Audible version is mostly very good

The audible version of the story keeper it's a good one. There are two narrators, one for the current day story, and one for the earlier Appalachian story.
Bahni Turpin does a great job with the Southern accent and capturing the different character's voices.
Abby Craden does s good job, but sometimes it just sounded too dramatic, especially at the end. I wish I had read the ending instead of heard it, as I think I would have enjoyed hearing in my head better.
But both narrators read the story well.
I've submitted a review for the book as well.
This is just my review of the performance.

38 people found this helpful

Good story but narrators ruined it.

The story was interesting but the narrators made it difficult to continue. At times the narrators were so over the top with the accent that I was unable to understand what they were saying. Jenn Gibb’s narrator was over dramatic and kept throating her voice it was obnoxious.

23 people found this helpful

Unraveling Truth Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains

This one deserves ten stars . . . wow . . . it hit me deep in my being . . . Jen Gibbs, a successful editor in New York has to make some choices . . .Jen, supposedly has left her past behind, buried it, in fact, just like the partial manuscript, that somehow showed up on her desk from the slush pile . . . Back in North Carolina, only a few miles from where Jen grew up, is the home of Evan Hall . . . the author that Jen suspects may have written the story that mysteriously showed up on her desk . . . With only a few chapters, submitted more than 20 years earlier, Jen is drawn into the story, and risks taking it to the president of her company at Vida House Publishing . . . This begins a journey for Jen (Jennia Beth) into a time and place she thought was buried . . . with the two stories running parallel, Rand and Sarra (the young Melungeon woman) in the 1800s running from Brown Drigger and his men, and Jen returning to the Appalachia mountains where she grew up, in search of the rest of the manuscript and the author of The Story Keeper . . . Jennia Beth (to her family) is forced to face the demons from her past, the reasons she left in the first place. The contrasts of love and hate, of finding out who God really is, of sussing out the difference between legalism, religion and the truth of Jesus Christ in a place where suspicion, customs and family loyalty run deep, are what makes this book extraordinary. The love between sisters, family, who have and are choosing very different paths in life is very painful, yet real and good in the way that Lisa Wingate chooses to portray it. There is a depth of understanding and healing that comes from listening/reading her books. They don't come much better than this.

45 people found this helpful

Good story- horrible narration. Actually read this one. Don't listen to it.

As a born and bred native of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a fan of Lisa Wingate's other novel- "Before We Were Yours" I was really excited about this book. I was so disappointed by the disrespectful and just plain horrible "southern accent" added by the narrator. At times it was almost impossible to understand some of the dialogue. I didn't think I would finish this book at times because of how bad it was. I'm glad I stuck it out because it was a good story. Not great, but good.
In a nut shell, read this one, don't listen to it.

21 people found this helpful

Excellent story.

I enjoyed the story but I was distracted by the narration which I found to be overly dramatic and even melodramatic at times. I listened to Before We Were Yours by this auther and I loved it.

20 people found this helpful

Narration intolerable

Sad to say, the narrators where very hard to tolerate. One emphasizes the last consonants so deeply it is if a syllable has been added to each word at the end of the sentence. The other, just plain awful example of a southern accent. The story seems worthy of another try and will give it that....with actual book in hand.

24 people found this helpful

Couldn't Stop Listening

I at first did not think I could listen too long to the slow melodic voice of the narrator, but once I realized how appropriate to the story being told, I was drawn in and could not wait for every chapter as it unfolded before me. Love it! I could not stop listening.

16 people found this helpful

I kept wait for the story to come together

What disappointed you about The Story Keeper?

I really liked the idea of what the story was supposed to be about but it just didn't come together for me. There were too many stories and none of them really flowed well together or individually.

Would you ever listen to anything by Lisa Wingate again?

I truly loved The Prayer Box. So yes I would read another book by Lisa Wingate.

What character would you cut from The Story Keeper?

Even's brother. It would have been better to have had his niece be orphaned that to have included the brother. His part of the story made no contribution to the over all story.

Any additional comments?

Again I liked the concept of the story. I just wished there was more of any one of the main storylines that came together in a more complete way.

16 people found this helpful

This book was captivating.

I loved this book I couldn't put it down. I was caught up between the past and the present and found myself in years for all involved. Great book, thank you Lisa Wingate.

6 people found this helpful

Having a hard time...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I'm really having a hard time understanding the reader. Very mumbly and I don't know if I can commit almost 13 hours struggling to understand her words. Am I the only one with this problem? I think I would love the story...Audio book reviews should always include performance quality and understandability, not just the plot and story, etc.

If you’ve listened to books by Lisa Wingate before, how does this one compare?

I loved "Before We Were Yours." Very compelling story. Very easy to understand the reader.

What didn’t you like about Abby Craden and Bahni Turpin ’s performance?

Abby Craden is very hard to understand. I will not purchase anything else read by her.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

12 people found this helpful