Anonymous

Alex Wyndham! My favourite narrator. Very good story. Love Stella Riley

Reviewed: 01-03-25

Loved the story and Alex has an amazing voice. Stella Riley stories are always fabulous.

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WORST narrator I've ever listened to!

Reviewed: 08-18-23

Listen at your peril. What a letdown. The characters voices are very inconsistent, so incredibly difficult to listen to. Words alternate between whispers or being spoken too loudly. Terrible modulation. And for example, the jailer in the beginning.. She makes his voice high in some parts, then suddenly
medium or low in other parts, on top of which each character's accent keeps changing.

The voice just grates, like nails screeching on a chalkboard. Narrator was not concentrating on the story. If she did, the performance would at least be a tad consistent. The sentences seem to jumble into one looooong word in places. The sound is horribly muffled maybe because her mouth is too close to the microphone.. it's Inaudible.. Please don't waste your credit. These books are expensive. Audible will not refund me. It's just all wrong.

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5 people found this helpful

Narrator not good.. Rochester sound like a ninny

Reviewed: 04-26-23

Narrator is wrong for the book. Rochester sounds like a namby pamby frightened little rabbit. Nothing like the Jane Austen Rochester. Very disappointing... Somebody like Simon Vance would be far better.

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Beautiful

Reviewed: 01-23-23

Narrator often didn't pause between paragraphs so was confusingly when the characters and story changed to other characters. He was very stilted in first couple of chapters. Read very fast and robot like. As the story went on he became much better, changed voices, put expression into his voice, but I nearly gave up and wanted audible to exchange my credit. I hung in there and very happy that I did as then he changed his style completely. Maybe he was nervous in the beginning. Don't give up or you will miss a beautiful . I learned so much about the history of Rome and the Jews at that time. Characters were wonderful and really grew. I had a good chuckle at the old retired Emperor. The narrator made him laugh like a typical octogenarian. That was excellent and had me in stitches. He he he! Loved the old man with all his quirks. Loved how Marcus had to take over and discipline the rabble soldiers that were exiled to the boring outpost
So sad how they used their slaves. But Marcus changed completely. He was the one who was designated to crucify Jesus. No spoilers. My mom who passed away many years ago said it was her favourite book. A real classic. No cellphones and all these mod cons that I find boring in stories. Love books that are set pre modern technology.

Loved the history.

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Mmmm. One note Johnny story. Pathetic

Reviewed: 04-22-22

What a pity... The narrator was awful.. Like a schoolgirl reading the book aloud for the class. Adam's voice totally unconvincing. His voice was boring, girly
or he suddenly SCREECHED like a PARROT or a toddler having a tantrum,.. Hard on the ears. Louder doesn't mean more convincing.. I'm shocked that she wrote this book after writing ASHES ON THE MOOR.. which is one of my top 5 books ever. Its like 2 totally different writers. Unrealistic and simple. You could skip a few chapters and still know what's going on... Each chapter is the same.. Nasty, self centred Duke with a scar on his face and chip on his shoulder.. This hostility went on ad infinitum chapter after chapter.. No change.. So very very disappointed. Pathetic attempt to plagiarise Beauty and the Beast. Like Groundhog Day.. Each day was a replica of the day before. Sarah Eden, this was a spectacular FAIL! You must have written it for schoolgirls not older than 15. No plot.. Just a pathetic childish hero having an eternal pity party. Pleeeeez. Don't waste your credit. Rather try ASHES ON THE MOOR.. I would love to have a conversation with Sarah Eden and ask her how she was able to have incredible insight into people, poverty, with so many interesting realistic characters, and the divide between the rich and poor, so typical of the times. And of course to ask her what made her write this awful book. I honestly think the reviews here were written by young girls who haven't done a lot of reading to compare this to other books.

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1 person found this helpful

Mmm

Reviewed: 04-15-22

Just did not grab my interest.. Just too much description at the expense of plot and characters.. Well, I stopped listening after a few chapters. Maybe I should have persevered... After LESLEY PEARSE'S books, this was a struggle.

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Loved it.

Reviewed: 04-15-22

If you enjoy period books, don't miss this one.. My 2 favourites are ROSIE and HOPE

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A lesser evil

Reviewed: 04-15-22

This was her first book I listened to
I enjoy following her stories, always wondering what's going to happen next. Difficult to stop listening. Not perfect but different. Made me buy more books of hers.

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The woman in the woods.

Reviewed: 04-14-22

AWFUL NARRATOR... AT THE AGE OF 15 AND 17 DUNCAN HAS A HIGH PITCHED VOICE LIKE A LITTLE GIRL. OFTEN MONOTONOUS NARRATING. YOU CANNOT ALWAYS TELL WHO IS SPEAKING FROM ONE CONVERSATION TO ANOTHER.. IT'S VERY CONFUSING. IF IT WASN'T FOR THE NARRATOR, THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BETTER BOOK. THE MOTHER FELL OFF A HORSE WHEN THE TWINS WERE SMALL. AND THE FATHER OF THE TWINS BLAMES HER FOR USING THAT AS A SELFISH EXCUSE TO BECOME A HERMIT. HE TAKES HER TO A MENTAL INSTITUTE. ... TOWARDS THE END OF THE BOOK HE TELLS HIS SON THAT THE TWINS MOTHER HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH A BRAIN TUMOUR WHEN SHE FELL OFF THE HORSE??! WHAT A HUGE CONTRADICTION. THEN HE TELLS THE TWINS HE COULDN'T TELL THEM ABOUT THE TUMOUR AS HE WAS NO GOOD AT EXPLAINING THINGS. SO THROUGHOUT THE STORY LESLEY PEARSE BASICALLY TELLS THE READER THAT THE MOTHER WAS A NEUROTIC SELFISH NARCISSIST, AND THE CHILDREN KEEP TALKING ABOUT, AND WONDER WHY THEIR MOTHER COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THEM FROM WHAT THEIR FATHER HAD SAID.
I'M SURPRISED AT LESLEY PEARSE . THIS HAS TO BE THE MOST CONFUSING, RIDICULOUS CONTRADICTION. THAT'S LAZY WRITING! OBVIOUSLY SHE THINKS THE LISTENERS ARE IDIOTS?! THE TWINS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE 15. OH MY HAT! THEIR LEVEL OF SPEECH AND THINKING ARE MORE LIKE 5 YEAR OLDS! REALLY..?? THEIR VOCABULARY IS SO IMMATURE AND CHILDISH .. "LET'S GO AND ASK HOW MUMMY IS"... THEN THE 15 YEAR OLD MAISIE BURIES HER FACE IN THE HOUSEKEEPER'S DRESS FOR COMFORT, AND CRIES.. .REALLY IT'S QUITE UNBELIEVABLE!!.. EYEROLL.. THERE IS NO DEPTH TO THE CHARACTERS... THIS STORY IS A MIX OF ENID BLYTON AND HANSEL AND GRETEL. . THE CHILDREN LOVE RIDING THEIR BICYCLES AND DOING LITTLE ERRANDS... LIKE JACK AND JILL RIDE UP THE HILL.. THEY LOVE TO SPY ON THE OLD LADY IN THE WOOD. THEY LOOK THROUGH HER WINDOWS TO SEE IF SHE HAS A CRYSTAL BALL.. SHE HAS A WART ON HER NOSE THAT JIGGLES... HUH?? DUNCAN IS TOLD 'NOW GO AND CHANGE THE SHIRT AS YOU HAVE YOUR BREAKFAST ON IT'.. 'NOW LEAVE THE TABLE'. THE 15 OLD BOY LOVES CLIMBING TREES.. THE FATHER SENDS THE TWINS TO LIVE WITH THEIR GRANDMOTHER, AS HE SAYS THE SCHOOL THEY GO TO IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.. IN THE NEXT SENTENCE YOU ARE TOLD THAT THE FATHER NEVER EVER LOOKED AT THEIR REPORTS OR TOOK AN INTEREST IN ANYTHING THE TWINS DID.... SO HOW DID HE KNOW HOW BAD OR GOOD THEIR SCHOOL WAS..?.. THE TWINS DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WORK THEIR FATHER DOES. BIZARRE
. SO FAR MY FAVOURITE BOOKS WERE "ROSIE", "SOPHIE" AND "REMEMBER ME". .
THE NARRATOR AND STORY GETS SLIGHTLY BETTER IF YOU IGNORE THE VOICES AND CONTRADICTIONS. THE FATHER CHANGES CHARACTER COMPLETELY AND BECOMES THIS LOVING, WISE PERSON TOWARDS THE END OF THE BOOK.. PLEEEEZ! ABSOLUTELY NOT MY FAVOURITE AFTER BUYING MANY OF HER BOOKS. THAT'S MY 5 CENTS WORTH! I'VE WASTED A CREDIT.

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PENELOPE FREEMAN. EXCELLENT NARRATOR. THE BEST!

Reviewed: 03-29-22

What a pleasure! A narrator absolutely makes or breaks a book! After listening to two hopeless narrators, THANK YOU PENELOPE! The last book I listened to was one of Lesley Pearse's... SECRETS. The narrator sounded like she had terminal emphysema.. Why does AUDIBLE use narrators who breathe right into the mike..? Big dragon gaaaasps .. Funny thing is that as soon as you're aware of it, you can't hear the words or sentences anymore .. Once your brain gets distracted by those big hungry gasps,, that's all you can hear! So Bravo to Ms Freeman. She uses different voices for different people and deep voices for the men. Fabulous voice. Anyway.. I've searched through all the books Penelope Freeman has narrated and downloaded a few. 5 stars! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

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3 people found this helpful