Betsy Kugle

Stuffy and Fluffy

Revisado: 01-24-25

Performance was quite good, but the story lacked any truly likable characters or even much of a plot. The best thing about it was its title, which was the only substantial thing about it, and really had nothing to do with it….as if the story was concocted around an intriguing title. Not recommended.

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“And yet…..”

Revisado: 06-18-24

After a very slow start, the mystery begins to take shape, and yet…

You will hear the words “And yet” about two hundred times in this audible memoir. As far as the big reveal…I doubt anyone didn’t see it coming.

If you’ve lived for the past twenty years using the internet, stories similar to this one are common. They mostly do not involve a cadre of PHDs and MDs, but that point is lost. Those feelings of overwhelming emotional digital love can overtake all of us, highly educated or not. And almost all of those e-affairs involve some degree of deception.

The Ethan/Emily described here is clearly mentally ill. And if you are married to, parent to, or child of a mentally ill person, you eventually come to realize that they will never show full belief in or acceptance of their harmful behaviors if they involve hurting others. And not just sociopaths. Mental illnesses of many varieties involve hurting others. Those people will never come to feel the “regret” we feel they should show, or even to understand or believe that what they are doing is wrong. For that reason the attempts of the three women to get E.S.into therapy and to change is like trying to force the moon into the sea. Each time it goes down, it will only rise hours later.

And yet…!

Side note…the male voice sounds too old for the role he’s portraying.

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Tana French’s most lyrical novel yet

Revisado: 03-09-24

Gorgeous writing, superb narration, a wild and totally Tana French plot, this one will stay with me for a very long time. The gold part is a bit far fetched, but like the town land itself, it weaves in and out like gossip, leading to a much more serious plot to come. Five stars for my favorite author.

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Couldn’t be better!

Revisado: 01-16-23

You made it out of the zoo Harry! You saved your little family! Be proud! I’m proud of you. Perhaps you will assume the role of the world’s prince now.

This book is best appreciated in audible, read with honest emotion and deep candor by its author. Will be the best selling book this year. You go Harry! You deserve it!

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Best childhood memoir ever

Revisado: 12-13-22

I too lost my mom early and came at the end of a family of six. The author touched me in a way on this subject that I hadn’t really encountered before—with incredibly gifted and well earned humor. A must read. And listening to him read it was quintessential to the whole experience. Although, I have to admit, for the first time ever, I actually began to slow the recording to catch ever word. Utterly charming and oftentimes hilarious, yet poignant and achingly real.

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Like listening to a junior high student reading

Revisado: 11-27-22

Horrible narration ruins what could be a very good podcast. It’s a shame more didn’t go into the narration in terms of investment in talent.

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Mixed bag

Revisado: 10-21-22

The plot did turn out to be worth it in the end, but I almost gave up because of way it jumped every single chapter between one of five characters in two different time settings. In paper form, it would have been ok, but it didn’t work well for audible. The main female characters sounded exactly the same, and I couldn’t tell which character/time we were in if I happened to miss the chapter title, or paused the book. This, along with a need for a lot more editing of superfluous description and overwrought writing, made it a chore to get through. However the ending was a surprise and probably worth the listen. But if you are going to use different speakers in an audible book, make sure their voices are sufficiently different sounding! The best voice and best written character was the brother. The women all made me kind of want to gag on their sugary voices.

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Performances lacked any type of voice differentiation between characters

Revisado: 04-05-22

Because the female voice didn’t change in tone at all between characters and neither did the male, it was hard to tell who was talking or remembering. This was particularly difficult with this story because it was something that made it much more confusing than it already was. The novel itself would be much better read than listened to.

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Phenomenal!

Revisado: 12-31-21

I have read (or listened) to literally at least one novel per week for the last five decades—mostly new authors and a lot of thrillers—and I can’t say I’ve ever been quite so entertained as by this listen! Mainly because it fooled me a couple of times, and I’m not easily fooled at this age! Kudos to not only the plot, but more so for the excellent character development and also for the lyrical language. I appreciated the author’s word choices and metaphors, dark and ominous as they were. The twists were just superb!

The performances by the readers was absolutely extraordinary. The character playing Oliver was perfect, probably one of the very best performances I’ve ever heard. Truly a memorable listen. Highly, highly recommended!

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Structure ruins the whole

Revisado: 10-27-21

By the time you get half way through this lyrical, immersive experience you’ll wonder just how much more navel gazing you can take on the way to the ending that’s already been given away.

The idea of this novel, the sound and feel of it, the way it creates suspense in the beginning, is wonderful. Then the keel runs aground and you’ll be praying that this isn’t all there is…this half drama in what could have been a full drama.

But it came close to being a spectacular novel, if only the structure didn’t doom the plot. Oh well, it will take you to paradise and then just sort of pull you under, just to be rubbed on the stony bottom that you always knew was there.

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