Amazolic

This story was excruciating and I don't know why I finished it. I was hoping that it would get better. In fairness, I did get a glimpse of Amish life and learned of customs/ traditions. The language was true to Amish speech, but you will find it boring if you are accustomed to modern life and lingo. Read this book to learn about Amish life, but if you are trying to find a juicy betrayal story, you must look else where.

I am more of a historical fiction reader and decided to get this book just because I liked The Notebook. I was not disappointed at all.

Narrator did an excellent job with even portraying the female parts.

In addition to a great story, there were lots of good lessons to be learned such as being more understanding and knowing when to let go, doing the right thing and making the right choices in life. I particularly liked the information on Asperger.

In comparison to our fast paced tech driven era, I especially like the simple lifestyles of the characters in this book. I just might start getting more Nicholas Sparks books.

This book reminds me of a milder version of World without End (Ken Folett). I enjoyed learning about the lifestyle of a courtesan and their importance in the culture. Sarah Dunant paints a clear description with her words. I can visualize the colors and smell the scents/odors she writes in her book making the profession of being a courtesan one of interest and glamour.

The character of Bucino is amusing but too dreamy and dramatic for me especially towards the last couple of chapters.

I liked the narrator but again towards the last couple of chapters it was getting too dramatic.

Overall it was a good story worthy of turning into a movie.

I have not read the other books. The story is okay but I feel that there should have been more character building. Maybe I have to read the other books to find out more details? I personally like this book for its strong message regarding forgiveness and hope.

The narration was really slow in the beginning with pauses longer than usual. I can actually hear the uncertainty of the narrator's voice as if she is losing her place while reading. In addition, she could have done a better job by preparing and researching how to properly pronounce certain words like Guadalupe (gwah-dah-LOO-pay) not Guadaloop! However, it did get better after more than 20 chapters or was I just getting used to it?

I never expected the twist and thought that was good, though after that it was downhill from there just like Da Vinci Code with the dramatics of the Camerlengo.

With regards to the audio, every line the reader read was as if he was the voice of movie trailers. It sounded at times overly exaggerated. Around chapters 41-43 (somewhere around there) it was painful to determine which of the 5 characters he was acting out- was it Victoria? Camerlengo? Langdon? Hashashin? Olivetti? How frustrating! However, it did get better when he was plainly narrating and not acting out the characters.

Loved all the characters which were beautifully narrated and quite entertaining.

After listening to Forgotten Garden and loving it, I decided to try Shifting Fog or also titled The House at Riverton. This story had so much potential but sadly was really slow. As slow as the 90+ y/o woman in it. Funny but I actually felt like I was 90+ years old with the way the story trailed off.

Actual story was great. However, narrator was good too but multiple character accents were overlapping at times. I bought this audiobook because I read from the other reviews that it was like Forgotten Garden (which I loved). I was not disappointed.