Scan barcode
A review by dukefn99
Better Than First by Kari Trumbo
3.0
So, up front, I got a free copy of this audiobook for review. But all thoughts are my own.
Christian romance is a tough sell for me a lot of the time. I think it's hard for the author to find that right mix of interjecting faith into the story without it being overly preachy. For the most part, I feel that Ms Trumbo did a decent job. There as really only one time that I felt she got a little judgey... it had to do with tattoos. And perhaps I just misunderstood and since I was listening to a book rather than reading, I just didn't go back to listen (read) the passage again. At any rate, I was just rubbed the wrong way.
For the most part, I liked the characters. It was refreshing to have a heroine who has a physical disability. Isla wasn't the easiest character to like, but she did grow during the story and that's what I want to see when read. Duncan was almost too good to be true, but he was exactly what Isla needed. He didn't have quite the same sort of character growth as Isla, but he definitely moved the romance along. And there was a romance that was developed and there wasn't any sort of insta-love.
The big downside of the story for me was the narration. I've never listened to a story narrated by Ms Miles before and I'm not sure I'd search any out. I felt that she read too fast. There didn't seem to be any breaks between dialog or descriptions. There also wasn't much emotion poured into the performance. It just fell very flat for me.
All in all, it wasn't a bad story. I wouldn't be adverse to reading more from Ms Trumbo, but I'm not sure about audio versions.
Christian romance is a tough sell for me a lot of the time. I think it's hard for the author to find that right mix of interjecting faith into the story without it being overly preachy. For the most part, I feel that Ms Trumbo did a decent job. There as really only one time that I felt she got a little judgey... it had to do with tattoos. And perhaps I just misunderstood and since I was listening to a book rather than reading, I just didn't go back to listen (read) the passage again. At any rate, I was just rubbed the wrong way.
For the most part, I liked the characters. It was refreshing to have a heroine who has a physical disability. Isla wasn't the easiest character to like, but she did grow during the story and that's what I want to see when read. Duncan was almost too good to be true, but he was exactly what Isla needed. He didn't have quite the same sort of character growth as Isla, but he definitely moved the romance along. And there was a romance that was developed and there wasn't any sort of insta-love.
The big downside of the story for me was the narration. I've never listened to a story narrated by Ms Miles before and I'm not sure I'd search any out. I felt that she read too fast. There didn't seem to be any breaks between dialog or descriptions. There also wasn't much emotion poured into the performance. It just fell very flat for me.
All in all, it wasn't a bad story. I wouldn't be adverse to reading more from Ms Trumbo, but I'm not sure about audio versions.