Mother Hunger by Kelly McDaniel audio, read by author
First off, this book is intended for females. I didn’t know that when I started it but since I aMother Hunger by Kelly McDaniel audio, read by author
First off, this book is intended for females. I didn’t know that when I started it but since I am a female it all worked out. :) The authors voice was soft, clear and smooth. The speed of the dialogue was too slow so I put it on 1.2. There was also a pdf download that came with this audio book that had some quiz like questions to answer and get to know yourself better. It also helped to fill it out before reading as the author references the pdf.
First impression? I loved it. It gave me a lot of info that explained the why of my emotions. Which is something I didn’t know I needed. It also explained general coping mechanisms that woman would exhibit if they had felt Mother Hunger. And let me tell you, it was spot on for me at least. Every chapter had pertinent info and I related to almost every situation. She used many other books, movies and personal examples to support her theory. I feel like I know myself better. It has inspired me to read more self help books to continue my healing journey. ...more
Ok this book was good in that it made me think. I loved the words but not the story. Both the Dr and the Retch were just plain stupid but that’s coming from a more progressive time were we don’t blame each other for our shortcomings and/or actions and try to compare each others suffering as if it’s an excuse for our actions. Emotional immaturity as it’s finest.
First off Frankenstein was the biggest coward I have ever met. Although I think the retch was pretty cowardly as well. They both blamed each other for their own failings and were consumed with being right. To the point of violence. And then at the end when neither one really got what they wanted, the retch was all please forgive me sire. Um, nah bro you killed hella people and tried to blame him for it. Then you tried to argue that you suffered more than anyone else. Maybe that got lost in translation but your hurts are no bigger or worse than others dude. You don’t get to compare them. Anyway, I just kept going back to the blame game. Is the Dr to blame for not taking responsibility for his creation? Or is the retch to blame for his own actions? And also, are these both sides of one coin? Do we each have within us the capacity to identiy with the violent retch and the cowardly Dr? I don’t know but I sure as shit am glad I read this book....more
It was cute, I found some of the quotes a bit redundant and obvious but there were a few activities that I thought were fun and wanted to try. It was It was cute, I found some of the quotes a bit redundant and obvious but there were a few activities that I thought were fun and wanted to try. It was short too so it was a quick read. ...more
I couldn’t get into this one. Maybe it was the fact that the backstory felt like it was taking forever because it’s an audio book. Maybe it was the fact that Sal wouldn’t shut up about her obsession about Kulti. It got old real fast. Or maybe it was the fact that Kulti didn’t seem real because he didn’t hardly speak but ten words in the time I listened to it. It sucks that I didn’t like it but I think I will give it another try later on down the road. And I think I will just read it instead of listening to it. That medium for this type of book will help with the slowness and/or fastness issue....more
I’ve read this story before and loved it so when the author offered me the audio version to try I jumped at the chance. Now the story is wonderful but I did have some issues with the voice. I found her country twang for the males a bit stilted. It didn’t flow as easily as the females for some reason. I don’t know why. And because of that sometimes I would get confused as to which make was speaking because they all sounded the same to me.
But the story flowed on in spite of the voice issues I had. Della is an awesome heroine. And Cash is one of my favorite supporting characters of ALL time. I love how they first meet and she wacks him in the groin with a lantern. LOL, I knew this was gonna be a great relationship. And I was so happy that he was not a love interest, it was almost as if the author knew that the first mlae introduced in YA paranormal is usually the love interest and she thought to herself, “Hmm, how can I fuck with my readers? Muahahahha” It was awesome.
Della catches on pretty quickly in this story, being bombarded with so much family ties and background after being in the system her whole life should have screwed with her. Since she has her own secret makes it more easily digested. The family aspect of this book is very involved and I really liked that. We don’t see a lot of YA with strong familial support systems in place. Usually the MC is isolated in the story and the family doesn’t get the face time for the reader to care, not so in this book. The opposite actually, another aspect that makes this story unique.
I would recommend this book to YA readers, whether you listen or read it, its worth it....more
This book counts towards my Space square in the Science Fiction vs. Fantasy book bingo (#SFvsFBingo) being hosted by Curiosity Killed the Bookworm I have 10 books down on that thing, by far the most of all my challenges I think. And I’m sure I missed some that qualify because…laziness.
Anyway, I really like this audio story, which I didn’t think I would because of all the growly, alphaness. But the narrators did a great job of hitting both Jarek and Melissa personalities. Melissa was your typical female lead, resistant to her attraction and mating. She showed a strong backbone to be dealing with an alpha dragon shifter. And I liked how Jarek didn’t try to smother her or control her but rather listened to her argument and didn’t outright deny her. He tried to help her undertsand where he was coming from without being overbearing. For instance, a quote that stood out to me: “Just because I undertstand doesn’t mean I agree.”
I quite enjoyed the ‘knowing’. While instant mate bonds aren’t really my thing, I did like how they were able to navigate their backgrounds with it. It was a nice loophole that helped to clear up any misunderstandings due to lack of cultural knowledge without having to do too much info dump. They each had some hiccups in their history that kept them from going in whole hog with the mating but they were willing to work through them. I found their approach to the ‘knowing’ mature and relatable.
And the whole background was simple, to the point and easily understandable. I hate when we get too involved with a societies politics and some things get lost along the way. Preor needed mates, earth volunteered to participate in seeing if they were compatable. Some were for it, some were against it. Bada bing bada boom, great storyline. I’d listen to more of these books in the future, it was only about 4 hours so I could finihs one in a day, which is kinda my thing....more
This story was very good. It had most of the same aspects of a shifter story. Although there were a few differences.
I liked how the shifter’s life and rules weren’t just a small part of the story. The laws and intricacies of pack life were detailed and well thought out. I really enjoyed learning about their dynamic. Most books have the basic knowledge of shifter world, yeah? There is an alpha for every pack, they mate for life, and a dominant male can control less dominant males to name a few. This base knowledge comes with certain rules and limitations; and most books don’t really go into more detail about this seemingly small aspect of a story. This book took that base knowledge and expanded on it which I found very original and entertaining.
For instance, I enjoyed the heat portion of the story. I think it showed that not all shifters are ruthless, possessive and selfish. I really liked how the pack acted around children and how each pack member had a bit of background that gave them more dimension. And the animal didn’t reflect the person if that makes sense. Denver was a kind and caring person, but his wolf was quite dangerous. Each member of the pack offered something unique and original, making me want to know them all the more.
And we haven’t even got to the main characters yet!
Lexa is a family oriented person, with a strong independent streak. She knows what she is capable of but has a hard time in her professional life. I’ve been there! Gosh it sucks to know you can do so much more but its just out of reach. I like her open-mindedness to kinda go with the flow and not make knee-jerk reactions. It showed a maturity that seems lacking in most female leads.
Austin has some good attributes to be sure but I found his character sub-par compared to Lexi’s. He was a pretty awesome alpha though and had complete control over his animal and his desires. He always put his pack and Lexi first and you could see how his pack not only respected him but also showed great affection for him. He was thoughtful and respectful to Lexi’s wishes.
I mean, you know a man loves you when he’s willing to blow up your car. Best ending ever!
I will absolutely be reading more in this series....more
I LOVED this story but the AUDIO made it the best audiobook I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Iggy Toma is a master at inflection and depth. He played the females voices so well I thought it was two people! I really loved it, so much so that I’m gonna try to find all his other narrations and I don’t even care what the book is at this point. LOL, crazy right? He hypnotized me, and I loved every minute of it.
Now on to the story, it was pretty fantastic in itself.
Laurie was privileged and he knew it. He had talent, money and had lots of family support. What more could a guy ask for? Still, he struggled. I enjoyed Laurie’s search for himself and the difficulties he faced with his feelings and expressing himself. He was very much afraid of rejection and a bit neurotic, he was wound a bit too tight and knew that too. Which made the romance between him and Ed so damn appealing to listen too.
Ed was a man’s man. He played semi-pro football and was immensely proud of it. He loved it so much that he had a super hard time dealing with life after football because of his injury. To put it shortly, he was living in denial and was a grouchy ass because of it. I think that Ed’s issues could have gone deeper in this story because it was hinted that he may have some depression issues that he wasn’t dealing with but we never really got the full story. I would have liked to hear more about his struggle with that and how Laurie dealt with it as well.
They were a total opposites attract romance, which is one of my favorites because my husband and I are complete opposites so I can totally relate to their story.
Their dancing was just icing on top of a already delicious cake. It was like each time they danced together life just took a break and they were able to reset and come back to each other. I can’t even explain it better than that, it was just wonderful....more
I was not expecting this story from this author. The previous books I had read had more simmering romance in them than this. Not to say this one was lacking, I was just surprised.
This story had a more family element to it. I really liked about this book. As an older sister I can totally relate to wanting to make sure my younger siblings are ok and have everything they need. And I can relate to having shitty parents as well. The mystery aspect was cozy and cute. It took me a while to figure out whodunit and I felt not enough emphasis was on that part of the story. Most of it was Charlotte struggling with her morality versus making sure her sister and her were able to eat and have somewhere to sleep.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that jazz.
I can say that I was not feeling the narrator…at all. Usually they grow on me but this one wasn’t hitting the feels like I needed. I think this impacted my enjoyability of the story because I couldn’t really connect with the characters like I usually do.
Also, not all the loose ends were tied up in the ending. Sure, the mystery was solved and the romance aspect was put to rest…… but we never find out about her basically stealing someones identify and how the town will feel about it once they find out. This is pretty major since the town made her feel welcome and accepted, hence the morality issue. I will be honest and say that I will probably not be reading the next in this series because I don’t really want to invest more time in these characters. It was a cute cozy mystery and I’m good with letting it be at that....more
Holy crap this book was awesome. If you like autobiographies, which, I do. An autobiography is best read in audio form, you can listen to it without thinking to hard. And if your family overhears you don’t have to worry that much about the content, ie sex scenes aren’t really a worry with these types of books.
My daughter started listening to this book when I was about halfway through. She loved it. She kept asking, “Mom, can we listen to the guy with the stories?” While there were some things that I was unsure about her hearing, ie Trevor Noah grew up in an abusive household, similar to my own upbringing. And I was worried how she would take it, but I let her listen and kept an open mind. Turns out I didn’t really have to worry. She LOVED this book. I’m excited to listen to more like this with her.
I loved this book as well. I gave such a stark contrast to my own lifestyle growing up in America. Even after everything he went through, he didn’t let it break him. He put a sardonic spin on most of his stories, which seemed to feel more real to me because of it. It wasn’t too serious, but it was just serious enough if that makes sense. I hope it does cause I have no other way to explain it. His views on abuse were pretty spot on and I agreed with him. And I learned so much about his country, things I never would have thought were possible. The food they ate when they had no money. The buses, like WTF, never would have thought they could be run by anything other than government. The violence that was prevalent (not just domestic), the sexism, the different tribes and languages. I could go on and on. It was just incredibly interesting. And he explained it with enough detail and vibrancy that I wasn’t confused with info overload. It was just a great book.
I listened to this audio book free through my Overdrive app. This book was funny to me at first. The MC was witty, sarcastic and clairvoyant. I laughed quite a bit. But, then her growth started to stagnate and her sarcasm started to get annoying.
The plot started out pretty easy to understand, which was good considering the story itself was meant to be a quick read. About halfway through the book though, the author seemed to change her mind and added a bunch of stuff that I felt was unnecessary to the story. I got a bit confused as to the whys of some of it, thereby losing interest even more.
I hated the ending because I didn’t get any kind of closure that I felt was needed. The minor plot was tied up but the major one was left hanging. When I went to see how long the series was, I realized I didn’t have the stamina or the patience to get any deeper into this series so I could find out what happens. Which is a shame.
If you want a long series to savor, this is for you. If you are like me and crave near instant gratification, I’d pass....more
I loved this book. It’s not generally in my wheelhouse of genres that I read but it’s part of my read harder challenge from last year. This book took me about 6 weeks to get through. Partly because its an audio book and I only listen to those on my commute to work and partly because I had to take A LOT of breaks. It was very monotone and linear, not really what I’m used to.
However, the reporting on his life and all the interviews that were quoted were awesome. I felt like I got to know him on a more intimate level. I had no idea how much of an asshole he was. LOL, and arrogant, my god he was very much about his ideas and had no qualms about telling anyone what his opinion of them was. And he was so damn impulsive, he would judge a person on the first impression and wouldn’t let it go. All faults IMO, but when you are on the outside looking in. And only focusing on his career, it was quite fascinating. I mean, I could never have worked for him, but hey, nobody’s perfect. I don’t mean to say that he was a devil or anything, but the biography didn’t hold anything back in regards to his professional life.
This book was very in depth about his career, and since I remember most of it growing up, I got a little nostalgic while listening. Especially, when he purchased Pixar, and then eventually sold it. Or when he came back to Apple and slowly turned it into one the most profitable and recognized brands in the world. But I think the thing that stands out most to me were his values.
They spoke a great deal about how Steve thought the past was the past and you couldn’t change it, so instead you needed to learn from it. And how he looked in the mirror and asked himself if I died today, would he have accomplished everything he wanted? Or how he was constantly asking himself, “What comes next?” Constantly looking forward, I really liked that. I do that to. Don’t dwell on the past, always move forward. These are things I can relate to and I found that very interesting that we shared some of the same views on life. When his sickness and eventual death was covered, I actually started crying. He was a giant in the PC world and I wish I would have read this book sooner....more
This book was awesome! This is the first time I have ever listened to a book that I have never read. And I was pleasantly surprised.
I love this narrator. She breathed life into these characters with her accents, her tone and the inflection. I believed her when she did the male voices. It was like there were several different narrators, thats how good she was! I still hear them in my head. I am new to audio books (this is my 4th) but if this is the talent I have been missing I am definitely gonna start buying more.
This book hurt my heart. It was such a sad, tragic story that I thought for sure was not going to end the way I expected it too. I have never been so happy to be wrong!
I get her guilt, It was a real weight dragging her down. But the real stand out for me was Liam. His vulernability still gives me the shivers. And Hayden’s downward spiral was painful to listen to as well.
The ending kinda blew me away, it wasn’t rushed, like, she wasn’t better overnight. She had a constant struggle to come to terms with her skewed verson of herself she saw in the mirror every morning. It was very internal. The pacing was perfect for me. I am for sure going to read the next one....more
I received this audio book in exchange for an honest reveiw.
This book will always hold a special place in my heart because it is the first book I read that ever made me cry. Not just little tears either, but big crocodile tears most would call the ‘ugly cry’. So it was really hard when I listened to the book and found myself disconnected from the MC. We share a common past; my mom also died of cancer so I totally got her character.
The audio book was overshadowed by the narrator’s high-pitched voice. She surprisingly nailed the male voices but I found myself having a hard time liking the MC because her voice was so whiny. I have read this book before I listened to the audio which is how I do it, like a compare and contrast of reading and listening. The differences were very big in my head. Hayley seemed to be a bit childish in her behavior when I listened to it but in the book I never noticed, I am not sure if it was intentional or not but I just couldn’t get in to her character this time around.
I received this audio book in exchange for an honest review.
I am shocked, shocked I say! This narrator has some serious skills. She did accents perfectly. Her voice was so emotive, it was like I was there. I could hear the sarcasm, the playfulness and the serious tones. It was very expressive. Her book was full of so many different accents and it made the characters in my head come to life in a way that was impossible while reading to myself.
Its no secret I loves me some Stormy Smith. Her writing is professional, detailed and well rounded. And I wish this novella was longer just so I could hear the narrators voice nail all the different characters. I will say I found Aidan’s voice a bit hard to listen too at first, like she was trying to hit a lower register than was possible for her. It made me cringe a bit in the beginning. But once I got used to it, the whole cast really came together nicely.
I like this audio so much, I’m looking for other books she has narrated just so I can hear her voice again. Well done Kristin James! And of course, kudos to Stormy for writing such a wonderful book to be narrated...more
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