fun camp

definitely a product of its time, you'll have to accept some unsavory misogyny, homophobia, ableism, etc etc etc. but it's an entertaining, kind of trashy, glitter bomb

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Loved it

If you don’t like Laverne Cox’s narration maybe this isn’t the version for you, but the story remains timeless and frankly I think she gave Neely the voice she deserves.

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An old classic

The book is definitely a product of it’s time but a fun one to revisit.
The narration was completely out of sync with the book and pulled me out of the story a lot.

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good book but...

I quite like the book, sadly the narrator not so much. I didn't find her presentation of the characters believable to the point I wouldn't have continued except it was for a book club

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Great entertainment

It was definitely a great story, as far as twists and turns. The narrator occasionally can be a bit grating, but overall does a decent job of assigning voices to the characters.

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revisiting

Revisiting an old favorite is always interesting. I wouldn't say this book stands the test of time, there are some shockingly inappropriate terms and ideals used, but it does show us how far we have come. Laverne Cox is excellent at performing the story!

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Laverne Cox was the worst narrator. Ever.

The story was great, have always loved Jacqueline Susann’s books, but they chose the worst narrator ever. Don’t take this the wrong way, I have nothing against Laverne Cox as a performer, but she was terrible.
The best readers make the book the star, you don’t think about who’s reading it, but Laverne takes the listener out of the story all the time. It’s as if she’s reading to children, not adults like recommended by Audible.
She tries to differentiate between characters using different voices but her plaintive nasally voice is jarring. So much so that I stop thinking about the story and start thinking about how awful Laverne’s voice is.
I cannot recommend this rendition of Valley of the Dolls.

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A good book for it's time. Narration was a horror

this novel was great for the era it was written in but I barely finished it due to the narration! Laverne Cox destroyed this book. It was like listening to a 5th grader. My advice, just read the book yourself.

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Terrible narrator

The story was fine, bleak, but fine. The narrator was awful. I’ve never returned an audiobook before, but this was a huge miss for me.

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I cannot even listen to this book anymore!

I am about 2 chapters in and I cannot even listen to it anymore. This book is narrated by Laverne Cox. Now, don't get me wrong, I do like Laverne Cox and admire her courage. But they could not have picked a worse narrator for this book
This book is iconic and full of wonderful stars, most of them women. Laverne's voice is that of a man trying to sound like a woman. Neely is played by Patty Duke and in the book she sounds like a chain smoking long shoreman. I am so disappointed as I really wanted to hear this book but I just cannot listen to it.

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2 people found this helpful