Lonely Magnolia

By: John Isaac Jones

Narrated by: Tom Zainea

Length: 1 hr and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

A shy, lonely computer genius tries to find love in the digital age. He would never be the same! The story of Pygmalion for the 21st century!

©2017 John I. Jones (P)2017 John I. Jones

Lonely Magnolia

A very interesting short story, with some unexpected twists at the end. Well written, interesting story,

Couldn't Finish

I found the writing immature and the premise completely unrealistic. I'm a software developer and scientist with a high level university background in the field, and the descriptions of the accomplishments of the main character were quite silly. The account of his genius was frankly very uninformed, and obviously written by a layman with no knowledge of computer science whatsoever.

Beyond that, the writing was awful, and the descriptions of the women in the computer dating escapade were adolescent and insulting. I was willing to suspend disbelief about the computer aspects, but when this started I had to turn it off.

So that was the first half. Based on what I heard, I would not recommend this book.

I received this book for free at my request from the author, publisher or narrator and have voluntarily left this review. This has not affected the opinions I have expressed.

short but interesting

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

This was a short but interesting take on how disconnected and isolated society has become with the Internet and social media replacing basic human interaction.

It's a good story, but I was expecting more

What does a retired software guru do in lonely retirement? Return to software to find his souldmate of course!

This is my third listen from John Isaac Jones since the amazing "Going Home". I've come to expect a bit of a twist to everything, so while this story was enjoyable for what it was, I was a bit disappointed to find that it literally was, just what it was. There was no surprise or twist at the end.

Aside from that, it is a fairly enjoyable ironic tale, perhaps more along the lines of "Tembo Makaburi". I did feel a few characters acted a bit irrationally toward the end, but it is a short tale, so it's possible I just had the wrong "read" of them.

Tom Zainea did an excellent job narrating!

This book was provided by the author for review purposes.

Not bad, but not great

Had a hard time getting into this but I cant bring myself to say it was bad.

Poor guy didn't know what hit him!

Lonely Magnolia by John Isaac Jones was, in my opinion, a super enjoyable short story with a unique twist. Now, as some reviewers have noted, Carl, being a super tech wunderkind, isn't really written in this short story in a very techy way, so you have to let that go a bit to enjoy the story without getting held up on the lack of super accurate tech talk. Regardless, this is the short story of a man who designed an amazing algorithm for online dating and then ends up entering the online dating world with surprising results.

Tom Zainea did a great job narrating Lonely Magnolia. He voiced both the male and female characters really well and had the accents down wonderfully. Not every man can pull off a southern woman's voice, but Mr. Zainea's voice didn't sound forced at all. A very enjoyable listen. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

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Her / Black Mirror vibes

What did you like best about Lonely Magnolia? What did you like least?

Any story dealing with socially awkwardness / anxiety interests me and I wanna learn how the characters deal with it. (This particular book wasn't much help for self-improvement in that regard though. :P ) Even though this isn't really "futuristic" per se, it does give certain vibes that feel like it. Throughout the book, I felt like I'm listening to an episode of Black Mirror and I was reminded of the movie Her. I guess that would be a plus point for this book. It's a double-edged sword though. Since that sets a huge expectation; which this book sadly failed to fulfill. In fact, it was pretty mediocre.

What was most disappointing about John Isaac Jones’s story?

The characters weren't quite believable. The tech genius's character sounded cardboard-y and the woman too didn't have any depth. If I were able to connect with either of them, the story would've been much more entertaining.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Not a full length feature film. But maybe as a short anthology episode.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook for free from the author / narrator / publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Irony is strong!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes! I thoroughly enjoyed the book it held my attention from start to finish.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lonely Magnolia?

The anticipated meeting with Sadie.

Have you listened to any of Tom Zainea’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I loved his voice and way of narrating.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending wasn't expected, but it made me aware of how things play out in life. Karma is very much alive and kicking.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me to listen and give an unbiased review.

Heartbreaking

Oh my goodness, this was not what I was expecting.

It's well written and the lead characters are fascinating and the idea behind the story is really interesting and thought provoking. The outcome was not what I was expecting and it was surprisingly emotionally engaging.

The narrator did a good job with a challenging story to narrate. The chat sessions cannot have been easy.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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A short story with a twist!

This is a short story about a man who recently retired from a successful career in the tech industry and decides he's ready to find love again. Turning to an internet dating service, he begins the dance of online courtship until the time to meet his new found love arrives and he travels to meet her.

I thought the story was good and the character was well written as all the characters in Mr. Jones' stories are. But, I found the conclusion to be unsatisfactory and while it had a nice twist, I didn't feel what I had invested in the character matched the ending and left me wondering if I had missed something. I'm still looking for an overlying juxtaposition that makes the ending seem natural, but I can't find one. I also didn't really find the compelling moral that all Mr Jones' stories end with, which I really like. This one just seemed flat and, meh.

I was given this audio book for free in exchange for this unbiased review.

The woman I've been waiting for.

A really delightful and poignant story about an exceptionally talented software computer company developer who, in his latter years, wants to retire. Not used to the dating game, he goes on line with a site called Southern Singles, to hopefully find a wife with whom to share the rest of his life. There, he meets Sadie Collins, Lonely Magnolia.
Beautifully written with an unexpected twist, and with Tom Zainea providing a perfectly executed narration, this is a little gem of a novella, most enjoyable even for those not inclined to ever read romances. This is certainly not of the usual type.
My thanks to the rights holder who freely gifted me a copy of Lonely Magnolia, via Audiobook Boom and this brief review is also freely given by my own choice.
Recommended.

Imaginative

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was a modern retelling of the story of Pygmalion, adapted for the use of dating sites and technology. I really liked it. It was cleverly imagined, well written and really hits the nail on the head about today’s use of technology.

Interesting Novella.

I remember, many years ago, watching a TV programme called Tales of the Unexpected. It had a different tale every week and they all had clever twists at the end. This novella by John Isaac Jones, could easily have been included in that show and it left me thinking, but with a smile on my face.

It started out with the back-story of Karl Wainwright, and at first I thought it might be a biography of a computer genius. However, once Karl started searching for a second wife after the death of his first, I became more involved and was rooting for him in his project. Unfortunately this is so short (just over an hour in audio), that to try to relate any more of the narrative would give too much away.

I was listening to an audiobook, narrated by Tom Zainea, who did an excellent job.
4.5 stars.