Chris Foster

Beatification and Lists

Reviewed: 02-11-22

I wanted to love this book. I wanted an inside view of the experiences of the duke and duchess. I wanted to know more about what life was like for them, but this book was such a disappointment. It felt like the authors were just trying to increase their word quota. So many lists...lists of menu items....lists of famous people who attended events...lists of famous people that I think were intended to make us envious or impressed. However, it was just so tedious. The other issue is how it's very clear the authors want to fix the duchess's public image. However, the book is written in such glowing terms I wonder if they have a crush on her. She is portrayed as completely saint-like. She has never had a negative motivation. She has never made a mistake. She is completely virtuous at all times. Or at least that was the message the book was clearly trying to portend. I'm not complaining, and I still find the duchess to be an intriguing person, but this book did the opposite of healing her character with me. The repeated portrayal of her as innocent, completely altruistic, and near perfection from the authors turned my stomach.

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1 person found this helpful

Fun, touching, hopeful, and romantic!

Reviewed: 06-14-19

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the performance by the narrator. In contemporary fiction, you can sometimes get distracted by the author taking too much license, such as painting a picture of society that's too idealistic to ever exist. I seldom felt that way in this book. She painted a world where I could see this story happening. In every way that a story about a British Prince and a member of the first family falling in love is unbelievable, the author has given us a world where it seems possible. But more than anything, she created characters I became invested in. I laughed out loud listening to the audio book. I became so invested, that I rushed to finish it by listening all hours of the day. Great work!

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A mission to mispronounce

Reviewed: 02-23-19

I realize the journey that this book has traveled. Originally in German, translated into English, narrated by someone British, and listen to by an audience in America. However, it is almost comical how many words that the narrator mispronounces. And not mispronounced in a cute British vs American way. Mispronounced words which are part of the common lexicon of Star Trek, that someone somewhere could have instructed him how to pronounce correctly. During the first volume, I was frustrated at the number of words he could not seem to pronounce as they have been pronounced in all previous Star Trek media. But it's at a ridiculous level in this book. Any fan who haa watched a modicum of episodes and movies in the Star Trek franchise could have corrected his pronunciations before they were recorded.

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5 people found this helpful