LL

My favorite of the bunch

Revisado: 04-03-25

I was hooked from the beginning and loved every minute. The story is typical Abby with lots of love, heart, laughter, dilemma and poignancy. I'm not to proud to admit that I cried a couple of times. The dual narration was perfect. I can't believe it has only been a month since a friend turned me on to Abby's work because I have devoured each book as soon as I finished the one before it. Now I am going to have to live with the crushing disappointment of being out of AJ titles to read.

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The Wrong Narrator

Revisado: 10-03-24

Let me start by saying that I have followed this story from the beginning so I was very excited to read this book. The story is well researched but assumes the readers have a prior knowledge of the crimes. It was repetitive and there were some small mistakes that bothered me. For example: referring to Lori as Lori Vallow Daybell BEFORE she had married Chad. My biggest gripe was with the narrator who sounded like she was reading a high school book report. Tip for narrators of true stories: look up the proper way to pronounce the names. Ruby Franke's name was pronounced FRANK instead of FRANKIE. Jodi Arias is AIR-ee-us not ARE-ee-us. Zulema's name was mispronounced as well as many of the LDS names. The angel is Moroni sounds like EYE and not EE. There were so many others. Just so frustrating.

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More Delightful Tales of the Rome Apartment

Revisado: 04-19-24

I haven't written any reviews in ages but when I finished this one and read the author's note that reviews are so helpful, I felt compelled.

ESCAPE TO THE ROME APARTMENT is the 11th Kerry Fisher book in my library which should say something. I find her books so relaxing and soul hugging without being sappy. There is a bit of romance without the sap; honest family dynamics and beautiful friendships. Almost all of them have some Italian connection and the ROME APARTMENT series takes place there. The descriptions are done well enough that I felt swept along to Rome but not so overdone that they bog down the story. The characters are fleshed out and feel like real people.

Emma Spurgin Hussey narrates all of Kerry's books and when I begin a new one it feels like catching up with old friends.

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Where was the director?

Revisado: 12-06-19

This book called for lots of suspension of disbelief. My biggest complaint was that poor sweet baby Dashiell had his name butchered by at least 2 of the narrators. Isn't there a director overseeing the recording?

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Fun stories with overly annoying music

Revisado: 11-22-19

Thank you Audible for this delightful audio freebie. I enjoyed hearing the stories but please, please, please tone down the music. So unnecessary and very distracting.

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Well done!

Revisado: 04-19-19

I have listened to all of the Heather Gudenkauf titles on Audible and was delighted that a new one was just released. The story bears more than a little resemblance to the Slenderman case but was so much more. The plot was interesting and kept me guessing, the characters were well fleshed out and Brittany Pressley did a fantastic job with the narration. Now that I know "who done it" I want to listen again and see what clues I missed.

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Already Sharpening My Stick!

Revisado: 03-23-19

I had this book on pre-order the minute it was announced because I really love Suzanne Young's writing. Girls with Sharp Sticks starts a new series with a very scary premise: young girls are being trained to be "better girls"--obedient, charming, beautiful and vapid...that is until one girl sets off a chain of events that changes everything. At its core, GwSS is a good dystopian story and I got into it immediately. If you are really paying attention, you will discover many parallels to the world of today and the here and now. Hearing one of the characters tell the girls to "be best" gave me an uncomfortable little giggle. BTW, the book is the beginning of a new series and made me want to find out what happens next.

I won't compare this book to other works because of spoilers. Let me just say that I am "waving my hands in a jazzy hooray" (one of my favorite lines) and feeling like a powerful woman this night. My favorite Suzanne Young book to date.

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A Story for All Ages

Revisado: 05-21-18

I heard Aisha Saeed speak about her first book Written in the Stars years ago at a bookstore event. Since then I have followed her on Twitter. When she announced Amal Unbound, she explained that it was a book about a girl but for all genders and was geared towards middle grades but a story for all ages. I took a chance and was not disappointed. The story is just as lush and hopeful as the gorgeous cover and Priya Ayyar's narration was perfect.

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A Satisfying Conclusion--no spoilers

Revisado: 05-04-18

I first discovered Suzanne Young's book THE PROGRAM several years ago. It touched a nerve for very personal reasons and made me want more of the story. THE COMPLICATION is the 6th and final book in the series. When I rate a book, I rate it based on a few things and these are the reasons I have give the book 5 stars.

The first thing I look for is whether or not the story is a good one--did it keep me interested?, did it keep me wanting to find out more?, was I invested in the characters? Yes on all of these. Because I have read the other 5 books in the series, the world of The Program was very familiar and this book in particular brought back many of the characters I have grown to love and some that I have loved to hate. The characters are flawed and filled with self doubt but are also badass.

Another thing I look for is whether or not the book makes me think. There were so many times in this book that I thought about the choices that a character had made. What would I have done? Some of the choices were unethical and yet as a parent I really had to think about how I would have reacted in the same situation.

This is a YA title and I am not the target audience but I am a huge YA fan--I would have loved to have a series like this to read as a teen. It is exciting, thought provoking, and has a great if somewhat dark sense of humor.

THE COMPLICATION is the perfect end to the series in that it tied up all the loose ends and gave each character closure (in one way or another).

A word for parents: YA is a great way to talk to your kids. My daughter and I read the original PROGRAM book together years ago and it opened up a continuing dialog about suicide and other difficult subjects.

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When All You Have Left Are Feelings

Revisado: 05-04-17

Let me start of by saying that I started loving Suzanne Young's work with The Program . Because of that I am now fully invested in this series and think Suzanne Young is simply a wonderful storyteller. I look forward to each additional book in the series because the entire premise is so intriguing. I liked some of the books better than others but love the way they are all interwoven with each other.

I have rated the story a 5 simply because it is a good story and like the other books in the series The Adjustment challenged me to think. How much do your memories shape your world? How can you be sure that what you are remembering is true? Can those memories be corrupted? Does that change who you are? Who can you trust? In The Adjustment, Tatum and her former boyfriend Weston have to face those questions in a very real way.

The performance was only a 3 for me. Nothing really wrong with it, but I am not really a Rebekkah Ross fan. I prefer a stronger narrator such as Julia Whelan, Kate Rudd or Joy Osmanski.

It was my daughter who first urged me to read The Program--the original book in the series. That book encouraged us to have many conversations about situations the characters faced and to talk about what we would do in similar situations. I got into YA because it gives my daughter and me great insights into each other. As an adult reader of YA, the other thing I look for in a YA book is what would have appealed to me at the target age. I can't remember reading anything like this series when I was young and imagine I would have fallen head first into the world of The Program.

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