ArtC

More cynical than other Lily Chu

Reviewed: 08-24-24

I’ve listened to several and found them entertaining, lighthearted distractions. This one just a downer. A lot of snark and negativity, without much to lighten or redeem it.

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Preferred the first narrator

Reviewed: 01-05-24

This is a fun series -and it feels as though I’ve read all the cozy mysteries out there- and I really loved the first two books. But the new narrator here on the third book is a bit softer, slower, and a little less of a ‘bright young thing’. For me, the stories are a tad long and fraught for this more serious style of narration. I found myself wandering off, many, many times.

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Overacted

Reviewed: 11-24-23

I loved the details of Parisian history, but the narrator kept a constant, unbelievably high level of drama and tension for even simple family conversations or descriptions. I found it distracting and annoying. I kept thinking about the narration instead of the story.

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Put me out of my misery

Reviewed: 09-02-23

Maybe you’d like this, if you like complex, descriptive, meandering writer like Brontë. I gave it a few solid daytime sessions but can’t follow it. The story meanders meaninglessly through time and across characters. They all sound the same and tragically suffer the same. And the narrator drones. Couldn’t send it back, so I use it as sedative. I fall asleep within 15 mins. At this rate, I may never finish it.

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1 person found this helpful

Disappointed in the book ... and myself

Reviewed: 03-29-21

So much is wrong here.
But how did we expect a fanfic to compare? These girls could not have been raised by the legends that are purported to be their parents. It’s inconceivable. The inconsistencies are tragic. These girls have never stepped foot in London? Or given thought to marriage? Or own decent clothing? All why being raised at Pemberly by a father of a sufficient standing to be on a diplomatic mission?
The language and story-crafting are basic and unequal to the original. And the homophobia is cheap and insulting attempt at plot. So glad it was a freebie at my membership level, or I’d have been wasting a return as well as an evening.
Buyer beware.

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4 people found this helpful

Too shrill to finish

Reviewed: 03-27-21

As much as their genre is my vibe, this narrator is a bit out of her range. One of the voices she delivers is so shrill, I couldn’t finish the book. I even tried listening at a slower speed. The story wasn’t gripping enough for me to grin and bear it. If it hadn’t been free, I’d have asked for a refund.

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1 person found this helpful

Full of systemic racism and stereotypes

Reviewed: 06-19-20

I’ve listened to every single one of the Plum books, and this one during COVID-19 lock-down. It took me until this moment in time for me to see that Janet Evanovich is full of white privilege, and I have been helping her get rich from mocking others. I am sickened that I have been complicit in this for all these years.

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Genius Concept

Reviewed: 05-26-20

Wow. I love the “boring you to sleep” concept that audible has recently embraced. This tome is written in such thickly passive tense, that even though I love to cook, I can’t stay awake. Well done.

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Impossible Parsing- a technical issue

Reviewed: 12-11-19

I am a huge Flavia fan, but this book downloads as 120 five-minute chapters. It is impossible to keep ones place! If you doze off or get distracted, there is no scrubbing backwards to listen in on where you were. I’ve deleted and reloaded, thinking it was an artifact of a cellular connection instead of WiFi, but nope. 120 chapters that are each a few sentences long. So annoying!

... I have to ding the “performance” rating. Sorry Jayne. It’s not you.

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Similar narrators and problematic perspective

Reviewed: 01-18-19

The setting is romantic and tragic with 2 similar-in-plot but differing-in-time story lines. The two narrators are not different enough in voice or inflection to know which storyline you are in when you pick-up where you left off in listening.

I also found the authors use of first person, past tense perspective to be problematic. In the middle of a conversation, the character will start talking to herself about doubts and questions, and you can get confused as to whether or not her self-doubt questions were said out loud. It also made the characters seem waffling and weak, when I think they could have been very strong and iconic women.

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1 person found this helpful