The Secret Life of Souls
By: Jack Ketchum, Lucky McKee / Narrated by: Casey Turner
Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
GASP! >Sputter< May I say that I haaaaaaated this?!?
I was soooooo excited to add The Secret Life of Souls to my Tell Me What’s Next options, desperately happy that something that sounded soooooo neeeeeat in the Publisher’s Summary (Drat those things!) had the word of the round: “Soul” in it. I watched voting with my fingers and toes crossed and was thrilled that it wound up in a 2-way tie. Yup! Only one thing to do: Noooo, not a tie-breaker; I’ll just listen to both!
So imagine my dismay when I downloaded the book, hit Play, and the screen asked me if I wanted to go to the spot where I left off: 6 1/2 hours into the book. I mean, huh? Had I listened to it, partially, already? Certainly not! After what I’d read in the P. Summary, CERTAINLY I would’ve remembered something so magical!
Then imagine my further dismay when I finally shook off my dread and started playing the book… only to discover that I HAD indeed started the book before, and I’d haaaaaaated it so much that I ACTUALLY stopped it cuz it was far tooooo loathsome to finish.
Seriously! It’s NOTHING like the P. Summary. Sure, the wastrel parents and introverted brother were mentioned, but one has no idea just how despicable their characters are (Well, brother Robbie is far too lonely to be reprehensible—he’s just misguided). And our young heroine, 11-year old child actress Delia is actually a tad too mealy-minded to be a stand-up-and-cheer-for person to carry off being a strong character. She goes along as Lunesta/Ambien-popping mom shoves her around into acting spots, when high-tech shopper dad ignores her, when everything goes to hell in a hand basket and both parents find ways of keeping her as a cash cow EVEN THEN.
And trust me. I think that’s why I eventually stopped listening to it (And I finish even the worst books, but this I couldn’t STAND!): A bad situation gets worse, then it turns into a horror show, then fangs are sprouted as things get even worse, and all the while the parents, esPECially Mom, turn into the vilest beasts imaginable. I mean, they get soooo repugnant that I’d laugh when they seethed and raged and did even more wretched things. It got to be hilarious cuz I mean, really, you’ve GOTTA be creative to write your characters to be such appalling creatures.
Caity the dog is, naturally, the finest dog in the world. She’s the only one who seems to have a sense of right and wrong, of loyalty and courageousness (Cuz even Robbie, who knows Mom and Dad are totally going off the deep end, is a tad too lily-livered to stand up to them). And there is the interesting part where Delia starts inhabiting Caity’s body, seeing through her eyes, after a terrible accident almost kills her. And the ending is nice for Caity…
And as far as narration goes, Casey Turner is okay. She does a shrill Mom, a whiny and spoiled and disreputable Dad, a confused Robbie, and a mealy-minded Delia with great aplomb. It’s just that everyone gets so darned SHRILL at times, and Turner conveys that soooo well that my poor ears hurt.
I’m so sorry everyone! I was really, really, REALLY looking forward to this book, and I feel like I let everyone down by putting forth such a sorry thing for votes. But, hey: I listened to it.
And now you don’t have to.
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