Holly > Recent Status Updates

Oh the joy of listening to one of the staples of your youth and realising that it deals in casual sexism.

Oh dear. I think the book is probably good, but the narrator is driving me insane. Everything! Is! Dramatic! Stage! Voice! And he pronounces “Goethe” as Gerta which is killing me. Deep breath, keep going...

This is a really interesting read, but it also makes me so, so angry and sad. The presentation of the information is fairly neutral, if not biased towards the colonialists and settlers, and thus far fails to offer much commentary or criticism on the impacts of the Europeans’ explorations into Africa. I hope that comes at a later point in the book!

One of the main critiques of this book seems to be that it moves quite slowly. And fair enough, I'm almost 9 hours in and we've really only covered the span of one day. But honestly by this point in the series you've grown to love the characters, Diana Gabaldon's humorous wit, and Davina Porter's absolutely excellent voices enough to tolerate any level of plot drag! Enjoying immensely.

Equally delightful to the first book!

I'm struggling. Ufff. I just don't feel drawn into the characters at all. The writing itself is exquisite - and it seems to me that this disguises the fact that the plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I feel so guilty for not loving this, as it's so well reviewed. Perhaps it just doesn't come across as strongly as an audiobook?

Mixed feelings on this book. It’s very funny and the author has a playful wit that makes it (largely) fun to read. But it is insanely dated, and sexual harassment and crimes of passion are treated so lightly. Definitely have had to take a few breaks while reading.

SO CLOSE

9:30 hours left. The length of one normal audiobook. I can literally feel the extra testosterone pulsing through my veins as a result of listening to this book for over 33 hours thus far. I have already downloaded the next audiobook. It is a book about a woman, with a female narrator. I cannot wait. Please send thoughts and prayers.

Okay, we just had what could have been a really great conclusion to the book, but a new (final?) section has started and I have the feeling things are going to get pretty messy (violent and very graphic) again soon.

I DON’T HATE THIS BOOK ANYMORE. Strong argument for powering through and not judging a book by the first 800 pages.

I DON’T HATE THIS BOOK ANYMORE. Strong argument for powering through and not judging a book by the first 800 pages.

Did... did I just start enjoying this book? Definitely am finding the listening waaay less painful, am engaged in the story and characters, and am excited to hear where this goes!! Maybe it was just a hard adjustment period, or maybe I’ve started tuning out some of the flowery language? Anyways... pays to keep going!

Just pushing a canoe of thought out into the uncharted waters of book reviews here, but... the metaphors in this book are painful. That said, I am beginning to find the story itself pretty interesting, and that’s making the melodramatic savior Barbie prose more tolerable.

I feel like I’ll be updating here a lot to help me get through this. Right now narrator + love interest (Australian & Swiss-American, respectively), are walking through the streets of Bombay, talking about how wretched and poor and miserable everyone there is, and how terrible it is they can’t save everyone, and all I can think of is savior Barbie instagram.

Hoo boy. Only three hours in (audiobook), I’m already suffering. The narrator is so self-involved, and the descriptions of people and places so painfully cliched. It feels like a far too blatant and overbearing attempt at high literature, with its dramatic metaphors and the profound significance assigned to a smile or a glance. Help. 40 hours to go.

Sooooo much description, so little plot. Cannot wait to finish this so I can move onto something else.

The book is objectively beautifully written, but still doesn’t precisely feel like it’s going anywhere. Thus far it is simply a chronicle of Alma’s life. My main emotion as I listen to it is deep frustration that they were all so colossally bad at communicating with one another.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure how much of this I'm actually absorbing, as I tend to have the audiobook on in the background as I draw or clean. And I've noticed there are quite a few names I keep getting mixed up. BUT it continues to be a fascinating glimpse into the times! Enjoying it!

Apologies for and retraction of any initial skepticism at past me’s decision to get this book. This is SUCH a brilliant glimpse into the Middle Ages, told with all the right amount of pithy wit.

Honestly don’t know why past me got this from Audible, but present me is trying to listen to all the books I’ve accumulated and not yet listened to, so.... here goes!