J. Polkowske

Helpful discussion of both sides of codependency

Reviewed: 06-09-22

...but a bit too much about relying on God to deal with your problems. She sets up lots of good talking points, and the quizzes are helpful, but there's more God mentioned than not in some places

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A long walk down a short street

Reviewed: 09-19-21

The following review reflects nothing of the audiobook performance, which is excellent and engaging. A bad book can be extremely well narrated, as is the case here.

This is one of the most competently written but dumbest books I've ever read.

I have never encountered a book that works so hard to justify its premise. If it were a fantasy book, set in some other plane or dimension, or if it hadn't pretended to be grounded in a version of Earth, it might have been better. And it's not bad, and in fact, it's very well written, it's just that the suspension of disbelief routinely gets given concrete shoes and pushed off a bridge. Even the background characters in the novel seem that they can't believe they're having to justify what's happening in pursuit of the plot here. If it had even gone with a magical realism approach, that would have been better.

Two city-state nations exist right next to each other, to the point of sharing streets and buildings opposite each other, but, because the author needed an unbelievable amount of artifice to make this plot remotely workable, the citizens of each city-nation are not only not allowed to step into the other side of the street, they can't even be caught *looking* for too long at the other nation's citizens, buildings, cars, pigeons, or anything, except at very specific patrolled crossroads, where suddenly the other side of the road is allowed to exist and be acknowledged again.

The overseeing group that watches the border is "Breach", a word I hope I don't have to hear again for months. Breach is what you get when you put the following traits into a blender, turn it on, then leave the house and go on vacation: a CIA style intelligence organization; a patrolled demilitarized zone; that picture that's a vase but also two people, or that one that's both a rabbit and a duck; the beaurocracy from Terry Gilliam's Brazil; the particularly shortsighted and myopic brand of jingoism that gets cows to vote for the slaughthouse industry; and a small chunk of the Berlin wall, for texture.

The actual plot is a murder investigation that leads one detective through both cities and through Breach, but dogs training for a showcase don't jump through this many hoops. And it's not like the author isn't aware, because they keep having other characters point out how ridiculous this whole scenario is.

There's an interesting concept in all this, teased gently but when it came time for delivery, instead we get a mess that's hard to believe and harder to take serious.

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A funny little story about haunting a ghost

Reviewed: 04-16-21

Read this short story of you want a funny and charming story of an American family haunting a befuddled English ghost.

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excellent story, but the audio is very quiet

Reviewed: 10-24-20

This story is excellent. Great magic, immensely lovable characters that actually have brains in their heads, exciting demons, and a FANTASTIC amount of yearning and stolen looks. A+, great romance.

However, while the performance by the narrator is Outstanding, the audio is very muffled and muted in places, barely being audible in places even at max volume. But please don't let that distract you from this book, it's a sure hit.

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I can't recommend this series highly enough

Reviewed: 10-08-20

I really can't. It's creative, fun, fulfilling, explanatory, and thoroughly crafted. A Victorian style setting in a different world prople with familiar but different variants of humans, and one intrepid naturalist who wants to study dragons and not a damn thing is going to stop her. It's excellent, thought out, and fulfilling, and honestly there's nothing here that's not to like.

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Detailed look at new ways to look at things

Reviewed: 09-16-20

This is a book about how to observe things you might not observe, and treats the subject with an academic regard that is easy to follow and easy to get into, but also fascinating because she gets experts in different fields to point out the things their very trained eyes and ears notice that people who aren't trained would never see, or couldn't identify correctly. I highly recommend it, you'll undoubtedly learn something.

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Another great entry from the author

Reviewed: 09-08-20

This is a great start to a new series, with interesting characters and, while the twists can be seen coming, they're still satisfying when they line up. Though, scene transition could use just a hair more elaboration. There were a few moments where my attention would be divided, and suddenly I had to replay the last minute or so because the scene and characters present are just suddenly different, and it can be a bit disorienting to go from a still quiet reflection over to a scene of two people struggling over a dagger on the floor. I understand the "it's okay to use a little to describe a lot" school of theory, but maybe a sentence or two of mood change would make it a lot smoother.

That said, it is a great book over all, with fun characters and a great magic setup that I'm legitimately interested in seeing more of. More like this, please!

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1 person found this helpful

Make this your next book!

Reviewed: 03-12-20

Holy crap, this book is outstanding. You NEED to make this your next read, it hits like a truck, leaves you joyous and elated, wracked with apprehension and sadness, thoroughly delighted, and just all around this book is INCREDIBLE. Don't skip it, trust me.

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witty, cathartic, and derisive

Reviewed: 08-26-18

This book is a surprising amount of fun, remains witty and interesting throughout, and could be an easily overlooked gem, especially given the familiarity of variety that the author presents during the reading. It starts with a "what if" scenario of interdimensional beings in the modern day, and follows through with a well built world as a result.

I'll be interested in any follow ups, as there is room to move from here, but the story has managed that rare thing of being its own complete work set in a larger world.

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2 people found this helpful

great essays

Reviewed: 03-12-18

A lot of insightful thoughts from a black lesbian female perspective from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, which I hadn't had a lot of (much of any, really) exposure to before, and it is worth hearing to gain more understanding of a life I don't lead.

The performer is fluid and servicable for the most part, but you can hear the sections where they get tired, and you can likewise notice the sections where they have a personal and vested excitemenylt for the text, as they impart significantly higher energies into the delivery than elsewise.

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