Audiobook Review
By: Sylvain Reynard
Narrated by: John Morgan
Published by: Penguin Audio 09/2012
Hot
Gabriel's Inferno Series # 1
20 hrs and 28 mins
Whispersync Voice-ready
Sample
My Thoughts
Narrated by: John Morgan
Published by: Penguin Audio 09/2012
Hot
Gabriel's Inferno Series # 1
20 hrs and 28 mins
Whispersync Voice-ready
Sample
Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption. When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide. An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, "Gabriel's Inferno" is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.
My Thoughts
I had a love -hate relationship with this novel. I was definitely captivated
and head over heels for the first 8 hours. I loved everything about it! The
characters, the story, the writing style, the narration, even the upper crust
dialogue, but after 12 hours of listening I started to feel like Elaine Benes
(from the Seinfeld show) when she went to see The English Patient - and so many
times just like she did, I felt like screaming, "Quit telling your stupid
story and just die...just die already!"...LOL, not that anybody dies, but
you get my point.
I got to give credit to the author; the character development was excellent,
even though, in the second half of the book there were quite a few instances
when I didn’t care for either of the protagonists’ attitude. Ok, so they were
flawed, and I do enjoy flawed, but not when they make me roll my eyes,
because when that happens I’m brought back to earth, where logical
comparisons to the real world are going to be made, and they better resemble
some sort of reality or I’m gone;
nevertheless, I imagine that if somehow you manage to stay connected to the
story, you would absolutely love this novel.
I still would recommend it to any fan of Fifty Shades and the
casual romance listener.
The basics of the stories are similar;
a more mature, in a higher authority position, ultra rich, handsome
and with a tortured past, (but with fewer shades of grey) professor
(Gabriel) falls for the innocent, sweet, intelligent, beautiful young (with a
few shades of grey of her own) student (Julia); however, the story has a
feel of its own; this is more romantic, intelligent and a LOT less naughty. Lots of
attention are paid to building their relationship, the length of the novel
gives room for a deeper look into their past and into their lives, making the
drama and the plot more complex, the fact that they don’t “get it on” (a phrase
too mundane to be found in this novel) until close to the end of the book didn’t bother me,
I love sexual tension, but I failed to feel the build up and anticipation that
I imagine the author was going for.
Also, I didn’t like how long it took to get from point A to point B, there
were times I felt as if the Author love to hear himself write (there were times
when I loved it too) and his efforts to create a grand romance felt too forced
and pretentious, what takes me back to my first sentence, I loved it, and I
hated it, maybe hate is too strong of a word, after all, I did listened to the
entire book.
One big note of caution to the romance listener, if you are looking for a
sexy and naughty read, this is not it, but if you like tortured characters that
have a troubled past to overcome, I think you might enjoy it, there seem to be
plenty of peeps that really did, just like I know plenty that didn't care for
it. It's kind of hard for me, to completely dismiss it when I really
enjoyed a big part of the novel.
Am I going to listen to the following book? Yes, eventually.
· rating details · 34,467 ratings · 2,994 reviews on goodreads
· rating details · 34,467 ratings · 2,994 reviews on goodreads
This is my first audiobook narrated by John Morgan, and what a
pleasant surprise! I loved his deep - sexy voice; he reminded me a lot of some
of my favorite narrators.
I thought his tone and approach to Gabriel’s character was
excellent; his arrogance and overconfidence felt very real, and Mr. Morgan new
exactly when to downplay his tone to bring Gabriel’s vulnerability to light.
His interpretation of Julia was acceptable, her voice didn’t sound too
androgynous for my taste in spite of his voice being deep toned by nature -
which I loved for Gabriel! He also does a great job with the rest of the cast - plenty of differentiations, I never felt confused.
Overall, he does a good job relating the feelings of the
protagonists, and the overall ambiance of the novel. I do have to admit; I did
find myself more comfortable listening at a faster speed than normal.
The audio clip was about Alice and zombies so I don't think that's quite right? LOL
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I loved it more and hated it less but I understand what you're saying in your critique. I love tortured characters and a more intellectual approach so this was right up my alley. Right now I'm reading Gabriel's Rapture and really enjoying it.
Thank you!I really wanted to just love it, but it didn't happened :( I will listen to Gabriel's Rapture, maybe I get to just love that one.
DeleteThank you for letting me know about the sample, I'm fixing it right now, somehow I uploaded the wrong sample, and I didn't check...Of course the one time I don't check...lol.
I wasn't expecting to like this book but I ended up liking it a lot. I will read the next one too....eventually lol
ReplyDeleteAnn
There were parts I really, really loved, that's why I was so conflicted over it. I'm going to listen to the following book real soon, I hope I can totally love that one.
Delete