Aaron Lombard-Bloom
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Disney Frozen: Olaf's Quest
- By: Disney Press, Suzanne Francis
- Narrated by: Jake Green, Matt Lowe, Abby Trott, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 350
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 350
Olaf, Arendelle’s adorable snowman, loves to read. One day, an unexpected message leads Olaf and his friends Anna, Kristoff, and Sven on a quest for a place known as Haus Biblio, described as a “sea of stories”. This Audible Original spans the group’s journey to Haus Biblio as they cross over mountains, search for monsters under bridges, and have conversations with friendly sheep. During his travels, Olaf makes new friends and hears lots of exciting stories along the way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderfully told
- By R and L on 09-22-24
- Disney Frozen: Olaf's Quest
- By: Disney Press, Suzanne Francis
- Narrated by: Jake Green, Matt Lowe, Abby Trott, full cast
Great for my 4 yo book worm!
Reviewed: 11-21-24
An excellent addition to the Frozen universe! My 4 yo thoroughly enjoyed this story, stayed engaged over the two days we listened to it, and has already asked to listen again. There are a few tense moments where the story can get a bit scary, but that's mostly due to the more frightening voice acting for some of the roles. My little one is highly sensitive and easily frightened. They love the Frozen characters and story, though the movie is too overwhelming, so we read a lot of the Frozen books, including all the chapter books we can find. This one was a new one for us and has quickly become a favorite, and was not so scary it kept my easily frightened kiddo up at night. We especially love that it's all about a quest to find more books because Olaf has already read all of the books in the castle. We can relate! I highly recommend this to other book loving families who enjoy Frozen, and want a kid friendly audiobook longer than 10 minutes that stays engaging throughout.
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The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
- A Novel
- By: C.L. Miller
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 167
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4 out of 5 stars 157
Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.
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3 out of 5 stars
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So disappointing
- By Kelly Garland on 03-19-24
- The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
- A Novel
- By: C.L. Miller
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
I am ready for more!
Reviewed: 05-19-24
This was such a delightful cozy mystery, with very loveable characters, well placed comedy, and an intriguing plot that keeps you guessing. It isn't overly complicated, just an easygoing listen, and the subject matter is unique. I was definitely pulled into the story and did not want to leave, and by the last quarter I was dreading that there wouldn't be more of Freya and Carol (and Phil) right away. The interview at the end of this version, done with the author and narrator, is also delightful, and reveals that there is already a second book in the works, and is nearly finished. I will be anxiously waiting for Emilia Fox to finish narrating the sequel, and Audible to make it available.
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The Vanishing
- By: Wendy Webb
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,966
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,809
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,809
Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired...and who the world believes is dead.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Convoluted
- By LaurelOlivia on 04-11-14
- The Vanishing
- By: Wendy Webb
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
Disappointing.
Reviewed: 03-22-24
It was definitely an interesting story, and started out feeling like the set up of a classic ghost story set in an old haunted house, which seemingly held answers to several mysteries. I wasn't immediately pulled in, but decided to continue listening since it was free, and honestly had piqued my interest enough to give it a chance beyond the first few chapters. Unfortunately, I only finished through a stubborn need to see it through, after already investing so many hours, and most of the last quarter was at 1.5 speed. Without spoilers: the author relies heavily on cheap cliffhanger tactics throughout, and it is not tension building in a fun thriller type way, but rather in a frustrating "get on with it" way. Seriously, the number of times the female protagonist decides she has to have answers, only to cut the person off because she's changed her mind and doesn't want to know, to then get mad later that nobody is telling her anything, is infuriating. There are plot holes that destroy the believability of the story. The female protagonist is inconsistent and vapid, and though it would make sense to some extent given the (delayed) denouement, it instead denotes an author who is inconsistent in her story boarding and made impulsive decisions on the fly that didn't quite connect. It makes the main character indecisive; seemingly weak though we're supposed to believe she's capable and tough; whiny; unlikable. Overall, it was very basic writing, that somehow included too much unimportant detail while omitting specifics that would have better served the believability of the story, and it was very repetitive.
Including spoilers: this story very annoyingly included a demon/possession scenario which required the use of religious beliefs to battle. Which might be very frightening for some, but took me right out of the story due to the author's very basic portrayal of a cliche supernatural terror. It felt more like the author was relying on most of the readers being afraid of the idea of possession itself rather than what was actually being portrayed in the story, and was used to simply drive the plot. There's also the problematic inclusion of minority beliefs and history, mainly Native American, the well intentioned inclusion of which is meant to push a point, but ended up coming across as ignorant. The story also has too much going on by way of the supernatural that it feels disjointed, and includes ghosts, demons, haunted house and objects, a cryptid legend, and a medium, and by the end there is an afterthought of an epilogue that maims the neat ending we were just granted in order to take a stab at another cliche: severe delusion from a confused former psych patient. Because why not?
The narrator wasn't too terrible, though everybody sounded breathy and overly emotional.
My conclusion: I'm glad it was free, it had promise but was very disappointing, not a challenging read, I would not recommend to others, and I'll likely not read anything else by this author.
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Dead and Breakfast
- A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery
- By: Kate Kingsbury
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,834
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,451
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,426
Melanie West is getting her life back on track after a messy divorce when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asks her to join her in opening a bed-and-breakfast inn. Together, Liza and Melanie purchase a purportedly haunted mansion on the Oregon coast and jump right into clearing out the cobwebs. But while attempting to remove wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, the new B&B owners stumble upon a very real skeleton in their closet.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable small town cozy mystery
- By Elisabeth Carey on 01-29-18
- Dead and Breakfast
- A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery
- By: Kate Kingsbury
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
Very disappointing
Reviewed: 03-08-23
I liked the concept as a quick and easy listen while working, but it quickly became a huge distraction simply from how aggravated I was getting with the plot and characters. The main character is extremely unlikable. She's written to be a victim, and she acts the part perfectly, though it's not compelling. The reason for her fallout with her ex is ridiculous and revealed way too far into the story. The author is very narrow minded, making unfair, uneducated, and misguided judgements about adopting children, and the process of adopting a dog. She also has some racism to work through. SPOILERS: As others mentioned, one of two minority characters is the murderer, and the motive is so weak and unbelievable. The other is an antiques dealer/ appraiser they immediately assume is lying and don't trust, and he is written to be rude. There were also several points in the story where an opinion or tone had been established, only to needlessly revisit it later in the story and find the tone had shifted, making the characters inconsistent. The author also used every cheap "cliff hanger" trick you can imagine to keep the listener/reader intrigued, but it only became mind bogglingly infuriating waiting for her to get to the point. There were also too many mysteries shoved into this first book, and I have to assume it's simply to fill several other books in the series. There were a few other issues I had with the plot that were trite, and formulaic for a cozy mystery romance, but I can usually overlook those things if the story is compelling enough, and well written. This was not that. To top it all off, the "romance" was almost nonexistent. Completely dragged out, and, again, I assume that's to cheaply suck readers in to reading the other books in this series, hoping to get to the "good stuff". I will not be moving forward with this series or author. The voice actor grew on me, though I could not figure out for the first several minutes if it was being read by an overly dramatic AI program. Though, she does various voices to differentiate among characters, and reads very clearly.
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