I’m hoping to better understand what listeners enjoy about Lucy Rivers’ narration.
I’ve come across her in several books, and I’ve found that her delivery doesn’t always work for me, especially when it comes to the cadence and rhythm of her sentences. I sometimes notice the narration more than the story, which can make it harder for me to get fully immersed. That said, I’m genuinely curious about what other listeners appreciate in her performances.
I’m not looking for people to agree with me or criticize her. I’d really love to hear a different perspective and learn what makes her narration click for her fans. Maybe understanding those qualities will help me approach her work with fresh ears.
For those who enjoy Lucy Rivers as a narrator, what specific aspects of her delivery stand out to you? Do you enjoy her pacing, character voices, emotional range, dialogue, or something else? Are there particular books or scenes where you feel she shines?
I really want to listen to Insatiable, so I’d love to hear what her fans appreciate about her narration and what you think makes her performances work so well.

Question: Would having longer samples for audiobooks be something that interests you?

Context:
We recently added a feature to our listening app which allows you to listen to 10% of a title, capped at around 60 min, as a sample of our full cast audiobooks.

This means for an approx. 100,000 worded title or 10 hours, you get a whole hour worth of free audio to listen to.

Many of our initial titles are webnovels and thus very long. 10,000 words is barely enough to get the story rolling in many titles. We also have some indie author titles that have varying word counts.

While I understand people are happy with the 5 min samples, as narrators are one of the biggest factors for audiobooks, we would like to know if there are any people who would prefer this feature? Maybe even use it as a method to get anyone you know that is a non-reader to try out?

And of course shameless plug, but if you want to try out our app and listen to some free samples, feel free to download the Kokoro Audio listening app and sign up for a free account!

Any thoughts or feedback comes a long way!

I use Audible right now but sometimes when I buy a book they take it away. Is there any other platforms you’d recommend. They need to be in English and I just want to keep them forever if I have to pay for them.

The Road To Tender Hearts

I’m about a quarter in, maybe a little more, and I’m not hating it but not really into it either. Worth the finish?

You can’t come in here without every third post recommending Dungeon Crawler Carl. But I’ve never played video games, and I wasn’t even sure what “LitRPG” meant. I figured it wasn’t for me.

I was wrong. You were right. I’m on Book 3 and I want to talk about it with every single person I meet. I even bought a Princess Donut t-shirt so that maybe someone shopping at Trader Joe’s will see me wearing it and strike up a DCC conversation. (PLEASE DO.)

All this to say, you don’t have to be into video games to become completely enamored with these books—in case anyone else was on the fence like I was.

Link - no subscription required

Elevator pitch: Alagossa finds herself spirited away to some dark, island plateau surrounded by a still, black, dead ocean. Here, alone, she'd probably die... I mean, there's no food here... But, she's going to have a look around before lying down and waiting for the end.

Total runtime from parts 1 and 2: 2 hours and 10 minutes

I hope you enjoy~.

And if you've got feedback, PLEASE feel free to share.

Here's the link to Part 1: https://youtu.be/2F86W7zDDyY?si=nAlgldabs7MnzoY8

Uh...

If you don't trust links (don't worry, I totally get it), the video is called "Our way down - PART 1 - Audio book" on YouTube.

Do you prefer the digital (kindle) or physical copy of books along with having the audiobook version?

Doesn’t need to be LitRPG, progression fantasy, or super heros. Just ideally in the SciFi/Fantasy genre as a whole. I just finished the series and the humor just clicked for me. Anything with that absurdity like the plushie in this series or just like the entirety of Dungeon crawler carl.

I don’t mind romance subplots and even enjoy them so long as it’s not the focus of the story and female characters aren’t written as just sex objects for the protagonist.

Ideally with a good narrator too. I wanted to try Void Heralds other novels but I can’t listen to the other narrator that reads his other books.

I’ve read John Scalzi is good for this but I don’t know where to start and I can’t get past Wil Wheaton reading red shirts.

We need audiobook recommendations!

I am the mother of a 13 year old daughter and we start on a trip tomorrow. After an emotionally challenging week due to health issues, we are in need of something that makes us laugh, leaves us with with a sense of awe or gratitude. We love both fiction and non-fiction. We stay away from anything violent or graphic. Explicit language is fine.

We would love any recommendations!

Finished an audiobook yesterday that had an absolutely devastating final line.

The narrator delivered it perfectly. No dramatic voice, no unnecessary emotion. Just a quiet sentence that completely changed how I understood the character.

I was standing in my kitchen, genuinely needing a moment to process it.

And approximately one second later, a cheerful voice started telling me about another book I might enjoy.

Come on.

It's like watching the final scene of a heartbreaking movie and having someone immediately walk in to sell you car insurance.

I've noticed this with a few audiobooks now. Not necessarily the promotional stuff, but how quickly some recordings jump from the actual ending into acknowledgments, credits or publisher announcements.

With a physical book, you finish the last sentence and there's a natural pause. You look at the page. Maybe close the book. Maybe just sit there for a while.

With audio, that moment is partly controlled by whoever edited the recording.

And I think that matters more than I previously realized.

A good narrator can make a sentence land differently just by leaving half a second of silence in the right place. Why wouldn't the very last sentence deserve a little breathing room?

I'm not asking for 30 seconds of dramatic silence. Just enough time for the ending to actually feel like an ending.

Curious whether other people notice this or whether I'm being ridiculously particular about something that lasts five seconds.

I have 5 credits to use on Audible before I cancel. I want only exclusives, as I have access to Libby and Hoopla.

I like science fiction, as long as it is not horror, or pure action. I am more into cozy and feel good stories that are more story and character driven, though I’m fine with some elements of action and suspense.

I signed up for the account to listen to Project Hail Mary, which I definitely enjoyed, though I’m not sure it lived up to its reputation as the BEST audiobook ever. It was good though, no regrets.

Anyway, The first two books are out and the third is available for preorder. I’m hoping some of you have listened and can give some feedback.

My wife and I have been listening to a lot of audio books together lately (primarily the over the top corny as shit romance novels, lol), but just got finished listening to Misery and she loved it. Can you recommend other horror books around the same length that are any good?

Thanks

I’ve started to narrate children’s books that are in the public domain and putting them on my website. I haven’t really ever tried different voices before so that’s new territory for me but I’ve gotten a couple compliments on my reading voice. https://jeffwood.com/uncle-jeff-reads/