CCCii

This book is a real inside look at pro cycling. It's a sad tale of the temptations — perhaps irresistible — to do whatever it takes to be part of that world. Tyler is pretty hard on himself, so it's very believable. It's filled with too many small details to be totally made up.If you care about pro cycling, this is a great book. I couldn't stop listening. It's a bit like a train wreck: You can't not look. If you don't care about pro cycling, you'll be bored to death. (Ask my wife, I played it in the car on a trip.)The reader does a very creditable job. He didn't get in the way and let the story be the star, as he should have.

I think I'm pretty darn excepting of different styles of narration. But this is the worst-read book I downloaded from Audible I've ever listened to. I'll finish it, but I am constantly cringing.

The voices the reader uses are just awful. They might work for a kids cartoon, but they are over-the-top silly. His women's voices are almost frightening. They all sound like cartoon hags.

What's even weirder is the protagonist's voice sounds almost like it's being read by a computer. The words are over pronounced and oddly flat most of the time.

The only time the reader isn't annoying is when he's just reading and not doing characters
I am having trouble telling how much I think the story itself is good. The reader is such a painful distraction it's hard to give it a fair evaluation.

Audible gave me this as a possible choice of a gift for Valentines Day. I thought I should give it a shot as it was free and it might be "good for me." I was expecting it to be a lot of work to get through as it was written in 1813. I also guessed it was the sort of book English teachers liked and not something I'd actually enjoy.

How wrong I was. The language is a delight. The narrator supplies just the perfect tone for the dry verbal warfare that takes place between people who can never say what they feel. The story feels so contemporary, and sometimes the underlying social commentary feels downright snarky it would be easy to believe this was written by a modern author about that era.

I will be downloading Emma with the same narrator.

I'm shocked with myself. I like science fiction, bad lawyer novels and even some spy tales. But Austen is stunning. Maybe those English teachers do know something after all.

This isn't "literature," but it's a a darn good tale. Even better than darn good. Though the characters don't have great depth, they are mostly icons rather than real people, they are interesting. The plot soars, dives and twists against a historical background. As an American it's interesting to get a British perspective (along with other European) on WWII.
Though there are more than a few overly convient coincidences, the plot is very enjoyable and hard to turn away from.

I throughly enjoyed this book, as well as the first in the series. This one is slightly better than the first, but not by much. It was good enough that I'm already looking forward to next.

The reader did a fine job, though I think he made some of the strong women sound weaker than I imagined them being. He does an admirable job with the men and their accents.

I like legal thrillers, but this one left a lot to be desired. Flat characters, a plot that was not even close to believable, dialog and courtroom scenes that are stiff and unrealistic work together to make this book near unlistinable.

I'm not sure if the narrator was weak or just didn't have much to work with, but so many times the emphasis in sentences was misplaced I had to go back and listen again.

I picked this due to good reviews, but apparently I have drastically different tastes.

It's a YA novel, but a great one. The reader makes it even better. I enjoyed the tale much more than I should have as an adult. It's just fun. I try to point my students who are reading Hunger Games toward this excellent story. It has a wonderful female protagonist, plenty of action and amazing creativity.

I think the reader made this story better than it really is. He's just really good, without trying to do weird voices or anything. The story itself is rather quirky, but I'm glad I listened to it. Not great, but good.

My English teacher wife asked me to listen to this. I did, because I likes Uglies by Westerfield so much, I thought another YA novel was worth a shot.

This one is no Uglies. The characters don't ring true, and the plot has holes big enough to drive a truck through. It's just silly.

That said, apparently young readers, both male and female, love it. My wife reports great pleasure in discovering a lot boys really like this book with a female protagonist. So what do I know know?

Still, I'd give it a miss. I listened to the whole set and feel like I wasted my time.

I loved this book. Five stars! It was confusing at first (but in an interesting way,) but became more clear as it went on. Banks is the most wildly creative writer I've "read" in ages. I just wish I could get all his work here. Much to my annoyance some of his audio books are available in England though not here.