Hard to like

I found it hard to like any of the characters in this book, frankly. And the whiny voice of the protagonist actually spoiled any bit of enjoyment I may have had for the book.

5 people found this helpful

I really wanted to enjoy this book

So the plot was almost non existent as the main character was too busy whining about ......okay everything. I have seen reviews that say it was the narrator, I think that she read the book brilliantly as it was written. The book was whiny. For every forty pages of whining you got a little snip of story line to maybe keep moving along.

Oh and as for all the female characters, you cannot call men sexist whilst referring to each other as sluts and whores. Where do you think they learned to disrespect you?

I think a 12 year old girl would find this book entertaining, but I fear how it would influence her.

5 people found this helpful

Narrator almost ruined it for me

Unfortunately, the narrator almost ruined it for me. She sounded like a petulant child. The story was good enough for me to overlook the narration.

12 people found this helpful

voice like nails on a chalkboard

Headache inducing screech of a voice. Never will I listen to that narrator again. avoid!

3 people found this helpful

Juvenile

I wish I'd listened to this before the year was up. Juvenile, child-like narrator. Silly narration and boring plot. Pass.

1 person found this helpful

needs to be edited

I think this story could be good but, it needs to be edited and it needs a new performer. I listen to it for a while hoping things would get better but it didn't and I could not finish it. it needs a new voice and a better edit. Too many words that we're not needed. it seems they were put in to fill space, a good story does not need "filler words". and I wasn't happy with the performance either. I think she's crying too hard to sound interesting. I just couldn't finish this book

1 person found this helpful

A story about normalizing sexual harassment.

If you're into the normalization of cops sexually harassing the citizens they're supposed to be protecting, this is the book for you! What the author seems to consider "romance" is ruining what would otherwise be a great story. (Well, except that I also easily figured out who did it and their motive by, like, page 2!)

1 person found this helpful

Painful to listen

What did you like best about Witchin' USA? What did you like least?

I liked the set up for the Moonstone Bay universe. As someone who LOVES Nocturne Falls books, I thought I'd give this a try. Based on previous reviews, I thought this would be a great read.

What I liked least is a longer list. The beginning of the book was slow, dialogue painful. I had to ask myself where was the editor during all this??? I look for characters that I can identify with, something about them that grabs me and makes me care about them.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting could have been the main character coming to grips with the way things worked on Moonstone Bay.

How could the performance have been better?

I was so distracted by the reader that I had trouble focusing on the book. The reader needs to work on her male voices, which mostly sounded stupid or slow.

Angel Clark has narrated so many books (I just checked), but I was unfamiliar with her work.

Did Witchin' USA inspire you to do anything?

Yes, write a review.

1 person found this helpful

Whiny charactors

What would have made Witchin' USA better?

having the main character not be so whiny and stupid acting.

What do you think your next listen will be?

It will not be from this author. I will be listening to one of Juliet Blackwell stories, they are funny and you can follow the story line.

Would you be willing to try another one of Angel Clark’s performances?

No

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Witchin' USA?

All of them

1 person found this helpful

Sorry... I found it sexist

What disappointed you about Witchin' USA?

There were two things I didn't like about this story. First, I found it to be sexist. I'm not a touchy-feely offended-by-everything kind of guy... But this book was straight-up sexist. The two male leads treat the female lead like a bratty child for the entire story. She pouts and whines and complains, while the men boss her around, brag about their sexual prowess, and generally treat her like a child. Somehow all of this is supposed to be "sexy" to her. I don't get it. The audio book voice actor even gave her a really shrill, whiny, voice (because that's how she's written). The only two times in the story where she actually takes action and defends herself are when her witch powers take over and do it for her (and she can barely remember doing it). She is a passive observer through the whole book, being swept along by circumstances and the men around her (who dictate her every move). I found her to be very different (in a bad way) compared to other female leads from the other Amanda M. Lee story I read.. The second thing I don't like about the story is that the identity of the killer was extremely obvious from the very beginning. There was not much "mystery" to this mystery.

Has Witchin' USA turned you off from other books in this genre?

I don't believe this book was actually in the genre. This book is called a "cozy mystery", but if you look up the Wikipedia definition of a "cozy mystery", you'll find that "Witchin'" follows almost none of the tropes of the category. The lead character doesn't really try to unravel the mystery around her (the men do that). There is violence, heavy drinking, wall-to-wall sexual innuendo, and in the end a "hero" character murders the main villain in front of the female lead (and the police cover it up). Now I'm not generally opposed to any of those story elements as a rule, but they definitely don't fit the "cozy mystery" category.

What three words best describe Angel Clark’s performance?

men sound dumb

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The idea of a magical island where all the inhabitants are supernatural is great. The idea that supernatural beings have an island paradise to visit when they vacation is original, and I like it. The way well-known horror character/creature types are modified in this story is cool. To me it seemed like the the whole story would've been pretty good, minus the female and two male leads. I enjoyed most of the secondary characters.

Any additional comments?

Angel Clark is generally competent. It's difficult to separate her performance from a story that I didn't care for. Angel does have a tendency to speak very slowly when she's doing male voices, which makes the characters sound dumb. I'm sure it's difficult to do male voices as a female, but she should probably speed-up her delivery of the male lines. To me they all sound mentally challenged, because they speak so slowly. As for Amanda M. Lee, the only other title I have read from her was "Any Witch Way You Can", which in my opinion is far superior to "Witchin' USA".

1 person found this helpful