Review (Audiobook) - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I would like to do something with this post that will make it a little unconventional...I will still be featuring an audiobook and writing a [mini] review on it, but as opposed to every other book I've reviewed, I'm not going to share the summary [of the book] with you. Why? Because as I was listening to the first CD or two, I realized that I myself had begun this book without reading the back cover to find out what it was actually about. This is a rarity - I found myself enjoying the book while being surprised about what was happening; though, I will admit, by the end of the first CD I read the back cover to see if I was correct in my guessing as to what was going on. 

This audiobook is read by Carolyn McCormick. She's no Josephine Bailey, but she still has a pleasant voice to listen to. I was a little disturbed how she made a cat with worms sound cute, though. And I commend her for trying to voice a man imitating a woman.

Once you listen to (or read) enough of the story, parts of it are somewhat predictable, but there is also so much originality to the story, it didn 't matter. The book is beautifully written, yet the plot almost makes you wonder what happened to the author to give them such disturbing ideas. I almost cried once, but managed to hold myself together (yay, me!).

I was so engrossed in the book that I would spend my lunch breaks sitting out in my car so I could listen to the story (I would have picked up a hard copy to read when I couldn't be listening, but there is still a large waiting list at our library for it). This is the only book (that I can recall) that I have liked so much before I even got halfway through the first book, that I picked up a copy of the second book to have on hand to read once I finished the first.
Okay, is it really killing you to know what this book is about (if, by chance, you don't already know what it is about)? I'll give you a small hint - take The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the movies Death Race and/or Gamer, and the reality TV show Survivor, melt them all together and stir in Suzanne Collins's unique-ness, and you have: The Hunger Games.

My Rating:

Review (Audiobook) - The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

"It has been a year of change since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered, her father a laudanum addict, Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength to turn catty schoolgirls into loyal friends, and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild.

Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances with headstrong Felicity and timid Ann; with Kartik, an exotic young Indian man whose companionship is forbidden; and with the fearsome creatures of the realms. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds. The Order, the mysterious group Gemma's mother was once part of, is grappling for control of the realms, as are the Rakshana. It is there that the girls meet their adored friend Pippa, who is not the same...or is she? The power to change everything - both in and out of the realms - rests in Gemma's hands." (back cover)

A sad thought occured to me at the very beginning of this story as I was getting back into the series: This is a wonderful series, but let's face it, most girls these days don't want to read about corsets and women empowerment, they'd rather be reading about...well, sex and how few clothes they can wear while still being allowed out of the house.


Still, Josephine Bailey does not cease to amaze me. After reading the majority of the series with some sort of European accent, her American accent for Lucy Fairchild made me wonder if she was really English at all (though if you read the back cover it does say she's from London). The beginning of the book did not have quite as lengthy of an "introduction" of sorts (which is surprising considering this is the longest book) that gave a recap of the happenings in the previous two books, but it was still a worthy effort and better than nothing.

This was the first and only book in the series that made me cry, which is surprising because I freely admit I'm a wuss. Two quotes really stuck out as relevant to the point I was at in my life: "There is never any turning back; you must go forward." and "Before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way."

I only have one real criticism about this book. When the Gorgon informs Gemma and her party that the forest is burning, all of a sudden in pretty much the next sentence, the girls are just there. It was such a choppy transition that it was one of the very few times I actually rewound the CD to make sure I hadn't just zoned out and missed something. I know they're in the realms, but I don't recall ever hearing they could randomly teleport places. With the length of the book, I think Bray could have spared a couple seconds to explain how the group got to the forest.

Obviously I'm not going to tell you how the book ended, but I will say that I liked The Sweet Far Thing's ending much better than Rebel Angels'. There is actually closure with this ending and it doesn't seem such a sudden "oh the problem is solved, we can end the book now"-type ending. Several chapters were dedicated to the ending rather than several sentences.

Amazon recommends this book for Young Adults. As with the rest of the series, however, I would recommend you listen to/read it first before recommending it to younger teens due to sensuality and sexuality.

My Rating:

Anyone else who has read this book, please feel free to leave comments either with your opinions or links to your blog review. I also think this could be a great series for which to write a "fanfic" fourth book.

Review (Audiobook) - Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand by Gail Carson Levine

"The mermaid Soop has sent a flood to Fairy Haven! Water-talent fairy Rani must bring Soop a wand or the Home Tree and all the Never faeries will be swept away. But wise Mother Dove isn't sure which is worse, a wand or a flood. Wand wishes, tantalizing wand wishes, are risky. The Most innocent wish can cause untold trouble. And not even Mother Dove knows that wands have hearts and minds - kind hearts or cruel hearts, sympathetic minds or minds filled with spite and mischief.

Rani, Tinker Bell, and Ree, queen of the Never fairies, set out on a perilous quest for a wand, a journay that takes them across an ocean to the palace of the terrifying Great Wanded fairies. Many obstacles stand between the questers and success: Tink's disappearance, a mermaid's magical song, wand madness, and even Never Land itself. Meanwhile, the floodwaters are rising...." (back cover)

Peter Pan is my favorite Disney movie (don't look for many similarities though between his movie and the Disney Fairy books, though), and I enjoy the other Disney Fairy books, but this book/audiobook was disappointing, starting with the description (above). I feel about both the description and the book that there are too many unnecessary distractions and that the book/description was written too fast without enough revision. I also found the last paragraph of the description too depressing to add to the body above, but it includes a bit about the story being a warning of the "dangers of dreams coming true"; so a big *CRUSH* to all you kids' dreams out there...It's a Children's book - lighten up!

It might be due to the high standards I now have for audiobook narrators after Josephine Bailey, but I was unimpressed with Rosalyn Landor. In the beginning she sounded far too proper; I could tell from the introduction that this woud be a book I'd rather read than listen to. To whoever assigns the narrator to a specific book, I simply can not imagine most fairies having an English accent. I found Tink to be too much of a whiner (if that's a word), and several of the characters sounded too much alike.

I found this audiobook difficult to pay attention to. If I stopped paying attention even for what seemed like only a moment, I was really confused as to what was going on. Other times when I was listening, the book still seemed to randomly switch directions multiple times.

The first CD/first third of the book had too much unnecessary repetition. It reminded me of when I was young and would write stories where every line of dialogue would have to include "he said" or "she said" - every fairy had to share their wish and every fairy had to ask Mother Dove if they could go to the mainland. I would imagine it to be less annoying to skim over those lines in a book rather than have to listen to every fairy say this or that.

I almost gave up on listening to the book, but I did wind up holding out to the end. The second half of the book wasn't that bad to listen to. Rosalyn seemed to get into her characters more, and overall the story wasn't terrible.

I have read Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg and I don't think it is necessary to read it first, even though it is classified as a prequel.

Amazon recommends this audiobook for ages 4 - 8, but I think this is a little young. The book is 208 pages/3 CDs, and does contain brief mentionings about fairies dying by drowning. Personally, I would suggest ages 7 - 10.

My Rating:

Review (Audiobook) - Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

"Ah, Christmas! Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy - spending time with her friends in the city, attending balls in fancy gowns with plunging necklines, and dallying with the handsome Simon Middleton. Yet amid these distractions, her visions intensify - visions of three girls dressed in white, to whome something horrific has happened that only the realms can explain.


The lure is strong, and soon Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world that Gemma takes them to. To the girls' great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship.


But all is not well in the realms - or out. Kartik is back, desperately insisitng to Gemma that she must bind the magic, lest colossal disaster befall her. Gemma is willing to comply, for this would bring her face to face with her late mother's greatest friends, now Gemma's foe - Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task..." (back cover)

Rebel Angels picks up two months after A Great and Terrible Beauty leaves off, but is so beautifully written it would almost seem like you could pick up this book without having to read the first.

Again, Bailey does an excellent job of narrating the characters. Although, I will admit during the first CD, I found myself wondering if she recorded the books back to back - she almost sounded a little bored with the characters. After the first CD, however, she went right back up to the incredibly high standards I have for Josephine Bailey.

Akin to A Great and Terrible Beauty, similarities to other books and movies were easily noticible in this book - Wraiths as "trackers" (Lord of the Rings), bad guys who fancy the phrase "'ello, poppet" (also made famous by Pintel in Pirates of the Caribbean), other bad guys who like to make their name more mysterious by giving themselves a new name that is really just an anagram of their other name (I was thinking of Tom Riddle at this point, of course), and evil women being trapped inside wells (from my scariest horror movie, The Ring). After all of the similarities in this book and the first in the series, I was honestly expecting the poppy warriors to be similar to the poppy field in The Wizard of Oz.

Also comparable to the first Gemma Doyle book, Rebel Angels was predictable. I knew who the bad guy was shortly into the book, and it was making me so mad that the girls could be so stupid (especially after the fun anagram portion of the book) that I had to Google the character list just to be sure. Although, something I was expecting, didn't happen - I felt that through parts of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels, Bray was setting it up so a different girl would "die" in each book, and at the end of the third book the final two would have to battle it out for the power.

The ending was slightly disappointing, only because it seemed a shame that so many pages/discs were used to set up the story, then it took so few pages (less than a disc's worth) to "resolve" the problem; yet, we know the problem couldn't truely be resolved, or else it wouldn't be a trilogy.

Amazon recommends this book for Young Adults. While there are not as many uncomfortable Gemma/Kartik descriptions in this book, I would still be wary of recommending this book to younger teens, as there are somewhat extensive mentionings (at least I found them extensive) of a girl being sexually abused by her father. Then again, younger teens might not understand this portion, as I myself was unable to be 100% sure whether this was the kind of "abuse" being referenced for a while.

My Rating:

Review (Audiobook) - A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

"Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember their station, who dance with grace, and whil will lie back and think of England when it's required of them.

No, sixteen-year-old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds her reception a chilly one. She's not completely alone, though...she's been followed by a mysterious young man, sent to warn her to close her mind against the visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy, timeless group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits...if only Gemma can believe in it." (back cover)

My first (completed) teen book of 2010 - woohoo!

Years ago something compelled me to pick up a copy of this book at Target. I brought the book home and it has been sitting, unopened, on a shelf since then. When I found the audiobook at our library I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'm going to break my own rule and write a bit first about the actual story and not just comments on the narrator:

The book was fairly predictable, but that certainly didn't make it bad. I really did like the story (I'm already on disc 3 of the sequel), but there were some things I wasn't too sure about. The book seemed to borrow a lot from many other books I'm familiar with. This may not be a bad thing - maybe Libba Bray's ability to bring parts of different books together was what made this such a great story - but it was definitely noticeable. For instance, there is magic at a boarding school with a Great Hall (Harry Potter), and short bits about faeries depicted as more of a Spiderwick creature rather than Tinkerbell. Girls playing with magic wind up seeing their hair fall out and get boils (in case you're familiar with the movie The Craft), and you can't forget the mentioning of the Rakshana being members of the Knights Templar (in common with The DaVinci Code). Most noticeable (to me) though, was the quote "the woods are not safe here; there are spies everywhere." Sounds an awful lot like Mr. Beaver (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) to me...

But I digress. On to the narrator! I loved her! Josephine Bailey is so talented I can remember her name without looking it up (and that's impressive for someone with a memory like mine). I have never heard a narrator with such amazing accents for all of her different characters. I was delightfully surprised that listening to this book on CD didn't feel like I was listening to War and Peace, or some other Old English book.

This audiobook can evoke strange emotions from its listeners - actually hearing some of the magical adventures in the book made me feel like I was getting a verbal account of someone's acid trip experience. If you don't know what the expression "thinking of England" means, be prepared to learn. Those who are easily embarassed may find themselves blushing while listening to this book. I wouldn't consider myself easily embarassed, but it was kind of awkward listening to Bray's description of an innocent girl "being touched in unexplored places". For me, I think reading this would have been a little more...comfortable?

This book was easy to get into before the end of the first CD (unlike The Host). I think this is partially because of the great job Bailey did narrating. Even if England in the 1800s isn't your cup of tea, I would recommend at least giving this book a chance.

Amazon lists this as a Young Adult book. I would take into account the "witchcraft" and mildly "sexual" aspects of the book, though, and be careful to either recommend the book to older teens or give the parents a heads up. The audiobook ends with a mini interview-of-sorts (more like an autobiographical monologue) with [quirky] Libba Bray.

My Rating:

Review (Audiobook) - The Host by Stephenie Meyer

"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

One of the most compelling writers of our time, Stephenie Meyer brings us a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the very essence of what it means to be human." (back cover)

It's been days since I've finished this book and I'm still not sure how to put this review into words, but I'll try.

***DO NOT read this book if you are looking for a Twilight read-alike. The only similarities I found between this book and Twilight is the female protagonists' occasional clinginess, and Stephenie Meyer's (sometimes excessively) descriptive writing style.

I tried to read this book as soon as it came out and couldn't get past page 18. I don't know if was the descriptiveness or the fact that I had no idea what was going on, but I just couldn't do it. Sorry, Steph. When I found out we had the book on CD, I thought I'd give it another try.

I made it well past page 18 the first time I listened to it, but something still wasn't quite right. Narrator Kate Reading sounded emo and completely uninterested in the book, and sometimes it felt like Stephanie Meyer was trying way too hard to think of one-word chapter titles. I think it was about the end of the third CD when the plot finally began to interest me, and by then I was thinking okay, I've made it through the boring part, and the book feels like it should be about one-third to halfway over now. WRONG. I opened the case to find out how many CDs were included: 20. The plot had gotten more interesting, and once male characters entered the story Reading seemed to relax and finally started changing voices for the different characters, but it was still difficult to push forward knowing how far I still had left to go...

...Cut to 3/4 of the way through book. At this point, the story was so good that I had to get the hard copy of the book at work to read while I worked; it was nearly impossible to put down. However, I did find that I missed listening to the book at this point. Without a narrator voicing the different characters, I found myself having to re-read portions of pages because there was so much dialogue and it was occassionally difficult to tell who was saying what. I had to intentionally leave the book at work so that when I got home I would go inside and read my schoolbooks like a good girl. When I got home I had to drag myself out of the car and away from the audiobook (and I still didn't get my school done).

The most interesting thing I found about this book is that it's the only book I can think of where I would have been just as happy with the "first ending" (second to last chapter), as the "second ending" (final chapter) - polar opposite endings.

Overall, I'm glad I stuck it out for the ending (I cried for pages). However, I would not recommend this book easily. With Twilight and a handful of my other favorite books, I'll quickly say, "you have to read this book," no matter who I'm speaking to. However, I honestly think that whether you will read and enjoy this book depends more on your personality. For instance - Do you give up if you don't like a book within the first few chapters? You may not be able to get throuh this book. Are you hard-headed and refuse to give up on a book until you finish it? You may get through the book but be so frustrated that you fail to enjoy the book. Are you patient, don't mind being confused occassionally, have a lot of time on your hands, and/or like science fiction with a touch of romance? This book may be for you.


While there is certainly no more "inappropriateness" in this book than there was in Breaking Dawn, because of its sheer size, I would recommend this for adults or older young adults. Actually, scratch that. Like I said before, it completely depends on their willingness to read and personality as mentioned above.

If you have opinions on this book, I'd love to hear them. I am really quite interested in hearing opinions about the two possible endings of the book.

Amazon does not have a recommended age on this product, which from my short experience I believe means it would be considered a higher level than most Young Adult books.

My Rating:

Review (Audiobook) - This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff

"I have wondered for quite a long time

whether or not life is one big tragedy.

Sometimes it seems to be

and sometimes not."

Seeing the size of this book after reading the first two books in the Make Lemonade series was intimidating at first, so I am very glad I started out listening to the audiobook.

Yes, that's right, I said started. I don't believe in using audiobook reviews to critique the story, but I will say this: This book was so good that I couldn't wait to finish listening to it - I made it about 3/5 of the way through the CDs and then had to pull the book off the shelves at work to finish reading it sooner. After getting started with the audiobook and then seeing the verse that Wolff wrote the story in, I have to say the book was not so intimidating, and actually a quick read.

I loved hearing Heather Alicia Simms read this book. She did such an extraordinary job bringing life and validity to all of the characters, from LaVaughn's preachy best friends Annie and Myrtle, to deep-voiced Patrick, from undereducated Jolly and her six and four-year-old children, to motherly and perhaps over-educated Dr. Moore; I would pick up another book read by Simms in an instant.

I'm saddened that this was the conclusion to the series - if you read the book the last chapter is written so there could easily be at least one more book to the series, maybe Wolff will change her mind, or maybe fans will be stuck writing their own version of a fourth book.

This Full House is a Young Adult book (Amazon recommends grades eight and up) - if you have parents who come to you asking if they should pre-read a book before they let their child read it, this would definitely be one of those books to say "yes" to. I also plan on recommending this series to our teen patrons who prefers books (think Ellen Hopkins' series) with a sort-of "troubled/struggling" protagonist.

My Rating:

(Unfortunately I did listen to/read this book at the end of 2009, so it will not count towards the YA Reading Challenge)

Review (Audiobook) - The Spiderwick Chronicles Books 1-5 by Tony DiTerlizzi

"Three ordinary kids, Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace have discovered another world--without leaving this one! Two remarkable talents, New York Times best-sellers Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, have risked everything to bring this remarkable account to light. Five books--one thrilling adventure -- the Spiderwick Chronicles!
Their world is closer than you think." (back cover)

It was interesting hearing an adventure/fantasy book read to you, and Luke...I mean Mark...wasn't monotone or anything - he put an effort into changing his voice for the different characters. Then again, readers who have an imagination while reading may voice characters in their heads anyway (I am not one of those people).

Pros: Hamill does a very entertaining Miss Piggy sounding voice for Hogsqueal the hobgoblin, and the "roof scene" when the hipogriff escapes and begins chasing Hogsqueal is equally entertaining to hear.

Cons: The way Hamill voiced the childrens' mother made her sound like an evil woman who hated and blamed her 9-year-old son [Jared] for all life's problems. His voice for Thimbletack reminds me of an old, whiny Dr. Seuss - potentially very annoying.

I do recommend the story, although this is a review solely on the audiobook-aspect. I picked up the hardcover version of this book after I finished the series on audiobook and noticed the lovely pictures, which almost made me wish I had read the book instead of listen to it; however, I don't have a lot of reading time on my hands, and I drive across the state several times a month, which is why I chose the audiobook version. Overall, I think it depends on whether you are a visual or auditory learner/person.

As to whether or not Hamill is a good audiobook narrator? I made it through the entire series - my coworker did not. I guess you'll just have to listen and decide for yourself.

A heads up, if you do choose to listen to this book, *most* of the [five] books end at the end of each CD, except for book five. Book five is on the end of disc four after the music that is typically played when the end of the CD is over and Thimbletack tells you to go on to the next CD for the next book.

Amazon recommends this [audio]book for ages 9-12.

My Rating: