Sara

Too much everything

Reviewed: 01-17-22

I put this aside a few times but kept coming back to it because I really wanted to hear what happened next. The biggest problem with the book is that the magic system and history of the cities and people who populate the cities is so long-winded. I found myself drifting off numerous times as the narrator described the intricate details of reading cards, telling fortunes, casting and undoing spells, past wars and hostilities, etc. If this had been historical fiction instead of fantasy, I would have congratulated myself on learning so much about a specific area of the world and time period. But, this felt like I was listening to dry lectures that won't be used for anything other than reading the next installment.

I also agree with other reviewers that the narrator's accents are all over the place. I didn't mind that so much, but the whispering was irritating. I often listen on a speaker when I'm painting and find I have to keep it at top volume so I don't miss what happens when the whispering starts. There is a way to whisper on audio recordings while keeping the levels even but this was a big fail.

Despite all the problems, I intend to listen to the next book in the series. I'm hoping that since we've gone through so much world building already, it won't be repeated a second time. And I am truly interested in what happens to all the characters.

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The stars kept decreasing as I listened

Reviewed: 03-11-21

This book is a mess. I couldn't even tell you what it's about because the story kept changing its focus. And then suddenly in the last hour, the book became a set up for the next installments. New characters were introduced and main characters were offed with no fanfare. And it didn't even matter because the character development for everyone throughout the story was almost non-existent. There was virtually no backstory for any of them.

I've listened to several books narrated by Emily Zoo Weller and I'm not a fan. She almost whispers except when giving the mail characters a voice and then she practically shouts. All the men come across as ignorant loudmouths no matter what they're saying. It's painful.

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1 person found this helpful

Country house murder mystery ruined by homophobia

Reviewed: 05-17-20

If this story had been written in 1921 instead of just taking place in 1921, I'd excuse the blatant homophobia, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Sam Dewhurst-Phillips' wonderful narration and over-the-top "gay man" voice makes everything worse. I cringed every time he referred to a gay man as a fop and described his steps as mincing. The women characters also fall into two general buckets: sweet and lovely or fat and shrill. In fact, the only characters who receive any respect from the author are ex-military manly men. And Texans. The book left a really bad taste in my mouth.

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5 people found this helpful

Country house murder mystery ruined by homophobia

Reviewed: 05-17-20

If this story had been written in 1921 instead of just taking place in 1921, I'd excuse the blatant homophobia, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Sam Dewhurst-Phillips' wonderful narration and over-the-top "gay man" voice makes everything worse. I cringed every time he referred to a gay man as a fop and described his steps as mincing. The women characters also fall into two general buckets: sweet and lovely or fat and shrill. In fact, the only characters who receive any respect from the author are ex-military manly men. And Texans. The book left a really bad taste in my mouth.

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5 people found this helpful

Cringeworthy quipping

Reviewed: 05-04-20

How can you get to know a character she can't take herself seriously? This book covers difficult subjects, like mental illness, teenage pregnancy, deep depression, and death, but everyone is a "character." They banter back and forth instead of holding real discussions. About anything. I gave up about a quarter way through because even if the author eventually toned down the stupid quipping, I already disliked all the characters way too much.

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Annoyed I finished it

Reviewed: 05-04-20

What a stupid story. There's really no mystery - just a bunch of dumb people making bad decisions. But, if you like guns and believe being able to shoot well is the answer to every problem, then go for it. This could have been written by the NRA. And, did I mention it was stupid? Almost everything bad that happens is because supposedly honorable people keep secrets long beyond their expiration date.

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1 person found this helpful

Only made it two hours

Reviewed: 02-18-19

This is not even YA, it's juvenile. And, at two hours in, it has already used every trope from every fantasy or adventure novel every written (Old West corral fight, boy who must hide his magic, people shunned for being different, an unfair flogging, untalented bullies and rulers, etc.). But, what really got me was the attempt to make a story about mercenaries just another kid's adventure story. All the characters blush at the merest mention of sex, yet then they kill without a second thought. And, it's incredibly sexist. Tim Gerard Reynolds did a masterful job but his narration seemed out of place for this stupid story.

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Blood is not everything

Reviewed: 01-27-19

I had hoped the author would get over the first-time jitters and smooth out his writing for this follow-up book, but he didn't manage that. This installation involves a woman looking for her birth mother who reportedly had drowned in the sea 26 years previously. But, the daughter's desperate need to know what really happened just seems silly and over-wrought. The fact that she had never met her birth mother and had grown up as the adopted child of a couple that seemed like decent enough people is given short shrift. It's unthinkable to every character in the book that a young, unmarried woman could give up her newborn baby and kill herself. Even if there was a not-so-natural death, I kept wanting to yell at this nutty woman that she had no right to interfere with the townsfolk so many years later and that she should go home and apologize to her adoptive parents for being such a twit.

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3 people found this helpful

Interesting idea for a detective but flawed

Reviewed: 01-27-19

I loved the idea of a mystery solved by a grad student specializing in ocean currents, but the book was really all over the place. The main character, Cal, is unlikeable, and not in an interesting way. Just immature and jerky. And, the personal mystery about his grandfather turns out to be silly. I can't figure out why he suffered so much angst over a person he'd never met from an island he'd never been to. I think the author was looking for a way to make Cal seem deeper, but it didn't work.

Nevertheless, I listened to the second book in the series, hoping these were first-time novel flaws. They weren't. Mr. Douglas-Home, I hope you're reading these reviews because you're on to something special here. Just try to stick to one storyline about an issue that really matters (e.g., the sex trafficking angle in this book) and don't try to manufacture pathos.

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Well written and very sad

Reviewed: 01-27-19

I wouldn't recommend this book to my sisters because it's just so harrowing. At first I thought everything would turn out OK, but once I got into the book, I realized it was a reflection on grief and recovery more than a who-done-it. I don't have the heart of stomach for this sort of thing.

Also, the switching to different points of view in the second half of the book, while interesting, was confusing, especially since one person's POV left us thinking there had to be more to that storyline when it was clearly over.

The performance was masterful.

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5 people found this helpful