Tmw

Wonderful world building

Revisado: 03-09-24

This book was a recommendation from Audible in the “selected for you” section… and this was perfect for my taste! I cannot wait for the sequel that is surely coming!!

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Good Story, A Few Issues

Revisado: 03-05-21

As I am a fan of this series, I was pleased with the shift in focus to other characters for the latest book. Overall I liked the story. However, I did not think the narrator fit and disliked the whining way she voiced many characters. Though I truly enjoy Maas’s books, she needs an editor for dialogue who will trim the overuse of repeated pet phrases such as “you know”! This expression is used so often by even ancient beings, it sets my teeth on edge. Likewise, though used less than some other authors, the word “chuckle” used for laugh or smile, is nauseatingly overused in contemporary fantasy fiction. The repetition of such words and phrases becomes especially annoying when listening to audiobooks by the same author. Editors? Thesaurus? Please!

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A Good Read

Revisado: 03-25-20

Though a longtime fan of Atwood's work, I managed to overlook this book. That was a mistake. I found it engrossing. The narration was perfectly suited to the period and the feeling of the writing. Atwood wistfully captures in descriptive prose the changing social attitudes, the town, the lifestyles, and even the fashions of the periods her characters move through. I particularly enjoyed the fantasy story woven into the actual tale of two sisters. In fact, I found myself wanting more of the fantasy story and looking forward to the snippets from it. In conclusion, I have to say the exploration of naivety and experience and how our eyes are opened with hindsight made this my favorite Atwood novel since "Cat's Eye". I would highly recommend it.

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Different but Engaging

Revisado: 03-19-20

This was not at all what I expected after reading the Dublin Murder Squad books. Nevertheless, the narrator's likable, age-believable presentation of the main character helped to quickly pull me into this interesting combination of psychological mystery and unorthodox family drama. Honestly, I became so interested in the developing layers of relationships between characters & the tension surrounding the narrator's efforts to sort fact from fantasy, that I listened to this entire book in two days. I now think it might be my favorite work by French so far.
The pacing is odd and it starts slow, but works up to a slow burn and finishes with relentless blows... never ending where it feels like it should. I found this oddly engaging and wanted to keep finding out that 'one more thing'. I would highly recommend book and narrator... here, well matched.

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Love This Series

Revisado: 03-15-20

This is my favorite series by Maas. This book is far shorter than any of the others and feels like a Christmas gift. While I enjoyed revisiting beloved characters, the lack of drama and skimpy length kept me from giving the five stars I rate most in this series. I was thrilled to find hints that Maas may be setting up a future work set in this world with these characters. However, this thin book has been out some time and now she has started a new series....
While much lighter and happier in tone than the earlier books, fans of the series will be thankful for this holiday treat. Do not expect more from it than that.
I have the usual problems with Maas's editor not catching the annoying overuse of phrases like "chuckled" and "you know".
I greatly appreciate that the main female character of this series possesses adult qualities that most of Maas's tough females lack. Though her age here is 21; she seems far more mature. We almost always have an older, magical, male mentor who must wait on the female to grow into herself. While the female changes a great deal in this series, there is more of a sense of shared destiny, partnership, and teamwork here than in the earlier series (in my opinion).
To be fair, after the many horrors of the last book, it was a rather pleasing interlude to sample a bit of life during reconstruction. Mostly, it left me very hungry for a full-length new book in this series.

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Like this New Series

Revisado: 03-13-20

I am a huge Maas fan. This is definitely a great summer read or audio book to listen to while driving. Other than the editor's not catching the overuse of phrases such as "chuckle" & " you know", I find the use of adult language & content to be a welcome break from the teen themes currently dominating this genre. I enjoyed this story & respect that it must be difficult to combine fantasy or alt-reality / parallel world building skills with a murder mystery semi- noir spiced tale of pain, romance, loyalty, betrayal, and social injustice using touchstones the reader recognizes from tech to job routines. Honestly, I am tired of characters still dwelling on their peak college years. If the main character found 27 to be her ideal age, it seems odd that we are not introduced to her closer to that age, rather than 23 and still living with her college undergraduate roomie. If Maas is going to write about strong, adult females, I would like to see their ages jump to match her excellent male characters, who often feel they are babysitting or waiting on the strong female to grow up.
In truth, I very much loved the last series. I thought it was her best. This new series has promise. Hunt & Rune are particularly interesting characters. Sadly, while the female speaks like someone in her mid-20s, her emotional immaturity is confusing and reminds me of a young teen. She does not compare well with the female protagonist of Maas's last series. Nevertheless, I finished this new book quickly & have high hopes for character growth with the next one in the series. After all, not many fantasy writers are even bothering with the adult audience anymore. That alone is enough to keep me waiting on Mass -- especially after the deaths of Tanith Lee, Robert Holdstock, & other visionaries of non-teen driven fantasy in the recent past.

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A wonderful tale

Revisado: 11-13-19

I love all of the tales in this series! Black has hit on a masterful combination of stunningly well developed characters and enchanting world building. Both this short story, presented not from the usual main character of the novels, Jude, but her twin sister's point of view, and the other works in the series are filled with the bitter and the sweet of human/ fairy relations. They are lovely and dark like the foreign world these sisters must navigate. In truth, the Elfin realm and the human prove difficult to comprehend, perhaps an exaggeration of the treacherous period of adolescence in the lives of all young adults. The narrator is well chosen and contributes to the listener's need to sympathise with all parties. No one is completely dark or light. Everyone seems enslaved by his or her histories and circumstances or simple drives to find acceptance... or need to forge their own place. As a long time reader of Black, I can easily say this entire series is, in my opinion, her best work to date. I would recommend this and all of the related books to both young adults and adult lovers of good fantasy!

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A Fine Dramatization of "the" Vampire Guest Tale...

Revisado: 11-08-19

Wonderful to hear Le Fanu's beloved & thrilling tale of the alluring, lovely, high-born girl... Carmilla...truly the proverbial 'wolf in sheep's pelts'...presented in this audio-drama format.
The voice actors are well-cast & entertaining. The subject matter is not presented in too alarming or frightening a manner, with many attacks referred to after-the-fact as half-recalled dreams, or as rumors & gossip which, might be village superstition. When first person accounts are provided, they too, always have an unfocused, fever-dream tone. In this way, both Carmilla's sexuality & violence are somehow always a bit removed from the character. And maybe this was intentional, to keep the feel of the drama in keeping with the delicate, harmless frames women were comfortably viewed through during the period. Such crimes could not be The work of a delicate, nervous girl....who would ever think it?
The uncertain sexual tension between predator & prey, which has become a staple of contemporary vampire fiction, characterized by a pendulum swinging between infatuation (love / lust) & repultion (guilt / socially unacceptable intimacy) on the part of one or both parties....is significantly played down as the confusing talk of one female companion to another. Only later is it hinted at that Carmilla's attentions are not simply thrilling or flattering but that she develops fixations with certain of her prey. In 'playing down' or sweeping under the rug a bit, two of the very characteristics that made Carmilla such a dangerous & frightening character at the time Le Fanu created the tale-- her usurping of masculine (assertive) behaviours such as pursuing intimacies with other women & breaking all of the traditional rules of hospitality by betraying those who have sheltered her through stealth, attack & violence--- this drama misses out on a bit of the point of Carmilla. This is why I gave it 4 stars rather than 5. Personally, I would have enjoyed a bit more bravado in translating the story for audio drama.
The upside to this light approach to the material and the entertaining & excellent audio company casting is the length makes it suitable for listening in the car with the entire family if your children are old enough to read Le Fanu (11+), especially with holiday trips to the relative's approaching.

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LOVE FOWLEY-DOYLE... but not sure about Calin...

Revisado: 10-30-19

I am a fan of Fowley-Doyle's books. Living part of the time in Dublin, visiting family often, or traveling around rural Ireland every year since around 2001....I know many of the places she describes. In fact, I discovered her lovely blend of all-too-human everyday life and the potential for magic just around every thicket or abandoned estate, while seeking light summer reading.
Happily, I found so much more.
I loved her first two books: the characters, the hints of magical thinking, her handling of youth and possibility with innocence that is honest without being too insulting, the careful acknowledgement on the part of adults that no-one ever walks in on an empty life and indeed, we are all still figuring it out as we go along...wonderful! I find her honesty about all manner of things refreshing. The use of supernatural elements and myth-making or story-sharing in families (those we are born into and those we make among our friends) is a powerful tool for expressing how people often find ways to share emotions that seem too big or that might have been shamed by earlier generations.
Though I did not feel as warmly toward this protagonist as those of the first two books, I think this had more to do with Calin as narrator than the actual writing. This is not a Dublin accent I am familiar with or connect with in any way. The narrator made the main character whiney, weak, and very difficult to like. Doubtless, she would be easier to care for on the printed page. Other characters, I found to be far easier on the ears. This is why I felt I had to remove a star from my review. It is, after all, an audio book. The wrong narrator can harm the best story by distracting from the writing.....
Overall, I would definitely recommend this author for not only her addictive storytelling, but, her clever understanding of complicated family situations: how gossip might follow generations in some circles; how to tackle difficult but extremely important generational issues ranging from acceptance of self & "coming out", to teen pregnancy to gender inequality; and how the stories we chose to believe & the myths we construct for ourselves make us who we are...
To my mind, very potent stuff! I recommend this author and all of her work to both adult and teen readers, regularly !!

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