J. Poe

Great adventure book

Reviewed: 05-19-20

I have a 3rd grader who is a reluctant reader (unless you count video game manuals) but loves story themes that are more 5th grade-ish. I bought tha Audible version of this book so he could follow along with the illustrated book. It was a great choice. The narration was great. I heard quite a few surprised intakes of breath as my son was following the twists and turns of the story and he would excitedly tell me what happened each day. This book has also started an interest in Greek mythology and mythology in general. As soon as it was done, he asked for book 2.

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Annoying

Reviewed: 12-06-19

This book series is like watching a train wreck - you just can't turn away. I bought it because book 1 had an annoying cliff hanger. And now, having listened to both books, I feel like they could have been condensed and made into one book. The author is very repetitive. Iagree with others who pointed out that this is an unhealthy abusive relationship. I would go so far as to call Hardin a sexual predator of sorts. I have no idea why Tessa loves him so much other than the sex - that seems to be his only redeeming quality by the end of this book. I don't understand why she stayed with him at the end...or a couple of other times. That said, Tessa is really immature and provokes Hardin. A lot. This "love story" is some high school aged maturity. Don't buy it.

Side note - I had no issue with the narrators like some other listeners but I think it would have been better for the female author to always read Tessa's dialogue (even in Hardin's chapters) and vice versa.

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Ok

Reviewed: 09-20-16

I'm a huge fan of the Outlander books and I don't usually like the idea of somebody making a buck off of someone else's book ideas but it seemed a cute premise so I gave it a shot. There were parts that were laugh-out-loud funny. Overall though, it was okay. The protagonist came across as incredibly desperate so it was hard to relate to her. Also the Scottish accents were pretty bad

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1 person found this helpful

Not Outlander but pretty good in its own right

Reviewed: 09-16-15

I am divided on this book. I am a huge fan of the Outlander series and historical fiction in general. I bought this book because of the comments comparing it to Outlander. Overall, Into the Wilderness is a very interesting story that takes place roughly 15 years after the American revolutionary war. There are a lot of twists and turns and there were a lot of interesting characters and I really enjoyed the dynamic of the Native Americans and the people who had settled the area. The last 10 hours of the book really dragged, though. It was done as a separate part, but it still felt disjointed. Honestly, I am down to the final five hours and having a really hard time bringing myself to finish it.

In terms of comparing this book to Outlander, I’m going to disagree that they are that similar. Yes, they are both long and detailed historical novels with lead characters that have an unlikely love relationship in the same approximate time period, but that is where the similarities end. I don’t feel like the characters were as well developed – I wasn’t as emotionally invested in them. Neither did I care for the name dropping of Claire or Ian, who were said to have crossed paths with one of the characters. It didn’t serve any purpose that I could see other than to try to get Outlander fans to like her book as well. And if you are into the romantic scenes, Donati doesn’t write the detailed scenes Gabaldon does and might leave you wanting more. As a writer, I feel like Gabaldon has created this entire world in her head and all of her books and stories are pieces of that world that she shares. They are complex and it is always interesting to see where someone may pop back up. But with Donati, this just felt like a single story and not as intentional as Gabaldon. I became emotionally invested in Outlander and have listened to it at least 5 times. In contrast, I am having trouble being motivated to finish Into the Wilderness because it drags at the end. I would stay up at all hours listening to Outlander and eagerly waited for my next credit so I could get the next book. I find myself needing to be "in the mood" to listen to this one and I'm undecided on getting the next book.

As long as we are comparing to Outlander, I will add that I do like Davina Porter better. In this book, any of the Native American pronunciations were stilted. I’m not sure if that is how the language is really pronounced but it was distracting. Also, all of the “uneducated” townspeople (meaning not Elizabeth or her family or the doctor or the Native Americans) all have southern drawls, which seemed unlikely in upstate New York. Kate Reading didn’t do a terrible job, but I loved Davina Porter and I don’t think Reading is as good.

All that said, it was an enjoyable historical fiction novel in its own right. It probably sounded like I complained a lot in my review, but my intent was to let Outlander fans know my thoughts on comparing the two novels.

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A great listen

Reviewed: 01-08-15

So many historical romance novels (or romance novels in general) have terrible villains that at the least are dishonorable and vulgar, and at the most have the intention to commit murder or some other offensive crime. This creates conflict needed for a plot, but is also repetitive and uncreative. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to like all of the main characters in this book. The conflict comes from their backgrounds and how their circumstances intertwine themselves, and I greatly appreciated it. My only complaint with the book was that I thought David forgave a bit too easily in the end, but overall it was a good listen and good story. I will definitely check out more of Putney’s books in the future.

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2 people found this helpful

Dated and brainless

Reviewed: 05-30-14

This book takes place in 1999, so about 15 years ago. It was copyrighted in 2011, so I wasn't expecting a "modern" chick lit novel to be so old.

I couldn't finish this one so I'm glad I got it on sale. The women in it sounded brainless. The author was trying too hard to be witty and just wasn't doing it for me. The dialogue moves fast and I don't think the narrator captured the different voices very well. The format of short e-mails going back and forth between the two women may work in written form, but it did not translate well to audio. "Beth to Jennifer...Jennifer to Beth...Beth to Jennifer..." ugh! I made it about an hour in and that was all I could stand. I don't recommend it.

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The Series Prequel

Reviewed: 05-30-14

In terms of chronological order, this story is the first. If you look on Amazon it is clearly described as a prequel although it is marked as #7 in the series, so I’m not sure why Audible hasn’t done the same. The story stands alone, so I think it would be fine to listen to it first or last. It was a cute, light story but average. I preferred some of the other stories in the series that had more going on in them.

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Wasn't really what I was expecting

Reviewed: 04-23-14

This was an interesting story, but not really what I was expecting. I expected it to be the story of Philomena and her search for her son. I mean the book is called “Philomena…and her search.” Instead, it was pretty much a biography of her son. Since Michael Hess was homosexual and contracted AIDS in the early 1990s, I expected an amount of discussion about his homosexuality. And since Hess became a high level figure in the Republican Party and there is (and has been) a very conservative contingent of the Republican Party, I expected an amount of discussion involving politics. However, there was an inordinate amount of discussion about his sexuality and the Republican Party’s failings, mostly about his sexuality. I was just a kid in the 1980s so I don’t really remember the political and social climate of the 1970s and 1980s, but it felt like the author had a bit of a political agenda to me. Any right wing conservatives were basically categorized as “moral morons” (religious right) or hillbillies. However, overall I thought it was an interesting book and a worthwhile (although at times heartbreaking) listen. The beginning and end were captivating, but the middle of the book was slow.

A few observations…
~The story starts with Philomena’s circumstances behind her time at Roscrea and Anthony’s first few years until he was adopted at the age of three. That was the last of Philomena, except for Michael’s wondering what she was like over the years, until the final hour of the book. They crammed Philomena’s life post adoption into about ten minutes, and the investigative reporter’s search into less than 40 minutes. I have an interest in genealogy, so that was disappointing to me.
~Part one of the book was very moving and very aggravating to me that there could be that kind of corruption within the Catholic Church in “modern times.”
~I didn’t realize gerrymandering challenges were so important in bringing Republicans to office in the 1990s so I thought that was an interesting thread.
~The book is categorized as a memoir, but it is written by a retired investigative reporter who never met him and gathered information ten years after his death. I am a big fan of memoirs, but I do feel like a lot of the conversations were manufactured for dramatic effect since obviously the reporter wasn’t there.
~I am split on the whole concept of outing that was broached in the book. On one hand, I feel like it is bullying and therefore wrong and on the other, I feel like hypocrisy among our nation’s leaders should be exposed when it involves legislation they have tried to enact or prevent. Sixsmith wasn’t clear where Hess fell on that.

I had lingering questions at the end of the book. For example, Michael Hess knew Philomena’s name. Surely he had a fair amount of money from his position within the Republican party perhaps he could have hired a private investigator of some sort to try to track her down..? I was also curious about Mary (Michael’s adopted sister) and whether she was ever reunited with her birth mother. I have read that Michael’s last partner, Pete, felt that the book was misleading and that Michael wasn’t as “dark” as portrayed in the book. I didn’t think he was particularly dark, but rather lost and insecure. I am curious, therefore, what Pete felt was lacking in the telling. While Michael was dealing with AIDS, he received a note threatening to out him because of his work with the Republicans and I was curious if anything became of that or if his becoming ill headed it off. Was his being gay and did his having AIDS come out in the political arena or was it swept under the rug? When Pete & Mary discussed burial in Ireland, Pete mentioned restrictions on bodies of people who died from infectious diseases, but the book never discussed whether that became an issue. Sixsmith alluded to this being another story, but I am curious if Sixsmith has since found Michael’s father and if he ever knew he fathered a son.

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2 people found this helpful

Not my thing – I’ve heard better

Reviewed: 04-10-14

The prior reviewer who said this book was like The Bachelor meets Highland romance was correct. I don’t like or watch The Bachelor for several reasons, and those elements were in this book. The main female character, Jane, was stupid, naïve, and shallow. A couple of the bachelors had less than desirable characters before they came to the castle, but somehow all instantly overcame their character flaws when competing (except Bryce, who took a little longer). I didn’t find the plot realistic and it seemed the timelines weren’t quite consistent either. I didn’t care for the narrator either – she overdid it at points, but mostly I think it was personal preference. I was bored & annoyed & so had to put this one down at a point and I came back to it after I listened to another book. I did manage to finish it, though, which is why I gave it two stars (instead of one).

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3 people found this helpful

Unlikeable characters with an unrealistic plot

Reviewed: 04-07-14

I think the reason I didn't care for Elle was the narrator as much as the character. For someone who was supposed to be a "lady," she was actually really rude to Gabe in the beginning despite the circumstances. So I really didn't get what Gabe's random obsession with her from the beginning was at all. Any guy I know would have had some backbone and put her in her place. But a "lady" also wouldn't have behaved like such a harpee. I also quickly tired of the two female characters soundling practically like valley girls. I finished the book but I wouldn 't recommend it.

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1 person found this helpful