This was a random audiobook I was interested in because it looked like something different from my usual stories and the cover caught my eye. Needless to say, I wasn’t really a fan.
This was a strange story. It took me a good bit to get into it (it turned out I needed to focus 100%) and even after I felt like I had an idea (kinda sorta) as to what was going on, I’m not really sure I did. Was there a backstory to Zing Ping besides the part when he was with his parents? I didn’t feel like there was much information provided for the characters. It’s like Zing Ping goes from one place to the next; I wasn’t totally sure why. He starts off at a location where there are females who, I guess, were created to please angels or higher beings? Yet, Zing Ping wasn’t an angel, at least not at this point. I remember there being mention of training. I might have missed this part but why was Zing Ping so eager to die? Also, what was with the character’s names? Zing Ping and Jing Ping (no relation), and Heshe; I’m not sure if that’s how it was spelled or not, but that’s how it sounded when the narrator spoke it… After two hours of trying to understand what I was listening to, I gave up. I feel there was a lack of descriptions to both the scenery as well as characters that I just didn’t care what happened to the characters.
The narrator did a pretty good job (4/5). I think with more practice, the better he’ll get (and that can’t be said for a lot of narrators I’ve listened to), and the more natural he’ll sound while reading. Isn’t the goal for a narrator to come across as though they weren’t sitting in a little room reading from a script? His voice made me think of Austin Vanfleet (“Shadows of Aizai”). I love his accent, but I felt there were times when he overemphasized a word/phrase that didn’t really need to be said differently than the rest of the text. I get what he was going for, but it didn’t work for me, in my opinion. What happened to Zing Ping’s father’s voice? Why did the narrator talk so slowly? It just sounded weird to me. Overall, I’d listened to him again.
Questions/Comments:
So Zing Ping is carried by two females. He climbs onto the back of one, using her boobs as handles, while his feet were thrust into the other female’s face. Based on the image my brain is conjuring, this doesn’t seem like it would be a comfortable position. There was also a time, not much later, when Zing Ping ends up perching on the two females’ shoulders. What? For that description, my brain only comes up with a giant question mark.
There were many questionable descriptions and/or phrases used. An example included a female (I don’t remember her name) but Zing Ping opens his eyes and sees that she’s standing “on top” of the ceiling. How does one stand “on top” of a ceiling? Do ceilings have tops and bottoms that I’m not aware of? Apparently. Or the use of repetition: “He could have easily taken advantage of the rules of the curse for his advantage.” This sentence could easily have been rewritten as: “He could have used the rules of the curse to his advantage.” Or (this is a good one!) “Zing Ping stuck his tongue into Marshu’s throat (not sure how he managed that) and slowly began to massage to her breasts. Marshu’s hand ended up inside his pants and she slowly began to gently stroke it. Her body began to get wet and her began to redden. Her muscles relaxed and her large breasts began palpitating.” Just that sentence alone makes me this writer didn’t have another set of eyes look over his story for mistakes. Some of the dialogue was…laughable. “Please go ahead and enjoy me, okay?” and “Yes, please take advantage of me.” Or “I can’t breathe. However, I thought you wanted me to live. I can’t breathe.” What?! Lol
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.