hole at the ocean's edge and laying with her children, in the freezing water, all night as her body stiffened and she listened to the world fall apart around her from under a wet blanket, was gripping.

While watching Grace pick up her life after the fire was interesting - finding somewhere to life, getting a job, taking care of her mother and children, even a little romance - you get the feeling that it isn't meant to last. I will give credit to Grace's character as she is quite resourceful at finding ways to take care of her family and trying to build a new life for all of them, but when that inevitable other shoe does drop she kind of reverts back into a subservient role for a while,  making me dislike her choices and making it so when she does finally stand up for herself it isn't overly believable. It just seems to come out of nowhere - one minute you're putting up with some unimaginable abuses and the next you've decided to change everything about your life and the way you live it, uprooting everything.

I think my biggest issue, on top of not really caring overmuch for the characters, was the narrator. She had a beautiful voice as she narrated the story, however her vocalization of the characters' dialogue fell flat for me. My biggest pet peeve with narrators is that, if they say the character yelled, gasped, barked, etc., I want to hear the narrator DO what is being described! There's nothing worse than a narrator who blandly read a character's line and then says the character was meant to scream that line. It just gets under my skin and I found that this narrator did just that, barely varying her pitch and tone but saying the character was displaying some sort of emotion that the narrator just didn't display for me.

While the basis of The Stars Are Fire and the driving force - the historic fire that devastated the coast of Maine in 1947 - was fascinating, the family drama wrapped around that history just wasn't as interesting to me. It could be that, with a different narrator that was able to bring the characters' dialogue to life, I might have enjoyed the overall story more, but as it is this story just falls into the "okay" category for me. I'll still continue to give Anita Shreve's novels a try when the synopsis sounds interesting, however I won't rush out to purchase them or snap up the audiobooks when they become available.      

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I think it's gorgeous, even though it's quite simplistic (sparks in a red sky). I've always loved red and gold, so the colors catch my eye, and I love the central placement of the title and author's name. It clearly represents the story well as the fire is the central catalyst to the story, but it could also represent the fire within Grace (if you want to get symbolic). All in all an eye-catching cover for me.


My Rating: 3.0/5.0

 

I borrowed a copy of The Stars Are Fire from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are mine alone. Find out more about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE.

 

 



 



Audiobook Review: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Pub. Date: October 2nd, 2008
Length: 11 hours and 17 minutes

Genres: Contemporary Fiction / Mystery / Police Procedural

Synopsis

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency...

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read."

What Did I Think About the Story?

I've heard such good things about Kate Atkinson's books and actually own a few of her books that I just haven't had the chance to read yet, so when I saw this audiobook available on Overdrive I thought it the perfect opportunity to discover her style for myself. In retrospect, I think this might not have been the perfect format for this particular story, given the twisted and complicated relationships between the various characters and the sheer volume of bad things that happened to them, and listening to the story rather than physically reading it might have hindered my enjoyment of the book overall.

My biggest issue with the story was the way that all of the characters seemed to overlap, connecting in so many different ways that it was hard, listening to the story in spurts during my commute, to keep up and remember it all. The fact that the narrator (Steven Crossley) didn't really alternate the voices of the characters as they switched around (which I know would be very hard to do) made it even harder to keep who was speaking, and whom they were speaking to, straight. It started to feel very boggled in my mind, which didn't really make the listening experience and trying to figure out what was really going on enjoyable.

I also should note that these characters are put through the ringer and experience every conceivable (or so it seemed) bad thing that could happen to them, which doesn't make for a "happy" listening experience if that is the sort of story you prefer. The story opens with young Joanna Mason being the only survivor of a brutal attack on her mother and siblings and the rest of the characters don't get much better. Poor teenage Reggie is living on her own, as best she can, after her mother died and trying to contend with her lowlife brother who's actions seem to put Reggie in danger. Jackson Brodie finds himself severely injured after a train crash and being dragged back into the detective business when all he wants to do is go home and wait for his wife to arrive back from a work conference. And don't get me started with grownup Joanna...bad things just seem to plague these characters!

What I did enjoy about the story was trying to figure out what becomes the central mystery: what happened to grownup Joanna Mason and her baby after they seem to disappear from their home one day? Can the suspicious husband's statement that they went to visit a sick aunt be true? Or is Reggie's gut feeling that something horrible has happened closer to the truth? It's a very twisted tale and I do love trying to piece together the truth amongst all the lies, even if I can't keep straight who is actually narrating the story at any given time, or how they relate to the  multitude of other characters.

I also thought the narrator did a great job of narrating the story, even if I didn't feel he varied the voices of the characters enough to make them distinctive. He had a wonderful speaking voice so it made the physical experience of listening to the story enjoyable. He also seemed to keep it feeling as light as possible, which is appreciated given the heaviness of what the characters were going through.

Overall I can't say that I disliked the story, just that I think I would have enjoyed it more if physically reading it and not listening to it in spurts. I did enjoy Kate Atkinson's writing style and did feel for the characters she created, even if those feelings were mostly sadness and pity. I'll definitely read more from the author but will probably stay away from the audiobook versions.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I don't really think anything of it. I'm not really sure who the little girl is supposed to be. I don't remember young Joanna Mason having a dog and Reggie, who does end up taking in a friend's dog, should be older than the girl on the cover. For me, it just doesn't really fit the story (or what I grasped of it).


My Rating: 3.0/5.0

I borrowed an audiobook copy of When Will There Be Good News? from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are my own. You can find out more about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads HERE.

 

 



Audiobook Review: The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Pub. Date: June 25th, 2013
Length: 8 hours, 57 minutes

Synopsis

A chilling psychological thriller about a marriage, a way of life, and how far one woman will go to keep what is rightfully hers....

Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage. Much is at stake, including the affluent life they lead in their beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago, as she, the killer, and he, the victim, rush haplessly toward the main event. He is a committed cheater; she lives and breathes denial. He exists in dual worlds; she likes to settle scores. He decides to play for keeps; she has nothing left to lose. Told in alternating voices, The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can't be made, and promises that won't be kept. Expertly plotted and reminiscent of Gone Girl and These Things Hidden, The Silent Wife ensnares the listener from its opening lines and never lets go.

What Did I Think About the Story?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this story, which makes it somewhat difficult to pinpoint how I feel about it overall. I think this ambivalence was made even worse by the fact that I listened to the story and the two narrators were very good at bringing their characters to life, for good and for bad. It's such a unique and odd story that I just can't stop thinking about it even while I'm not sure I really enjoyed my time spent with it.

Let's start with what I enjoyed about the story. The way the author set the book up - with the chapters alternating between "Her" (Jodi's perspective) and "Him" (Todd's perspective) and with the reader/listener knowing from the very beginning that Jodi would somehow be involved in Todd's death - was fascinating to me. This back and forth development had me continually wondering when the actions that would inevitably lead to Todd's death would actually occur, especially given the fact that Jodi seemed always ready to justify Todd's actions and forgive him any infraction (and he makes SO MANY!). The two narrators (Karen White and Donald Corren) were excellent at fleshing out these two very different and distinct characters and making you feel like you could see right into their heads and understand, as best anyone could,  their motivations for the actions they take down this dark path. This being said, the excellent work of the narrators actually further drove home what I disliked most about this story.

So my biggest problem with the story? The fact that every single characters was, for me, wholly unlikable. While this fact doesn't typically keep me from enjoying a book overall, they were just so unlikable that I began to not even care about how the story would end, especially given the fact that I absolutely hated Todd. Picture for a minute the most disgusting pig of a man - the kind that leers at every woman between 16 and 60 and reduces them to their good and bad body parts, the kind that cheats on his wife consistently but doesn't see anything wrong with it because he "loves her", the kind that justifies his cheating as an animal sort of need, searching for the perfect woman to breed with - and you've got Todd. I found myself getting completely grossed out by his chapters and honestly just didn't care that he was going to somehow end up dead...he was just so unpleasant and had no self-awareness beyond his selfish needs. Jodi, while not disgusting, wasn't a very sympathetic character either as she came across as an incredibly intelligent if cold woman so willing to forgive Todd for no real reason other than they had a comfortable life that she would like to continue. Her chapters had quite a bit of psychological jargon in it as well (she's a practicing psychologist) which only really served to make her seem even more removed and distant from what was happening to her. Some slowly released backstory about her family was revealed that might have made me feel sorry for her, however this came out towards the end of the book and by that time I just didn't care anymore.

The final discovery of what happened to Todd and the aftermath that followed fell flat for me as well. There just wasn't any tension and release or twistiness that I really like to see in a mystery such as this. When the audiobook ended I honestly wasn't really sure what the point of the story even was.

As you can see this wasn't a hit for me, however I can't call it a complete wash either given how interesting I found the overall set up of the novel and the excellent narrators. I think this one is a story that readers will either love or hate, based on their preferences, and while I can't necessarily "recommend" it I will say that anyone still interested in it based on the synopsis might want to give it a try and see if they like it better.     

What Did I Think About the Cover?

It's not for me. It's just so stark and kind of boring. Given what sounded like a beautiful setting and all the drama that ensues in the story I would think so much more could be done with it.


My Rating: 2.5/5.0

 

I borrowed a copy of The Silent Wife from my  library's Overdrive system. All opinions are my own. You can find more information about the book, including other reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy, on Goodreads.

 

 



Audiobook Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: January 27th, 2009
Length: 10 hours/51 minutes

Synopsis

In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While scholarshipping at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice, words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.

What Did I Think About the Story?

Being the huge fan of historical fiction that I am, I am always happily surprised when I can come across a time or place or situation from history that I've never read about before. Maybe strangely enough, before reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet I had never read a novel that dealt with Japanese internment camps in America during WWII or the rampant racism and discrimination against the Japanese - as well as against the Chinese and between the Chinese and Japanese - during this time.  This is such an important and horrific time in our history that I am now shocked that more stories aren't written about this. Regardless, the fact that author James Ford presented this situation as the backdrop for a coming-of-age story about young love and the sometimes difficult relationships between fathers and sons was brilliant.

The story is told through the eyes of Henry, a Chinese American man, both when he's growing up in Seattle and going to a mostly white school and when he's a middle-aged newly widowed man. Henry is a remarkable character, always finding the humor and positivity in what most would consider some pretty unmanageable situations. His parents (especially his dad) are firmly rooted in the old Chinese ways of their ancestors and do not speak English even as they refuse to let Henry speak anything else within their home. Outside his home he faces bullies and discrimination everywhere he goes, but also finds kindness and acceptance from unexpected places and from others who have experienced discrimination themselves, especially an aging African American Jazz musician. And then there's the sweet and sad budding romance between Henry and his Japanese friend, Keiko.

Keiko, like Henry, is such a unique character that somehow finds the positive in a life that would break so many people much weaker then them. On top of that, she does much to expand Henry's understanding of the world at large as well as much closer to home and gives him the confidence to challenge the life his family has raised him to pursue. It's through Keiko that the reader gets a glimpse at the Japanese internment camps in America and the conditions placed upon these people that have done nothing more than be born a certain race. I found these portions as well as the rampant racism hard to understand and stomach, and found the characters that much more admirable due to their grace and kindness in the face of it. It's amazing to me!

The narrator, Feodor Chin, did an exceptional job of distinguishing the voices of the various characters, especially the men, as well as expressing the emotion and tenderness that each of these characters experience. Given the subject matters, there's anger and happiness and sadness and more all rolling around together to create complex and multi-faceted characters, and the narrator did an excellent job of bringing all of that to life for the listener.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has so much going on within it's pages that it's hard to pinpoint what aspects I appreciated the most.  It takes a close look at some very unpleasant aspects of life in America (racism among and against various races, difficult relationships between fathers and sons, the loss of love before its time) as well as some tender and sweet aspects that balance the bitter (sweet, shy first love, art and music and their importance in the lives of those living in suppression) and I think there is much that readers will be able to relate to today. The title is perfect given the story it represents, and by the last page I was left with an appreciation of what so many went through during WWII - not just those actually fighting the war - as well as a balmy satisfaction that, even given the horrible situations these characters experienced, things felt satisfactorily wrapped up by the end. This is an emotional look at a time and place in history not often discussed, and I now feel all the better for reading and learning about it.

What Did I Think About the Cover?

I think it's quite pretty. Given the wide range of topics it could have included any number of other aspects, however given the quest for Henry to discover where Keiko ended up, I think the woman with the Japanese parasol and the man behind is quite fitting.


My Rating: 4.5/5.0

I borrowed this audiobook from my library's Overdrive account. All opinions are my own. You can find more reviews and links to where you can purchase a copy of your own on Goodreads HERE.