Give This Book More Than An Hour

and you'll be rewarded with a heartbreaking story of compassion and tenderness. The last couple of hours were so much better than the first 5. Too bad it took the narrator that long to warm up!.


I was Oh So Done with is novel by the 3rd hour and was complaining about it to a friend-who had recommended the book-she read the paper book. She couldn't understand I disliked it so. The narration was cardboard, stiff and toneless. I didn't give a $hit about any of these people- the boy was a total brat, the old guy was dull and his wife was Suzy Homemaker with passive aggressive issues. The girlfriend was so meek and quite you couldn't hear what the narrator said..in a book you could read the words.

On her recommendations, I finished the whole book and ended up being taken into the world of these people, Plus the narrator gets so much better

Only for patient people I guess.

14 people found this helpful

Love comes from many places

What did you love best about When I Found You?

I would never expect to like a story about a boy who wants to become a boxer, but I couldn't put this book down. The character development is excellent.

What was one of the most memorable moments of When I Found You?

I loved the relationship between the bitter young man and the man who found him in the woods as an abandoned baby. This story is about playing it forwards when someone does something kind for you.

What about Jeff Cummings’s performance did you like?

He was able to change his voice with the change of characters so that you knew exactly who was talking.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely

23 people found this helpful

Giving without Expecting Something Back . . .

I finished this audio book a couple of days ago, and I'm still thinking about it. This book was a simple one,really, a story that I would have written totally differently . . . but it wasn't mine to write . . . when Nathan found the tiny baby abandoned in the woods, and wanted to adopt him, my heart ached for the grandmother to allow the boy to be adopted by Nathan and his wife. I was secretly angered at every incident when Nat's grandma refused to tell him the truth, when she failed to "hear" him, to really share her life with him. When she told him that every kid has a man that finds them in the woods . . . Even at my age, a grandmother myself, I still ache as a child aches . . . going back to my own early years, a time when I, too, had no control over decisions that were made . . . decisions that, for good or bad, impact me to this day . . . To get the full benefit of this story, one must listen with their heart. You must sit back and take the story as it comes, as it is written and read . . . and then, it's full beauty comes full circle. Nathan said from day one that he wanted the boy he found in the woods. He meant it. Let that sink in and LISTEN. If only every child had a Nathan . . .

18 people found this helpful

Worse book I've ever listened to

This was the first book I've ever stopped. I gave it an hour, but found the narration SO excruciating, I seriously developed a headache.

The writing, itself, is fine- and the narrator, when limited to narration, is fine. Nothing great, but tolerable. But the dialogue. OH the dialogue. Seriously, the most boring, un-nuanced, unrealistic dialogue I have ever heard. And the narrator has apparently never heard people speak using their "inside voices" because the consistent affectation he used was having characters SCREAM their lines... and had the women do so in a shrill, screeching fashion. He made every character seem so ANGRY and unappealing, I was felt comfortable leaving the story, having already decided everyone in that town was miserable and therefore unable to care what happened to any of them.

I agreed to listen to see if dialogue didn't play a huge roll in the story, but unfortunately, the second part was ALL people screaming seemingly mild comments at each other, so I decided to save myself the $7.99 on a bottle of Excedrin Migraine- and I suggest you do the same.

7 people found this helpful

A beautiful story that doesn't pull any punches.

This story reads like a fable, meditatively, simple and straightforward yet heavy with metaphor and intertext. It certainly is forthcoming! I don't want to give any of the story away, though the story is kind of timeless and yet secondary to the experience, so I will just say that there is much tragedy and disappointment, many questions and surprises, to the point of being quite heartbreaking at times, which makes it all the more beautiful.

The performance was excellent. The voices of some minor characters were annoying, but meant to be, and only briefly. I must also praise the production and engineering - this was non-fatiguing, never left me needing to rewind to catch too-quiet sections, and didn't have any of the glitches that often pop up in audiobooks. The recording process was totally transparent, which, unfortunately, has not been the case for any of the last 10 or so audiobooks I've listened to. So, Bravo!

5 people found this helpful

Poor narration killed the story for me

Would you try another book from Catherine Ryan Hyde and/or Jeff Cummings?

Possibly I would try another book by the author, Ms. Hyde. I was not fond of the reader, Mr. Cummings, however. I would not listen to another book by this reader. The voice characterizations he used were truly grating, especially for the female characters. I just could not imagine these as real people, they were so poorly voiced. They all sounded angry and whining, no matter what the context was.

Would you recommend When I Found You to your friends? Why or why not?

Perhaps the book itself would be worth reading, but listening to this turned me off.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Grating, whiny voices for the women and children in the book (and some other characters too). These characters were not at all believable or sympathetic in this reading, even though the story sounded interesting, I just couldn't stand another minute of listening to it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I seldom stop books before finishing, but I just couldn't take this one. Really, the story sounded interesting, and another listener said it gets better after 5 hours in - but I just could not stand to listen to it that long. Perhaps on the page it would be better.

Any additional comments?

I will definitely check reviews before making a snap purchase like this again - what a waste!

5 people found this helpful

Wonderful story

I enjoyed this book immensely. The story line brought so many of my own emotions to the surface, unconditional love, caring for another human being for no other reason than a gut feeling that it's the right thing to do.

The narration was excellent. The reader brought each character to life.

6 people found this helpful

A Sweet Story

I loved this book. It carried the message that in giving our lives away we find meaning and purpose and joy.

6 people found this helpful

Heartwarming and Heartbreaking!

This is one of those books that will sit with you afterward... they are called book hangovers for a reason! The story is so heartbreaking because you just ask yourself why in many places along the story. It is also heartwarming because Nathan doesn’t consider himself an affectionate man, but he could not be more wrong. He was always looking for something, and never really was able to describe it, even to himself. But then the one event happened that would change the course of his life forever. This book does bring on the feels so have tissues near by, but so worth it! My first experience with Jeff Cummings as the narrator and would definitely listen to him again.

2 people found this helpful

In Love with This Book!!

When I found you, was a very beautiful story that will take you on a journey that you won’t anticipate. Whatever you thought when I found you was about is not.

When I started this book I didn’t know how emotional but yet beautiful it will be. The more I dig into the story the characters begging to unfold slowly showing us different aspects of them that we didn’t really realize before.

Nathan has lost that spark in his life, he feels like something is missing and one day when he goes out into the wood for his hunting, he finds something or better said someone that will change his life forever.

Nat past is a story that he is not really fond of it, he feels like nobody really cared about him, that he is alone living with his grandmother, clueless about his past. Nat is constantly chastised for everything he does. until one day he is left in the house of the man of the woods ready to become a man.

During his time on Nathan House Nat learns so much about life and himself making so many mistakes but also growing closer to the people that really care about him.

When I found you is a story that will amaze you, the ending left me speechless, I didn’t know Nathan’s childhood story and it’s wonderful to understand it as it speaks so much about him and why he did what he did for Nat.

Nathan is an amazing man, no matter how many times Nat “disappointments” him he keeps rooting for him and helping him in any way he can.

Nat keeps making mistakes and ignoring everything Nathan or anyone around him has to say. no matter how many times he gets in trouble he seems to never understand. Until one day his bad decisions led him to the worst night of his life, the night he will lose his dreams and hopes forever.

Beautiful wonderful story, I keep reliving the last moments of the book, it really moved me and made me feel sad but at the same time happy. this story was too real and it really made me feel all the emotions so deep. I cried, I laugh and I got angry at times with Nat because he was very stubborn but I love how Love was always present making its way in the worst moments of Nathan and Nat's lives.

The Narrations By Jeff Cummings are amazing, I really enjoy so much how he brought Nathan and Nat to the surface making the characters even deeper and more lovable. he really made me feel so many emotions with his voice. I really enjoy his work so much and I'm looking forward for more.

Definitely a book that will keep in my heart.

2 people found this helpful