Play Book Tag discussion

Marie Laure is blinded when she is little. Werner is a good German boy who gets himself into the Hitler Youth. Marie Laure ends up in Paris after her father is arrested.

To be honest, I’m not quite sure exactly what else happened. Or, not enough to really summarize, anyway, though there were bits and pieces I caught. I listened to the audio and knew I was in trouble as soon as I heard the male voice; I tend to lose focus much more quickly and more often with male narrators, and this was no exception. Sorry to everyone who loved it, but I’m not a fan – at least not of the audio, anyway.

Not alone, Cindy - I wanted to love it (and bits were amazing) but it was a miss for me too

This was a 5 star for me-it was before I joined here so I did not write a review-I remember reading it in 3-4 days. No need to apologize for not liking it though-I DNF a ton of the books others have loved-but that's what makes this group tick-all the diversity! Hope the next one you pick is more to your liking.

KateNZ wrote: "Not alone, Cindy - I wanted to love it (and bits were amazing) but it was a miss for me too"

Glad to hear it!

Joanne, thanks. I actually didn't have this one my tbr (despite the many glowing reviews), but one of my book clubs put it on their list. It's the book club I don't go to all the time (usually if it's a book I want to read, anyway, will I read it and go), anymore, but since it was on the list, and so many had enjoyed it, I decided to give it a try, after all.

Ah well - win some, lose some. Also, I was able to get the audio fairly quickly while I wait for others I have on hold.

I should have added in my review that I did enjoy following Marie Laure more than Werner. The bits that followed her were a bit more interesting to me.

You know I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, but I couldn't listen to this one. The reader added nothing to the atmosphere of the book. I thought he was dull.

Jgrace wrote: "You know I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, but I couldn't listen to this one. The reader added nothing to the atmosphere of the book. I thought he was dull."

Did you end up reading the book in print (or ebook), in the end?

LibraryCin wrote: "Jgrace wrote: "You know I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, but I couldn't listen to this one. The reader added nothing to the atmosphere of the book. I thought he was dull."

Did you end up reading the ..."

I own both now. I gave this book 5 stars. At the time I think I bought or borrowed the book in print to finish it. I know that once I finished it, my print copy made the rounds of several friends. I almost didn't get it back.

Oh, wow! It made that much of a difference to read it vs listen to the audio. Interesting!

I listened to the audio and rated it 4****

Snippet from My review
The audio version is performed by Zach Appelman, who does a marvelous job. His gift as a voice artist makes it easy to believe he is speaking for a blind teenaged girl, a confused German boy, an elderly uncle, or a gruff soldier. As an added bonus the audio book begins and ends with the strains of Clair de Lune …. A haunting melody that is a perfect metaphor for this beautifully told story, and is still playing in my head.

Book Concierge wrote: "I listened to the audio and rated it 4****

Snippet from My review
The audio version is performed by Zach Appelman, who does a marvelous job. His gift as a voice artist makes it easy to believe he ..."

You know, BC, I've tried this as an audio reread more than once because you've mentioned how much you liked it. But I can't get past the first few minutes. (No Clair de lune at that point.) Maybe I should stick with it a bit longer. I did play that piece as background music when I read it. I would like to listen to it. It's a book that I want to enjoy again. I'm more likely to do that with an audio.

I wonder if there is more than one audio version? The one I had BEGAN with the strains of Clair de Lune.

Don't know if it was "Clair du Lune" or not, but there was the same music at the start and end of my audio.

LibraryCin wrote: "Don't know if it was "Clair du Lune" or not, but there was the same music at the start and end of my audio."

Yes, that is Clair de Lune

I also did the audio of this, and I remember feeling "guilty" for giving it 4 stars- because the majority of readers and PBTers all gave it 5 stars. I actually think I read it as part of the top 10 PBT challenge. I liked the audio, but felt some of the mid-sections got a little boring and drawn out because of it.

This didn’t do it for me, either. I gave it three stars for the sentences and the occasional brilliant writing. But it wasn’t as good as the hype.

I’m blocking me ears! I LOVED it!

Ugh. Autocorrect. *my

I rated this 4 stars. I loved some of the themes. I will admit some of the details of the story are fuzzy but not how the book made me feel.