Adeline

Worst four weeks of sleep of my life

Revisado: 04-05-22

I bought the hardcopy to use as a workbook, and listened to the audio at the same time. I did every single suggestion in this book that was within my physical and financial ability, and had the worst four weeks of sleep in my already insomniac life.

At one point I just ended up listening to Vivienne Leheny‘s voice to help me fall back asleep. I discovered this book because she’s my favorite narrator and this proves I can listen to absolutely anything she reads. Just make sure you read this book as fiction or it will also ruin your month.

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I could listen to this narrator all day

Revisado: 03-26-21

Bookouture is fastly becoming my go to publisher for women’s fiction and thrillers.

And I’ve just discovered a new favorite narrator.

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American YA Voice Ruined a Deft Novel

Revisado: 11-23-20

Instances like this make me hate the American hegemony of culture - this is a Swedish novel written in UK English, the standard taught in the majority of the world. Yet the publishers insisted on choosing a narrator with a perpetual YA Cali girl intonation and accent who destroyed all the subtext and nuance of an otherwise intelligent book.

The book is already about “idiots,” the narrator needn’t gild the lily by overacting each character. We get it; let the text speak for itself. Pandering to American audiences a true disservice to a hilarious and moving novel -- at least the first hour I could stomach. I would have paid money to hear Ralph Lister or even any cut-rate British or European narrator give this book its due.

I understand it's more "marketable" to cast for the Netflix generation (the narrator is actually older than me, which horrifies me WHY DO GROWN AMERICAN WOMEN INSIST ON SPEAKING LIKE TEENS FROM ENCINO INTO THEIR 40s?), but there needs to be some fidelity to the text itself. I truly wanted to finish this book, and thanks to a vision disability I am at the mercy of audiobooks so I will, alas, miss out.

UPDATE: I'm truly confused; I looked up the narrator's other work and not only is her voice huskier, but she's dropped the Cali accent. I wonder why the director went in this mismatched direction for this particular text?

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Part 3 Story Narration Ruined a 5-Star Play

Revisado: 09-18-20

I was CRYING during Wolfhard's reading of Ziggy's conclusion so I was so disappointed.

The Rachel character already comes across as a quintessential over-privileged BLM-marching fake-woke basic Marsha from Parts 1 and 2, so I was excited for what was sure to be some huge reveal/twist that made her suddenly relatable and sympathetic. Dever's voice and reading made me VIOLENTLY ANGRY. Between the "like omg" intonation and the "I'm such a pumpkin-spice latte white girl" I actually couldn't sleep that night I was so pissed off. I had to fast forward to make it through, and only because I kept waiting for the reveal that made her not the most annoying person on earth.

But it never came.

I can't tell if Eisenberg can't write likeable female characters, or if it was Dever's pubescent portrayal of what should have been a university student (likely a combination), but it ruined what would have been an otherwise hilarious and nuanced piece.

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Maybe a different narrator

Revisado: 09-14-20

22 chapters in and I still couldn’t tell apart the cast of characters. I thought perhaps it was just this book, so I immediately downloaded a different Ruth Ware, but the narrator uses the same “teenage” tremulous voice in that as well.

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BRILLIANTLY subversive

Revisado: 09-14-20

I'm not surprised this isn't hitting Stateside - this performance piece seeks a difficult audience: one that has simultaneously spent the requisite hundreds of hours it takes to slavishly obsess over Love Island, and enjoys the slightly experimental aspects of this literary-dramatic crossover.

You're basically asking for the high-lowbrow transatlantic crowd that would frequent both Edinburgh AND NY Fringe. And pronounces it freQUENT.

For that sliver of audience this book is AMAZING. I got emotional listening to it and I stretched this buck and a half over 2 days because I wanted it to go on. I wish Cook would write one for every season of the show.

Pretentious AND trashy? I wouldn't be surprised if ITV's behind this whole thing.

As we say on the Island: Don't worry about gettin' pied off, babes, I'll graft for you.

P.S. The pronoun-game some listeners had trouble with plays a key turning point.

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esto le resultó útil a 12 personas