Audiobook Review: The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller

The Carousel Painter
(Read by Rebecca Gallagher)

About the Book:

Carrie loves painting the beautiful carousel horses …but can she stand strong against the many who don’t want her to keep the job?  When Carrington Brouwer receives the enviable job of painting carousel horses for a factory in Ohio, she believes her future is secure. But after an expensive necklace disappears from the home where she’s been staying, she’s caught up in a search for the truth that puts her entire livelihood—and her developing relationship with the factory manager—at risk. Can she lead police to the real culprit before she loses everything?

My Thoughts:

Well, where to begin? I was really hoping I'd like this one. Unfortunately it fell short for me. It's not a bad book, but there were too many things that didn't flow well together. From the very beginning, we're told that Carrie and Augusta Galloway are good friends yet I could never find a reason why Carrie held so tightly to her friendship with Augusta. The person Augusta was painted to be prior to the novel's beginning and what I actually read did not even seem like the same person at all. Personally, I didn't really like Augusta at all. Wealthy, snobbish, and boy-crazy, I was glad she wasn't the protagonist. Carrie herself wasn't very likeable at the beginning, but she does get better after about three-quarters of the way through. Her constant giggling or laughing was extremely annoying and unrealistic to me. I have never felt a laugh "climb up the back of my throat". The conflicts weren't set up that great, but they did keep me wanting to find out what would happen hence the reason I finished listening to the entire story. The romance with Joseph was sweet, but only after it really began which wasn't until more than halfway through. And the transition from Carrie and Joseph unable to understand one another and kind of antagonistic to them enjoying each others company and walking home together after work was very choppy. There was no build up at all in my opinion. I had no idea (other than the blurb telling me it would happen) that Carrie was interested in him until all of a sudden everything he did made her heart pump hard.

Listening to audiobooks has made me aware that trying to write a romantic scene must be difficult! While reading about a kiss, I never noticed anything, but hearing it out loud made me aware of how it really sounds and flows. If it doesn't flow well, reading aloud makes it pretty obvious. (Just a funny little quirk I've noticed and not just in this story.) I don't like being negative, and it was an interesting story. I did enjoy the details of creating carousel animals and painting them! Ms. Miller had obviously done her research in this area. So if you can hang on past the first half of the story (or skip parts of it like I did, I'd skip ahead a chapter every so often), the back half has a little more action and a cute romance. So in conclusion I'm glad I listened to it. Really! I'm sure I won't read it again, but you may like it. I'd just recommend borrowing from the library first.

{I have no passage to share as it's an audiobook. Sorry!}

Toodle-loo kangaroos!