A.Singer

Not my thing, no real resolve

Reviewed: 12-15-24

I wanted to turn it off early on, it just wasn’t for me but I stuck it out. I wanted to know what happened even though I didn’t find it very interesting but the ending was very disappointing and left the story hanging in several ways. I’m so glad to remove it and go on to sonething better now. I won’t listen to this author again.

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Interesting

Reviewed: 10-14-24

I thought the story was interesting, different. I think the idea was appropriately done as short story. I would have rated it higher Overall if there wasn't so much swearing. I get that soldiers supposedly talk like that...I guess...but it's not something I'd want to listen to around kids. Just my opinion, others may not care. In any case, I always love Saskia's reading and I have listened to an like other titles from Kate and I'm sure I'll get more of hers. This was a good listen between my next full length book which I haven't picked yet.

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Mostly enjoyable

Reviewed: 10-30-23

As a glass artist, I really looked forward to this book as I saw it had good reviews a few places I checked. The first half to 2/3 I did like as it focused quite a bit on the craft of making art glass with some interesting, realistic details while also weaving in the details of the individual girl's lives, and then bringing them together as friends and coworkers. However, without giving anything away, the social-political aspect grew on two fronts and I started thinking about not finishing even though I was well into the book. I'm sure many woman don't mind it even like that aspect of the story, I didn't. I can get that everywhere else (magazines, social media, online, etc.), I really didn't want it in this story. It came on too strong and overrode the actually art glass storyline, was no longer a bit of an escape for me. By the last 2 hours I really couldn't wait for the book to end; I'd lost interest and really didn't care what became of most of the characters. When it was over I was glad.

I will say though, that when I listened to the epilogue and author's notes at the end though, it revived my interest again. I liked hearing a little more about Louis C. Tiffany and the women they called the "Tiffany Girls", which took me back to the first part of the book where I enjoyed it.

As I said, many (perhaps most) woman/readers may not care about the strong social-political statements and the core story is fun and interesting with regard to what it may have been like to work for Tiffany, designing, cutting, building, making glass. Throughout the first part of the book I was constantly inspired to go out to my own glass workshop and enjoyed taking the story out there with me. I'm glad I listened to but I doubt I'd listen to again simply because of the parts I didn't care for; they took away from it for me. Still, many will enjoy it and if it interests you at all, I say give it a listen.

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1 person found this helpful

Good but not really a thriller

Reviewed: 10-13-23

I'll start by saying that I have followed Amir Tsarfati and Behold Israel for a few years. I love both, the man and the ministry. Amir has a strong perspective of Israel, the Middle East, politics, military, and the world in general, and a unique ability to view all through the lens of scrlpture, in particular biblical prophecy because of his background. I follow him on FB as well as on Telegram. He has written some good non-fiction books that draw his video messages and articles together into a referenceable container. His novels are pretty good, the storyline and characters generally hold my attention. The problem I have with them is that it's pretty clear he's writing to send a message to Israel's enemies. It's like he's trying too hard at times, working long explanations into dialogue (and it's really obvious), these messages that I know he wants to give to the real intended audience of his novels.

Are the books entertaining? Yes, somewhat.

Are the books in the Nir Tavor Mossad Thrillers really thrillers? No, not in my opinion. Not compared to other thrillers I've read. They are more high drama, with maybe a bit of "thrill" in there now and then.

The individual characters are pretty well developed and Nir and his team (including his girlfriend) are likeable and believable for the most part. Amir definitely knows of what he writes as far as the prophetic significance of world events and he knows his weapons and military tactics and does a good job describing both. But then I run into those lecture moments when I know he isn't writing for me or any other average reader, he's writing hoping that Putin, or Iran's Supreme Leaders, those in Hamas or Hezbollah, or just the Israel-haters out there are reading it. Trying so hard to drive home the message that Israel is strong and won't give up, and they will win. And I agree with him, but it's just too obvious, the lectures rolled up into contrived "teaching moments". They don't happen naturally.

I know that others who follow Amir will likely get their feelings hurt over my review, but I'm not going to give a book 5 stars just because I really like the author in his other roles. I actually don't doubt that some of the true intended audience actually reads his books to try to glean what they can from them, but mixing point-a-finger-in-your-face political messages into a novel just read well for me. Nonetheless, I have read the first two and most of the third, or I should say I've listened to them, and Steve Yohn does a very good job of narrating. Right now I'm struggling a bit with finishing this one. I'm close and maybe it's because I'm on overload with all that's going on with Israel right now, but I'm going to have to force myself to get to the end this time.

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1 person found this helpful

Predictable but nice

Reviewed: 10-03-23

This story was pretty predictable but it was a decent listen in between books that are more what I prefer. Too bad in the conclusion Claire’s “bookshop cat” wasn’t mentioned. I was kind of tuning out by then though so maybe it was and I missed it.

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1 person found this helpful

Strong start, overdue finish for me

Reviewed: 04-08-23

I'm just pasting my Goodreads review here, thus the mention of the audiobook versus print.

As a printed book, this may be good but I listened to the audiobook and by the time it was over, I was so glad. The story is pretty good and it's based on the real person, Eliza Acton. It is highly fictionalized so it's not a biographical account, which was fine with me. When I first started the audiobook I really liked it and wanted to keep listening but after about 3 hours in I started to tire of Eliza's voice and personality. She seemed to drone on and on in her hoity toity voice. The chapters switch between Eliza and Anne, Eliza's kitchen maid. Anne was a breather from Eliza's character and so, I'd keep going. But the last 2 hours of the audiobook were a challenge. I really wanted to turn it off, delete it from my iPhone and download something else.

To be clear, both narrators/readers were very good but the combination of the stylized voice used for Eliza and the writing were just too much for me, seemingly far overdone. If you read the print book, you may experience the characters differently.

I started out thinking I'd give the book 4 stars right from the start. I rarely give 5 stars but I thought that maybe this one would get that by the end. However, by the end it was down to 3 stars for me. Nonetheless, as I listened the epilogue which was Anne's voice, I smiled both at her ending and just to end with her voice instead of Eliza's. I was almost tempted to give it 4 stars but I realized that feeling of elation was mostly just to be done with the book, finally.

I buy a used hardbound (if available) copy of the audiobooks that I listen to and really liked. I'm debating whether to get this book for my bookshelf. If I do it will be more of a visual reminder that I listened to it not that I found it in my list of favorites. We'll see.

In any case, I wouldn't complete discourage someone else from listening to it or from reading it. Everyone reacts differently. The story is ok. The information about food from that distant time is interesting too. If you're curious at all I think you simply need to give it a read or listen yourself and decide what you think.

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1 person found this helpful

Boring & a waste of a cash purchase

Reviewed: 01-30-23

I tried to keep listening to this book well past the point where I wanted to turn it off (which wasn't long into it) because I thought I might simply need to get used to the narrator. I really didn't like the narration by Mary Jane Wells though and that didn't change. She may do a fine job with other titles but I didn't like her portrayal of these characters. Granted, part of that may have been the way the characters were written. I found the voice she did for the visiting American man to be particularly terrible. Listening to her was abrasive at times. I thought that my aversion to the voices may have been because I had just listened to and loved the first two books in Karen Menuhin's Heathcliff Lennox series which are narrated by Sam Dewhurst-Phillips. Such a nice, smooth, believable voice to listen to (for me). So, I thought that the difference between a male and female narrator may have thrown me off. But alas, the longer I listened to A Lady's Guide...the worse it got for me. The story seemed to jump ahead at times without providing any detail to connect it. Hard to explain, but I found myself wondering how a character was able to say what they did when "that" had not been established yet. Or maybe my mind was just wandering so much while trying to listen that I missed those details - that may be true some of the time but not all. Another example was how quickly the two women fell into business together after having just met. It sounded like an established relationship at times though it was just a matter of days. The mystery aspect was pretty light too (more about how the upper class behaves and how those not high born should behave.) Anyhoooo...

The bottom line for me is that this book was boring and I simply didn't like the characters (individual character and scene development was truly lacking, never got a sense that I was starting to know them or anticipate how they might react, and never felt like a had a real sense of places).

If Audible (Amazon) hadn't changed its policy about being able to return books that were purchased directly versus using a credit, I would return this one. I'm trying to be extra, extra cautious about paying for anything without credits knowing that I might be throwing my money away, and this book has reinforced that need. If I am not already familiar with an author's work, I doubt I'll take their bait to try a new series via a deep discount very often. At least it was only $4.99 + tax, but it's still wasted money and I would rather have spent it on an overpriced coffee drink! Lesson learned. I will be even more cautious about purchasing anything not already familiar to me with cash.

As with all books, opinions are pretty subjective and I know that other listeners really enjoyed this book so I'm sure there is the right audience out there. I'm just not in that group. I really do love the Heathcliff Lennox series though and I'm going to head back to that for now. What a relief it will be on my ears and my imagination! Other similar-ish series I liked are Constable Evans by Rhys Bowen (am a few books in and enjoyed each), Flora Steele Mystery series by Merryn Allingham seems promising (have listened to the first book and plan to continue), Cherringham: A Cosy Crime Series by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards (listened to all available so far).

Given the description of the star ratings, I really wanted to give this book 1 star (Not for me), and it really isn't for me but I thought that was unfair so I went with 2 stars.

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1 person found this helpful

Unexpected twists & turns, very good narration

Reviewed: 11-29-22

I really liked Lucy Price-Lewis's narration of Blink. Her characters weren't overdone as some are. Evie's voice was believable, often children's voices aren't. That said, several chapters in I started thinking I would not finish this book and toyed with the idea of starting something else. I was really put off by Toni, the main character, Evie's mom, and her problems and terrible "solutions". I felt a sense of dread with her bad choices and nearly gave up on the book altogether. I don't always hang in when a story doesn't grab me pretty quickly but I've been trying to stick it out longer just in case a story grabs me later unless it's really clear that it isn't for me. With Blink, yes, I am glad that I stuck out. If I was reading the print book, I may have shelved it long before finishing it, I'm not sure, but in this case, Lucy's narration kept me going chapter by chapter until the story did finally really catch my interest. Toni's troubles were necessary to build up to the full story.

I won't go into any details but I'll simply say that this book had some very good (and somewhat unexpected) twists and turns. If you decide to give it a listen, know that it will probably keep you guessing and that will keep you in it, wanting to know "who dunnit". It wasn't a 5 star book for me and early on it felt more 3 stars, but in the end it earned a solid 4 stars from me for the overall story, the twists & turns, and Lucy Price-Lewis's reading.

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Well-written but drab narration

Reviewed: 07-21-22

If I could sit and read a book without falling asleep, I'd probably try reading this one. It's well-written with some wonderful detail and descriptive text but something about the narrator doesn't work for me. I am about an hour into it and all I keep thinking is that I hope it goes fast so that I can be done with it. Instead, I'm going to return it. I just can't lock onto any characters or scenes so I'm kind of lost in it. It really hasn't formed a storyline for me and I'd rather listen to something else. Everyone responds differently to narration though and others may have a better experience with this one than I did. Certainly the book is worthwhile but the narration just isn't for me. It's more akin to a reading than a performance as I hear from some other narrators. Sending back :(

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2 people found this helpful

Good story, narration not great

Reviewed: 02-06-22

This type of story and the history isn't new to me so I can't say that this account revealed anything new, but it was a pretty good listen. It's not a book I'd listen to again though. I found it a bit slow, and like another reviewer said, some of the characters ran into the others, blurred. Also, I really didn't like most of the narration. I think the first reader that started it off was good, I'm not sure what her name is (I will try to match readers to chapters/sections later) but I know Sheri Belafonte's voice well and she was not good, and the third woman wasn't very good either. Both of them sounded more like they were reading a book rather than narrating, and their voice inflection and word emphasis was often off and threw me off and I'd jump back to see what I missed. After awhile I just let it keep playing and skipped whatever bits I missed at these moments. I don't say any of this to be mean spirited, but these are obviously not experienced narrators/readers and while I understand wanting to have women who share in this history do the reading, I think two of the choices weren't good for the listener. I see that others thought the narration was 5 star, so obviously we don't all hear it the same. Yes, I prefer more polished, professional reading. That said, the storyline was pretty good and my offense at the way some humans have been treated is stirred. Worse is that some people are still of that mindset. One of the best takeaways from this book for me is the closeness and this family, they way they very intentionally held onto each other even over the distance, and welcome those who had been moved away back into the family with open arms when they appeared again. I love those strong family ties.

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1 person found this helpful