Interesting book, more than a tour of Ireland

This was to say the least, an interesting book. Maybe I was going into it with a pre conceived idea that it would have the land, hills, and views described, just like a Jane Austen book. She always seemed to do that & managed to introduce so many characters and a beautiful love story. This was not the case.

Now I’m not saying Jean Grainger did not write a good book, but I was a bit confused. For example: When was this supposed to take place? There is a (no spoilers) woman who is so shy that it seems to hurt her to meet your eyes! She tells Connor, the tour guide, she was born in 1920? Now if I’m wrong on that, who was? The reason I’m saying this is because she doesn’t come across as someone born in 1920? But she’s on this tour so that she can find out more of her ancestry. That’s great...but it seemed like it came out of no where and I felt like I was being introduced to other characters and at this point I couldn’t keep up with the ones who were there?!

Yes it’s a tour through a part of Ireland, but I can honestly say the description of the book is NOT in the book. We are not introduced to the amazing beauty of Ireland. We are introduced to women, men and a boy that are all dysfunctional, well not all, but a lot. The title should be “The Tour and how it changed lives” because that’s exactly what it was about. Another example: Connor, a fantastic Irish tour driver, has a tour planned daily, plus room & board. It seems as if he’s ready to drop them off for their destination on the particular tour of the day, something crazy happens to one of them. Whether it’s crazy or an enlightenment is what the reader will see. I felt as if there were too many soap operas and a just so happens “a millionaire is in the bunch” ready to help that person who deserves it. It’s realistic to a point then goes off the deep end to you’ll say, “oh come on!”

I will give kudos to the narrator, Patrick Moy. A wonderful Irish accent and he can definitely change accents with no problem. There’s not one person who sounded the same, men or women. I think I continued to listen because I fell in love with him!

So all is not lost. I would still recommend this book, but I would seriously take it slow and don’t fall asleep listening, you’ll have to start again 😂😂😂

5 people found this helpful

Loved it!

I really enjoyed The Tour: A Trip Through Ireland. The character development and storyline kept my attention. The historical aspect of Ireland waa very interesting as well. Because I use Audible, that enhanced the story even more. The voice actors did an excellent job.

4 people found this helpful

easy read

Fun easy read following this group of tourists to find new places and solve personal problems

2 people found this helpful

A lot of characters

Like Donna ( a reviewer), I was also puzzled as to the woman with a birth year of 1920, so much so that I just stopped the book so I could check out the year that it was published. Doing some quick math, that indicated that the character is 97! However, in Chapter 22 when the detective was interviewing Dorothy, he stated the year as 2000. Ok. Now that the age of the character fits with the story, I can go back to enjoying this really good story!!! The character development is intriguing.

2 people found this helpful

What a lovely surprise

I bought this book months ago, but wasn’t all that keen on ready it, I saw it as a reserve. I finally started it yesterday, needless to say I got very little sleep last night. This book is a gem. I bought book 2 at 4am.

2 people found this helpful

Loved it.

What did you love best about The Tour?

Had no expectations when I started listening and fell right into a delightful book with good characters, great narrator, and everything a book should be on a rainy day.

2 people found this helpful

Great Story, So-So Narration

I thoroughly enjoyed The Tour. The characters are well-developed and fun. The story (or stories, really) are entertaining, with just enough tension to keep it interesting, but it's never tragic—moreover everything works out in the end. I enjoyed the way Grainger redeemed even the most unlikable characters in the end.

Moy does an incredible job with the plot and with the Irish dialogue and deserves 5 stars. But his cheap imitation of American accents was unforgivable enough to rate one star or less, thus he deserves only 3 stars for his performance. If I were to hear him narrate a book with only Irish characters, I'm sure I'd feel differently.

1 person found this helpful

Painful narration

I enjoyed the story, but the narrator’s female voices were nearly unbearable. It ruined the story for me.

1 person found this helpful

Loved listening to the characters' voices!

Great book to listen to! The narrator used unique and interesting voices for each of the many characters. Very entertaining! A feel good read! Could not stop listening.

Love this series

But when can we expect the 3rd and 4th book in the Conor O’Shea series to be released as a audio book. Soon, I hope.