Stop using this narrator!

PLEASE Authors!!! Please I beg you...stop using Rachel Botchan as narrator for your books!! I see books that I think I want to purchase and listen to, but when I see it's Rachel Botchan, I just can't waste my credits or money. She reads like a child with her annoying high-pitched, squeaky voice and how she enunciates sounds as if she is talking with a mouthful of marbles. I am so bummed because a lot of the historical christian fiction books from some of my favorite authors seem to use her as narrator. (Connilyn Cossette, Angela Hunt...) I'm sure she is a very nice person, but she totally ruins what could be a wonderful experience for me.

29 people found this helpful

The Great Story is Worth the Not Great Narration

I’m so sad to have this book end! I’ve loved the Out From Egypt series and then A Light on the Hill.
This is such an excellent story!
I do feel like there was too much moving around and not enough of the time between the trial and during the trial, but that’s okay!
The narrator, however was awful!
She has to stop and take breaths in the middle of a lot of sentences, and she even has to correct herself in one near the end. She accidentally says the wrong word, you can’t miss it. She also makes like NO effort to voice act. She’ll throw in the little kids voices, but everyone else is just her voice. The Out From Egypt narrator was WORLDS better, actually making an effort to make every character different. ALSO, she mispronounces like all of the names. Even Yahweh... like seriously?? I’ll be straight up avoiding the hooks she narrates in the future. Huge bummer.

But the story is worth dealing with the narrator!! Can’t read the first 3 and then not this one, obviously..

15 people found this helpful

Another great story!

I'm always sad when the story ends. I enjoy her fictional pieces of the story to blend in with the scriptures. I'll admit that I had gotten used to the other narrator and I enjoyed how the last book had a male and female narrator, I hope she will go back to that. However, being a sabbath keeper and lover of the bible, I always learn something new that gives me a new insight to the stories in the bible.

10 people found this helpful

Marvelous!

This book is an awesome spin off from the Out of Egypt series. Cossette is a gifted author and not only encourages through her words, but also educated the reader about the Bible and Jewish culture.

My only criticism is the narrator Rachel Botchen. I have enjoyed books from her in the past, however, she mispronounced Yahweh and Moriyah throughout the book. It’s imperative for a narrator to research and understand pronunciations for a book series or a spin off. In book three from the Out of Egypt series Moriyah’s name was pronounced as “Mariah” and not “Maria”. This irritated me throughout the book and is an egregious oversight.

I look forward to the next book in the series.

5 people found this helpful

Story good, narrator annoying.

Good story, but I think it's my least favorite of the series, partly b/c of the story and so much "running", but mostly b/c of the narrator, who pronounces Yahweh as it if rhymes with "bleh" (and other names seem mispronounced as well), and who can't seem to read a sentence or finish a thought without pausing and taking a breath. Super annoying.

15 people found this helpful

This Is A Fantastic Book, A Yom Kippur Delight!

Narration was fantastic!! Loved it, loved it!!

In this wonderful story, the primary character, MoriYah, has had a pagan scar burned into her face in Jericho literally just before the city falls. She is rescued, but, as usual, in the absence of information, people make up stories to fill that absence. Invariably, those stories are much worse than the actual truth. This is why we are cautioned so strongly against "lashon Hara/evil tongue" because the harm people do repeating rumors is so whack!! Rather than constantly answer questions re: what happened, MoriYah chose to hide her face, hide inside her house and hide her injured pride. I understand! When I came home after brain surgery, at first I couldn't cover my head with anything. Any fibers or creams or whatever would have caused infection and extra pain and healing time. By the same token, I had to walk, to exercise, because if I didn't the blood in my head wouldn't circulate right! Every neighbor I had stood outside the car the night I came home, with questions I was in entirely too much pain to answer. People on every street I walked down talked about me, then after deciding answers for themselves, the taunts began. When I was finally able to wear a wig🙄 wow, suddenly I was a liar about having had the surgery "because my hair (wig) grew back too fast!" Yes, I fully understand!

Back to the story.....so MoriYah hid. But, she could cook! She sent her love and care out on plates. She reached out and fed those like Eitan, a neglected child. Her loving father decides to find her a husband! Unfortunately he picked the wrong brother. MoriYah tries to do what she does best and everything goes down from there.

There's much adventure, travel, action and yes, romance. There's kissing but nothing below the collarbone, so still very clean!!

The description of Yom Kippur is excellent!! Wish I'd known before about that, but blessedly, I listened to this story on Yom Kippur! The description of the need for cities of refuge and the avenger of blood are clearly laid out!
Thoroughly enjoyed it!!

1 person found this helpful

Great story!

I read some of the less than flattering reviews, especially of the narrator. I am so glad that I gave it a chance. The story was unusual, not at all what I expected. I loved the faith and gentle, though strong, spirit of Moriyah. I did not find anything about the narration to be distracting. Some complained about the unconventional pronunciation of some Old Testament names. The pronunciation struck me as the narrator trying to be authentic with perhaps a Hebrew pronunciation. I do not know Hebrew, so I don't know if that is accurate. That is just how I interpreted it. I highly recommend this audiobook!

1 person found this helpful

I'd listen to Rachel Botchan read a dictionary!

I see a lot of comments complaining about the performance. To each their own I suppose. For me, Rachel Botchan's natural and developed skill in narration adds to the richness, enchantment, allure, excitement, and beauty of this marvelous story. Then again, admittedly I purchase audiobooks just because Rachel performs them. I'm a huge fan!

My sincerest complements and gratitude to Connilyn Cossette and Rachel Botchan. I've very much enjoyed this book, and most warmly recommend this series.

The narrator is not good…

The narrator of this book is frustrating to listen to. I find myself listening to her voice rather than the story… She pauses as if she does not know how to pronounce words, the tone of her voice is not attractive, and is actually grating. Overall it’s just not enjoyable. Unfortunately, I believe that I’ve purchased a couple books in the series but I won’t do that in the future. I feel badly writing a negative review of a narrator, but it’s actually a negative review of the people who hired her. This is not her forte.

Astonishing!

One of my all time favorite books! Even though different eras, it’s right up there with “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers.