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All violence, no plot or character development

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

Reviewed: 06-20-20

The story starts with a bad thing - then the protagonist seeks revenge over and over, violently. Very violently. Not much to like. Not much to be interested in. I really loved the First Law trilogy. First Law was violent, too violent, gratuitously violent, but the characters and plot made it worth it. Nine Fingers and "the cripple" held par with anything George RR ever wrote (or refused to finish). The female characters in First Law feel real and not objectified (ie, Guy Gavriel Kay, though I enjoy his books anyway). Steven Pacey is my new favorite reader, which is saying a lot given the hundreds of audiobooks I have. He has recognizable voices for each character, consistent through and across series! Amazing. But Best Served Cold has no likeable characters, and none of them have developed back stories or motivations. Even Steven Pacey couldn't save this one for me.

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1 person found this helpful

not a feminist

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

Reviewed: 06-23-19

I absolutely loved The Signature of All Things. I absolutely hated Eat, Pray, Love. This lands somewhere between for me - there are some interesting historic details and vivid characters - but the premise and plot ("free woman" ahead of her time, struggling with guilt, etc) just couldn't make me care. And, I agree with other reviewers that the second half of the book feels a bit pointless. Like Gilbert is trying to justify herself somehow. I much preferred Myla Goldberg's Feast Your Eyes for an amazing, historic, and truly feminist story.

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3 people found this helpful

this will not play on ipod

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

Reviewed: 04-24-18

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

if it had played - but it will not play on ipods. otherwise it would have been a great story. Beware Mac to ipod users that these longer books will no longer play after some random spot. it has happened with every longer book that I have attempted to listen to on an ipod.For mac users, there does not appear to be another light and clip on player that will work.

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Excellent

Overall
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-10-10

I was a bit worried after the first installment that this trilogy would be another copycat fantasy with limited plot. Happily, I was nicely surprised that this second book surpassed the first, and was a really enjoyable and engrossing listen.

Michael Page gives one of the best readings I have ever heard (right up there with Rob Inglis and Roy Dotrice) and manages to have distinct, recognizable voices for each and every character. I look forward to the finale!

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3 people found this helpful

Ugh, so awful

Overall
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-05-10

Imagine a B Movie, filled with campy delights and obvious plot. Then take away the camp. And the delights. Then you have a really pointless, unbelievably poorly written, boring, predictable pile of goo. Break for another zombie/vampire conversion interlude. Ohhh, this one's in the subway... While I realize it's a serial, I hung in just to see if anything would happen in the end, but - NADA. Save your time and money.

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9 people found this helpful

Sooooo good

Overall
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-26-09

It is, of course, difficult to judge a trilogy by one book, but I really enjoyed this first installment. There is a lot of description of new characters - at least five are introduced at length before the story gets under way, but I found the entire listen engaging and exciting - one of those I couldn't turn off, where I ignored the rest of my life just to listen more. I don't consider myself easy to please, but this book definitely swept me away. Of course, there is lots of magic realism (and lots of plain old magic) but it didn't seem silly. The character "types," while not entirely unrecognizable (small people, "awake" animals, sorcerers), were unique enough, and felt solid and interesting. It is not fair to compare this with George RR Martin (should he EVER bloody finish the Song of Ice and Fire), since his goal is sophisticated psychological character development and intrigue. Mr Redick seems more interested in the creation of a different universe, with more description of possible/unique types of creatures and societies - makes me think more of "Eragon," and Robert Jordan. Though, certainly the rest of the trilogy could prove me wrong on this point.

The sample on the home page of Michael Page's narration is not a good one - while his basic reading voice is a bit Stiff Old Brit, he does incredible character depictions, as good as I have ever heard. I really can't wait for the next book, and hope Audible gets it, as this was one of the most enjoyable listens I've had in a long time.

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6 people found this helpful

First Step

Overall
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-15-09

I think it's completely possible to live a life of extreme abuse, neglect and addiction, and not survive to be a great writer. Kudos to Cupcake for her journey to sobriety - she is clearly a person of tremendous inner strength - but the outcome of her writing is repetitive and hard to get through. This seems a bit odd, because the events themselves are pretty outrageous, so I guess the problem could be the writing style. The book reads like an expanded first step (of the famous 12), with exhaustive recounts of the rape, crime, beatings, loss, and excessive quantities of drugs and alcohol, endless missed opportunities for change, and the, FINALLY, minutiae of recovery, all using the same 3 adjectives. Perhaps it should be a required listen for people new to recovery, but as a memoir it's not so compelling. I found the book by searching for Bahni Turpin, since she was such an excellent narrator in The Help, and she did try to enliven the "negative behaviors" and events of Cupcake's life, but it still doesn't work for me.

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8 people found this helpful

Outstanding

Overall
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-27-09

This was one of the best audiobooks I have heard in years, right up there with the best of the best - Angela's Ashes, Memoirs of a Geisha, Lord of the Rings - this is epic. The visceral and cerebral saga of a family, told step by step, with full blooded, gorgeous characters, and accurate medical descriptions. Dr Verghese grew up as an ethnic christian Indian in Ethiopia, and the cultural details seem real and are mesmerizing. History, medicine, religion, love, sex, culture, brotherhood, it is ALL there. I can't possibly say enough good things about this book, and am filled with admiration for Dr Verghese. He describes why medicine is an amazing profession, and why the narrative of life, no matter what the story, is important. Sunil Malhotra does a fantastic job as well.

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18 people found this helpful

purposeless review

Overall
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-27-09

So, it does seem somewhat pointless to write a review about a book that so many others have already written about. My hope is that other people will also write purposeless reviews, so that if their taste seems to match mine, I can follow their recommendations.

Time Traveler's Wife is really a love story, in fact, awfully similar to the original "Love Story," with some time traveling literary license. Problem for me is, the characters are somewhat unbelievable, and the story is way too long. I say this despite the fact that I live on audiobooks, and happily devour 100 hour sagas on a regular basis. This one is purposeless at times, with rare artsy descriptions and digressions that are annoying and seem completely separate from the rest of the narrative. Other than these, the author's main descriptive power seems to be in the endless insider naming of streets and bars in Chicago, most of which are mispronounced by the narrators. In fact, this is also a major downpoint to the book; audible and other publishers are making millions on these books, but the narrators can't seem to garner enough effort to actually investigate words they're unfamiliar with. Street names, along with words like "tra-PEE-zoid" and "vi-CO-din" appear with alarming regularity, and are distracting from the listen. Otherwise, it was ok, but I am confused by the rave reviews.

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20 people found this helpful

Best of its kind

Overall
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-10-09

This is definitely a fitting sequel to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and was every bit as suspenseful and quirky. The protagonists are tantalizingly odd, and their bevy of magic-realism-level gifts and talents seems almost believable. Its easy to picture the late (and great) Mr Larsson downing the same incredible quantities of coffee that his characters drink (in fact, the only thing they seem to consume...) in order to work himself up to the frantic pace of the plot. Knowing that part of his goal was to draw attention to the plight of women caught in the sex trade, who have such limited power to defend and protect themselves, makes me appreciate the book even more.

One down side - some of the characters seem to be built entirely around odd medical diagnoses. In addition, the characterization of psychiatry as a profession is rather appalling, while Mr Larsson's own description of psychopathology is frequently limited to "antisocial" and "extraordinarily violent." That said, I enjoyed listening to it, and got completely carried away by the plot.

Simon Vance is a brilliant reader, and I am a huge fan; everything I have listened to which included him was compelling. I agree with the reviewer who mentioned how much cleaner her house has been since she couldn't put the book down - mine is too!

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2 people found this helpful