Learn when to say no

Would you recommend Crosstalk to your friends? Why or why not?

Very very interesting take on telepathy, specifically on how to harden yourself against the deluge of unwanted voices and how to combat other psychics. For anyone who likes meta-thought this would be interesting, I think.

Any additional comments?

The main character of this novel is incapable of saying "no" to anything at all. There are countless moments in the story where a simple "no, go away" or "I'm no longer going to participate" would COMPLETELY SOLVE all of her problems, but she doesn't even consider putting her foot down!

20 people found this helpful

It doesn't work like that.

The first act especially drove me crazy. The main character is so dense - the reader knows all the "twists" chapters in advance but we still have to sit through her fumbling about for answers and explanations.

Silly, frustrating and obvious. Very much a young adult novel, but one that treats the readers like they're idiots.

34 people found this helpful

The more the story moved along the more I liked it

I completely forgot that Connie Willis is the hands-down queen of near misses and close calls : “must reach so and so”, “just missed her”, “I have to tell you this before…” , “in a hurry to catch him before he leaves”, “gotta rush to meet them”, “got to get away from so-and-so”, “can’t let him find me”. It’s ENDLESS, tedious and in almost every scene so if you have not already been initiated to her writing style this might very easily turn you off.

The first part of the book felt to me like a litany of rescheduled meetings and phone calls, I can’t imagine doing business with this company! They just seemed unprofessional and unorganized.

Eventually, I ignored all this and just focused on the story and it was great! Willis did a terrific job of describing what it’s like to be in someone’s head, and as preposterous as the premise was I found it was totally believable. I don’t know how she did it but she even lured me, the romance-hater, into the love story of Briddey and C.B.!

7 people found this helpful

Unnecessarily Convoluted

Would you try another book from Connie Willis and/or Mia Barron?

Mia Barron is a capable narrator whose work I've enjoyed before. Listening to another Connie Willis might be a tougher sell for me because the dialogue in this one is redundant and drawn out to the point of pain. If that's her style, she'll be a hard pass for me moving forward.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Crisper, leaner dialogue that gave the reader more benefit of the doubt re: coming to conclusions and filling in gaps; less convoluted plot points--and scenarios constructed purely to prolong events. This audiobook was 18 hours long. I hung in there, but barely. Maeve as a character/plot device was trying, to say the least.

What does Mia Barron bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Believability and depth to Briddey (less so to CB). I wanted more of Briddey's interior monologue. Ironically, for a story that's about telepathy and connection and intimacy (and the commercialization of intimacy), we don't really get to enjoy any sense of completed connection until the end, and only a very little. the takeaway seems to be that nothing is sacred--instead of CB and Briddey connecting more deeply and exclusively, their thoughts are going to be accessible to everyone in her family, including a 9-year-old? Jaysus, as the Irish say.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

Less detail about perimeters, walls, and safe havens (this could have been explained in a page or two--and didn't need to be revisited every other paragraph) and more moments that were devoted to the growing intimacy between CB and Briddey. Maeve barging into their thoughts was a real buzz kill. Presumably, they'll never be able to prevent her from doing this...

Any additional comments?

This book had a ton of potential--compelling subject matter that is topically relevant. Unfortunately this was unnecessarily undermined by making this all link back to Irish heritage and genetics, specifically. In any case, as a reader/listener, I never got the chance to fully immerse myself into this story because long-winded explanations and repetitive details pulled me out of the story.

22 people found this helpful

I wish there was a 0 star choice

this was one of the worst books I have ever listened to. Connie Willis blew me away with Blackout and All Clear, but this book was really awful. It's supposed to be a satire, but it's really just awful. it's unlistenable. Every character is dumb and awful.

Briddey is one of the WORST FEMALE CHARACTERS EVER WRITTEN. honestly, she's stupid, trite, annoying, gullible, idiotic, annoying and just all around awful.

there is NOTHING redeemable about this book. I have nothing good to say so I'm going to stop talking.

11 people found this helpful

Connie Willis and the luck of the Irish...

For some reason, the cover of Crosstalk, made me think it was a re-issue of an earlier novel that I'd missed. I quickly realized it's a new one. Yay! All the Connie Willis humor and detailed plotting is here in full force, but there really is a caveat for new readers.

Connie Willis's writing has a quirk. If you liked To Say Nothing of the Dog, the All Clear duet and/or Doomsday Book, then you're already familiar with the constant "trying to get in touch" "check in with" or the necessity to avoid someone that drives Connie Willis's characters. It's in almost every scene. So it is here although the characters now have modern cell phones. For experienced CW readers, it's par for the course. If you're new to CW, I suspect it might hit you hard.

So, Crosstalk is for aficionados which I am one, but not the uninitiated.

Recommend for fans.

22 people found this helpful

Going nowhere

The only good thing about this book was the reader, and she was sooooo slow I had to double the speed

3 people found this helpful

Disappointed

I love Connie Willis but must say that I wanted to smack the lead character and yell at the narrator. I realize this is a rather extreme reaction but seriously when the narrator can't even pronounce the lead characters name properly it is nothing but irritating

3 people found this helpful

Contrived plot, unromantic, unfunny

I thought this book had so much potential. The premise sounds great: a device links two minds together, but accidentally connects to the wrong person. that's a great sci-fi romcom setup. I was hoping this would explore themes of intimacy and emotional connectedness, and communication among partners. instead its theme seems to be everyone keeps ugly secrets and even though you have telepathy you shouldn't use it for anything useful in the plot. I swear, characters keep secrets for the most contrived reasons, and as others have mentioned our protagonist is too dumb to notice. she is so incredibly passive, she makes no decisions, things just happen to her. and our characters are the least charming couple imaginable. I have no idea why they fell in love except that our protagonist is totally helpless and the guy is helpful, I guess. This is a very unromantic, unfunny book. It is completely devoid of wit. It could have been so cute and insightful, but it ends up being so contrived and unlikeable and devoid of anything nutritious for the heart. For a book about emotional connectedness, it ends up being emotionally unintelligent and just plain dumb.

2 people found this helpful

Can not be the same author as Doomsday Book!

What disappointed you about Crosstalk?

The very worst of romantic tripe... The only character even slightly likable is the niece, Maeve, and she's typical tween snark.

Has Crosstalk turned you off from other books in this genre?

the genre of romance? I was never turned on to it in the beginning- this book is completely mislabeled as anything else

Would you be willing to try another one of Mia Barron’s performances?

probably- she didn't have much to work with

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

crushing disappointment... I'm so dismayed this could come from the same author as the amazing Doomsday Book. Crosstalk is truly horrible and I literally had to try twice to make it past the 2/3 mark; I failed both times.

5 people found this helpful