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Gretel

By: Christopher Coleman
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
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Publisher's summary

A gripping horror thriller that will leave you wanting more. Start listening to the first book in this dark and captivating re-imagined series of the classic story of Hansel and Gretel.

There is an ancient evil in the Back Country, dormant for centuries but now hungry and lurking.

When it sets its sights on an unsuspecting mother one routine morning along an isolated stretch of highway, a quiet farming family is suddenly thrust into a world of unspeakable terror, and young Gretel must learn to be a hero.

©2015 Christopher Coleman (P)2019 Tantor
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What listeners say about Gretel

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Impressive

While definitely not what I was expecting, this was an interesting retelling with good pacing and great characters.

Lisa Flanagan gives a phenomenal audio performance with a wide range of authentic voices and great accents. Her vocal inflections are nearly perfect, and her tempo shifts are skillful.

Naturally, there is a massive shift in the focus from the original fairy tale to this book. At first it irked me a bit, but I ended up actually really enjoying it.

All of the characters are very well drawn and feel like real people. I loved the presentment of the family dynamic and the interactions between the siblings.

The plot is well constructed and (despite moving a little slow through a large chunk of the book) excellently paced. There were enough twists and mysteries to keep me guessing almost all the way to the end. It was really nice to not guess all the twists from the start.

I have just a couple of minor critiques.
In general, the writing is very good. However, many of the POV shifts are very abrupt, leaving a listener slightly confused about who's POV they are in at certain points. Especially toward the end. And there are a few plot points and character motivations that I don't quite believe. It's not bad enough that I would call it Deus Ex Machina though.

In the end, numerous threads are tied together to create a very satisfying end that is, in many ways, remarkable.

While I wouldn't classify this as horror, it's definitely a great supernatural suspense that could easily give Dean Koontz a run for his money.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

This was a two-dimensional story about a girl, a witch and a life sustaining potion that needs to be harvested from an unwilling victim. It wasn’t horrible but too much didn’t make a lot of sense within the framework of the story. It’s like the author created a little world with its own rules and then violated those rules when (in one case) the antagonist needed to be stronger. Much of the characters actions and reactions also didn’t jive with basic human nature and seemed to be forced just to keep certain characters alive long enough for the grand finale.

It listened to it until the end. While I don’t completely regret it I also will not be continuing with this series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Gretel

I totally enjoyed thie book! I am glad it is a series,I can not wait to find book 2. Narration was very good.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

Was just too slow going and I got bored and couldn't even finish it halfway through

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great Read

I enjoyed the story very much! Wonderful take on Hansel and Gretel. And the witch was awesome! Story was well-read and the narrator was very good. I would like to find more books by her and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

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I enjoyed this book

I enjoyed this book. I will be downloading book 2 hopefully it will be just as good

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Foretell

I struggled to get into this story- I think it finally got me when there was only 4 hrs left of it. The ending was long coming but it finally started to get interesting. I was definitely surprised when the villains and heroins were revealed

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating

this was a very interesting book, kept me interested. the narrator did a great job, brought the characters to life. looking forward to the next one.

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Crime mystery Twist

Loved this novel. it's a very original take on a favorite childhood story. it's full of suspense and mystery. It can be read as a standalone or as part of a series. I will be getting book 2 soon

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting

Something hard to follow Not sure if I will read the series Nice to read a book not full of foul language

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