Jennifer

Right before I listened to this book, I listened to The Paris Wife which details Hemmingway's first wife and the era in which he wrote The Sun Also Rises. Seems he took much of the plot for The Sun Also Rises from his actual experiences although he left his wife out of this book completely.

Wiliam Hurt, the narrator capture's the machismo of the bullfighting and Hemmingway himself perfectly.

Without a clear understanding of all the intrigues of Henry VIII, I found this book very hard to follow and understand.

I gave it several hours, but it just did not hold my attention.

Although the narrator gets good reviews, I found many of his voices to be so similar that I wasn't sure who was talking.

Loved this one, which I got based on the synopsis alone, as I usually wait for listener reviews to come out.
It is a great story, which is what a novel is all about, right? But well told in different eras of time with an interesting plot twist at the end.

The story is interesting but I am surprised critics have not picked up some sloppy writing habits on the part of the author. He uses the word "however" and the phrase "all the same" constantly through the the book. He also asks questions, usually in pairs very, very frequently throughout the story almost to the point that it seems like a pattern.Examples like "But what will happen?" "Would the outcome be different?" (not word for word from the story but you get the picture). Maybe it was the reader who frequently spoke the questions as if they were statements and not questions at all that made this so apparent.

A

This book did not live up to the reviews. The storyline was predictable and the characters reminded me of the cartoon Scooby Doo characters.
Overall I thought the book was dull and dumb. Maybe this was geared to tweenagers?

I am sure people were wondering why I was laughing out loud as I rode my bike through our neighborhood listening to this.

If you need a break from the stresses of life, listen to this!

Funny and quirky, this story engages from the very beginnig.

The cast of narrators all were excellent.

The author did a great job capturing the pathos of adolescence as well as the older characters.

Loved this story, it kept me spellbound as it jumped from 3 different eras and stories.

Although this book is in the young adult genre (my 13 year old was excited to see I was listening to this) I really liked this book. It tells the story of adolescent cancer patients and their lives, loves, and hopes in the face of terminal illness.

The prose and story line are engaging from the start. I wished it was longer!

The narrator did a great job with the vocal inflections of teenagers as well as the other characters.

I had a hard time following how the two stories presented here were connected, till the end, but even then found the connection lacking.

I also had a hard time liking many of the main characters, especially Alice so that I didn't really care what happened to her.