Altered

I really enjoyed the storyline to this book. I was on edge the whole time waiting for what came next. The character building was excellent, giving me great personality traits of each one.

BUT..... I couldn't deal with the Narrator! I'm sorry, I usually am pretty good at ignoring bad narrations, but there were several things that got to me. First, Casey's voice seemed way too young for the main character. I kept imagining a 12-year-old, not 17. Second, she was way. too. Choppy. and. Monotone. I read to my kids more smoothly than that. I hate giving negative reviews to narrators, but I felt this listen could have been really great if not for the narrator.

It is a lot like The Bourne series for teens.

The moments when Anna finds out who she is and who she isn't.

The reader was robotic, a great annoyance that I only put up with because the story was so good. One of my friends walked into the room when I was listening and commented how horrible the reader was after listening for 10 seconds. The pacing and inflection was monotone. I started wondering if I could be a reader if people with so little feel for the characters could be hired.

No, it was fun escapism.

I'm conflicted about writing this review because while I liked the story, the narrator was terrible. I don't really think it was Casey Holloway's fault though, I think she was given some extremely bad direction on how this story should sound because the choppiness seemed extremely deliberate and consistant (beginning to end unfortunately) For the record, who ever thought a monotoned, robotic voice was a good idea, made the wrong call. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say he/she is in the WRONG.LINE.OF.WORK. Making sure the narrator's diction is crisp and precise shouldn't get in the way of the story itself, and it did here. I'm not being harsh or mean, I'm just being truthful. I almost cringe at how the other reviewers are going to react.

Now, the story itself was great and exactly the kind of audiobook I look for. Action, fight sequences, romance, puzzles -- this book has it all. But, word of warning, you may want to read this one rather than listen to it.

Anna is a brilliant character always trying to problem solve. Her intense relationship with Sam draws you into the book. I really enjoyed her transformation from a shy girl to a fierce woman. I am all about girl power books, in this book it is the awe that she inspires in her actions. Anna is always portrayed as smart.

As for the boys, I love how each character has his own unique qualities and that they are all very respectful of Anna. The plot is somewhat predictable, but I have to admit I got a few things wrong that intrigued me to want more. It is worth reading. I only hope that is the story line is continued into other books, that Trav will be back (he was my favorite character in the beginning of the book).

Jennifer Rush, yes. Casey Holloway, no.

She sounded like the automated voices that companies have tried to make sound human, but they're obviously not. She over-enunciates every word, and she had several unnatural breaks in EVERY SENTENCE! It's was so distracting that I couldn't really lose myself in the story, which is rare for me. I listened to samples of other books she narrated, and they weren't quite as bad, but they were still grating. I really hope they get another narrator for any sequels.

Sure, it seems like it would make a good film.