Please use African readers for African stories

I’m African born and love stories from my home continent. This story is no exception. Such a pity the reader attempts an African accent but fails on pronunciation every time.
It’s so distracting from the story. I think American listeners would also prefer to hear the story in an authentic African voice from the stories own region.

21 people found this helpful

Poor performance

horrible reading and horrible pronunciation of shona!. the performance ruined the book for me. should have taken on a shona reader as an advisor.

9 people found this helpful

Disappointed

A note to audible...the same way you use European readers for European books, please put as much effort in finding readers who can pronounce words in the native language of the writer. Or at the very least, find a consultant who can help the readers with pronunciation. I cringed so many times as the words and vowel sounds were anglicized and butchered. Please stop this. This is the second book by a Southern African author where your readers just missed the mark. It becomes so distracting.

4 people found this helpful

At times it seemed overwritten & needlessly complex

This was not a bad book by any means, but it was very hard to follow. The author used a lot of allegory throughout the book, and at times I wasn’t able to make sense of it. I couldn’t ever fully grasp the purpose of the book or what meaning the author wanted to convey through the telling of this story. It seemed at times to be overwritten, and in my opinion it could have been amazing had the approach been simpler and a little more linear.

4 people found this helpful

A disappointing experience

I found it hard to relate to this book particularly as a Zimbabwean. The narrator is not Shona speaking and I could hardly understand what she was saying most of the time which left a sour taste in my mouth each time she was trying to pronounce some of the words. Her performance was stellar in all other aspects but this one. This really throws one off. Overall the plot was good with a lot of unexpected turns, considering that it's a sequel to Nervous Conditions; although the ending was a bit rushed.

3 people found this helpful

Narration

I cannot begin to express how disappointed I was to have to listen to this book narrated by an American. What a travesty. It ruined the experience for me and as a result I found it difficult to engage in the same way that I had done with Nervous Co dirions and The Book of Not. Why on earth would anyone think that it would be appropriate to have this book narrated in an American accent. Awful!

1 person found this helpful

Riveting

I quite enjoyed the book however I struggled with the performance as it so happens that I am a shona speaker so the butchering of shona names and references had me cringing and I could not adjust. I think the producers could have spent a bit more effort to prepare the performer with proper pronunciations of shona. Excellent book though

1 person found this helpful

Good story

Being a native Shona speaker and having to listen to the narrator struggle with pronunciation affected listening and fully enjoying the story.

Narrator

I am loving this series, however this book should be read with someone who can pronounce the African words, and hearing it an American accent doesn’t work. It’s distracting …

Disappointed - spoilt by poor casting

Having spent several years living in rural Zimbabwe, I was so was excited to buy this title. But the US accent takes away so much of the flavour and spirit of the author’s words. The reader did not even bother to research Shona pronunciation. It should have been a Zimbabwean voice.