Kimberly

My first introduction to Terry Brooks and I was underwhelmed. The characters were likable but forgetful. Also, this first book fails as a standalone read; so unless you're willing to commit yourself to the series, I would not recommend this listen. The narrator was fine, but unspectacular. Overall, while the listen was fine I would not recommend.

This book was an interesting concept- real world people becoming magicians, getting bored with life and seeking happiness and purpose. But my god was it depressing. Also, while generally well read, it drove me a little crazy that the reader pronounces the h in wh words(really reminded me of family guy discussion between Brian and stewie re: wheat thins )

While karou's naïveté gets a little annoying, overall this was another captivating story. I was especially impressed with the story as a second book. Didn't feel like a "middle" and had a well- conceived plot.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. While not the best writing/prose, the story was interesting and fun. Well read too. Overall I would highly recommend if you are looking for an entertaining story

This was the best book I've read or listened to in a very long time. The author does a simply phenomenal job of making the reader fall in love with words again through both a beautiful story and perfectly descriptive writing. The author conserves his words, and in doing so is better able to use them than any work I can remember. He also somehow manages to create characters so real and beautiful, I was moved to tears at the end.

The reader also does a fantastic job giving life to Himmel street, despite his role as death. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

An aside: it turns out this book is in the teen section of the book store if you're like me and keep favorite books in old fashioned paper. However if you think teen and twilight or hunger games, this book couldn't be any farther down the spectrum, and has won awards for excellence in young adult literature.

First, Craig Wasson was an amazing narrator. His range of character voices is astounding, even if I didn't love his voice for Jake/ George, the main character, as it seemed a bit old.

That said, this book felt endless. I have enjoyed several 30-40 hour plus books on audible but with this one, I found myself repeatedly saying, "Oh my god, how many hours do I have left? Is it ever going to end?" The story could have been about half the length. The story follows the time travels of Jake/ George for five years, culminating in 1963... It felt like 5 years of audiobook.

To me, the problem was that for those 5 years of audiobook, not much happened. Jake/ George met people and developed friendships. Every once in a while the "obdurate past" a phrase I will probably hate but remember for a good long time, stepped in and something happened, but the scale was wholly unbalanced for the amount of activity compared to the amount of downtime.

I did finally make it to the end, and remained disappointed. Even the wrap up took about 4 hours... and then was followed by an afterword by Stephen King about writing the book that was 20 mins. If you want to know what the changed future is like, I think that only comprises the last hour of this 30 hr book.

Huge disappointment.

After years of Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar novels I had to try this, even though I haven't loved since they switched readers from Jonathan Marosz, and since the plots and writing have inevitably declined. Not a bad purchase, but I did not like the fact that while it stands alone it definitely benefits from having read the Myron-based novel as well. Also, while "Mickey" is not "Myron" the kid says some things that no child today would ever utter. And background facts are randomly strewn about to fit the plot, making it all seem a bit forced and written under a deadline.

Nevertheless, the mystery element of the book was fine, the characters were likable, and it was well-read and enjoyable. So 3.3-3.5 stars. If you like Harlan Coben, you'll like this (not love it) but listen to it anyway :)

I enjoyed this book but was not wowed by either the story or performance. Overall it was a mediocre, run of the mill fantasy story with a decent performance.

If you're looking for somewhere to spend your credits there's much better out there. Try "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss for a good (and lengthy) epic fantasy novel (though the finale isn't completed yet), or anything by Brandon Sanderson or Neil Gaiman.

Rob Reid writes a witty and clever novel with Year Zero which is well performed by John Hodgman. This book caused me laugh out loud moments, lots of smiles, and an eagerness to get in my car and make the drive to work. It was also quite insightful, in that, after finishing the book, I'm pretty sure it's a true and accurate factual depiction of at least Microsoft* and lawyers :) If you're looking for something light-hearted and enjoyable that still retains great writing, a plot, characters with some depth (and some shallowness), and a lot of witty banter, take a listen. You won't be disappointed!

*Note: Word crashed on me while I was 5 minutes from project completion the day I finished this book. Listen and you'll understand why this was AMAZING, proves this book to be entirely factual, yet was nonetheless hairpullingly frustrating.

While Justin Halpern's dad is funny and seems like quite a fantastic parent, I just don't know what all the fuss was about with this book. It's just not that funny to me; seems like normal witty banter between family members.

With regards to narration, I felt that Sean Schemmel dropped the ball a bit. The delivery worked in most places, but there were some stumbles. Overall, I'm not sad to reach the end.