Paper Cranes

By: Nicole Hite

Narrated by: Claire Gresham

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

I had always been the type of girl that followed the rules. "Stick to the plan, Kat," is what I always told myself. I was never a risk taker or chanced anything to fate. That's until I was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. All of my hopes, dreams, and aspirations fell by the wayside. I was dying. What else did I have to look forward to? Definitely not love.

That's until Lee Daniels came tapping at my window.

Determined to push him away, the jerk kept coming back, over and over and over. There was no way I was going to give my heart to a man that would eventually leave me worse then I already was.

But he didn't see it that way. He saw strength, determination, and a stubborn woman ready to give up on love. Why wouldn't he just let me give up? For one very simple reason.

Love, my friends. An unimaginable love. A love that didn't require rules, stipulations, or even expectations. A love filled with dancing on Mardi Gras floats, three a.m. breakfast sessions, and swimming with pigs in the Bahamas. That's my kind of love, and it all started with a stupid paper crane.

Perhaps it was time to take chances because...if not now, then when?

©2016 Nicole Hite (P)2017 Nicole Hite

A different opinion, I didn't like this book

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A few things. The narrator did not do a very good job differentiating between the female voices unless she was attempting an older lady. The story was too forced and didn't really feel authentic.

Would you ever listen to anything by Nicole Hite again?

Probably not

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She did a decent job with Kat's voice, but like I said above, she seemed to struggle with different female voices. And her voice for Lee was horrible.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

DIssapointment. This story could have been an amazing novel. It turned into a LIfetime movie.

Any additional comments?

My Goodreads/Amazon review:

So my thoughts on this book are going to be a little different than all the positive reviews I've read. I bought this book via Audible so I listened to the audio version.

I felt like I was in a Lifetime Movie. I really did. Although ALS is nothing to make light of, I felt the author, in an attempt to make people understand the severity of the disease, failed at a well-written novel. This was a Public Service Announcement for ALS.

Was Kat and Lee's journey compelling? No, I did not think so. It was too forced, it was too predictable and it was overly dramatic. There was no real character development. We are told that Kat had a tough childhood, that she was raised by Jojo's parents. We are told this, but in the last half of the book, Jojo disappears. She's not even mentioned after she attends the ALS support group meeting and Lee confesses he will not let Kat go. I mean she literally disappears from the story. She was sitting there one minute holding Kat's hand and then is no longer even mentioned again.

The HEA is too contrived. It is too unrealistic, and it is just not what I was expecting. Give the reality of this disease, not this fairytale If you are going to preach to the audience about pharmaceutical companies and their lack of investment in ALS research, then make it more about the story and less about the author's opinion on the matter.

I wish this author had written a novel about a true struggle. The characters were one dimensional and I was sadly disappointed.