aaron saari

Important contribution to larger narrative

Reviewed: 11-07-23

Ms. Natalie’s story is crucial to the full telling of KAR’s depravity and evil. The narration is not great. She mispronounces Bronfman as “Brofman” for the whole book, and her halting, atonal reading is jarring and takes the listener out of the story.

With that said, NXIVM put her through hell for decades. She forgave those who, after defecting, sought her out for help. She shows more grace than ever was granted her. There is no small amount of pleasure knowing she was able to watch the fetid POS get 120 years.

Ironically, the man who claimed “there are no ultimate victims, therefore I won’t choose to be a victim,” now claims he is a victim. KAR says he expects to be killed in prison. That would be too good for him. May he have a long life, rotting away in solitary.

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Sharp intake of breath before each sentence

Reviewed: 04-14-23

The stories are great. The reader needs to learn how to speak without taking loud, quick breaths before each sentence. Almost unlistenable.

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Engineering help

Reviewed: 09-01-22

Amazing show and series, but the volume discrepancies are distracting, especially when the interview is interrupted by a punched-in comment (it sounds like someone whispering into a can across the room). Great show, though.

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Poor engineering

Reviewed: 08-16-22

Seriously, remaster volume levels. It’s either a whisper or a shout. Hard to listen to as a result.

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Narration is grating

Reviewed: 08-02-22

I bought the trilogy, and I barely made it through the second book. Will Patton’s gravely, yet somehow breathless narration is cringe-inducing. His voice for Holly would be okay if he didn’t also use it for narration about her. He also seems to lose track of the voices. Look, it’s a tough gig and I couldn’t do it, but I’m not purchasing another book with this narrator. I’m pulled out of the story too much.

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Don’t believe alt-right pearl cluthchers

Reviewed: 07-21-22

Most terrorists are white dudes. Black people go to Harvard. Sexual abuse can be connected to sociopathy, Everyone claiming this is an “attack on conservatives” are really showing their true colors. Read something other than Bill O’Reilly “history,” watch something other than 24, and take a look at the mug shots of most mass shooters and killers. Because you’ll see Brady. Enough with your “great replacement” falderal.

Is this King’s best? No. But the Hodges trilogy must be considered together, and the journey is worth it.

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Music is terrible

Reviewed: 07-16-22

This is a classic Castle Rock story, and while King’s reading isn’t the greatest, there’s something about hearing the great man give voice to his creation. However, the “music” is horrible. Horrible! It’s like someone took an old Casio keyboard, drank a fifth of whiskey, and hit record. This should be remastered and the “music” removed.

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3 people found this helpful

Concur with other criticisms

Reviewed: 03-29-22

I love GC and was very excited for this offering. Sadly, the professor’s delivery is stilted and hard to follow. The lectures aren’t well organized and feel redundant. I taught for 15 years and preach every week. I know the difference between knowing the material and reading the material. This is 12 hours of unconfident reading.

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Too much whispering

Reviewed: 01-17-22

Narrating is a tough gig and it’s easy to be critical. Ms. Maslany has a pleasant voice, good cadence, and emotes well. However, the frequent whispering makes it difficult to listen on a speaker because I had to keep raising and lowering the volume, or rewind to catch what I missed. This might be more a production that performance issue, but it pulled me out of the story. Don’t overuse sotto voce.

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1 person found this helpful

Voices Hermione way too whiny

Reviewed: 09-21-21

Perhaps it is having listened to the previous three books in a short period, but the voices for female characters, especially Hermione, are incredibly whiny, so much so that it drives one to distraction. Almost every time she says Potter’s name as “Harrrryyyyyyy.” It’s too much. I regret buying the full set.

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