Miss B

Beautifully extended romance

Reviewed: 28-05-24

A really enjoyable listen. The author tied the events of the two generations and two locations beautifully up with a great big romantic ribbon. The narrator did the voices very well & I had no difficulty with who was who, which is something I often stumble on. Kept me entertained on a long-haul flight with a few wee screamers! Comforting. I would recommend.

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Most Helpful & Informative

Reviewed: 28-01-22

What a great book! So much useful information explained in an understandable way, with research but also anecdotes. Worth reading or listening to several times, as I certainly got more out of it each time. I like the narrator’s clear enunciation. The book is clear & well set out.

I would recommend this to anyone who has come across alcohol, whether there’s a problem with drinking or not. It’s fascinating how this drug interacts with the human body in ways most of us are unaware of.

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Fantastic Book!

Reviewed: 28-12-21

I love this book!

For starters the narrator has a great voice, nice accent & she alters her voice for different characters speaking.

The plot is one which keeps you hooked - the way it goes back & forth betwen then & now & between the different characters & their experiences & then links them kept me hanging on. Every single chapter held interest. Then the unexpected addition at the end, just when I thought “that’s it just getting wrapped up nicely”, ooohhh!!

I’d recommend this to anyone who likes snippets of peoples lives, intrigue, & to be easily fully immersed in a whole other storytelling. Enjoy!

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Fantastic story, delivery & information - supportive feel

Reviewed: 23-08-21

I loved her voice - very listenable. I am a forty something female, 8 months into tackling alcohol addiction. Previously I had chosen other quit lit books over this as the “topless in a hot tub” & party til 6am type tales were so far removed from my own experience of being mostly a home drinker. However I’m so glad I did listen because I found a lot of solace in other aspects of her story, like her addictive voice thought processes, which were identical to mines (& probably many other addicts), & always wanting more after everyone else has finished, or needing to start before they arrive.

She comes across as a nice, non-judgey, non-preachy person in recovery who has admitted how bad it got, her realisations along the way, & she provides some really decent advice & resources, & recommends other quit lit/groups which helped her. All timescales covered from “how to get through the first 30 days” to months & years into sobriety. It’s so beautifully honest & open but not too heavy. I did sometimes chuckle though it’s a really difficult topic for me to face up to. And there were lots of “oh yes, I thought that, yes the voice in my head said that to me too” lightbulb moments.

I would recommend this supportive creation to anyone - from those who think they could maybe do with drinking a bit less, to people who have realised their life with alcohol has become unmanageable, to the sober curious, and also to anyone who is worried about someone else drinking too much.

Thankyou Catherine - I know I’m closer to the day it sticks for listening to you

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1 person found this helpful

Some good content but irritating delivery

Reviewed: 07-08-21

She’s done a good job on the research, but I find her voice whiney, accent annoying & she gets a bit overemotional. This means I can’t bear to relisten & cement the knowledge unfortunately. Shame because the way she explains dopamine is the first time I’ve ever understood it.

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A lovely honest writer, but put me right off sobriety

Reviewed: 16-01-21

The narrator has a lovely voice, the writing is heartfelt & honest & shows true bravery in showing vulnerability... but as a forty-something functioning alcoholic wifey it put me right off trying to stop drinking. Gave me the actual fear.

The first part, describing how she drank, had so many moments of recognition for me “oh my god I do that!!” “Yes, yes, blimey yes!” & I felt less alone in my struggle.

But then she goes into the “I’ve stopped & it’s bloody awful” for what seemed like an interminable amount of time. So depressing - how she gritted her teeth to get through & every social event was an endurance, life was boring & crappy, for literally months & months.

At the end there’s a teeny whisper of “I see things more clearly now & it’s better” but a drop in the ocean after the awfulness she describes previously.

I ended up in tears thinking I’ll never get dry. A good story if you’re not seeking encouragement yourself.

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A good motivational speaker going for the hard sell

Reviewed: 16-01-21

Craig beck has a smashing energetic voice which kind of buoys you up & along with him, lifting your spirits. He has some good sciencey info about the chemical aspects of alcohol’s effect on the body & mind. His approach is to negatively anthropomorphise alcohol as an evil being which "steals" your money, relationships, health & quality of life, but he seems to have angry undertones about this demon which unsettles me - it feels rather unresolved though he's no longer drinking. And there’s a lot of “you’ll get access to this on my website” which costs money & the free webinar ended in a very American style hard sell “all this worth $12,000 for only £300 if you buy in the next 30 minutes” which put me right off. To be fair if his book is so effective why is there a sequel “so you fell off the wagon” type thing hmm. Didny work for me though I invested heavily in hope, belief, relistening & buying the hypnosis track, but not a bad place to start.

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Had high hopes, but disappointing result.

Reviewed: 15-01-21

I tend to approach a challenge wholeheartedly & this was no different. I took on board the instructions such as “disregard anything that contradicts this approach” & “have an open mind” “don’t skip bits” etc without a problem. I was essentially hopeful & believed this would be my solution. But I found “start with a feeling of elation” a bridge too far. As a depressed alcoholic, if I could rustle up elation on command I would probably not feel the need to drink. But nonetheless I tried my utmost to feel joy at imminent sobriety. I made a list of all I could look forward to (like good sleep, creativity, freedom etc) & all I would not miss. But that lasted a day. On day 2 I felt terribly uneasy. I told myself “that’s ok it’s just the little monster dying” as per instructions. But there was no really effective way taught to challenge years of subconscious programming. If all it took was going “oh this does nothing for me so I don’t need to drink” I would’ve done that years ago. Day 3 & I crumbled after a family unsettling thing. Overall I found it quite repetitive (which initially I thought would be good reinforcement, but just got boring). I listened & relistened to chapters in the hope of cementing positive brainwashing. It’s read by a patronising sounding female narrator & every pronoun is “she” rather obviously replaced from “he” which felt like a cheap shot at aiming the book at women. There’s a bit of gender specific stats near the start but overall it’s just the old guys' book with “s” inserted. As a forty-something well educated wifey, this was a pretty crappy investment of my time, hope & effort. Back on the sauce, but finding “Alcohol Explained” by William Porter much better, more informative & am already drinking less.

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4 people found this helpful

A Beautiful & Entertaining Emotional Journey

Reviewed: 03-12-20

I absolutely loved this book, a beautifully meandering journey both literally & metaphorically. I laughed, I cried, what an absolute tonic

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Fantastic Book!

Reviewed: 03-12-20

Full of great characters & intrigue, I was always wondering what would be around the next corner. Read by a lovely soft Irish voice, an absolute pleasure.

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