Pamela

Hilarious book, brilliantly performed

Reviewed: 12-18-23

I laughed so much while listening to this. Bamford somehow makes devastating experiences like mental illness and loss of a parent hilarious, and I appreciated being able to laugh with her in the face of such human challenges.

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Fun mystery, just don't expect too much

Reviewed: 07-12-21

I switched back and forth between print and audio, and I have to say, the narrator Julia Whelan really improved a less than stellar novel. I enjoyed listening to it far more than reading it. The murder mystery starts out interesting, but the amateur sleuthing leaves much to be desired, and some truly implausible 13 y/o Nancy Drew types make much of the detective work a bit too precious. However, the setting of a film in production on a secluded island was intriguing enough to keep me going, and this ended up being an entertaining, light mystery.

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Hilarious Mash-Up

Reviewed: 06-07-19

The entire 4 hours is just straight fun. The story is ridiculous and the humor, as some reviewers have noted, is often crass, but it is always so absurd that it's hard to be offended by anything. Kate McKinnon is particularly delightful as a sympathetic if sociopathic queen, and she plays perfectly off Emily Lynne's chipper but cursed minion. The setting blends medieval fantasy with modern-day life--for example an evil queen attending her Queens College reunion weekend and having an awkward run-in with her old a cappella group, or Norse gods going to couples therapy with Esther Perel (it turns out Frigg and Odin have codependency issues). If this type of humor doesn't appeal to you, then skip it, but for those who like an incongruous mash-up, this is by far the funniest one I have ever encountered.

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3 people found this helpful

Unusual and entertaining novella

Reviewed: 03-01-19

This book is unlike anything I'd listened to before. It seems to fit the trend of books with quirky, somewhat unlikable narrators who appear to be on the spectrum and who learn to connect to the world, like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or Britt-Marie Was Here. Yet this narrator is stranger and does nothing to ingratiate herself to readers. Perhaps because of this, she is a more interesting, and the setting of the Japanese convenience store adds to the overall sense of delving into a very particular world. The narrator does a great job bringing this character to life, and I felt transported by the story. I recommend this for the novelty of it, particularly for readers interested in contemporary Japan.

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40 people found this helpful

Wonderful Narration of a Classic

Reviewed: 12-16-18

It’s hard not to be familiar with the general story of A Christmas Carol, as it has been retold in so many pop cultural forms. But it is really worth hearing the original tale, which has more nuance and emotional weight than one might expect. It is beautifully written, and perfectly narrated by Tim Curry, who brings out all the emotion of both the characters and the story. It is a quick listen, and quite enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful

Great performance by narrator

Reviewed: 08-05-18

I highly recommend this audiobook for people who love a good Victorian sensation novel. This book is often compared to The Woman in White, and while it isn't as well written or as well plotted as that novel, I would recommend Lady Audley's Secret for fans of Wilkie Collins. The mystery is intriguing, and the writing is wonderful. Unfortunately, the novel is longer than it needs to be, and the hero of the book is something of a condescending prig without much personality, which made it hard for me to root for him. On the plus side, all of the other characters--villains, heroes, and even side characters--are incredibly well drawn. Lady Audley is particularly fascinating. Although the story does drag in parts, Kim Hicks does such a great job with the narration that I was never bored. She brought the characters to life so that, even if the plot wasn't advancing as quickly as I would have liked, I was always invested in the dialogue and action being narrated. All in all, it's an enjoyable listen.

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2 people found this helpful

A wonderful classic

Reviewed: 07-30-16

David Timson does an excellent job narrating this masterpiece. The only aspect I didn't enjoy was his awful impersonation of an American accent, but all of his other character voices, as well as his general tone, is highly engaging.
The story itself is, in my opinion, the best of the Holmes novels. There are shocking revelations, tantalizing clues, and an atmospheric setting on the moors. I listened to this on a long drive, and it made the hours fly by.

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Engaging and entertaining

Reviewed: 07-30-16

I would put this in the category of good, but not great, suspense-mystery. If you enjoy unreliable-narrator/amnesiac suspense in the vein of Girl on the Train, this is worth a listen.

I did enjoy the narrator--she keeps the story engaging, and does a fairly good job voicing the different characters. The mystery-aspect isn't played up much until the end, but suspense is maintained throughout. The first half is largely there to set up what happens (I won't spoil it for you--a lot of the fun is wondering what terrible fate has befallend which characters), but you always know that the details laid out from the start will eventually come together at the end. The end is a strange mix of predictable and totally implausible, but otherwise, it's a fun ride.

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1 person found this helpful

So disappointing

Reviewed: 08-19-15

I loved listening to 14 and was so excited to download this! My boyfriend, who also loved 14, and I listened to The Fold together on long drives this summer, and we both were so annoyed by the end that finishing this book felt more like a chore than anything else. If I'd been listening alone I would have quit halfway through.

The premise is interesting and the story starts off with an intriguing mystery, but quickly slides into the tedium of terrible writing and limited ideas. None of the characters are realistic, and none are given any depth or development. They are all just character types, and the dialogue is so stilted it takes ten minutes to get through the most mundane conversations. Mike, the main character, has no distinguishing personality features beyond his perfect recall, which is described in such a ludicrous way as to make him an entirely unbelievable hero. Also, as a side note, the author seems to think the teaching profession is entirely worthless. The amount of time devoted to pointing out how silly it is for a super intelligent, talented man to waste himself teaching high school is insulting to anybody who respects teachers!

To sum up: without the wit or fun of 14, The Fold is a disappointing follow up to the previous book. It's boring, and at the end of the novel, you haven't learned anything new about the Lovecraftian universes these books are set in, so the slow ride to nowhere isn't worth it.

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1 person found this helpful

Less than expected

Reviewed: 02-02-15

I had high hopes for this book, but it's far less interesting than its premise. If, like me, you're interested in the idea of somebody being able to explore historical periods, this is NOT a book for you. Though the characters travel back in time, we don't actually get any interaction with historical figures or even much description of the times or places. There is a lot of silly Adventure Story plot, but very little about time travel or English history.

Worse still, the protagonist is annoying, and her character doesn't make sense. She's supposed to be a PhD in History, but she acts like a simpering and rather foolish teenager, even though she's a grown woman and, so we are told, a gifted scholar. A lot of the characters' interactions are straight out of a YA story about a high school for magical time-traveling teens, but, again, we are supposed to believe these are all intelligent adults. Zara Ramm's reading is perfectly competent, but the character is so annoying I found myself disliking her performance.
I suggest skipping this one.

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34 people found this helpful