Kimberly

I LOVE this book! The title is perfect. Even some ruins are just as beautiful in what they became as how they started out - completely different but beutiful. I???m still crying because???the book ended? the book/end was so well done? because I could have never imagined it would end this way. YES to all.

This book has so many great elements ??? and the narration of Edoardo Ballerini ??? spot on!! I laughed until I cried (especially the Richard Burton scenes ??? but so many others!), and I cried and didn???t want to stop. I lost a whole weekend because I could not stop listening ??? this is a warning. The only critical thing I can say about it is some parts start at the end and work back, some parts don???t, but in the end it was perfect. Rest assured you end up knowing what you need to know ??? and I would NOT change a thing. DO NOT SKIP THE EPILOG.

I would buy this again if I had to; thank goodness I can listen to it as many times as I want. Thank you Jess Walter and Audible!

Jess Walter - I will read anything you write from now on (I say that now...:).

The best review

I really enjoyed this book. I listened to it months ago and still remember it well. The story was a bit - just a bit - unbelievable, but would like it to be possible. I enjoyed the small town and excentric life mixed with the big city knowledge of the world. Small town, and big city criminals.

I will listen again, and probably again after that. I recommend.

I got very absorbed in this book. It was very sexy/hot; the characters were – for the most part – well developed and likeable. The narrator Paula Costello was excellent.

The story is about a young American woman x-pat that lives in Edinboro, Scotland after a tragic adolescence, and the people she meets and engages with. The author does not drag out all of the back stories but rather inserts and weaves them through the main story.

It is worth the credit!! If you like romance, all that means and so much more!

This installment was not as good as the others. I had a good news story, some good passion, and the predictable ending – like I buy these books for other reasons. I found that Eliza’s reticence annoying – after a while. I understood it earlier in the book but then things go along well and wham, she is back in her quivering bubble. I found myself fast forwarding through cajoling her out of the ‘attack’ of crippling shyness, then the next scene she is no so shy at all. I felt sorry for the losing suitor – there had to be one, and I really enjoyed the narrator, Bianca Amato. She did a superb job.

Not a bad listen all in all but I liked the other ones much better.

This book has been in and out of my wish list several times – and I still don’t know what drew me to it. Possibly that I know very little about the Iliad, the story is rated rather high, some of the listeners I follow really enjoyed it, and I was looking for something different. I am aware of the stories of Achilles; I had no idea Patroculus existed in the book.

I became very absorbed by this version of Achilles and that – after looking it up – it was suggested that they had an amorous relationship than was not taught in school AND it was alluded to. Anyway, it made it interesting.

I listened from beginning to end and really enjoyed it. The end was excellent. Achilles' son was just what Achilles' mother wanted Achilles to be and was not – and was horrible. What a lesson for her!! The YEARS they spent in the war with Troy was ridiculous. Achilles hiding as a woman to avoid the war was some comic relief – somewhat.

The narrator was great. If I were to read this I would have gotten over half of the names incorrect and still struggle with Patroculus.

It was just interesting, engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are looking for something different I recommend it. If you like Greek mythology, you will find this a different take on it - as other reviewers stated.

The Good House and Hildy were captivating from the very beginning. The story is so real it could have been; and told by the narrator Mary Beth Hurt completely appealing. There are many reviews of this story so I’ll give you my impressions instead of trying to not tell what happens.

Hildy’s ex-husband is wonderful and the circumstances are sad. Her daughters are so very typical, judgmental, and perfectly willing to be co-dependents in their own rights while pointing fingers. The small New England town could have been anywhere, but what a charming location! School friends, histories of each other, new acquaintances, and all the ‘fun’ they all have/had, consequences of choices, realization of what must be done, loneliness, alcoholism, co-dependence, all in all a great read.

It is worth the credit, I will listen again – just in case I missed something.

I love this book!

I have not read a book quite like this - until now. This is a different kind of character driven story. The damaged and not so damaged main characters are captivating. Arthur could be real, we have all heard about the person who a crane and demolition crew was needed to get them out of the house (Arthur was not there yet). How does that happen? He is in need of being needed and wanted; to care for someone and to be cared for. The narrator for Arthur provided a distinguished and compassionate voice that helps you want to know him. (There are two narrators and I’m not certain who is who.) His life is revealed little by little - painful - and not so painful – making him the recluse he becomes.

Kel is a nearly grown boy/man who has much too much responsibility foist upon him. He makes decisions and has reactions that are surprising and not so surprising. His journey to fit in (poor kid in a wealthy neighborhood’s high school) was admirable, strong, and filled with insecurity and want. He is a stand out athlete which helped a lot, but the underlying insecurities can be identified by most of us (most of us were not ‘it’ people in high school).

Mostly this is a story about how people find and make family. For Arthur it was usually people who wandered into his life by accident, for Kel it was from people he knew in his past, present, and hopefully future who know him, want to know him, and know how to help and can see a future for him.

It is about the need to be a loved son, the need to be needed, the burden of being needed too much, and the need to care and be cared for.

I highly recommend this book – it is worth a credit and I will listen again. I wanted at least one more chapter.

No - not really. There were some good sections but over all it was not time well-spent.

Not at all surprising. You can tell how it will end less than half way through the book.

No.

Darcy and Georgie - I do not want to give anything away.

Wallace or Queenie - both ends of the personality range.

Not really; it was a very enjoyable read. Not at all boring but not riveting either.

I just finished listening to this book – twice. I was very impressed at how I was transported to this town in ‘anywhere’ where a loved one has mysteriously disappeared for 20 years and mysteriously returned - and this family’s story of loss, regret, and love.

I don’t think John Lee was the best narrator selection for this book; it could have been so much better without his histrionic tones – I completely felt like I was listening to “Pillars of the Earth” or any other Ken Follet novel, at the beginning – eventually I was absorbed enough to get over it.

The family and ‘past’ love was at the heart of this story and so completely felt and expressed that it is difficult for me to convey. Tara Martin’s parents and brother’s horror, dismay, then acceptance of her probable death; her lover’s horrific treatment by the police and complete acceptance of responsibility and life altering despair of what may have happened to her - were the theme of their existence before Tara’s return.

I was not expecting the explanation of her disappearance for 20 years – it didn’t take long to start in the novel. Her explanation is hard to take as reality for the family and loved ones, but hard to discount – for reasons I won’t say. Her return to the family and past love is so real; the important people that need to believe just want something they CAN believe, and the one who does not matter believes her and gives her a path forward.

It is some kind of fairy tale – a very different one than I have ever understood. It was interesting - at the beginning of nearly every chapter there were quotes from famous historical authors/people about fairy tales. Some put a bit of perspective, some I will have to listen again to see. Then there were the psychologist’s point of view which I found bothering, humorous, and disturbing.

I highly recommend this book. This is a fantastic work of literary fiction. It is worth the listen on so many levels. It is not depressing, it is somewhat uplifting – if there were just one more chapter it would have made me feel better, but that is not always the goal.

Worth the credit and I will listen again.

In my search for lighter fare I now find myself engulfed in Highland meringue. This is the third installment of the McCabe series and is – as I found the others – predictable and – interesting. Better than book two, not as good as book one.

I love Kristen Potter’s narration so I think that is what kept me listening. Not the predicable plot or the predicable ending. (I could almost hear the theme for “Top Gun” at the climax of this one.) I’m not that imaginative so I’m sure there are better themes to draw from – like “Kill Bill.” (I have only sort of watch one of those…)

The end was just silly, but poor Rionna did find love and became the ‘Warrior Princess’ she always wanted to be – as if no one could figure that out from book one when she defeated a McCabe warrior three times her size.

Like I said before, I must have required a serious distraction because I listened to the whole thing, I cringed at a few things but not like book two, and I didn’t return it (yes you can).

I am now on to more good books. I’m glad for the distraction – I must have needed it. And what is with the title? I do not get that at all.