Queen of the Underworld (Abridged): A Novel Audiobook

" This was not a great book, though not bad either, about a UNC grad going to Miami as a reporter. It just wasn't a stong, or entirely believable, story. Maybe I just didn't like the protagonist. I did enjoy the Cuban refugees. I hear that Godwin is a good author, and I will give her another chance sometime. "

" This was a book I just got off the staff-pick shelf when none of my 'hold books' had come in to the library. I liked the characters a lot and the setting was interesting but I felt it lacked direction and plot. The ending was unsatisfying and ho-hum. "

" I felt like I was reading a cartoon - Brenda Starr! Cub Reporter! If it wasn't a book group pick I would have put it down like I did the first time I picked it up. "

" Enjoyed the historical context - Miami, Cuba - but what happened to the ending? "

" I was intrigued by the book overall, but the ending felt kind of forced and just not as smooth as the rest of the book. I loved Godwin's voice & writing style. "

" Just finished this. Really good. A young reporter goes to her first assignment for the Miami Star right after Fidel Castro takes land from the american and cuban landowners. "

" I shall start a new book today.....A journey of reading this Summer has begun too. There is a theme to all my books.....I to want to take journey's while I am on my journey, of self discovery. :) "

" Interesting time and place -- Miami in 1958 -- but not much of a story. "

" I listened to this book on CD in the car. "

" A nice pastiche of 1950's Miami, but the story about the bigger-than- life week of the brand new cub reporter is tiresomely self-centered and fizzles out. One of those books I keep reading waiting for things to take off but alas it never does. "

" I'm a big Gail Godwin fan - and as in her other novels, the characters are wonderful. I enjoyed the setting in Miami just as Castro was coming to power, the coming-of-age, finding-your-way themes. But will someone explain the ending to me?? "

" It's well-written and engaging, although not typical of Gail Godwin's work. I like the glimpse of life in mid-century Miami, especially the Cuban culture although I have no idea how accurately. "

" I loved the idea of this book but I hated the ending. Right before the end, she even says she feels like she is in dead water, going nowhere, just waiting. And it ends there. What's up with that? "

" Hard to follow in certain places. There was a lot more that could have been written. It felt like part of the story was missing. "

" This takes a different direction than her other books, but just as interesting. "

" This book began to give me an understanding of Cuban's fleeing Castro in the early years of his take-over, but it had an unsatisfactory ending (like the author grew weary of the story and simply quit). I was reading it for a bookclub and am unlikely to recommend it for others. "

" This was an enjoyable story about a new college graduate who moves to Miami in the 1950's. I especially enjoyed the references to the time frame. "

" Really not Gail Godwin's best... a disappointing novel that goes nowhere fast! Well written but no plot that deserves the number of pages dedicated to it. "

" I shall start a new book today.....A journey of reading this Summer has begun too. There is a theme to all my books.....I to want to take journey's while I am on my journey, of self discovery. :) "

" This book was so interesting 3/4 of the way through and then it took a strange turn and ended so abruptly. I felt cheated... I enjoyed the young journalist Emma. "

" Not one of Gail Godwin's best efforts. "

" Blah. So boring. And I found the protagonist irritating and naive. The naïveté is part of the point, but it never gets replaced by experience, and I doubt I was supposed to think she was such a pill. "

" I felt like I was reading a cartoon - Brenda Starr! Cub Reporter! If it wasn't a book group pick I would have put it down like I did the first time I picked it up. "

" Enjoyed the historical context - Miami, Cuba - but what happened to the ending? "

" Love Gail Godwin; not enough closure here. "

" Godwin disappointed me in this book. I've enjoyed so many others, but this one lacked good character development and the story line, at least for me, fizzled. "

" Just finished this. Really good. A young reporter goes to her first assignment for the Miami Star right after Fidel Castro takes land from the american and cuban landowners. "