Ellen

Amusing in parts, but felt padded

Revisado: 12-27-23

When the author is writing about one of her destinations, the history, the nature, the people she meets along the way, it’s not bad. But she spends too much time looping around about why she felt compelled to go on a road trip and WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN and it gets thin. She didn’t have a lot of time and she seems to have spent much of it driving frantically from one place to another. Too much time in the car, not enough in the field, I think. That considered it’s impressive that she managed to squeeze a book out of it. Next time she should plop down in some remote desert spot and not touch her car keys for a month or so. I think that book would be more to my taste.

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mixed feelings

Revisado: 12-24-22

Story was engaging, no complaints with the writing. Not keen on yet another fairytale in which the main character is a young girl who sacrifices all and whose reward is marrying the prince. The main character is resilient and resourceful, sacrifices everything for her social betters and is basically a willing slave. (Amazon would dream of have employees like Dashti.) But the narrator is awful. She whines for the entire book. Whatever Dashti says or thinks, however she feels, it all comes out as a whine. Made it a bit of an effort to finish the book. Granted, I am not the demographic. Rather baffled about how I came to get it, and who suggested it to me. Wish I remembered because I’ll take their suggestions/reviews with a grain of salt from here on out.

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Excellent

Revisado: 06-21-22

I loved this book. Listened to it multiple times. I prefer it to the Wolf Hall books. The characters were fascinating and surprisingly relatable (Oh Camille!). The narrator was absolutely top notch. This is one of those books that leaks out into your real life, especially, and alarmingly, when watching the news (Oh dear!).


If this book doesn’t engage you, immediately make an appointment with a cardiologist because you might not have a pulse.

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Kind of Jurassic Park meets Avatar

Revisado: 06-21-22

Fun, light, fluffy. Goes down easy. Would make a proper popcorn-munching action flick. Leaves no aftertaste.

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Not a Ghost Story Fan

Revisado: 06-21-22

I don’t care for ghost stories. I am a big fan of the author, so I thought this might rise above the genre. I love the idea of Larson doing fiction, a period novel. But this isn’t the one. His nonfiction books are riveting. If he writes a novel that he, his editors and publishers, have enough faith in to release it in print, as well as audio, then I will give his fiction another go. But I am not going to finish this and will be returning it.

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John Lee not a good narrator for this.

Revisado: 03-23-20

Erik Larson books are always fascinating. But with John Lee’s narration, it’s like taking a trip through fascinating countryside on a bus with bad shocks.

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Just the thing while we hunker down

Revisado: 03-23-20

This hits the spot. I so need distraction while this pandemic lashes at us the the bands an approaching hurricane. Oddly hard to find something that engages me. Corona shelter-in-place given me some kind of attention deficit. But these books hit the spot. I like the stories and the writing. The narration is marvelous. I freakin’ adore the characters. I eagerly await the third book!

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I would listen to Michael Sheen read ANYTHING!

Revisado: 12-17-19

Pullman is great, that's a given. When I listened to La Belle Savage, the book that precedes this, I had no idea who Micheal Sheen was, I just thought it was the most beautifully narrated book I had ever heard in my life. He makes the characters live. He puts you in the scene. And it wasn't until after I'd watched Good Omens that I saw him as an actor. Wow. I am a fan.

This book is more difficult that La Belle Savage. Lyra is in her twenties and really struggling with what has to be PTSD. The events in the first trilogy are an adventure for the reader, but horrific for the characters who lived them. Lyra has survivor's guilt, she kind of hates herself and in her world that means she's at odds with her daemon, Pan. She's going through the wringer, he's going through hell, we feel every bit of it.

There's a sexual assault. Male writers see, do this because they think it gives their female characters gravitas. Alan Moore did iit too, in Jerusalem. And while it's better than fridging female characters, I wish these guys would get over it. I'm going to keep reading because, well, Pullman and Moore, but it makes me grind my teeth.

Get this book. But brace yourself. Ending is a cliffhanger.

Don't pull a GRRM on us Philip! I am considerably more invested in Lyra than ever I was in the Mother of Dragons. Get that next book written!

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More Harlequin than I Claudius

Revisado: 03-26-18

Rome is such a fascinating subject. This is not a fascinating book. Livia deserves better than a vague bodice ripper.

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Book is terrific, Narration is M*th*rf*ck*ng Remarkable.

Revisado: 11-08-17

The Golden Compass series was one of my son’s favorites. On his urging, I read it and liked it, but didn’t love it like he did, despite being politically like-minded. But this, THIS. I felt it. Malcolm’s kindness and goodness, the beauty and charm of his life, of his childhood. Michael Sheen made the character and the stories come to life, every breath and word.

There are passages that are so warm and cozy that you want to be there. There is adventure and terror and wonder. I loved it. I loved the characters. Pullman is brilliant. But Sheen, holy f*ck. I want to listen to everything he has read.

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