Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie We're in Trouble!

The Toad Witch Mysteries, Book 2

By: Christiana Miller

Narrated by: Barbara Benjamin-Creel

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mara's in hell! Neither one of the guys in her life is talking to her. Paul, her ex-boyfriend, is afraid she's going to give birth to a baby demon, complete with horns and hooves. He wants proof that he's actually the father. And her best friend, Gus, is so obsessed with his new boyfriend and his plans for the late, great Lord Grundleshanks, the poisonous toad, he has no time for anyone else.

After Gus flips the seasons and manages to bring summer into winter, everything starts going weirdly wrong. Summer refuses to leave. Household electronics start going haywire. When J.J., a local boy, vanishes from Mara's car, Mara begins to suspect he's been turned into a rat. But it's such a crazy idea, who could she possibly talk to about it? Then, her dead Aunt Tillie shows up to warn her that Gus is in trouble, and it's up to Mara to save him.

Before Mara can stop him, Gus opens up a portal to hell, and the devil comes calling. Now, she's got her hands full trying to find out what happened to J.J., assuring Paul she's not going to give birth to a mythological creature, and brokering a truce between Gus and the devil before Gus becomes hell's newest resident.

©2014 Christiana Miller (P)2015 Christiana Miller

Why oh why did you change narrator?

I adored the first book in this series and quickly devoured it. Since then I have listened to it twice more. However this one let me down. What happened to Gus? He went from the sexy sounding guy to I don't know what. The part in the book when they kiss...all of a sudden it was icky as the image of Gus in my head had completely changed from hot, sexy guy to the uncle that gives you the creeps. Several other characters also changed but I was more forgiving of those.
Other than Gus's massive change, I liked the story once again and will be buying the next in the series (hopefully with the original narrator). Christiana Miller is a fabulous tale teller and I very much enjoy her work.

Not a fan of how the narrator did Gus's voice

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not, there were way too many turns, it could've been less complicated.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The ending left you wanting to read the next book, whether or not you liked this one.

What didn’t you like about Barbara Benjamin-Creel’s performance?

She did not have much range with her voices -- the Italian/Latin characters sounded as if they were from Germany & what I disliked the most was Gus's voice. He is a gay guy from LA, not the clown in Stephen King's book IT. I didn't particularly like Marie Rose's rendition of Gus in the first book but it was better than this rendition.

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

no

Any additional comments?

Consistency of narrators across a book series is crucial to me.

Couldn't listen to that narrator

What disappointed you about Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie We're in Trouble!?

Story may have been good but the characters voices are just stupid. In the first book with a different narrator it was smooth and enjoyable but now they just don't work. Gus sounds like an idiot groucho marks.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Barbara Benjamin-Creel?

Marie Rose

Narrator Needs A Lot More Practice

I liked the story but the narrator is doing just that narrating, like she's reading the story to a group. She doesn't become the character at all, which leaves the story very flat. She MUST learn to become the character, not just do a voice change. And her interpretation of Gus seems way off. He's just not as funny and charismatic as the first story.

Barbara Benjamin-Creel sounds 20 to 30 years too old for the character of Mara.

While Barbara Benjamin-Creel does a smidge better job with the voices, I'll take Marie Rose any day. At least Marie Rose becomes the character and the mood of Mara comes through in her voice and it allows the listener to be immersed in the story rather than feel like he/she is being read to.

Bring back Marie Rose or get a different narrator, one who doesn't just read the story to you but becomes Mara.

Also, I strongly urge the narrators to talk to the author and learn Gus' personality. It's poor form for two narrators to have two different visions of him.

Great Story - Bad Narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The only thing I would change about this book is the narrator. I listened to the 1st book in the series, and got used to the voices of the different characters as interpreted by that narrator. It was distracting trying to figure out who some of the characters were. The worse was Gus's voice. He sounded suave & debonair in book one, and he sounds annoying and whiny in this one. It is enough of a distraction that I've taken to mostly reading the book on my Kindle rather than listening to it.

What did you like best about this story?

The story itself is very good.

Would you be willing to try another one of Barbara Benjamin-Creel’s performances?

No.

Was Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie We're in Trouble! worth the listening time?

If you can't read it in book or e-book form, but it was not nearly as enjoyable as listening to book one in the series.

Narrator

I loved the first book and am wanting to love this book. It's not the plot line that is the problem. I have a huge problem with the narrator. Nails on a chalkboard voice is all I can say. I really don't know if I can finish this audiobook without the risk of a headach. I may just finish this book by actually reading it.
I absolutely can't stand the narrator's voice and the way she does the characters, especially Gus. I don't know why they decided to go with this particular narrator, but they need to bring back the original one, Marie Rose. I will never listen to or buy another audio book done by this narrator, Barbara Benjamin -Creel. She definitely needs to find a new profession.

change in narrators

Enjoyed the story but was put off by having Gus' personality changed from British accented diva to brash, dense minded goofball....

Somebody tell aunt tillie we're in trouble

This book is very different but I enjoyed it. It has comedy and drama in a story that moves fast.

love these books!

I was looking for something different and this is it! so fun and a great adventure.

Annoying, obtuse characters

The first book was ok and far from a master piece, but at least it was entertaining. Not this one. The bickering and rudeness of the main characters was only surpassed by their stubborn, arrogant ignorance. I get that the idea was to make a point of them being blindsided by evil, but was it really necessary to drag it for more than 2/3 of the story?

Not bad

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The change of narrator between the first book and the second was disappointing, Nothing wrong with Barbara Benjamin-Creel's performance but she voiced the characters differently and it was particularly jarring to hear Gus taling in such a different voice from the first book.

Did Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie We're in Trouble! inspire you to do anything?

Sadly it inspired me to check for changes of narrator between books in a series - the difference was jarring.

Any additional comments?

The story was a worthy sequel to the first book, Long may the series flourish.

Narrator

I absolutely love the toad witch books I wish there was a book three, however I preferred the narrator of the first book as the narrator of the second book changed the sound of gus's voice and that small change spoiled the book for me but that is the only negative point otherwise fab story I want more