Jessica Lynn

The Virtual Voice narration is horrible but the story is great

Reviewed: 07-06-24

I love this story of a toaster oven, age gap love story between two women, one of whom has three children of her own. The main characters are so relatable as are the secondary characters such as Ross who has Downs Syndrome and a big dream.

However, the narration completely sucks. It is AI generated Virtual Voice, and it fails miserably. The virtual voice reads the book straight without any passion or voice acting. For example, when a character is in the throes of a monster orgasm the AI just reads the words and has no idea what they should sound like.

There’s a lot of work needed for the so-called virtual voice before it will be ready for a book like this.

Had I known the audiobook narration was going to be so bad I would have just bought the print edition. But, having said all that, I will say that if you choose this book, choose it for the wonderful story. Just be advised that the narration is going to suffer a whole lot.

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A coming out story decades in the making

Reviewed: 06-15-24

I love books about people, particularly women, who come out of oppressive religions and marriages and find their truest, most authentic selves. Dr Sara Glass is one such woman, and her story is captivating. Coming out is one of the most difficult things a person can do, especially when one believes that they will lose everything they hold dear by doing so. This book did not disappoint.

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A very good listen!

Reviewed: 10-10-18

It was not what I expected when I got it. I was thinking memoir but it turned out to be Bob Newhart conversing with some of his comedic friends. I will most likely listen to it again.

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Okay but

Reviewed: 09-27-18

Not my favorite of the series. Good enough for three stars but I doubt that I will listen to it again. Michelle Babb does a wonderful job with the narration but the story was just not there for me.

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One of my favorite books from my teenage years

Reviewed: 08-08-18

I remember loving this book when I was an adolescent in the 9th grade at Gresham Junior High School. I remember how it made me laugh back then so I was delighted when I saw it in the recent SciFi & Fantasy Sale on Audible. I had never listened to anything narrated by Stephen Fry but had heard great things about him. I jumped at the chance to listen to this book hoping that I would find it just as humorous as I did when I read it in print back in the 1970’s.

I was not disappointed! This book not only held up well over the almost 40 years since I read it but I think I enjoyed it even more because this time I understood the subtle humor as well as the blatant stabs at society and things such as religion, politics, and evolution. There are just so many nuances that I cannot remember getting the first time I read it and Stephen Fry just brings a whole new dimension to the story.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and I will be buying Douglas Adams other books that are available on Audible, especially if Fry is the narrator.

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Good story and good narration

Reviewed: 08-07-18

I enjoyed this audiobook. The story was well written and the narration was adequately performed by Meghan Kelly. If I had one criticism of each is that the story is about a teenage kid coming into puberty and into his powers at the same time, yet there is some mild cursing in it that would keep me from letting my own children and grandchildren listen to it. The narration was generally well done but I would like to have heard more of a sense of urgency when the battle scenes were taking place. Aside from these two things I found the book quite satisfying and easily worth the four stars for both author and narrator. I do indeed recommend this book.

I received this book from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

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Okay, but mostly jus meh!

Reviewed: 07-28-18

Not a bad book, but not what l expected either. I thought there would be more humor in the book but really it was just what the title said it was; the diary of an expectant father. Being a father myself I was able to relate to just about everything in the book. Of course living in the USA I never had to deal with the NHS, the British Healthcare system, but most of what the writer said is pretty common experience for most men.

The narration was good. Being that this was written like a memoir there were no character voices to do so it was pretty much just a straight reading. Fortunately, even the narrator is British he was easily understood to these Yankee ears.

I only gave the book three stars because, frankly, it doesn’t take a seasoned author to write a diary. It just takes one to make it interesting, and I didn’t find this one all that interesting. I am glad that I got this book and it’s sequel free from Audible because I would hate to think that I paid good money for it. Maybe I will listen to the followup sometime. Won’t be tomorrow though.

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Great story! Well written and performed!

Reviewed: 07-27-18

I really enjoyed this book and Scott Bennett’s narration just made the whole book for me. His character voices were varied and distinctive for each character. No way to mistake who was speaking or what they were saying. One or two voices might have been a little hokey, but that just made listening more fun.

I appreciate the author bringing this book to a definitive conclusion as it could have easily ended on a major cliffhanger. My personal opinion is that even books in a series should have definite conclusions in each book so that there is some sense of closure.

I can most definitely recommend this book, and I will be listening to more by this author and narrator!

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent book with only one drawback

Reviewed: 07-02-18

I received this book from Bill Nevitt in return for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed this book as it details the restoration of the B-17 Flying Fortress The City of Savanna. Much detail regarding the history of the B-17 in general and this aircraft in particular. Jerome McLaughlin does an excellent job of telling the story. Bill Nevitt does an equally excellent job of narration. My only complaint about this book is that McLaughlin frequently takes the reader out of the story and onto rabbit trails in sidebars that are informative but distracts from the unfolding story. I would have preferred them to be put into an appendix in the back of the book and just let the story unfold naturally.

This is the only audiobook that I have finished so far this year.

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Don’t waste your money

Reviewed: 06-02-18

I was completely unimpressed with this book. I wanted to listen to it because I usually enjoy reading books on eschatology and thought that this one would be interesting . I was wrong. It contained nothing new that I haven’t read or heard in the past thirty years. Nelson loves to make lists and this book is full of them. They add little to the narrative and make it difficult to follow a thought. Lots of scripture is quoted but most of it is out of context. A sequel to this book is referred to towards the end, but I cannot see me torturing my with more of the same.

As for Gary Willprecht’s narration there is not much to say. I had to speed it up. The narrator speaks so slowly as to quickly become boring. A faster pace was needed just to keep my attention from wandering.

I was really looking forward to this book, but I was disappointed in it all the way around. I cannot recommend this book.

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