If you like the genre, this is first rate

The primary narrator is a kid (mid teens). Significant parts of the story come in via emails from her mother, and from parents from her school. So I suppose it's partly a family drama and partly teen fiction, and it's an epistolatory novel. There's drama, back stabbing, infedelity and other bad behaviour, but also redemption for everyone - it has a happy ending. If you can stand all of that, this one is the best I've read in a long time. Very nicely done.

The narrator is good and the book is well served by her ability to differentiate accents, ages and tones of voice. I can't help mentioning that her attempt at a kiwi accent made me wince, but then I'm a kiwi and I know the difference. Probably if you come from anywhere else in the world you won't be bothered and it's a very small part of the book anyway. I'm impressed enough by her abilities to have already looked up other books she's narrated.

7 people found this helpful

Funny and enchanting

What did you love best about Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

I loved the description of living in "Microsoft world" some parts made me laugh out loud.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that the story was written through the eyes of a fifteen year old girl

Which character – as performed by Kathleen Wilhoite – was your favorite?

Just has to be Bee

4 people found this helpful

What a wonderful book!

Would you consider the audio edition of Where'd You Go, Bernadette to be better than the print version?

The audio version was much more fun than reading it -- the reader(s?) was modulation heaven -- fab

What other book might you compare Where'd You Go, Bernadette to and why?

I have enjoyed many books but few surface to the top of the list like this one -- Fredrick and Fredirika; Life Expectancy all had Pat Conroy -level images.
This is brilliantly written with meaningful imagry that congured up the scene in fulll technicolor

Any additional comments?

If you are a mother who juggles the frustrations and rewards of life and home and career and creativity -- this is a great listen.

3 people found this helpful

Whacky and Crazy!

Whacky and crazy story.. at times a little disjointed, but all in all a fun listen. I can say that I would rather have downloaded something with a litt more substance.. but hey.. that's how it goes!

2 people found this helpful

Terrible narration ruined the entire book

I could not even admire the story line the narration was so annoying and badly read the characters came across as imbeciles

1 person found this helpful

Didn't grab me at all

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

although the narration performance was good, for me this book was a waste of 10 or so hours. The story line imo was very weak and I found it very difficult to concentrate on listening to it. In fact I found myself drifting way off where the story was so boring. Very disappointing. This is the first book that I haven't enjoyed on Audible.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The room

Have you listened to any of Kathleen Wilhoite’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

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

absolutely not

3 people found this helpful

Entertaining, did not like narrator

Thought this was mildly entertaining, funny in parts, but really disliked the narrator's voice, especially towards the end of the book where she attempted different accents. It was an ok listen overall. Will be interested to see how the movie compares.

Good story irritating performance

The reader makes Bernadette, a true introvert if ever there was one, sound like a preppy extrovert, all exclamations and gush, especially in her letters.

slow start and then couldn't stop

After the first little bit I listened to, I wasnt sure I was going to continue but glad I did!

Such annoying narration it ruined the book

The book is composed of fictional letters, emails and diary entries surrounding the titular character, a severely agoraphobic middle-aged woman. It takes a humorous approach that is utterly destroyed by the children's tv style performance by the reader. The childs voice is particularly grating, and takes most of the liability of the character away.