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dancer

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Excellent

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

Reviewed: 11-15-20

Inspiring, real, and refreshing. Let's go!
This is a fantastic view into the life of a modern day hero from her single-minded drive to excel at Women's soccer to taking a stand for others in the fight for equality. Rapinoe fans and soccer fans will also love the addition of epic play by play game moments from the perspective of the player!
This book connected me deeply with my own experience of the last decade and to Rapinoe's kneeling with Kaepernick, the team's fight for equal pay and refusal to go to the white house after winning, and to seeing a strong female athlete stand up to bullying from the president of the United States. These game changing moments affected my own timeline and it is very cool to hear about it from Rapinoe herself. We've had a racist, misogynistic, bully trashing the white house and meanwhile this team and Rapinoe made me proud to be an American and they shone like a beacon of hope during a very bleak time.

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2 people found this helpful

Graceling Audiobook By Kristin Cashore cover art

humorless, boring, love story

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

Reviewed: 11-13-20

This book seemed to have so much potential. I have 8 hours+ left and can't finish due to the driveling on and screaming of the main character. I gave this book a chance based on the reviews, and I'm left thinking that some people really enjoy simple stories without humor. The dramatic narration and intermittent music takes away from the plot. I wanted to rip my earbuds out the first time the person narrating Katsa actually screamed her part. I thought ok this screaming is a one time thing... it's not a one time thing. Poe and Katsa have several fights where Katsa screams at him. I'm done and getting my credit back.

Basically this is a dressed up romance novel posing as an adventure story for a strong female lead. The main character may be an overpowered assassin but her character is deeply wrapped up in marriage proposals, gowns, and naive and highly dramatic emotions.

I'm giving it two stars as I think the author was trying to write an empowering book for female listeners. Something about this book was deeply unsettling and bothered me. It might simply be that I was expecting more than a series of empty temper tantrums from a main character that was poised to be a powerful person in the world the author created.

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severely dated, patriarchal writing

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

Reviewed: 11-05-20

If your goals in life are to suffer silently, be adored by men for your quiet, passive, and beautiful charms, and to be swept up like the damsel in distress that you are, then this book is for you. The main character in this story is severely dated as she lacks real agency of her own and is constantly being told what to do by the men in her life. At all times Sorcha is either being abused, harassed or protected by men. She never stands up for herself, fights back, or gets revenge. The beginning of the book shows some promise, but then the main character dithers on for years as a waiflike plaything that cries a lot, gets rescued a lot, and in the end she is happy because she is "safe" in her husband's arms. This book is boring overall, and as the fairytale outline is interesting and the Irish mythology is pretty cool it could be rewritten as a modern story where the heroine kicks some serious ass, designs her own life, and destroys as needed. As you can tell, I did not like this book because it is sexist and patriarchal in foundation. It's no surprise that every reviewer of this audiobook, myself included, had to listen to it at 1.25/1.5 speed or higher. I'm shocked to find out after listening to it that this book was written in 1999! I thought while listening that the reasons for the book's shortcomings was that it was written in the 50's or shortly afterwards. I purchased this book and kept listening to it because it was on a list of books rated for strong female main characters. Bella Swan of the Twilight books is more interesting than Sorcha. Anyway, you've been warned. Maybe the author's other books are better.

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2 people found this helpful

Beautiful historic fiction written for PG audience

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

Reviewed: 07-19-15

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
It was a good read and an interestingly woven story of fictionalized historical events. The details and dramas could have been more explicit and were generally glossed over like some kind of Southern courtesy. I wish the author would have taken more risks with her writing when imagining scary/horrific events and romantic moments. Overall this book is not a waste of time as a real flavor of the South is wound up in the words and the narration. The author's note at the end of the book was useful and made the book more meaningful.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
The two narrators worked in perfect harmony.

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The garden will always be a work in progress...

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

Reviewed: 03-20-15

What did you love best about Second Nature?

I'm impressed by Pollan's ability to combine history, folklore, sound gardening advice, shopping tips, environmental issues, politics, and his own experience, into one coherent and interesting story. I'm thinking about my own property differently, considering old roses over hybrids, and heirloom seed catalogues after reading this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Second Nature?

The cathedral pines section of the book was devastating... I was holding on, waiting for the humans to get it right in a happy ending. I also enjoyed the parts about Pollan's grandpa and father, and how they managed their gardens, lawns, and neighbors.

What does Michael Pollan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really like his narration style and I wish more non-fiction authors would narrate their own books. The emphasis he puts on the sentence structure is just right for what he wrote.

Many nonfiction books available here on audible.com are read in a boring monotone voice. It's so unnatural and personally I find it unpleasant. That is not the case here. Listening to him narrate his own book has been so great in fact that I'm now listening to his newer book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.

Any additional comments?

It was neat to hear the history of lawns, gardens, and yards, in America. Pollan's background in journalism is obvious as he keeps this topic interesting and easy to follow. I have bees, chickens, and a small garden, and loved listening this book. If you enjoy playing in the dirt; check this book out.

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27 people found this helpful

Powerful

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

Reviewed: 01-05-15

What about Ana T. Forrest’s performance did you like?

Some of us are given big burdens to carry when we are children. Ana forged a path through healing, honesty, power, and success, and shared her map with us. This book moved me to tears (well sobs actually) and I'm happy I read it. I love listening to her read her autobiography because words are flat on a page and her true ferocity and vivaciousness comes through her voice. She is animated and honest in her tone and I found listening to her speak her truth very healing. I plan to study with Ana as soon as she comes back to Seattle. Keep on mending the hoop of the people Ana. We need you.

What did you learn from Fierce Medicine that you would use in your daily life?

Fierce Medicine is truly a book for people that feel deep pain, or have felt deep pain in their lives and want to recover from it. There are very useful tools given, such as the death meditation, and how to use your physical yoga practice to heal emotional wounding. I have felt alone with my childhood pain because most people I know haven't been through major childhood trauma. Listening to Ana read her story, which is more horrific than mine, has been the only thing that has opened the black box recorder portion of my own memory and made me really want to review it. Repressing the story of what happened to me has made me numb-out and flip-out at weird times in my life. I've never heard this behavior described in the first person before by an author or anyone else, and it was powerful for me to hear how she moves through it. If you feel alone and burdened by your hidden pain, listen to this incredible book because it will help you to feel less alone and inspire you to take the steps to heal yourself.

Any additional comments?

This book is a pure gift. I have so much gratitude for Ana.

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Slow listen for fast thinkers

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

Reviewed: 01-05-15

Any additional comments?

The information within this book is useful and easy to absorb. I listened to this book on a long car drive and found it to be slow and difficult to stay interested in. It may be an easier book to actually sit down and read. The author often repeats the same phrases and I finally had to stop listening because I was tired of hearing the reader continuously say "system 1 thinking" or "system 2 thinking". I may come back to this book and listen to it at a faster speed, or skip over some of it.

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