The Light Between Oceans: A Novel

Loved, loved the story.

The decision........

The reader spoke too loudly at the beginning of each sentence and ended in a whisper. I could never get my sound adjusted to listen to the book. It absolutely drove me crazy!

Torn.......

Remake with a different narrator.

A great read. I highly recommend.

Tom was my favorite character. His perseverance and overall sense of personal responsibility is remarkable. He is the kind of person that I have always strived to be. He makes very difficult choices because of his morality,and tries to protect those around him. Most people like to believe that they are like Tom, but few are able to make the tough choices. The author writes his characters carefully, but does not reveal information until needed.

The story is set in Australia and is read by an Australian. The tone of the reader is distinctive - never too rapid, nor did it drag.

The 3 main characters have lived through very difficult times and circumstances. When a dead man and an infant show up on the island where Tom, the light keeper, and his wife Izzy live, the couple rescue the child, and bury the man. Persuaded by Izzy to keep the baby and raise her as their own, Tom is conflicted by guilt. How each person lives, loves, and make choices is the real point of the story. I could not help but be touched.

I will edit this review if I actually make it through the first few hours. It has been tedious straining to hear the narrator, who trials off at the end of his sentences.

I would probably buy another book by this author. From what I catch of the story, it seems good. I know the book got great reviews.

Get a new narrator. This readers voice is completely monotone and hard to listen to.

I read the other reviews about the narration but I don't usually notice other books that have bad "performance" reviews. This one is rough. I hope as I get more involved in the story, the poor narration is less noticeable.

I like the narration to match the book setting. In other words, a book set in England seems better when narrated by someone with an English accent. While Mr Taylor's Aussie accent was no doubt the real thing, his flat tone seems to drops at the end of every sentence, and I hit "rewind" countless times in order to understand what he was saying. The story is wonderful, but I recommend listening in a soundproof room, or else just buy the book. The narration nearly ruins it.

I"m not sure. The narration is just so abominable, I couldn't get into the story and had to stop listening. The narrator had an intensely annoying voice that fell to almost inaudible tones at the end of most sentences. As such, you couldn't hear the end of many sentences. Poor choice of narrators.

Well, for starters, a strong narrator with a clear voice would have been an improvement.

I've outlined that above.

I didn't get far enough into the story to say.

As my friend put it, this was the best worst book meaning the ethical dilemma (worst) tears your heart out but it is really well written (best). Without giving away the story, the light keeper on the island of Janus, 100 miles off the western shore of Australia, is struggling between doing what is best for his wife and what is ethical. The internal turmoil he is suffering is palpable. The book made me feel heavy with conflict - but I couldn't stop listening! My only complaint is that the recording is very soft and the narrator had quite a sonorous voice which combined often made it difficult to hear/understand.

I listen to a lot of audio books and this is the worst narrator I have ever heard. On the long sentences his voice would either speed up and at the same time fade away. I was missing so much of what he said that I went to the library and checked out the book. It is such a shame because this is such a beautifully written story.

The language. It is beautifully written

Slow down, and don't drop off your sentences. Some of the longer sentences were so quick and quiet they turn into a total mumble!

Don't cut anything. It's a well written story with beautiful language

Would like a refund, that's how bad the narration was. I couldn't even listen to it.

Gripping story of choice and consequence. Australian story written by an Australian born author, and narrated by an Australian born actor with an Australian accent. To forgo this novel due to negative reviews of the narrator would be missing out on a fabulous portrayal of human nature--it's shortcomings and strengths. At no point did I find the narrator difficult to understand. Noah Taylor's slow, somber voice expertly portrays the mood of the book. ML Stedman tells the story of unfortunate people working their way through great sadness, their memories and hopes of great joys, and the reality of their lives. It's a tale of kinship, understanding and misunderstanding, forgiveness and grief. Although rarely uplifting, it is a conceivable, thought-provoking, moving debut novel.

I've just finished this excellent book this morning, and I'm still a bit lost in its spell. What a story! I cried more than once (and for more than one reason), laughed several times, actually felt sick a few times, and on more than one occasion felt myself completely taken up in it, which is the highest praise I can give a book.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, compelling, and deeply moving story.

The only complaint I have is that the narrator would often sort of trail off at the end of a sentence. In every other respect, he was a fine narrator. As I understand it, he's an Australian himself, so that helps lend the story some authenticity.

A lot of reviewers here have really been hard on the narrator, some going so far as to say he ruined the book for them. I did not feel it was quite that bad. I simply turned the volume up a bit higher than normal, so that when he trailed off, he was still easily audible. It did make him a bit loud at times, but I was ok with that.

The book and story are so utterly compelling, it's worth putting up with the narrator's imperfections.

The premise of this story is very creative and I was immediately engaged. These characters find themselves in a heck of a fix. My heart was broken for all of them.

I wanted a different ending, but I don't know what it would have been. Perhaps there was no way to end it in an equitable manner. It is a tough problem that these people had to deal with.

Although I liked the narrator, he was very hard to understand at times, especially when his voice went very soft. I know he was doing that for effect, but if you can't understand what he is saying, the effect is lost anyway.

All in all, I would recommend this book. I enjoyed reading/listening to it very much.