Jennifer and John Bradley

Not What I Expected

Reviewed: 06-20-24

This is one horny book.

I didn’t realize this was a “romance” novel.

It was quite raunchy in parts.
I blushed and clutched my pearls! Had I known just how much of this story focused on the physical, I wouldn’t have picked it.

But it was quite funny in parts and I liked the characters. I wish I could’ve heard more about them rather than the explicit interactions between the main couple. Maybe then the plot points wouldn’t have felt so forced and unbelievable.

Not for me, but if you like the romance genre- I think this one is a good choice.

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Yawn.

Reviewed: 05-08-24

I like Sherlock Holmes stories.
I like funny stories.
I like interesting takes on old standards.
I like dry, British narrators.

I was not interested in these stories.
I did not laugh or even chortle.
I was bored by both the tales and the reader.

But hey-
It WAS free and short!

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Intense!

Reviewed: 03-28-24

Hooked from the first chapter- vivid characters and thoughtful storytelling kept my attention through the more meandering parts.

Narration was impressive given just how many different characters there are in the book.

I plan to listen again and recommend it to a friend who loves historical fiction.

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Beautiful Crafted and Told

Reviewed: 09-15-23

It never gets old, even after countless listens. It's one I always come back to when I want something spooky, yet comforting. Vivid characters and a complete plot make this brief story something special.

When I first hear Neil Gaiman's (literal) narrative style, I was frustrated by the shifts in volume. I now look at it like a fair trade, the story gains so much from an author reading their own work and he is an especially talented narrator.

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Entertaining and Well Written

Reviewed: 08-15-23

A fun book with well developed characters and thoughtful plot. I enjoyed it and will read the next in the series.

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Enjoyable Adventure Mystery!

Reviewed: 08-12-23

I think I actually liked this much more than 7 1/2 Lives.

I had a thought that this book is what you'd get if Charles Finch (Charles Lenox author) wrote a very tame Games of Thrones novel.

Exciting story and well developed characters- it was a good adventure-mystery. I cared about almost all of them and their individual stories.

I loved the ending.

There are a lot of narrative flourishes, but it's a chosen style and in no way intolerable as some reviewers seem to indicate.

I'm glad it was included w/ membership right now as the negative reviews have held me back from spending a credit previously.

I will gladly spend a credit on any sequel or future books by the author.

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Lazy, Clumsy Writing

Reviewed: 07-19-23

I do not understand why this book has been reviewed so positively.

I should’ve known better, so I’m really just mad at myself for wasting 9 hours of my life on this vapid, boring audiobook.

How can a book be overlong while also feeling like most of the bits with any potential felt glazed over. I seriously kept wondering if I'd missed a chapter. Alas (and thank f), no.

Alternatively, the most mundane parts (mainly whatever the main character was repeatedly obsessing about) went on and on.

I wasn't invested in ANY of the characters. They could've all died at the end and I would've shrugged.

The main character was childish and yes, she's SUPPOSED to be naive and sheltered. Unfortunately, she was annoying too.

The male that joins our lead immediately becomes the protector/hero and she becomes even more needy than before and just bumbling around into plot points.

I kinda liked the witch, but this was only because she vaguely reminded me of Terry Pratchett’s iconic Granny Weatherwax (you want well-written fantasy with actual humor, try
Equal Rites).

And that about does me for the pros.

The love interest was phoned in and forced. There was ZERO development- more happens between Hallmark movie leads before they're willing to be together FOREVER. I didn't feel any chemistry and kept waiting for something to trigger a connection, but then it was the end of the book and I was like, oh.

Utter TRIPE.

I will be returning this book.

The only reason I gave it two stars is because the author obviously knows a good witch character when they see it, too bad it was in someone else’s book.

The narrator is breathy and sounds like all narrators of books like this (youngish single witch doing it for herself, sort-of).

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

Reviewed: 05-23-22

Excellent narration of a powerful story. The narration is far above industry standards. The story and characters come alive with Newton's performance. It was a pleasure to listen to.

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Tough But Gripping

Reviewed: 01-03-22

Excellently written and it held me.

Disturbing, infuriating, and uncomfortable like only a well woven story could be; it made me care about the heroine and those around her. I can't say I enjoyed the journey, but I'm glad I listened to the entire book.

Michelle Paver is an incredible writer and I will purchase anything she produces.

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Meh

Reviewed: 12-23-21

Not the best story. I think it's needlessly gory and the story itself isn't compelling enough to make up for it- almost like the gore is flashy so you don't notice the writing as much. Also, everybody in this town is awful, so it was hard to care about what happened to them.

The major thing about this recording is the sound distortion- a crackling that happens about 4x for about 10 seconds. Why is audible still selling a flawed recording?

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