Unapologetic Reviews

I listened to Shari Franke's The House of My Mother as an audiobook, narrated by the author herself. It was a mixed experience. In the early chapters—where she describes her mother, Ruby’s childhood and their family’s early years—her reading felt distant, almost detached. Since Shari wasn’t part of that story, it came across as a recitation rather than storytelling. However, once the focus shifted to her own experiences, her narration became more engaging. Shari is careful not to tell her siblings' stories beyond what directly overlaps with her own, which is intentional and respectful. The only sibling she delves into is her brother Chad, and honestly, I felt bad for him at times. She recounts life before the cameras, the YouTube years, and what happened after their family’s channel declined—suddenly and dramatically, about halfway through the book. At that point, I thought, OK, so what’s the rest of the book going to be about? I couldn’t help but compare it to two other memoir...

I listened to Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao as an audiobook. The narrator was excellent, though Hana’s voice was sometimes a bit too breathy. That aside, her performance was enjoyable—especially the way she voiced the male characters. Let me warn you: the book’s blurb is misleading. It describes a whimsical, magical journey through a mystical world, making it sound light, cosy, and happy. It’s not. This book is emotional, raw, and deeply unsettling. It forces you to think, reflect, and question everything. It’s best experienced as an audiobook because, while you’re listening to the story, you can’t help but reflect on your own life. It’s like having two narrations running at once: the story’s journey of self-discovery and your own. You find yourself wondering about all the choices you’ve made—whether they were right, wrong, or simply inevitable. I finished the book just moments ago, and I haven’t stopped crying. Half of me doesn’t even know why. Japanese fiction always does this ...

Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs was written in the 1940s, so it's a rather old book—but that's true of pretty much all of Agatha Christie's books. I actually tried to read this book once before. Funny thing: when I was in high school, I had a summer of reading Agatha Christie. I didn't just read Poirot and Miss Marple, but I also read Tommy and Tuppence’s stories. I highly recommend them; I really love that duo. The best one was N or M?, which is actually more of a spy novel than anything else. That summer, I got most of my books from an antique store because they were very cheap there. The library didn’t really have Agatha Christie because it was considered lowbrow reading—not classic literature. The books I bought were old. My copy of Five Little Pigs was a misprint, missing parts of the story, so I never finished it. Plus, by the end of the summer, I had to switch back to reading the required school books, which were long and numerous. I got behind because of ...

I listened to Ally Carter's The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year as an audiobook. It is a blend of romance and mystery. I'm a huge fan of mysteries, especially the classic amateur detective story, but I'm not really a fan of romance. Still, I gave this a chance, as it was Christmas, and I wanted to read a book set during Christmas. Usually, I’m looking for a crime story that takes place during the holidays. I gave this book three stars because it was okay. It didn't blow me away; it wasn't terrible—it was just okay. The mystery has a couple of layers. The initial mystery in the story—well, the thing is, no one really cares about that part. The main characters do, but no one else seems to. Then there’s a secondary mystery, which was hard to figure out. The solution for that was... well, without spoiling it, let’s just say it really wasn’t what I thought it would be—in a bad way. Sometimes, a twist can work well if you don’t see it coming, but this felt like it was al...

This book was a disappointment. It started out great. Exciting. However, I was eventually let down. It was like sex without orgasm, which for a book about a courtesan is ironic. The story isn't really about the courtesan. I think that's where I was first disappointed. I was promised a courtesan. I expected sex. A story of a woman selling her body but making it look like art. It was written by a woman! Instead, I got the narrative of a cynical imp. It wasn't so bad. He was funny at times, and saw the world around him for what it was. But it wasn't what I was promised! Funny thing, the Hungarian title is much better. It's "The Courtesan and the Dwarf”. Much more fitting. The narration was mostly good. The author presented me with a lot of historical details. The streets and settings came alive. However, it did sometimes ramble on, freezing the story too long for thoughts and descriptions. If I wasn't listening to an audiobook, I would have skipped a lot. The ...

I listened to this story as an audiobook. The funny thing about that is that it's actually the best format for it. The story is actually set as a transcript of tapes that were dropped off for the writer. On the tape, two kids talk about their crazy-sounding adventures with Egyptian gods. So when you are actually listening to two kids talking about what happened, it comes across just the way it should. The story itself is similar to other books by Riordan. Kids get into an adventure that involves stopping a god, and also travelling through the US. The difference is that on the one hand they are not demigods, and the mythology is Egyptian. Now I'm a great lower of Ancient Egypt, so this was a plus for me. Overall, this is a great adventure, but I find that I wasn't taken by it as I was with the other books. The characters aren't that complex, and the focus seems to be more on the story and the mythology, than them. That is also why I didn't write about the ...

I listened to this book as an audiobook. I actually enjoyed it in this format very much. It was mainly read by the author, but it also had a full cast for the characters. Much better than when a male reader tries to imitate female voices. Though sometimes that can be very funny. It reminded me of the fairy tale cassettes I used to fall asleep to as a child. The story itself is about a girl, Lyra. It's obvious from the first moment that she's one of those destined children so popular in fantasy fiction. She's also 11, which is a common age to start child characters off. Lyra is a smart and cunning child. One of those natural leaders that can be the next Martin Luther King Jr., or the next Stalin. Which one she will become depends entirely on her basic temperament and life experiences. She is also very adaptable, just like her daemon. Whatever environment she finds herself in, she becomes part of it. She does feel like a normal child though. Sometimes children in stori...

The only reason why I managed to finish this monster book of monsters is because I went over to the audiobook version. I'm not sure if I should recommend it though. While the man does the male voices well, the female voices are a horror to listen to. The rest of the text is read as if the man was half drunk. This is the last published book in the series. Obviously, it's hard to keep it spoiler-free. I'll try my best though. Most of it is taken up by characters that were not in the previous book. Therefore, the people who were in that book are not in this one, at least, the first half. Most notably, Sansa is not in it at all, and Brienne just makes a sudden appearance. Most importantly, Daenerys features a lot in the book. The story moves along the usual pace, at the envy of a snail. I love the world, and I love reading about intrigue, but this is the book where you skip a lot. I don't care which four men went to the meet with Jon Snow. Nor do I care what men were at the...

This one was actually kind of epic. When I first started the book, I was thinking: "YAY PERCY!" And also: "YAY Roman Camp!" I loved getting to know this new environment. It was close to my heart, because the history of the Roman Empire is kind of a hobby of mine, among many others. I've also been to Rome, and while there I tried to imagine how it would have all looked whole. Imagining myself in New Rome was great. I also have to note that most of this book I listened to as an audiobook while running Xmas errands. I was so keen on the story, I had to put it on my phone and listen to it while walking around. The audiobook was quite good, but I think they said Geae wrong. Okay, I also don't like it spelled that way, Gaia is the more common spelling. Still, I have no clue why they would say Geae that way. Yes, this REALLY bugged me. If the person reading this review has read the previous book, then it comes as no surprise that Percy doesn't remember who he i...

I listened to the abridged audiobook version of the story. Martha, that is, Freema Agyeman read it. Like I said before, she does a very good job of reading these audiobooks. The story is among the most original book stories I've read for Doctor Who. It takes place on a starship called the "Brilliant". It has space pirates, time loops, the good old wibbly-wobbly, so it uses the potential of a Doctor Who story very well. I kept listening to it through the day, as it's full of twists and turns that will keep you wanting to go on with the story. The story didn't feel incomplete, as with some of the audiobooks. It has a good pace and flow. There are several characters that I liked in the story. Mrs Wingsworth was a bit annoying at first, but she turned out all right. The space pirates were a bit of a surprise, but I could see the point of their characters. Overall, I recommend this story for everyone. Maybe even people who just like a good sci-fi story, as it has plent...

I listened to the abridged audiobook version of the story. It was read by Debbie Chazen, who plays Foon Van Hoff in the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". It was a nice job, nothing disturbing. The story takes place in a small English village, and centres around the wishing well in the middle. Strange stories and events surround the old well, and the Doctor decides to investigate with Martha. My problem with the story was that it reminded me too much of several other stories, most noticeably Doctor Who: The Art of Destruction and Doctor Who: Forever Autumn . They all take place in or near a small village, with something lurking under the ground. There is the old mind control involved, which is such a reoccurring theme, it's getting boring. Seriously, authors, think of something new. So this story gets points deducted for being unoriginal. There are some nice action scenes, but the ending feels abrupt. It may be because of the abridged version, but if it is, then t...

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. This is the first one that I listened to, and was ready by Martha, that is, Freema Agyeman. I thought her reading style and her voice were very good. She did the parts of the Doctor well, and in character. The story takes place on an alien planet. It's ironically called "Sunday". The Doctor once said that on Sunday nothing happens, but here many things did. The story wasn't all that fabulous to me. While it was interesting, and not boring at all, it was slightly predictable. Though towards the end I did have a moment of classic; "Now how will they survive this?" It just made me wish that it wouldn't obviously be mind control again. I don't think I gave away anything with that. The supporting cast are nice. I especially liked Candice, who was one of those people who actively help the Doctor, and are even effective. Kind of made me wish they took her along for the ride. Overall, it...

I listened to this book as an audiobook. The story is about the Doctor trying to help people on a planet about to be eaten by a sort of space monster. It reminded me of how the Doctor and the monsters are never too far from each other. He genuinely wants to help, but of course, he ends up in a pickle. There are robots, talking wending machines and sunbeds. It's a rather fun story, but there are two things that bothered me about it. One was that in the beginning, when he arrives, the people are already preparing to leave. It may be the audiobook's fault, but it feels kind of strange that he stays. Not un-Doctor like, but clearly he is not wanted. The other thing is the ending, which made me ask; "Why didn't they do that in the first place?" It felt like the author wrote himself into a corner, and used the plan B to get out of it. However, it was such a plan B, that to any reasonable person it would have been plan A. The story is read by Will Thorp, who p...

I listened to this as an audiobook. Forever Autumn , as can be seen by the cover, is a Halloween story. I did wish I had kept it to Halloween, but I'm going through the books in publication order, and this was next. The story itself reflects the mood of Halloween very well. There are cats, bats, a weird tree, fog, all the things that make Halloween a fun time. At times, it was genuinely frightening as well. Will Thorpe reads the story, who played Toby Zed in "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit". He does a great job of it, and does justice to the characters. I recommend reading it for Halloween, and then the atmosphere will be perfect.

I listened to the audiobook. I actually like this one, which was a relief, since The Art of Destruction , which I listened to before, wasn't all that good. The story is about a planet, Laylora, where things are going horribly wrong. The deeper meaning of the story is that when a foreign element is introduced into an ecological system, things go haywire most of the time. The plot is a bit predictable, but it is a lot of fun. The action scenes are exciting, and there is a real sense of danger for the Doctor and Rose. It's read by Shaun Dingwall, who played Pete Tyler in the series. He does do a really good job of it, and has a nice, easy-to-listen-to reading. It is kind of funny to note that this is the last Rose story, and it's told by Rose's father. Two characters are memorable in the story. One is Rez, the human man who arrived to Laylora on an escape pod. He is forever trying to fit in, and most of the villagers are supportive. His presence and how the others on the p...

I listened to the audiobook version. This is so far the worst Doctor Who book I read / listened to. I keep forgetting about it too, so apparently my brain is trying to erase the memory. In the beginning, the way animals and all sorts of things were turning into gold and then moving was interesting, but when they were crawling around the caves it got quickly boring, and it couldn't recapture my interest. I wondered if it was just because I listened to it and not read it, but looking through the reviews I saw that other people had similar experiences with it. I didn't like Don Warrington's reading. For some reason his voice annoyed me, and I felt he couldn't capture the Doctor's way of speaking either. He was more successful with the African characters. The characters I can't remember at all. I remember that there was a guy and a woman that were running about, but nothing of them was committed into memory. Overall, I don't recommend this book. It can be given ...

I've listened to the audiobook version. The story is sort of interesting. Now the audiobook is abridged, so maybe it's better if I read the whole book, but I had some problems with it. On the one hand I felt that the parts on the planet were very hurried, while the part in space is a lot more detailed. It was also too much running about, and ended up not being all that interesting in the long run. Some elements of the steampunk aspect were nicely used, like when only steam was available or not, but otherwise it seemed a bit forced. The mystery element played out nicely, and the overall story was okay. It just wasn't as exciting as it could have been. The reading by David Tennant was brilliant as always. Even the way he emulated the steam coming out from the robots was effortless, and sounded genuine. The original characters didn't make much of an impact on me. Perhaps the ones that I could remember the most were Sally and Jimm. Though that is probably so ...

I listened to the audiobook version of this. I kind of wished I knew this took place in Ancient Rome, as a few months before listening to this I was actually in Rome. The story is one of my favourites so far in that it uses time travel. Most of the Doctor Who stories have the Doctor arrive somewhere, and then leave at the end, not really using the Timey-Wimey effect. This story has that, and to me, that makes it more interesting. We don't see as much of Ancient Rome as I would like to, but there is a great scene in the Colosseum. The resolution of the problem is well-thought-out, and I was really curious as to how it would turn out. It was rather a surprise, and I'm not surprised easily. The story is read out by David Tennant. While I've listened to several stories, I have to say, he is my favourite reader. Of course, he has intimate knowledge of the Doctor, but the was he plays with his voice and the different accents is masterful. Makes me want to seek out more of his aud...