LISTENER

T

  • 18
  • reviews
  • 54
  • helpful votes
  • 29
  • ratings

See Jane Do Nothing for the First 4 Chapters

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

Reviewed: 04-02-25

It takes 2 hours for Jane to snap. A full 2 hours of listening before she loses it, and no, it's not worth the wait. I only kept listening because the blurb made it sound like she had a very public meltdown, but when Jane finally snaps, it's not very dramatic or even very public. It's not even entertaining or funny, which I only mention because the next chapter is absolutely HILARIOUS, and the only really good part of the book.

Bethany Crandell can clearly write humor, and it's brilliantly, hysterically performed by Xe Sands. I'm not into rom-coms, but I absolutely could have listened to an entire book of Jane's absolute hot mess of a meet-cute. I think this book would have been better served if the author had focused exclusively on the romance, or on the issue of the husband's secret. Instead, she spends the 1st two hours building a protagonist that is not particularly interesting or likable, and setting up multiple plot lines that all end up dragging the others out.

This book couldn't keep my focus because of its own lack of focus, and the protagonist was so "meh" that even the talents of Xe Sands couldn't make her compelling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Don't Say You Weren't Warned

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

Reviewed: 03-30-25

Yes, the narration is as bad as everyone says. The author sounds like an answering machine that’s struggling to stay awake… and losing the battle. I tried listening to this on 1.4x speed which helped with the weird long pauses and pacing, but it didn’t do anything for the monotonous lack of inflection and choppiness.

Also, the story doesn’t start until Chapter 5 and still hadn’t gone anywhere by Chapter 14, when I finally gave up. I think I kept trying to give it a chance because, while wellness industry feminist satire novels are having a moment, I thought it would be interesting to see how the protagonist’s cultural lens would come into play as part of the commentary.

If you’re reading this, I assume you have Audible. Check out the Audible Original “Self Center”; it came out the same year and is exponentially better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Solid Thriller

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

Reviewed: 03-27-25

This wasnʻt what I expected it to be. I expected a campy slasher, but the plot is more complex, dark, and interesting than I had expected. There are a lot of reviews about how slowly this book moves along, and how many irrelevant asides there are. I didn’t find this to be particularly slow paced, but that’s likely because as soon as I saw a run time of 11.5 hours, I went ahead and listed to this on 1.2x speed. Additionally, the narrator is excellent, which may have made all the personal details and side stories more interesting. It felt more like I was getting to know a character in depth, rather than listening to a bunch of filler material.

I do think the final twist was unnecessary. While it didn't quite reach the point of being convoluted, I think the plot ended up being more complicated than it needed to be by the end. I prefer plausibility in thrillers over a shocking twist, so I feel like the author should have quit while ahead.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Why Do Authors Do This?

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

Reviewed: 03-22-25

Why do authors insist on narrating their own work? Is it to save money? Misplaced vanity? As others have said, Nancy Rommelmannʻs narration is just TERRIBLE. Not fine, not mediocre, but truly an unpleasant experience. She sounds like a robot reading from a teleprompter. And not like a sentient, evolving AI robot. Even Alexa has more tone, inflection, and personality when it speaks.

I couldn't finish this because the author's flat, emotionless deadpan kept causing me to zone out. The topic of this case is horrific; I shouldn't be lulled to sleep out of boredom while listening to someone describe child murders.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Don't Expect a Thriller

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

Reviewed: 03-18-25

I’ve been struggling to understand why this book has such a relatively low rating. It’s well written, and while I personally don’t care for Eilidh Beaton’s actual voice, her acting itself is excellent.

Looking through reviews, it seems there are a few common complaints. The first of which is the lack of action and payoff at the end. I think some listeners/readers had the expectation of a big twist or reveal, due in part to the way the book’s blurb makes it sound like a mystery or thriller. The Real Deal is neither of those things. Amazon got it right by listing the book under “Literary Fiction: Psychological.”

The Real Deal is an in-depth look at the psychological development of child reality stars through the fictional re-imagining of what we now know went on behind the scenes of Dance Moms, all the way up to the reunion that was filmed only months before The Real Deal was published. The book’s protagonist appears to be based on Maddie Ziegler, while the character of Donna appears to be an amalgamation of Abby Lee Miller and Sia, two adults whose clear favoritism of Ziegler as a child raised significant controversy.

The other main complaint listeners/readers seem to have with the book is that the protagonist isn’t likable. Belle is not at all relatable, but I think that’s the point. Very few people on this planet will have the experience of being a child reality star. While we have plenty of documentation on the impact being on reality TV can have on the mental health of its participants, and there is plenty of documentation as well on how being a child star can affect the emotional growth of an individual, there are only a handful of people who have had the experience of being a child reality star. The Real Deal seeks to examine the sort of person who would succeed as a child reality star, while also attempting to illustrate the complex relationships these children have with the adults in their environment who seek to protect or exploit them.

I personally do recommend this book, but perhaps it’s best enjoyed if you don’t expect a thriller, or for the main character to even be likable. As a psychological profile on an unusual but timely phenomenon in our society, The Real Deal is a very compelling book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

DNF

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

Reviewed: 03-15-25

I made it through 3 hours of this before I gave up. Even on 1.2x speed, it just dragged on pointlessly. The plot itself had plenty of potential, but the first 9 chapters is just the protagonist talking to people, none of which say anything revealing or interesting. We really don't need to hear 5 different conversations of 5 different people explaining in detail how the kid seemed totally normal and was totally fine.

The narrator was adequate. Not amazing, but there wasn't anything wrong with her performance. It just wasn't much of a performance since the entire thing is just the protagonist talking... and talking... and talking. Honestly, this is a plot that could have been really compelling under a better author, but with Hodge's execution it was just really really boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Modern Southern Gothic

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

Reviewed: 02-25-25

This sat in my list for awhile since the blurb didn't convey much beyond probably horror; I'd not read Cherie Priest before, so her name itself didn't provide much of a draw, either. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The writing was much better than I had expected, and the book itself is more than your run-of-the-mill horror. While set in the modern day, The Toll is fully steeped in Southern Gothic. The narrator was also fantastic. Not only was he adept at doing a number of different voices and accents, it was clear he was very connected with Priest's writing style and brought the humor and emotion of her dialogue to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Bunny Did it Better

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

Reviewed: 02-21-25

If you're into sharp, dark feminist satire in the form of supernatural horror, you should probably skip this one in favor of Mona Awad's Bunny. Not that this is a bad book, but it's at best Bunny Lite. Awad manages a much sharper skewering of patriarchy through well-honed satire, has much stronger writing skills, and dials the horror up to 11.

That being said, Bunny is a bit too weird for some readers. If you're looking for something less intense and a lot less off the rails, but still forces the reader/listener to examine the implications of gatekeeping feminism by wealthy, elite white women, this will still do the trick.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

This is why I Listen to Audiobooks

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

Reviewed: 01-29-25

I don’t like vampires. I’ve never understood the appeal. But I will listen to anything by Grady Hendrix and Iʻm glad I listened to this one.

Bahni Turpin is just an absolutely fantastic narrator. She really understands Hendrix’s drama and humor, and brings his characters to life the way they deserve. What sets Grady Hendrix apart from most horror writers is the time and care he spends building his characters before delving into the weird and gory. He creates relatable characters thrust into unrelatable situations, and Turpin is adept at balancing the dichotomy of the two.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Old School Chills and Thrills

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

Reviewed: 01-10-25

Not since I first read Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man nearly 30 years ago have I so enjoyed a connected anthology. These stories harken back to the days of Weird Tales and the original Twilight Zone, when creep factor arose out of what was unexplainable, not what might jump out from behind a tractor and slash you to death. Rather than being genuinely terrifying, the stories are weird and plaintive, emotionally evocative and thought-provoking.

As others have mentioned, the voice actor does a fantastic job. I found his speed for the narrator to be too slow and listened to this on 1.2x, but the voice actor’s range in accent work is truly impressive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful