Ashley Lee

Oh my heart!

Reviewed: 09-12-22

This is probably my favorite Stephen King novel. I find myself still thinking about it days after I finished listening. I rarely listen to a book more than once but I find myself wanting to listen to it again. The raw emotions I feel after listening to this book are intense. This is nothing like what I have listened to from him before. I was hesitant at first because the plot description doesn't follow what I normally expect from his books, But I have now learned to never put an author in one box.

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Why do I do this to myself...

Reviewed: 03-18-22

I don't know if it's due to my advanced years and life experiences, or a blatantly obvious yet unobjectionable plot of disfunction and abuse, but I see so many red flags. His violence, murder, lies, possessiveness, kidnapping, and imprisonment. Her immaturity, obnoxiousness, constant threats of violence and willingness to overlook his transgressions as acceptable behavior. Sounds like a perfect storm leading to a toxic relationship. and there is nothing romantic about that. Women and probably young girls are listening to these kind of story lines and being taught that this kind of treatment is a sign of love. I guess I should have known better when the lead character's name is Casteel Da'Neer. I wonder how many times "The Special" aka Poppy says "oh Gods" and how many times the book mentions how she is going to stab someone. This book series is nothing new, original or insightful, but a plug and play template for substandard fantasy porn.

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Whole lot of nothing

Reviewed: 10-18-21

Almost 10 hours of a whole lot of nothing going on. Unnecessary plot lines, and plot lines that go nowhere. Quickly found my mind wandering while listening and had to rewind to find out what had happened. Spoiler Alert, not much.

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1 person found this helpful

Epic Eye roll

Reviewed: 06-25-21

Well I now know what it would sound like if Alexa or Siri read really bad soft core porn out loud. Everything about this novel was distasteful, from the central character to the ridiculous and gratuitous sex all the way down to the lazy “surprise” ending. All I could say when it was finally over was “Oh brother…”

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It's a bit much...

Reviewed: 03-08-21

I like to think I have a pretty strong tolerance for questionable content. But this book was a bit too much for me. Yes, it is frightening, but it is also gratuitously graphic. I feel as though this book would have been so much better if it was written with more class.

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Netflix Series is Better

Reviewed: 02-05-21

I, like many, watched the Netflix series. I loved the diversity and inclusivity of that show. So naturally I was excited to listen to the book version. It was very different and I got bored fast and found my mind wandering during the narration. Narrator was good, content was mediocre.

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Just what I needed

Reviewed: 02-05-21

I was in a audio book slump, After listening to a few novels that were just okay, I was craving something that would compel me to really stop and listen and be eager to see what happens next. After researching best sellers on the internet I found a recommendation for this book. I was addicted the moment I hit play. The build up is suspenseful and the eventual revelation of the "Gothic" of this novel is refreshing in it's creativeness. The only thing I didn't love was the narration. At times it felt automated and computer generated, and the narrator had a hard time with regional accents. But as a whole it is a high recommend.

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Acting narration was distracting

Reviewed: 01-20-21

I love Neil Gaiman. Some of my favorite books are authored by him. I especially enjoy listening to him narrate his own novels, as was the case for The Sandman. What I didn't love was the cast narration and production. The performance narration was distracting and the added musical score was jarring. The story itself is entertaining and I believe if it were just Neil Gaiman narrating this, I would have enjoyed it much better. But I can't see myself listening to this novel again.

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HBO ruined it for me

Reviewed: 01-20-21

I watched the HBO series and really liked it, but it is commonly thought that the books are better than the film. In this case the book was so much different than the HBO version that I just could not get into it. The HBO series was much better.

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I Tried...

Reviewed: 07-30-20

I was hesitant to listen to this book. It seemed to be another "Girl on the Train" but from a window, Based on the reviews and knowing that it will be a movie with Amy Adams as the lead, I gave it a try. From the beginning I knew it would be a struggle to listen to the end. It wasn't so much the story as it was the narration. I felt like I was sitting in on preschool story time because of the tone the narrator used. I just couldn't take the story seriously when it is read as though to a child. Secondly the author must have thought it would be cleaver to use rich adjectives, but the descriptions just ended up being tiresome and unnecessary. I just can't bring myself to finish listening.

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