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Suzanne

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It wasn’t “the best” out of the series.

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-19-24

I’ve perused the many of the other reviews and I think, maybe, I’m missing something. Did we listen to and review the same book? I don’t get it.
It’s true, I find that I keep coming back to these books because I really enjoy the main characters. Sadly, in this edition, the narrator lacked continuity in the pronunciation of names and voices. Zoe’s voice in the previous book(s) was more confident. This book made Zoe come across as shrill and annoying. Second, I’m still flummoxed as to why Amanda M Lee uses demons to help the characters. In other additions to this series and “Mystic Caravan Circus”, the Loas are said to be demons and yet their power is transferred to Charley and Poet and somehow this is okay since Charley and Poet are fighting for the good. huh? …Charley’s best friend is a crossroads demon. I really enjoy Harley’s character but… I’d really like to know the logic behind this. This book diminished most of the fun, supporting characters to cameos; including Jack. Some of the characters were omitted entirely. Were they in the room? Were they in parts unknown? What happened? I found this frustrating. For me, it seemed like Amanda M Lee ran out of ideas and just through something together to get it out. BTW wasn’t the narrator for this book the same for most of the previous books? Where was the disconnect in continuity?

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Unfortunately, Zoey’s lack of control

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-18-24

I expected Zoey to have the mind and characteristics of previous installments. This was like Toon Town meets the Wizard of Oz. Zoey was all over the place and carried on and screeched like she had ants in her brain. This was a rather disappointing end to a length of books I really enjoyed. Zoey upstaged Charley and she wasn’t even necessary in her final battle with what’s her name. There was a lot that could have been done in this book. We were set up for this intense battle but got essentially nothing but Charley’s finger waving admonishment. (yawn) It seemed like Amanda M Lee was in a hurry to finish this series. I’ve noticed things like this happening to other authors, in other series. I would really like to know if Charley and Jack find their way to Moonstone Bay and their process of discovering it. Incidentally, the narrator, who I believe narrated several of the other books, suddenly lost all recollection and consistency of names, tones etc. I wanted to shout Aisling!! Not Ashley. And Charley’s mom’s and her nemesis’ name. I was almost glad when the book ended. Please stick to Caitlin Kelly if at all possible.

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I didn’t hate it

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-28-24

What do I like and dislike? I enjoyed the story/mystery and the tidbit of drama with Laura. Laura’s a trip and needed more finesse. She lacks guile and a cunning personality. She was all “bump and go”. As for Charley, with the exception of her infatuation with what appears to be the king of control, she’s okay. I wish her abilities would play more of a part in the book, though, and I’m beginning to wonder, if Jack will ever find out about them. What stood out most? It was Jack’s overinflated response to pretty much everything. Jack seemed more patient and tolerant in the first three books, but has become controlling to the point of the husband in “Sleeping With the Enemy”. He comes across as volatile and incredibly uncompromising. That Charley thinks he’s a “dream” is almost nauseating. Also, the narrator never lightens up on Jack’s gruff, monotone voice which may contribute to my current dislike of this character. He would be more likable if a nuance or two were added to his voice. Otherwise, he’s one dimensional with no introspection of an underlying kindness. Narration needs a little work. All in all, the story (book 4) kept my interest. I would say it’s “okay”.

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Nice try, but…

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-29-24

The narrator was simply awful. I think I would have liked Charley more with a less “come hither” deep monotone voice. Charley is seriously lacking in personality and has absolutely no redeeming qualities. She’s really hard to like. Charley is supposed to be in her early twenties and new to the job. Not a street walker who finally got her first real job and doesn’t have much to offer. Charley behaves as if she’s been around a rather tough and distasteful block several times and this is the end result. It was a little cringy and made the book darker than I think it was meant to be. I kept picturing their basement office like the office in Joe Versus the Volcano. You know, the office Joe worked at in the beginning of the movie; only with more gray tones and less light. Mind numbing. I got through the first book! I started the second book several times before I threw in the towel. Maybe I expected more, especially after listening to The Mystic Caravan Circus which, incidentally, is a gem with Caitlin Kelly as the narrator. Two thumbs way way up. This one, however…I wish I hadn’t wasted a credit on this.

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Good.,,but

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-20-24

The first six books were interesting. Although, the romance between Izzy and Braden seemed forced and rushed. I never felt any real romance or attraction between the two.
Cernunos, come on. You couldn’t be more imaginative than to pull a real demon out of your hat and make him a hero? I felt dirty listening to this. Just for as an objective of reference, do some research on the CERN Hadron collider and find out the history regarding the location, name, etc. Unless, of course, it’s what you were truly wanted. I hope not.
Sadly, as much as I wanted this journey to continue, I just don’t see it happening. I’ve tried four times to get into the final three books without success. Sorry, Amanda.
I really liked Oliver. I enjoyed his wit. Zoe’s friend. What’s her name? With exception of being Zoe’s best friend, she did little to enhance or change the plot. I thought that Daddy Grimlock’s character was pushed a little too far on caring for Lilly. It was bordering on weirdly creepy.

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Poet is beginning to bug me.

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-25-23

I really like this series. It started out delightful and has slowly gotten darker. Suddenly Poet has all these skills that she didn’t have before and it’s become a little confusing. When did that happened? Frankly, I think, the “I can take care of myself”, has been overplayed. When finding a life partner you’re supposed to change to accommodate the other and not “look how strong and powerful I am.” I am stronger, I know more and I can overpower any man living! Good grief. Feel free to take that chip off your shoulder any time now. Unfortunately, Poet stays on course as rude and thoughtless when it comes to Kade. Kade has been shoved into a pretty pink, lace trimmed box of tears. “I’ll come back and hear you whine some more later.” I think that’s what she said to Kade. Really? I understand wanting a strong female character, but not at the expense of demeaning and subjugation. If I were Kade, I would have taken my manhood back and allowed her to “take care of herself” and then walked away from martyrdom. Aside from sex, what else do they do together? She’s not even interested in planning a wedding. Oh, wait! That’s Kade’s job.
I found this book to be lacking in the usual lighthearted humor. Seriously, isn’t she supposed to be conquering evil and not adding to it? Snarky was pushed to a whole new heartless level. Too much “demon” for a YR/YA book. Would not recommend this book for teens or adults who find too much evil and darkness in the world already.
Sorry. I truly wish I had better things to say about this book. Frankly, this is one of those books, that if you had the actual hard copy, you would have thrown it over your shoulder half way through.

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Great series; when does “Freaky Emasculation” come out?

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-14-23

*SPOILER ALERT* I really enjoyed this series. That is, until the last 4 or 5 books. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the strong woman screaming “I can take care of myself!” but not at the cost of the physically stronger sex. Let the man be a man, for crying out loud. If he wants to help in dangerous endeavors, more power to him. If you can take care of yourself, then what’s the point of having a relationship; sex and eye candy. How did women get reduce to what men have done to us for thousands of years. We should be better than that. When Kade said something about Poet taking his last name and she turned and wanted him to take her last name, it took the wind right out of my sails. I wanted to throw up my arms in a waste of good Amazon credits. Kade started out self assured and masculine but then he gets his powers and suddenly turns into a whinny, insecure, whimp. What a waste of a potentially great and funny series of books. A woman can be strong and still be partnered with a strong man.
The saddest part is that there’s no room for Kade to redeem himself since book seventeen is the final book in the series. It’s a real shame.
As usual, Caitlin Kelly did a bang up job in narration.

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I don’t care what anyone else says

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-17-23

I thought this book(s) was delightful. It was smart, uncomplicated and above all snarky and funny.
I’ve been looking for a series of books that I could lose myself in but not so cerebral that I couldn’t pull away from and listen to something else yet eagerly return to. I fell in love with the characters. They each have their own personality and acts upon their own desires.
I love Caitlyn Kelly (the narrator) and have followed her in many of the books she has been involved with.
Truly, I don’t think there is anything that I didn’t like and that would keep me away from listening to the full series again. Here’s hoping for another installment.

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Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book.

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-11-23

Look, I know that Holly Black’s books can be and are on the dark side. I get it, but she has managed to take a really good character with stellar potential from the previous three book and turned him into a one dimensional and generally unlikeable protagonist(?) I couldn’t find any redeeming qualities in Oak much less the quagmire Surren. Now there’s a character for making a dark situation even darker. This was just depressing from the “get go”. No off-hand jokes, sarcasm, misadventure…nothing to lighten the mood. I started reading this book 5 times in hopes that maybe someone with a personality would show up. I never got past the five hour mark.
I kept hoping she’d throw in a little light from Jude, Carden, Taren, anybody. I would have even been happy with an appearance from Maddick. Regardless of his situation.

The narrator, although good, her voice sounded too old for Surren.

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For being an academic genius, Jesse can sure be pretty clueless

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-15-22

I love Caitlin Kelly! She got my 5 star rating. Although there were times I wanted to shout out ‘How did Tarren get in here?’ (Referring to The Cruel Prince By Holly Black).

I really enjoyed the first two books and I was so looking forward to this one. I cannot say that it was my favorite because it felt like the author rushed through the writing and took advantage of the YA rating by accentuating Jesse’s mean girl foe theme. This aspect was way over done. I think that Karen Lynch had more than one missed opportunity to add depth to the story. It kind of laid flat. The ending was almost painful. Jesse once again, saves the day then goes home, attends Harvard, Christmas then flies away on Gus to Unseelie like Dorothy flying away on her balloon in The Wizard of Oz. Points for the dracon originality but…no. This was supposedly the last book of the trilogy and since Ms. Lynch has no character loyalty, Lukas and Jesse will be shacking up in Brooklyn until the end of time or until King (whatshisname; Lukas’ father) either dies or abdicates the throne. Don’t hold your breath. We can only hope that there will be a Lukas POV book sometime in the future to fill in a multitude of blank spots. Again, don’t hold your breath. I just fear that Lukas and Jesse will go the way of Nikolas and Sara. “This is only the beginning” I think was the last phrase of the epilogue of the final book. Really? The beginning of the end, maybe. I was really hoping to see the front desk clerk at the Ralston getting owned in the event that Lukas took Jesse there and he snubbed her. That would be so good.

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