Showing posts with label audiobook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audiobook. Show all posts

17 July 2013

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris


Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
Publisher: Balzer + Bray    
Publication date: April 24th 2012
My rating: 3.5 stars

Sixteen-year-old Janelle Tenner is used to having a lot of responsibility. She balances working as a lifeguard in San Diego with an intense academic schedule. Janelle's mother is bipolar, and her dad is a workaholic FBI agent, which means Janelle also has to look out for her younger brother, Jared.
And that was before she died...and is brought back to life by Ben Michaels, a mysterious, alluring loner from her high school. When she discovers a strange clock that seems to be counting down to the earth's destruction, Janelle learns she has twenty-four days to figure out how to stop the clock and save the planet.
Well, this was interesting!

Even though I wasn't sure what was happening in the first half of book I couldn't get enough of it. I usually get frustrated whenever I don't get some answers by the first half of the book but I didn't mind the suspense in Unraveling

Elizabeth Norris knows how to create a captivating world. Her writing is never tiresome. Her heroes are intriguing and likable. I only wished they didn't swear since I'm a little bit uncomfortable with characters in YA novels using that kind of language. I do swear but if I wrote a book for younger audience I wouldn't use cuss words in it. 

It's hard to explain what this book is about without spoiling it big time. I didn't read any reviews before I started reading Unraveling for the same exact reason. 

Sorry for this short review. I didn't want to discuss the plot because of the spoilers so if there still are people who haven't read Unraveling yet, pick it up! You don't want to miss this exciting roller coaster ride! 

Since I was listening to the audio version of this book I would like to give props for the narrator, Katie Schorr for doing such an incredible job. 


09 June 2013

Audiobook review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why Book: Thirteen Reasons Why 
Author: Jay Asher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Composers: Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman

Clay Jensen’s first love records her last words.


Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice explains that there are thirteen reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah’s pain, and learns the truth about himself–a truth he never wanted to face.



Oh wow.

This was my first audiobook and it scared the living shit out of me.

I've already read Thirteen Reasons Why and I had instantly loved it. I'd loved how heartbreaking and sad it was. I loved how mysterious it was. I loved how 'new' this whole idea was. Seriously.

One afternoon, when you're back from school, you see a package lying outside your door which by the way, is addressed to you without a returning address. This game of anonymity ALWAYS attracts people and so it does that to you too. You open the package and find seven tapes. Now you're thinking 'Huh?' , but you need to know what this is, so you go ahead and play it. And out comes the voice of a girl, who committed suicide weeks ago, accusing YOU of being one of the thirteen reasons why she committed suicide.

Trust me. That is some original awesomeness, right there.

We have Clay Jensen. The lucky protagonist who finds those tapes lying outside his door with Hannah Baker's words embedded in them. The funny thing? He LIKED Hannah. And there was nothing that he ever did to hurt her. Then why was his name there? WHAT HAPPENED? WHY WOULD SHE GIVE UP ON LIFE?

Well you're about to find out.

Like I said, I had already read the book and there was something about Thirteen Reasons Why being turned into a film with Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker. (WHAT?!)
And so I went googling around to randomly stalk each and every news that came by and somehow, I came across this wonderful fan-made trailer that looks SO REAL. I almost just died of all the shivering I was doing.

Check it out!

Anyhow, the video has some voice overs and I was so fascinated and frankly scared. Later, I found out that they were taken from the audiobook! And I knew that I just had to buy it! So I had gone ahead and bought it. And then, I promptly, forgot.

Anyway. I was talking to Zemira and she was telling me about her audiobooks when I finally remembered about the ONLY one I had and I decided that I would read it soon. But after that moment, I just couldn't take it off my mind and I finally sat and started listening to it.

Joel Johnstone and Debra Wiseman who play the roles of Clay Jensen and Hannah Baker respectively, have done a fantastic job! The voice modulation chilled my bones and even made me laugh at one point. And the pace was absolutely perfect. And I have to applaud Debra's voice modulation because the pain and sarcasm in her voice were so believable and right. I'm still DYING.

When I'd initially read Thirteen Reasons Why, I was an emotional ball of heartbreak. The second time, I read it, I started noticing my tiny annoyance when it came to Hannah. I can see what was happening and I understand what she was going through but there was this part of me that just wanted to go ahead and pound her till she had broken all her bones. Yet. It was still heartbreaking.

And then I heard the audiobook and I, don't know, I started to see what she was saying and I started to NOT get annoyed with Hannah. Her explanation of how she wasn't strong enough to live and face things kept riling me up and I kept on thinking how 'I' would never give up but then I realized how every person is different and how Hannah is not me and I am not Hannah. And I understood.
But this time , it wasn't just heartbreaking.......it was CREEPY.
At the point when it was just Hannah's voiceover, it was as if she was talking to ME! And like I said before, Hellooo creepiness!

It was so engrossing! I was at it since last night!
I'm tutoring kids for the summer and when those kids came by at my place, I almost felt like shooing them all away and postponing the class. Since I couldn't do that, I just went ahead and started teaching them but I was so distracted! I don't blame myself at all. It was HANNAH.

If you wish to ever, PLEASE GO AHEAD AND LISTEN TO THOSE DAMN TAPES!