ashelyn downs
- 7
- reviews
- 46
- helpful votes
- 26
- ratings
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The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,326
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,221
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,191
When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow “delinquent” Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Who spoke for the black boys?
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
- The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead
eloquent
Reviewed: 02-07-25
Multiple times while listening to this, I wished I had a physical copy to annotate and underline. I had to settle for my notes app to record a few of the beautifully articulated sentences.
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Real Americans
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Khong
- Narrated by: Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang, Eunice Wong
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 543
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 502
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Story4 out of 5 stars 502
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
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5 out of 5 stars
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STELLAR STORYTELLING
- By Brenda C. on 05-02-24
- Real Americans
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Khong
- Narrated by: Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang, Eunice Wong
beautiful storytelling
Reviewed: 06-25-24
I loved this unique way of documenting the passage of time. This book was beautifully written and the characters had so many relatable life circumstances to my own family's, I found reading this through an outsider's perspective extremely insightful.
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My Year Abroad
- A Novel
- By: Chang-rae Lee
- Narrated by: Lawrence Kao
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 272
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 244
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Story4 out of 5 stars 243
Tiller is an average American college student with a good heart but minimal aspirations. Pong Lou is a larger-than-life, wildly creative Chinese American entrepreneur who sees something intriguing in Tiller beyond his bored exterior and takes him under his wing. When Pong brings him along on a boisterous trip across Asia, Tiller is catapulted from ordinary young man to talented protégé, and pulled into a series of ever more extreme and eye-opening experiences that transform his view of the world, of Pong, and of himself.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Worst narration ever
- By Unhappy Sirius Camper on 02-07-21
- My Year Abroad
- A Novel
- By: Chang-rae Lee
- Narrated by: Lawrence Kao
One of the most well-written books that I have read in years
Reviewed: 03-22-24
Whether or not you deeply appreciate prose is likely to determine your enjoyment of this book.
Beautiful writing and excellent character development really melded together here. I felt the end slipping way too quickly and was trying to grasp on for more!
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Yellowface
- A Novel
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,920
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,479
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Story4 out of 5 stars 4,477
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I've never hated a character harder
- By ashelyn downs on 07-26-23
- Yellowface
- A Novel
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
I've never hated a character harder
Reviewed: 07-26-23
The main character was the cringiest character that I've ever read- and that's a compliment to the author.
The right-wing readers getting upset about the premise basically solidifies the validity of this book and they seem to miss the point of it entirely.
The audio performance was riveting and so well produced.
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44 people found this helpful
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Pineapple Street
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Jenny Jackson
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,082
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 952
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 951
Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.
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1 out of 5 stars
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I lost brain cells.
- By Angela on 03-17-23
- Pineapple Street
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Jenny Jackson
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
A great beach read
Reviewed: 07-14-23
Was it a masterpiece for the ages? No? Would I recommend it to friends looking for a good light read?
Of course!
People writing reviews these days rate books for what they are not, instead of rating for what they ARE. And this, is entertaining and interesting with great writing and I am always a fan of the individual character narrative.
The audio performance is a 10/10.
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The Lemon
- A Novel
- By: S. E. Boyd
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4 out of 5 stars 48
While filming on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland, John Doe, the universally adored host of the culinary travel show Last Call, is found dead in a hotel room in an apparent suicide. As the news of his untimely demise breaks stateside, a group of friends, fixers, hustlers, and opportunists vie to seize control of the narrative: Doe’s chess-master of an agent Nia, ready to call in every favor she is owed to preserve his legacy; down-on-her-luck journalist Katie, who fabricates a story about Doe to save her job at a failing website.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fliakos knocks it out of the park!
- By LeiLani Q. on 09-22-23
- The Lemon
- A Novel
- By: S. E. Boyd
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
It almost needs another 50 pages
Reviewed: 07-05-23
The Lemon fills a small piece of the massive Anthony Bourdain chef-obsessed hole our society has.
While not a deep dive into the culture of kitchens in the culinary world, as a chef-written memoir would be, it offers enough of the passion they possess to really help shape their character and build the other side of them that we don't get glimpses of very often.
This was a really fun book to listen to. The audio performance was well done, though I wish the oration of the female characters was a little more thoughtfully produced.
I was immediately hooked and the author's ability to interlock each person's story slightly resembles the writing of Fredrik Backman in this way.
I'd recommend this book to anyone needing a quick escape or something to easily pickup and put down between tasks. My one complaint, is that this book could have easily been twice as long and could have avoided a very abrupt ending.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Hotel Nantucket
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,606
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,300
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,230
Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket, a once Gilded Age gem turned abandoned eyesore, she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner, Xavier Darling, as well as that of Shelly Carpenter, the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map.
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5 out of 5 stars
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pre-read suggestions!!
- By Marie P on 06-22-22
- The Hotel Nantucket
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
Everything You Need In A Light Summer Read
Reviewed: 07-01-22
A perfect novel for Summer. Many dynamics, and a great representation of multiple generations of people.
It's cheesy and a little predictable, but well written and just the escape you need while sitting on the beach, poolside, or on your back patio with your feet in your child's kiddie pool!
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1 person found this helpful