Michelle

Unlikeable Charactet

Reviewed: 10-24-22

I DNF’d this book at the 1.5 hr mark because Frankie embodies the thing I hated most about living in the South. That if you’re a quiet person or just don’t want to share your entire life story with a relative stranger then it automatically makes you rude :::eye roll:::
She bombarded the guy with a bunch of questions about where he moved from, where is he from originally, and what brought him to their town and when he gives her short answers she fumes like he’s the rudest person she’s ever met. I also didn’t like how condescending she was towards him. At one point she stated that she wanted to pat him on his head like a puppy cause he didn’t know about how tourists boat in the town he is new to.

I’m just glad I didn’t waste a whole credit on this (the equivalent of about $11.30) and just bought it with the kindle version for about $5. Now I know to stay away from this author and perhaps most southern US books

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Adult female heroine is exactly what I needed

Reviewed: 07-07-22

There is a serious lack of adult female MCs in the fantasy genre. This book delivers on that need. It's extremely LitRPG focused, I did fast forward a couple times when she was looking at her fact sheet. There is a tiny bit of romance, though it's more like a few side comments on how pretty someone is. If there's actually going to be a relationship down the road then it's a very slow burn. The story was good, I love that the MC is a healer as that is what I play in FFXIV. I've read a few LitRPGs and this is the only so far that has a true dedicated healer as an MC. Overall I really loved this book for the story and the characters and am really hoping the rest of the series comes to Audible.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Great book

Reviewed: 12-18-19

For some weird reason, over the last few months, I've been really interested in stories of mountain climbers. I have absolutely no interest in climbing a mountain myself, but the stories of those who do are quite fascinating. This was the first book I'd actually read on the topic and I feel it was a great introduction to the genre. I've since read Into Thin Air, which is a great book on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, but these two books aren't really comparable. Annapurna-A woman's place tells the story of the woman's expedition to summit Annapurna. It tells about the hurdles they had to overcome to even get on the thing (being denied a permit because it would ruin the male camaraderie of the climb.....so no you can't join our boy's club) to the hurdles they had while on the mountain (like a tense night spent with avalanches surrounding their little tent). The pace of the book isn't exactly slow, but it's certainly no fast-paced thriller. It was an enjoyable, steady, and enlightening read. It not only makes you happy to live during a time where as women we can laugh at those who tell us "we're not allowed", but it also brings you along through every step their climbing trip, the highs, the lows, and even the tragic.

As for the bad review, I almost turned away from reading this book because of it and I'm glad I eventually ignored it, I figured at worst I could just exchange the credit if I didn't like the book. While I admit that there are extreme feminists out there who make EVERYTHING about identity politics and feel their womanly parts give them special powers, this book is NOT in that same vain.
The events took place in a time where some men (Sir Edmund Hillary) threatened to leave an entire expedition should a single woman be allowed to step foot above 19k feet. These women didn't set out with the mindset of "Oh we're better than men look at what only we can do yada yada yada", but with a "Hey! We're really good too and can do everything a man can so bugger off and let us climb mountains."
The book does have a decidedly female take to the experience because....well...it was an expedition full of women lol. So you will hear about some uniquely female problems (needing tampons at one of the camps) as well as special focus managing their emotions at high altitudes, but those are quick tangents.
As I said, I've only read this book and Into Thin Air and I will say that I loved how it was told from the perspective of and by the leader. I really enjoyed hearing about how she had multiple route options and why she chose the ones she did. Basically, I enjoyed the tactical aspect to the climb as much the climb itself. Something Into Thin Air lacked since it was a guided climb.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I will be buying the hard copy as well to display on bookshelves. If you like reading about people (women or men) climbing crazy dangerous mountains then get this book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Not quite as good as the first one, but still good

Reviewed: 01-13-18

What did you love best about Haunting the Deep?

The growing friendship and bond between Sam and the Descendants.

What did you like best about this story?

The intermix of fiction and history

What three words best describe Tara Sands’s voice?

Lack of Research

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Author's note, but also the real-life stories of the Titanic victims

Any additional comments?

Haunting the Deep wasn't quite as good as How to Hang a Witch, but it was still a decent read. Sam's reticence at embracing her witchy powers gets really annoying during the first 1/4 of the book, but that could just be my personal taste. I prefer characters just accept something and move along with the story. From a readers perspective you know it's going to happen anyway so why drag out the angst.
Also during the first 1/4 of the book, Sam tries to keep everything from everyone trying to go at it alone which I suppose can be a stubborn teenage trait (<--- why I generally steer away from YA), but it was annoying nonetheless.

Beyond that, the story was a good one. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of trying to figure out who the villain was. However (and I'd have to read it again to make sure, which I wouldn't mind) but I'm pretty sure there's a major plot hole in Sam's attempt to figure out who the villain is. But since the story is about much more than just trying to figure that out, I can overlook the blunder.
The romance aspect in this one is definitely more of a side story and I'm not sure I like how it ended, but that's because I was rooting for the other guy lol. If there is a third one, I hope things get finalized one way or another and it's actually said to the character that her decision is finalized because it was strongly hinted at in this one, but at the same time you know Sam's been going through a lot so maybe it's just not something she was thinking about at the time.

What bothered me most about this book is actually the narration. In How to Hang a Witch, our narrator was the author and she did a great job. However, Tara Sands took over the narration for this one and I really wish she would've done her research by listening to the first one. Sam's and Susannah's voices were changed...and I think Mary's as well. Sam's is noticeably different...a bit rougher around the edges, but nothing too bad. I think Mary's is a bit more childish then it was with the authors narration, but again nothing too bad. Susannah's however was a complete butchery...literally...Tara Sands' makes Susannah sound like a butch. In the first one we learn Susannah is sweet and quiet, but also opinionated and outspoken when she feels she has something of worth to add. In Haunting the Deep though, all the sweetness is gone and we're just left with this gruff, albeit intelligent, voice. I don't know if it's because we find out a small detail about Susannah in this story that makes the narrator apply that tone to her, but it was totally unfitting. Which is a shame because had Tara Sands just listened to the first book narration by the author then she should've taken that as the authority as to what the character is supposed to sound like and the narration would've been perfect.

Overall it was pretty good. Had it been the first book in the series I wouldn't recommend it, but if you've read How to Hang a Witch and liked the atmosphere, the historical aspect of the book, and Sam's story in general then I suggest you read this; if only for the bond between Sam and the other Descendants and continuation of the world. I do hope the author writes a third one because I do so enjoy being in Sam's world.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great romance story

Reviewed: 10-21-17

Great book; One of my favorites. But narration of male voices is meh and the lyrics which are supposed to be sung never sound right in any audible I've read lol.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I <3 this series

Reviewed: 03-04-17

If you're looking for a quick and simple happy-ending story involving the loveable St. Mary's characters, then this is it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Meh

Reviewed: 04-03-16

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

Well the story itself could've been better. It could've been a combination of Shirl Rae's voice and the fact that I didn't really like the heroine, but it was almost painful to listen to her sometimes. I've listened to The Paper Swan and that has Shirl Rae and Zachary Webber as well and I loved that book and the narration so I'm confident it was the story and not the narrators themselves. Zachary Webber...haha. I could listen to him all day long. Actually, after this book I plan on picking up Breakable by Tammara Webber which he narrates...for a whole 11 hours lol.

Would you be willing to try another book from Harper Sloan? Why or why not?

Yes, but only because I've heard good things.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was a good premise. Big girls need love too, but that's about it. Oh yeah, and Zachary Webber's voice lol.

Any additional comments?

I was kind of disappointed in this book, but at the same time it was sort of what I expected it to be. I put off on reading it because I figured the heroine wasn’t going to be the dominant, sassy type that I love so much. As I feared, the heroine, Willow, was quite the opposite of the heroines that I love reading. During the first part of the book she was meek and has some serious self-love issues. All of them brought upon by a rough upbringing and horrible family. After she meets our hero, Kane, she gets better. She starts to love herself and eventually grows very confident in herself and her body. What disappointed me about this book is that up until about the 80% marker, it was Kane that gave her the strength to love herself. It didn’t come from within. She didn’t need months of looking in the mirror at herself and slowly come to the realization that even though her body isn’t traditionally beautiful, it’s still beautiful. It took a man, not even her friends could convince her, but a man to love those parts about her that she didn’t like for her finally like them as well. It was basically “Oh I like my body because he likes my body.” It could just be me and where I’m at in my stage of life that leads me to rate this book as such, but I feel that it would’ve been all that more inspiring had she grown to love herself not because Kane did, but just because she chose to.That’s not to say that from one day to another you suddenly choose to love yourself and voila magically it happens, but I think if you don’t love something about yourself then if you can change then do so and if you can’t change then see the good in it. It can be done, I’ve done it myself, millions of women around the world have done it. To go through that process with months of work (sometimes years for some) and then read a book about a woman who needed a man to finally clue her in, it just isn’t all that awe-inspiring. Another issue that bugged me was the time frame. This poor girl lost her mom in a car accident when she was the one driving, her step-father and step-sister absolutely hate her and are the biggest bullies, like serious “Mean Girl” type crap. Her husband cheats on her with her sister (you find this out about 10 minutes into the book so it’s not a spoiler), and even though she’s working on losing the weight she’s doing it by starving herself. So even though she’s been through all this hell and feels that she’s worthless it takes her a grand total of one month to become a strong confident woman that has the strength to forgive her dickish family, all with the help of Kane of course. After that month, it takes maybe another 2 weeks for her to realize that she doesn’t need Kane to love herself and that she’s finally reached that stage of self-love that she’s always wanted to be in (this is after that 80% marker). It could just be me. it could just be the fact that when I went through this journey I had 3 little kids and no job and no accomplishments to speak of. Or maybe I’m supposed to believe that our heroine is just that awesome to have found herself in such a short time after having gone through so much. I don’t know. Either way, it just didn’t feel right to me. All in all, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. What made my finally pick it up was 1. The hype and 2. The fact that Zachary Webber narrates Kane on the Audible version. Damn that man has the finest voice I’ve ever heard. I’m not sure I’ll pick up another book by this author simply because I like darker books. The whole book was overly peppered with positive quotes and thoughts about self-esteem. As I said, it could just be an issue of where I am at in my personal life. No longer needing that kind of positive reinforcement because I like who I am. Also, Willow doesn’t curse. It’s just the type of girl she is and that’s not the type of girl I enjoy reading about lol.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Loved it!

Reviewed: 03-15-16

I loved this book. It was short, sweet, funny, and just prefect. Suzanna and Mike were perfect together in the series and this book just adds to their awesomeness

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great Book. Couldn't get through it on Audio

Reviewed: 02-14-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Not the audible, but yes to the book. I feel that the narrator over-exagerated the hero's twang and it came out more comical than anything else.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ryan, the hero. He's level-headed and knows exactly what he wants.

How could the performance have been better?

Maybe a different narrator. Not sure.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me laugh a few times.

Any additional comments?

I loved the book itself, but I had to read it on my Kindle because the narration of the hero's voice was going to ruin it for me. Not only am I not a big fan of the southern accent, but I think the narrator overdid it.
The book itself was funny, light, romantic and steamy. The characters are all in their 30's and act like it so it isn't YA (which I hate for romance) or NA (which is a hit or miss). It's exactly what I was looking for in a romance novel. I'm leaving my favorite part of the book for the end of this review since it's a bit of a spoiler, so if you don't want to know if there's an HEA then stop reading now. I loved that the characters spend the whole book being together. Yes there are obstacles and the book keeps you guessing, but the characters are always together and having steamy scenes. I can't stand romance novels where practically the entire book is spent getting them together (without so much as a kiss) until the very end and all you get is the epilogue of them being together.


Happy Reading!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!