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Nekharpa

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  • 17
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Well-developed Characters

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-19-25

The story. The storyline was complex, intricate, but not at all confusing. It developed in complexity as we learned more. The main character, Izzy, was likeable; I never once felt she was feeling sorry for herself, unlike as in many of the books I’ve encountered on Audible. I could relate to the complexity and sometimes desperation of the situation in which she found herself. While some of the other characters were highly self-centered, the narcissism wasn’t exaggerated beyond plausibility.

Other characters were a bit mysterious as fantasy seemed to be hinted in their lives. But it was not so mysterious as to be unbelievable. I just wanted to know where the author was going with this aspect, and happily found out at just the right time.

The pace of the story was perfect. It never lagged nor did it go too quickly. Although it was lengthy, I was sad when it ended. I wonder if there is a sequel of some sort. Not that it is necessary. I wasn’t left wondering. I just am sad that the characters will no longer be part of my day.

Oh, I really enjoyed this narrator, as well. Full Bravas to her!

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Started out great …

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-25-24

… then turned into a sappy, trite, religious story of “trad” men and women. What a waste of writing talent.

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Excellent balance of story and character development

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-30-24

Fantastic book. Story was captivating, even though I’d given up mysteries and spy novels a very long time ago. I was never bored. There was never a lull. An air of mystery hung in even up to the end.

But, to me, the most important part of a book is character development, relationships and believability. It was all there. And the actors/narrators were great.

My only disappointment is that this is not in paperback. It’s the kind of story I want to re-read while holding it in my hands.

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Jumps all over the place

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-05-24

This was so frustrating. The characters kept changing where/when in time they were, so much so that I couldn’t follow the storyline.

Going back 5 years in time was the theme but it was not clear at all where/when the male vs female leads were. The female’s chapters always began with, “Now,” while the male’s began with, “5 years earlier,” but that meant nothing since the storyline progressed from present to 5 years back and on up through to the altered present. Since sometimes the male and female leads were together in one year during a chapter, then moved ahead or often back, it was totally confusing. I ended up listening to several chapters again and again until I could figure it out. So many big chunks of time were missing with nary an explanation. Dottie, the female lead’s very important grandmother, is a case in point. She was on her deathbed in one chapter, then never mentioned again until the epilogue!

Each character’s development was fairly understandable (though etiologies were exaggerated), for primary as well as secondary characters, except for the guy Allie was dating. He was so poorly developed he was unidimensional. Her eventual husband had just about zero presentation and there was no explanation of how they got together. Allie was an important secondary character, so her spouse mattered to the reader. But apparently the author simply wanted that slot filled. Since Allie had been such a broken soul, understanding how she could suddenly appear with a spouse made no sense. She mattered to the story, for Heaven’s sake.

It’s a shame, since the author can definitely write. But some of these “mistakes” were rookie errors. Where was the author’s editor? Probably stuck in time somewhere!

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Could not finish

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-17-24

I didn’t get past the first chapter. The characters were not at all appealing and the storyline was not evident. It was tedious to “read.”

The narrator was fine. She just had nothing to work with.

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Narrator was great

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-29-24

The narrator was great. Clear character differentiation and development, true to the author’s words. Pleasant voice. Good pace.

The story’s characters held promise, but their self-centeredness and lack of child-to-parent boundaries were such weaknesses in the storytelling. They were so extreme as to either be unbelievable, or to make the characters unlikeable. The love they espoused for each other was belied by this egocentricity.

Samantha was the worst. Why she thought her mother’s house was still Samantha’s is beyond me. Samantha, a woman in her 40’s with a grown daughter and teenage son, behaved as an absolute adolescent when she learned her mom was thinking of selling the house. Her sister was equally self-centered as it related to work as well as to the house, with no ability to exhibit patience. Even the older brother, with a family of his own, was extraordinarily upset about the house. NONE of them had any empathy or compassion for their mom, who had been grieving the death of her spouse for nearly a year. While one might agree that it would have been kinder for Mom to discuss her thoughts with her offspring before making final decisions, she certainly didn’t owe it to them!

The author demonstrated the skill of character development; their various issues were sufficiently explored. So the author does have the ability to explore this selfishness. But she chose to use it, apparently, as a gimmick to create some drama.

But the biggest failures, in my mind, were the scenes related to the handling of the adoption. It was just much too unbelievable. Insufficient questions were asked of the potential parents. And they were totally blindsided in the end. Adoption agencies, legitimate ones, just don’t act like this. Parents are given educational opportunities to explore what can happen in adoptive families, particularly when one wants to adopt a baby but the agency has multiply-aged children to place. This whole scenario was so unbelievable that it seemed very much a “gotcha” gimmick and that is all. It is such an important theme to cover but there was no seriousness to it at all. If the author didn’t want to invest the time into it, she shouldn’t have even brought it into the story.

It’s too bad, as the author’s ability to tell a story was definitely exhibited. But the unbelievability ruined it all.

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I didn’t want it to end

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-04-24

It’s been a long while since I’ve read/heard a book with characters I care about. Tanya Eby, whose voice I happen to really like, always makes the characters real to me, each with distinct personalities. Sure, sometimes the male voices are similar, but their patterns of speech are individualized so I always know who they are. I really liked Lucas in this story, as much for the sound as for the content; sometimes I’d forget he isn’t a living, breathing human being who lives in my apartment complex. And Dean is such a great friend and colleague to Harper. He has a depth of caring that is palpable, despite his being a secondary, or even tertiary character.

It’s also been a long while since I’ve encountered an author who doesn’t exaggerate whatever discord each character is dealing with. Susan Mallory came close, but just when I’d start to think “get beyond this already,” she’d add more depth to the angst, or perspective. The women aren’t whiny, simpy, “I need a man to make me whole” characters, either, unlike so many in my recent readings.

My only complaint is that the ending came on rather suddenly. While not exactly as I’d expected it would conclude, it was more believable, except in its abruptness.

I wish the story hadn’t ended, even though it was finished. I just enjoy the characters too much to let go.

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Long; minimal content

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-24-24

The female characters were believable. Their insecurities were not extremely exaggerated. I cannot say the same for the male characters. The primary “idol” performer started out as promising, but fell flat. The book was much too long given the lack of depth to the story. Sorry I read this.

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All around great

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-12-24

The narrators were terrific! They embodied the characteristics of their characters. So believable despite the quirky SciFi-meets-Fantasy nature of the story.

The author wrote in a manner so true to the characters. There was no extraneous fluff, no boring slow moving moments. Despite the totally impossible premise of the story, because it was stated out front I was willing to be in that place of suspended disbelief. Almost every question I had testing the believability of the storyline was answered by the author. The only unanswered one was how the primary female character could maintain her health despite being cooped up in an apt with window shades closed, for 5 years, without getting a vitamin D deficiency and going stir-crazy from insufficient stimulation.

The growing relationship was not predictable. Instead, it developed out of the problem needing to be solved. And the impossible resolution wasn’t just dropped into the story, but developed as the problem-solving developed.

So go ahead, suspend your disbelief, and watch these folks learn to appreciate each other as they try to solve a huge puzzle via the process of solving many inner puzzles.

P.S. I liked the pure dialogue nature of this book. I used to love reading plays; this was a fleshed out version of that genre.

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Immature View of Love

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-06-24

So many of the writers for Audible seem to start with either a very dysfunctional group or family, or with outdated ideas of romantic love. Pairing the century old concept of pining over a lost love with modern day ideas of not marrying until the child is part of the family simply makes no sense to me. Incongruous, and anachronistic to boot (and I would “boot” this book out of the collection).

The narrator did a great job, differentiating the characters and performing the emotions clearly.

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