A. Valentine

I love these stupid books.

Revisado: 08-30-16

I have a Master's degree in English Literature. I am also eight books into this series and have no intention of stopping. Do they make me cringe sometimes? Yes. Do I want to replace her editor, who apparently cannot pick up on repetition of words and phrases within the same paragraph? Absolutely. Do I occasionally skip forward through the sex scenes because I just cannot deal with the incredibly purple prose? Definitely.

All of that said, I am riveted by all of these attractive vampires and their problems. I've read similar series: Laurel K Hamilton and the Sookie Stackhouse novels, for example, but they always jump the shark (wereshark?) and lose me along the line. These books manage to keep all of the intrigue and sex appeal of the supernatural world without drifting into the ridiculous or the masturbatory. Neill has a real gift for coming up with plausible mysteries that are compelling without making you roll your eyes at them. Her bad guys are bad without being absurd and her good guys are good without being too perfect. It's clear that she goes into each book with a solid idea instead of just the desire for another paycheck.

Another thing she does well is actually produce likable characters instead of just deciding who the 'good guys' are and telling you to like them.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Just shy of perfect

Revisado: 08-30-16

I originally downloaded this to listen to on a long road trip with a friend. We turned it on and then off again after about five minutes--it just wasn't the right tone. Still, it took me a long while to get back to it. Once I did, I was gripped--I couldn't stop listening.

For every amazing point, I have one little gripe that keeps me from giving it five stars in any one category. I'll break it down:

Overall/Story: Great story, compelling characters, and enough moral ambiguity to keep it interesting. Hutchinson straddles the line between confronting the brutality of her subject matter and demurring from it. It was almost perfect--but the ending cheapened it a little. It was a little too convenient/saccharine to bring it home as strongly as the rest of it had been.

Performance: Both readers were excellent, the girl voice in particular. What was a little weird and threw me every time, though, was that as they switched back and forth, the male narrator would read a line or two of the female's lines. He did a fantastic job embodying the gruff FBI guy, but a much less fantastic job as a sarcastic teenaged girl. No fault of his, just the timbre of his voice. I'm not sure how it could have been worked around, but it made me cringe a little every time.

It's a really strong entry in the genre and I'd give it a solid 4 - 4.25 stars out of 5.

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It's mediocre until it's actively frustrating

Revisado: 05-30-16

I knew early on that this wasn't going to be a favorite book. The performances are fine--they do the best they can with some pretty cliche dialogue. I would have returned it after the first hour or so, but I felt a little guilty because I'd returned 2 or 3 things in the last few weeks very shortly into them (because I really wasn't feeling it). By the time we hit hour 6, I was wishing I'd returned it but hanging in there because I thought the reveal at the end might be interesting.

News Flash: It was not. Instead, it seemed to basically undo the previous 10 hours of listening I'd done. I'm down with multiple POVs, I'm fine with an unreliable narrator, and I actively enjoy clever plot twists. What I'm not fine with is wasting 10 hours listening to something and then having 99% of the book rendered meaningless by hastily cramming a massive (and fairly un-interesting) plot twist through the tiniest, most annoying technicality/loophole you can imagine during the last 1%.

Long story short: I wouldn't waste another 10 minutes on this book, much less 10 hours. Take your money and your time elsewhere.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A wonderful (if somewhat predictable) story.

Revisado: 03-18-15

As beautifully written and thoughtfully developed as her other books. It may have just been my devouring all of her novels in a row, but this one seemed to hold very few surprises for me. Not sure if I was just attuned to the workings of her plotting at that point, but I knew almost from the beginning what the secret was and how each narration would intersect (though I was a few degrees off of my prediction for the dramatic ending).

Even though it held few surprises, I still very much enjoyed it. Moriarty's writing and characterization are, as usual, almost flawless. She's become one of my favorite contemporary writers. I will continue to read anything she puts out.

One of the things she does so well is to really flesh out the complicated lives and perspectives of her female characters. She absolutely nails the anxiety and insecurity of motherhood and the complex relationships between women and their sisters/mothers/friends. She is absolutely top notch; I would (and have) recommended her to everyone I know who loves reading.

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Tremendous!

Revisado: 03-18-15

What made the experience of listening to The Girl on the Train the most enjoyable?

The story was so engaging and intricately patterned, it likely would have been hard to mess up. Still, I loved the choice to give each character a unique voice/performer. The formatting of the book was such that it could have been hard to follow when you listen in smaller bursts, but this choice made it so that you never felt lost, even if there were many days between listening sessions.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It would be hard to choose! Any of them other than Anna, I suppose. Maybe Rachel's roommate, whose name escapes me at the moment.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The difference in the tonal qualities of their voice made each character really distinct. Interestingly, it also prompted some rather visceral reactions--I could not STAND Anna from the beginning (no offense to her performer!).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I may have teared up in a couple of places.

Any additional comments?

The only constructive criticism I would have is that a character (the shrink) is performed by two of the narrators--but they used vastly different accents for that character. I would have liked to have seen them coordinate better (and go with Megan's version, to be honest). I suppose we can make an argument for subjectivity of experience, but it did catch my ear, so to speak.

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Just awful.

Revisado: 03-18-15

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anyone who thinks that a manipulative, overbearing, controlling, hypocritical, dishonest boyfriend is "sexy" or "romantic." Also, if you really enjoy it when your boyfriend tries to dictate the dimensions of your body and oversees your wardrobe so that he can select what HE feels is ~appropriate~ for you to wear (see also: how much of your body--which is obviously his--he is willing to let other people look at).

Would you ever listen to anything by Kylie Scott again?

I certainly would not. I spent the whole book desperately hoping the heroine would come to her senses and realize that she could Do Better. I guess some people might find his lies and temper tantrums sexy, but I found them worrisome and obnoxious. Beyond that, the sex scenes were completely cringe worthy. I had to fast forward through all of them--and that is not a problem I've ever had with sex scenes before.

What didn’t you like about Andi Arndt’s performance?

Sometimes women readers try to put on a 'masculine' voice when reading male dialogue--I find this tears me out of the story more than it would if they just used their own darn voice.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The writing was okay. I mean, most romance novel writing is pretty inoffensively generic, and this was no exception. The flaw wasn't her execution--it was the ground upon which the characters were built. Her "hero" was the absolute worst. I hope at some point in the series the heroine gets wise and dumps him for someone who actually respects her.

Any additional comments?

I've read a lot of romance novels. Many of them are charming, funny, and do a good job at pushing boundaries. This is not one of those. This is the kind of book that convinces young women that they don't "deserve" a hot boyfriend unless they're "also hot," and that it's "romantic" when said boyfriend is bossy and controlling. I'll take a hard pass on this author and series, thanks.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Going downhill.

Revisado: 11-13-14

I've read all of the books in this series, so I care about and like the characters quite a bit.

That said, the series is really going downhill and Evanovnich is starting to play fast and loose with some offensive content. A few parts of this book (regarding Ranger) were icky in a racist way and had me wincing.

It's gotten a little too slapstick and predictable and lost a lot of its quirky appeal. Still not terrible, but nowhere near as enjoyable as the earlier books were.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Totally wonderful.

Revisado: 11-12-14

It took me a little while to acclimate to the narrator's style, but the compelling storyline kept me going. By the end of this book, I was so attached to and invested in the lives of these characters that I was on the edge of my seat, hoping for a positive outcome.

It's one of those books where you want to go picket outside the author's house and demand a sequel.

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