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Steve

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Worst reader I’ve ever heard

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-08-23

The reading of this book was terrible. The reader miss pronounced so many words it was hard to count. There were also in numerous pauses making listening difficult. This book should be re-recorded.

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A book about anxiety

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-10-19

Ultimately, this is a book about anxiety -- how it manifests, what it feels like, and how to cope with it (pharmaceuticals). There is a veneer of alt-history (meteor destroys east coast -- space program must move as fast as possible) to give the story some structure and the main character something to do (occasionally). If you came here looking for a book about anxiety, this book likely speaks to you. A large percentage of the book is devoted to how the main character experiences and deals with her anxiety. However, I came here for an alternate history of the space program with a healthy dose of science-fiction added for good measure. I didn't get that. The opening scene dealing with the escape from the meteor strike is compelling and well written. But the rest of the book virtually ignores the space race and the effects of the meteor strike on the fate of the world. An accelerated space race told from the perspective of a woman mathematician working as a "computer" who eventually becomes an astronaut could have been fantastic. This book just didn't work for me.

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Amazingly Bad Narrator

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-16-19

Ms. Pearlman tried her hardest to ruin a pretty good book. The story and the history of the California wine industry are generally well written, informative, and interesting. As a wine geek, it was pretty clear to me that the author, Ms. Dinkelspiel isn't a wine expert. At one point, she muses that a traveler from 19th century Bordeaux, France would be reminded of home by Southern California. Having grown up in Los Angeles and visited Bordeaux, I can safely say that they are absolutely nothing alike. But this is a minor quibble. The author has clearly done her research and provides a version of California history that I'd never heard before.

The narrator, however, works extremely hard to destroy the book. Ms. Pearlman mispronounces EVERY SINGLE WORD with a French (most wine terminology), Spanish (most place names in California), or Italian origin. Other reviewers commented on the mispronunciations so I was looking for them. I figured no one could live and be educated in the United States and not have at least some ability to pronounce French and Spanish names/words -- they're so ubiquitous. But Ms. Pearlman proved me wrong! If you want to listen to this book be prepared to grind your teeth. All winery names, all wine terms, all grape varietals, all California place names, many proper names, and many other random words will be mispronounced. Of the fifty or so times the word "sommelier" is mentioned she accidentally pronounces it correctly twice. The gaffe that really angered me was "chaparral". Almost drove the car off the road when I heard "chap-erl".

Ultimately listening to this book was an unpleasant experience. This recording should be deleted and the book should be re-narrated.

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