Becky

Too raunchy

Reviewed: 05-13-22

I quit when the purple dildo showed up. I also got really tired of the raunchy language. This one is not for me.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Terrible choice for narrator

Reviewed: 12-19-18

Who had the bright idea to have a male narrator read a romance told from a female first-person perspective? He's not a bad narrator, but was the wrong choice for this story. I made a mediocre story significantly worse.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Good time travel for young adults

Reviewed: 05-14-18

I took a quick break from Tarzan to listen to and review this book and its sequel after winning a copy of the sequel in audio form. I had never read any books released by the author under this name but I'm a big fan of the books she's written as Janette Rallison. Her Rallison books are light, fluffy, and funny fantasies for young adults. Since I'm a big fan of light, fluffy, and funny, those books are right up my alley. Luckily, I also like darker books about how the world can (and probably will) go wrong. Throw in time travel and I'm good to go.

Sheridan and Taylor are identical twins, but only on the surface. Sheridan is a pretty typical 17-year-old: worried about her grades, pleasing her parents, and getting along with her twin sister. The latter can take some effort because Taylor is a bit of a rebel who gets her sister into situations she doesn't want to be in. Oh, and she's a top-notch genius who graduated from high school years ago and is now running around with the college crowd. The story begins with Taylor trying to get Sheridan to cover for her so she can go out with an older boy, something her minister father does not approve of, when the twins are suddenly thrown 400 years into the future.

This is no Disneyland Tomorrowland, personal freedoms are gone, the government controls everything, and the world is composed of many domed cities which are at perpetual war with each other. Here they find out that they have been pulled into the future by accident, the government had been looking for a scientist to give them an edge against their enemies. They certainly never planned on teenage girls. Because language evolves, English is almost unrecognizable to the girls so a couple of translators are called in. The father and son team are "experts" in 21st century English and are able to communicate with the girls even if they don't understand many of the idioms from our time.

The younger of the translators, Echo, is also a twin, something very rare in the future. He and Sheridan bond over shared losses. She's grieving for her parents and two brothers, dead for 400 years, and he's grieving the recent loss of his twin brother and girlfriend. The sisters are on a collision course with the oppressive government regime who want to wipe their memories and they will need Echo's help to survive, but can they trust him when he has secrets of his own?

Let's talk about what works. The characters are well-done. Sheridan is the good daughter, the loving and kind one who thinks about others but feels inferior to her prodigal twin sister. Taylor is brilliant but tougher and less friendly than her sister. The two play off of each other really well. Echo is an interesting guy and we know from the get-go that he's not happy and wants to get the heck out of Dodge. The mystery about what happened to his brother and girlfriend drive the plot at least as much as the question of how to keep the twins alive and with their memories intact. The author made it clear from the beginning that there would be no return to the past and I would have liked a little more grieving from the girls about that. The pace of the story is a little fast, however, and doesn't leave much time for reflection. That's not a bad thing, and the intended audience probably won't care, but I can't imagine shrugging off the loss of everything and everyone I love as quickly as these girls do.

The world-building is a little sketchy sometimes, with some interesting ideas but some not as well thought out. I liked the idea of the rank badges, for instance, but thought there was too little thought put into what would be happening in entertainment and day to day life. The author throws out references to VR but that's already current technology in our time. I would have liked a more original take on how people spend their leisure time.

One of the biggest changes in the future is the complete abolishment of religion. I get why the author did it, but religion is one of only a few cultural universals and it has always defied attempts to eradicate it. It plays a big part in the plot and was handled respectfully, however, so I can roll with it.

Overall, I liked the book quite a bit. It's fast-paced with good characters and an intriguing plot. I just thought the world-building could have used some work. I would be happy to read more like this from the author.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Even better than the first

Reviewed: 05-14-18

I won a copy of the audio book on the author's blog and I wanted to thank her by hurrying to get this review out. I picked up the first book in the series, Erasing Time, and listened to it first. I liked that one but I liked this one even more.

The first book focused on Sheridan and Echo. This time around it's Taylor and Echo's turn. The plot revolves around an attempt to destroy the time machine for good. Things go wrong when an attempt to fix something in the past causes unforeseen consequences in the present. Have these people never read a time travel book? Of course it does! Taylor has to race against the clock to save Sheridan from the villain of the first book and she does it with Echo's help. Despite her best intentions, Taylor finds herself attracted to Echo but no worries, this is not one of those dreaded love triangles.

The character growth in this book is stronger than in the first one and both Taylor and Echo have further to go than Sheridan and Echo did in the first one. There are more complications and a ton of action but you still feel like you're going on a journey with the characters and that makes for a better book than the first one in the series. I enjoyed the ride.

I give this one an enthusiastic five stars and I'm sorry there are no more books in the series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

A wonderful gift

Reviewed: 12-12-16

I read and listen only to Christmas stories at this time of year, and it's harder than you'd think to round up decent audio stories to fill an entire month. That's why I was so excited to find this gift from Audible. Although it isn't very long, the stories were authentic and I enjoyed them a lot. I would love if this became a holiday tradition.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Lackluster story, terrible narration

Reviewed: 11-28-16

Would you be willing to try another book from Dennis Canfield? Why or why not?

No. The book was poorly conceived and the writing was barely competent.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The book is set in Chicago but the narrator has a British accent. His Midwest American accent was hard to listen to, but his Southern one was truly painful.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Weak story, horrendous narration

Reviewed: 11-02-16

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator was the worst I've ever listened to. I literally thought I was listening to text-to-speech.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The world-building was good, but the entire book feels like a summary of a much more interesting series of books. You know the old writing adage, show don't tell? This is a great example of what you should NOT do.

Would you be willing to try another one of Nicole Greevy’s performances?

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you think Shadow Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I respect Patricia Wrede as an author and have read many of her books. This one should have been heavily reworked to bring it up to her current standard of writing. It's obvious that this was an early novel by a promising beginner, not the product of a seasoned writer.

Any additional comments?

Skip this one and listen to some of the author's later works, but not if they're read by the same narrator. I will NEVER listen to anything by this narrator again.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful